Kelly's legend started when he led Missoula High School to the school's first state championship in 1921.[1] The win made Kelly a local hero, and he was recruited to play for the hometown college, the University of Montana.
College career
It didn't take long for him to make his mark at the college level—as a sophomore, he ran 9 times for scores of longer than 40 yards. He played quarterback, but he was most noted for his skills as an open-field runner. He also performed as a kick returner and during his final two seasons he ran back 5 kickoffs, including 2 of more than 90 yards. Although his skills were legendary, he was not surrounded with enough talent at Montana to deliver a winning season during his college career. However, he provided the fans with more than their share of excitement. Importantly, Kelly never lost to rival Montana State University, leading the team to huge wins in 1925 and 1926. He scored a total of 7 touchdowns in the two games to go along with 4 interceptions.
In the 1927 East-West Shrine Game, Kelly threw the only touchdown pass of the day, which provided the margin of victory in a 7–3 win by West.