Former Broncos QB hit with massive suspension in CFL

Travis Wakeman

Former Broncos QB hit with massive suspension in CFL  image

The Denver Broncos have had a litany of problems at the quarterback position for what seems like forever. One of those quarterbacks who many fans felt had a lot of promise was Chad Kelly, who the Broncos selected with the final pick in the 2017 draft. 

His NFL career has long since fizzled out and he is now playing in the Canadian Football League. There, he has found plenty of success. He was part of the Toronto Argonauts team that won the Grey Cup in 2022. He then became the starting quarterback this past season and was named the league's Most Outstanding Player. 

But it looks like the roller-coaster ride that has been his playing career is about to go back down following news that he has been suspended for the entire preseason plus nine games after that for what is being deemed 'gender-based violence' after accusations made by a former coach. 

Chad Kelly suspended for 9 games by the CFL

Unfortunately, it's not like this is out of character for Kelly. 

In college, he came in with a big name at Clemson. After all, he is the nephew of Hall-of-Fame quarterback Jim Kelly. But in 2014, he was dismissed from Clemson due to conduct detrimental to the team. 

He then spent a season at East Mississippi Community College and won the NJCAA National Championship that year. That allowed him to get back on track and catch on with Ole Miss to close out his college career. 

 

But by the time his college career was over, most teams in the NFL weren't going to touch him based on the thoughts of him having an attitude problem. A torn ACL in 2016 didn't help his cause either. 

But John Elway, seemingly as a favor to Jim Kelly, decided to draft his nephew. And Chad was seen as a bright spot for the Broncos quickly, playing quite well in the preseason. By the time 2018 rolled around, it wasn't out of the question at all that Kelly could be the team's future starting quarterback.

But that October, he was arrested for criminal trespass following an incident where he entered a residence following a Halloween party. The Broncos chose to cut ties with him at that time and that essentially torpedoed his NFL career. 

The Indianapolis Colts took a shot on him in 2019 and he spent two seasons there on the practice squad. But after being released from there, he took his talents north to see if he could salvage what was left of his playing career in Canada. 

And that was going quite well... until now. One has to wonder where his career goes from here. 

Travis Wakeman

Travis Wakeman Photo

Travis Wakeman has been covering the NFL since 2012 when he started with Bleacher Report. After reporting about the Broncos there until 2016, he joined the FanSided network as a site expert covering the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers while simultaneously covering the Broncos at Broncos Wire when that site launched. He then took over the Broncos site at FanSided in March 2020 and covered the team there until spring of 2024. A lifelong Broncos fan and fan of the game, Travis is filled with sometimes useless NFL knowledge, but it always serves him well in any trivia contest. You can follow him on Twitter/X @traviswakeman10.