Former Alabama and current Indianapolis Colts center, Ryan Kelly, had a big payday this week!
Kelly signed a 4 year, $50 million dollar extension with the Colts, becoming the NFL’s highest-paid center. His new contract also comes with $34 million guaranteed, the NFL Network reported.
Kelly then spoke with the media following the announcement, and had this to say:
“Maybe I’ll just pick up a six-pack of beer on the way home, Who knows? It might get wild. Donatos Pizza, there’s one on the way home.”
Kelly also shared how he grew up 2 hours from Indianapolis, and this was his dream place to play.
“I was like, ‘I don’t want to go play in Seattle, it’s too far away. Indianapolis is two hours from my house. This would be awesome to have my parents come see all of my games – my grandpa, all my grandparents, aunts and uncles.”
All set at center. 🖊 pic.twitter.com/rWXMSxTbAf
— Indianapolis Colts (@Colts) September 3, 2020
At Alabama, Kelly quickly became a part of the Tide’s offensive success, especially after taking over the starting center position after the departure of Barrett Jones as a sophomore.
As a junior, he only missed a total of 7 assignments out of his assignments for a 99.1 success rate and never allowed a single sack.
In his senior season, Kelly missed only 8 assignments in 1,012 snaps for a success rate of 99.2 percent on the season. He also only committed one penalty and didn’t have any holding calls. He also won the Rimington Trophy in 2015.
The Indianapolis Colts selected Kelly as the 18th overall pick of the 2016 NFL Draft where he has played at since 2016.
In his career for the Colts, Kelly has started in 51 games. He has helped the Colts become one of the leagues best offensive lines the past 2 seasons. He was also one of the former Alabama players chosen to participate in the Pro Bowl last year.
Simply put, the Colts have a winner in Kelly, it doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere anytime soon.
“This has been my home. I bought a house here after my rookie year and love this city. I stay here year-round because I love it so much. There was nowhere else I would rather be.”
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