Larry Kelley

Lawrence Morgan Kelley (May 30, 1915 – June 27, 2000) was an American football end who played for the Yale Bulldogs football program from 1934 to 1936.

Kelley was born in Conneaut, Ohio, in 1915.

He moved to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, at age 8 and attended Williamsport High School.

His football coach at Williamsport told him that "the only way I would ever see a college team play would be to pay my way in."

After graduating from Williamsport, he spent one year at the Peddie School, a preparatory school in Hightstown, New Jersey.

He graduated from Peddie ranked first in his class.

Kelley enrolled at Yale College in the fall of 1933.

He received a scholarship to cover the $900 annual cost of attending the college.

He played for Yale's baseball, basketball, and football teams.

While at Yale, he was also a member of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity and the Skull and Bones society.

As a sophomore in 1934, Kelley became a star for the Yale football team.

Playing at end on both offense and defense, he played all 60 minutes in multiple games.

On November 17, 1934, he caught the game-winning touchdown pass, covering 48 yards, in a 7–0 victory over Princeton.

The loss ended Princeton's 15-game winning streak.

As a junior in 1935, Kelley gained attention for his pass receptions and his cocky and clever statements to the press.

One of his most famous quips came after an opposing Princeton player came onto the field as a substitute and appeared confused as to who he was to replace.

Kelley quipped to the referee, "Maybe that sub is in for me, sir. I've been playing in Princeton's backfield all afternoon."

Noted newspaperman Damon Runyon described Kelley as a mirthful swashbuckler, always ready with a smart crack on the tip of his tongue, and "the most picturesque football player that Yale has had since Tom Shevlin."

He became known as "The Great" Kelley (a name Kelley himself suggested) or "Laughing Larry".

He was the captain of the 1936 Yale Bulldogs football team that compiled a 7–1 record and was ranked No. 12 in the final AP Poll.

He was selected as a unanimous first-team All-American and won the Heisman Trophy as the best player in college football.

Kelley rejected offers to play professional football, baseball, and basketball and instead became a high school teacher and coach.

Kelley was unanimously elected by his 25 fellow lettermen as captain of the 1936 Yale Bulldogs football team.

He and Clint Frank led the 1936 Yale team to a 7–1 record and a No. 12 ranking in the final Associated Press poll.

Kelley played all 60 minutes in six of the team's eight games.

He missed only 15 minutes out of 480 for the season.

(Over his three years playing for Yale, he was on the field for 1,298 out 1,500 minute played. )

The most famous play of Kelley's career occurred on October 17, 1936, against Navy.

Navy was leading when a Midshipman fumbled the ball.

Kelley kicked the loose ball between 20 and 40 yards (accounts differ as to how far the ball traveled), chased after ball, and recovered it inside Navy's five-yard line.

Yale then scored the game-winning touchdown.

At the time, Kelley insisted that the play was "absolutely accidental" and pointed out that doing so intentionally "would be one of the hardest to time."

After the 1936 season, the NCAA changed the rules to prohibit kicking a loose ball and declare the ball dead at the spot of the impact.

The lone loss was to Dartmouth by an 11–7 score.

In the final five seconds, Yale got a first down at Dartmouth's one-yard line, but failed to score on two chances.

More than 50 years later, Kelley remained disappointed by the ending of the Dartmouth game.

Kelley tallied 17 receptions for 372 yards and six touchdowns in 1936.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1969.

In 1999, he sold his Heisman Trophy at auction for $328,110.

He died by suicide six months later at the age of 85.