Kareem Kelly

Kareem Kelly (born April 1, 1981) is an American former professional football wide receiver. He was selected by the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL) in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL draft. He played college football at USC.

He was also a member of the Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears of the NFL, the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League (AFL), the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League (UFL).

Early life

Football He played football at the high school level at Long Beach Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California. He was a 1998 Super Prep All-American, Prep Star Dream Team Top 100, ESPN Top 100, The Sporting News 101 Prime Prospects, Rivalnet Top 100, USA Today All-USA honorable mention, Super Prep All-Farwest, Prep Star All-Western, Long Beach Press-Telegram Best in the West first-team (unanimous selection), Orange County Register Fab 15 first-team, Tacoma News Tribune Western 100, Las Vegas Sun Super 11 first-team, Cal-Hi Sports All-State second-team, All-CIF Southern Section first-team, All-CIF Division I first-team, Los Angeles Times All-South Coast/Southeast and Long Beach Press-Telegram Dream Team first-team as a senior at Long Beach (Calif.) Poly High. In 1998, he had 50 receptions for 1,096 yards (21.9 avg.) and 17 touchdowns. He had one game with 8 catches for 181 yards and 3 touchdowns. Long Beach Poly was a CIF Division I finalist.

As a 1997 junior, he made All-CIF Southern Section second-team, All-CIF Division I first-team, Long Beach Press-Telegram second-team and All-League while catching 43 passes for 560 yards (13.0 avg.) and 9 touchdowns. Long Beach Poly was the CIF Division I champion. In his 3-year career, his team went 36–5. Former Trojans DeShaun Hill, Mike Pollard, Darrell Rideaux, Hershel Dennis and Winston Justice also prepped at Long Beach Poly.

Track He also starred on the schools track team, which won the 1997 and 1998 state titles. As a junior, he was the 1998 state 200-meter champion in a meet-record 20.76 and a member of the state winning 400-meter relay squad. As a senior at the 1999 Arcadia Invitational, he was first in the 200 meters (21.27). At the 1999 CIF Division I meet, he was second in the 100 (10.54) and 200 (21.04), and ran on the winning 400 meter relay quartet. At the 1999 CIF Masters meet, he won the 100 (10.30, tied for 12th in the world on the under-20 windy list in 1999) and 200 (20.61, fourth fastest under-20 windy mark in the world in 1999) and ran a leg on Poly's state record setting victorious 400 meter relay team during his tenure at USC he set the school-record for consecutive games with a catch (48), which has since been broken. Kelly played in all four preseason games, but was released prior to the start of the regular season. He was on the practice squads of the Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears. He signed a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Avengers of the Arena Football League on November 2, 2005. While with the Avengers he was one of 45 former Trojan teammates on the roster: fullback/linebacker Lonnie Ford and offensive/defensive lineman Bernard Riley. He signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League in May 2006, but was cut. He later retired from football but returned to sign a contract with the Las Vegas Locomotives of the United Football League in 2010. He was released in July 2010.

Personal life Kareem later opened a full-service laundromat, International Wash, in Compton, California.