Former Denver Broncos quarterback Chad Kelly appeared to finally clean up his life and find a career in football, thriving for the CFL and even earning MVP honors for the league.
Kelly, who starred at Ole Miss in 2015-16 after one-year stops at Clemson and East Mississippi Community College, was originally drafted with the final pick of the 2017 NFL Draft. After three seasons split between the Broncos, the Indianapolis Colts, and a handful of negative headlines, Kelly made his way to the CFL where he has since become a star.
Kelly’s stardom reached the pinnacle of his professional career last season when the CFL honored him with the 2023 George Reed Most Outstanding Player award. Kelly, in his first year as the Toronto Argonaut’s starting signal caller, led the league in multiple categories while going on to throw for 4,123 yards and 31 total touchdowns.
“This is a feeling that I’ve never felt before. It’s amazing,” the former NFL QB said at the award ceremony. “Obviously, [George Reed’s] legacy is cemented throughout the whole CFL, and his legacy is going to live on forever. Thank you so much for letting me be a part of this.”
He appeared to finally find his way in the CFL after a short stint with the Denver Broncos that was filled with drama and run ins with the law.
After coming in for an injured McLeod Bethel-Thompson during last season’s Grey Cup, Kelly led the Argos in a comeback victory to win the franchise’s first championship since 2017. His stellar performance secured the starting role going into this season and earned him a CFL-record $1.865 million deal over three years.
In 2023, Kelly helped Toronto to a 16-2 regular season record and its third consecutive Eastern Final. He is the first Argo to win Most Outstanding Player since wide receiver Chad Owens did it in 2012.
New Details Emerge In Disturbing Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Former Denver Broncos QB Chad Kelly
Back in February, an ex-Toronto Argonauts strength and conditioning coach sued the team for wrongful dismissal and Kelly for sexual harassment. The plaintiff’s legal team submitted an amended document earlier this month detailing a “campaign of harassment” from the quarterback.
In a new development, the former staffer has released a new statement providing more details about the alleged incident.
The alleged victim claimed Kelly repeatedly made unwanted advances and said he “cannot wait” until she got fired when the plaintiff tried to address his inappropriate behavior.
“Given his important profile, Chad’s conduct deserves special reprimand from the court to send out a message that women must be treated with respect and Canadian courts will not tolerate behaviour similar to Chad’s,” the lawsuit said, per 3DownNation’s Justin Dunk.
The document claimed Kelly was “adamant” about spending time with the plaintiff outside work and “visibly got mad and aggravated” when she denied invitations to movie and dinner dates. Kelly allegedly told her that they “would need only 30 minutes for a date.”
The statement detailed an incident in which the former Denver Broncos QB offered her free tickets to a Buffalo Bills game. He tried to get her to stay overnight with his group at a rental accommodation and became “visibly aggravated” when she sought approval from Toronto general manager Michael ‘Pinball’ Clemons to attend the NFL game as an Argonauts representative.
Kelly allegedly later “yelled and cussed her name” and asked her to pay $500 for the tickets.
The amended court document claims Kelly and the organization are both accountable for her wrongful firing. They estimated $85,714.28 in damages and an additional $10,000 in punitive damages.
Kelly’s lawyer denied the accusations and said they “are taking steps to defend the action.” Kelly, who briefly played for the Denver Broncos in 2018, deleted a post saying he was “shocked” by the initial allegations made against him last month.
During his short time in the NFL, Kelly had a few head-shaking run-ins with law enforcement which helped lead to his quick exit from the league.