Chad Kelly won a CFL championship as a backup but now he is the Toronto Argonauts' guy in 2023

Last season Chad Kelly helped the Toronto Argonauts win the Canadian Football League’s Grey Cup, earning himself his first championship at the professional level.

Kelly did so as the backup after Argonauts starter McLeod Bethel-Thompson was injured ahead of the final quarter of the 2022 Grey Cup. This led Kelly to come off the bench and close out the game in the fourth quarter.

The Argonauts held on to defeat the Winnipeg Blue Blombers, 24-23, and Kelly cemented himself as a Toronto sports hero.

Bethel-Thompson is currently playing in the USFL as the quarterback for the New Orleans Breakers leaving the Argonauts starting job to Kelly, giving the former Ole Miss signal caller his first starting job since his Southeastern Conference days.

Plenty has happened around Kelly off the field after he was selected by the Denver Broncos as the final overall pick to become ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ of the 2017 NFL Draft. Kelly was released by the Broncos in 2018 after his arrest on a charge of suspicion of first-degree criminal trespassing.

After a cup of coffee with the Indianapolis Colts Kelly was released by a second NFL team in 2020.

Enter the CFL and Toronto who Kelly signed with in February of last year. Kelly worked as a backup last season, throwing for 247 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also helped on the ground in short-yardage situations, rushing for 137 yards and punching in six touchdowns on 25 carries.

Now, Kelly is the guy in Toronto and embracing the role as the CFL begins preseason camp this month.

“It’s fantastic,” Kelly told TSN earlier this month. “It’s every kid’s dream to be on a professional football team and let alone start. “I’m just trying to take full advantage of this opportunity. Keep on getting better. Push these guys.”

Kelly is getting reps as the starting quarterback for the first time in seven years since his days at Ole Miss.

Under then-head coach Hugh Freeze, Kelly was part of some memorable moments at Ole Miss. He transferred in from Clemson and sat out the 2014 season but led the Rebels in the 2015 and 2016 seasons.

Over his two seasons at Ole Miss Kelly threw for a combined for 6,800 passing yards which included a 2015 season where he threw for over 4,000 yards, edging Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott for the SEC passing title that season.

Fast forward to 2023 and he is once again in the spotlight but this time on the heels of leading his team to a championship six months ago.

“It’s a lot different,” Kelly said on being the projected starter of the 2023 Argonauts. “I don’t want to say I feel comfortable, but I feel like I essentially belong. I’ve met some fantastic people. I’ve just really been kind of dedicated to bettering myself on the football field and off the football field. I’ve surrounded myself with a great team to help me in all aspects of my game.”

The transition from American football in the SEC and the NFL ranks to the CFL style of play has gone smooth over the last 15 months since signing with Toronto.

“There’s a lot of moving parts and at first, you’re starting to think, ‘Hey, I just need this guy to get over here,'” Kelly said. “You’re not really worried about the defense. Now, I’m starting to see things rock and roll and man, zone [coverage]. That’s how you have accelerated vision. So I felt like I’ve definitely come accustomed to it.”

Toronto opens up its 2023 campaign and defense of last season’s Grey Cup trophy on June 18 against the Hamlton Tiger-Cats