Champ Kelly and his wife, Stephanie, started C.H.A.M.P. Camps to help youth in several states.
Former Kentucky football player Champ Kelly has been busy because he’s now the assistant general manager for the Las Vegas Raiders and preparing for the NFL Draft is a never-ending challenge not to mention the Raiders preparing to start their second season in Las Vegas.
But he also recently was named the 2023 Gatton Distinguished Young Alumni recipient. He got his Gatton MBA in 2003 after previously earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
Here is what Kelly posted on social media about receiving this honor:
“It has taken a village and I’m so grateful for those who have invested into my life and those of my family. This honor is more about the love, support, and intercessory prayers from my grandparents and others.
“I’m grateful for the Gatton College selection committee and production team. The event was truly spectacular due to the people that were present. I have so much respect for the other inductees.”
Kelly was a four-year letterman at Kentucky and then played for the Lexington Horsemen in the arena league while also working as a software/quality engineer at IBM from 2002-05 and then Nurses Registry and Home Health. He was also the offensive coordinator for Lexington Christian Academy’s football team at the same time.
Once he quit playing with the Horsemen, he became the team’s general manager and then went to work in player personnel for both the Denver Broncos and Chicago Bears where he started integrating advanced technology systems into scouting and player personnel. He moved to the Raiders in 2022.
What makes Kelly so unique and special to me is the work his wife, Stephanie, and he have done with Heart Power Inc. They started it in 2010 to support youth and their families searching for :positive, encouraging influences: in their lives.
I went to several “C.H.A.M.P. Camps” in Lexington but he also held them in Alabama, Florida, Colorado and Illinois to instill the values of character, heart, attitude, motivation and pride through football instruction and motivational speakers.
