Ellison Kelly was inducted into the CFL Hall-of-Fame in 1992, but it wasn't as a result of the two years he played with the Argonauts in the early '70's. While he did have a couple of stellar campaigns in a Double Blue uniform, Kelly spent a decade before that down the QEW in Hamilton, where he became the first Ticat offensive lineman to be honoured as such.
Kelly was traded to the arch-enemy Argos, who play the Ticats at the SkyDome on July 4th in their 1996 home opener, after the 1970 season for linebacker Mike Blum.
"It was a shock," admitted Kelly, who first joined the 'Cats in 1960 after a stint with the NFL's New York Giants. "In fact, the first game I played (as an Argo), an official came over and said, 'Elly, I can't picture you in anything but black and gold'."
Luckily for Kelly, he switched over from guard to the tackle position when he was with the Argos, and lined up against the other teams' defensive ends. Therefore, he didn't have to face his ex-teammate Angelo Mosca, who lined up on the inside and took on the centre and guards.
"I had some good times with the Argos too," remembered Kelly, who went on to list all the great players he played with, names like Joe Theismann and Noah Jackson, who went on to have great careers on both sides of the border. "The Argo team, talent-wise, they had people in every position that did great things in football."
But despite the talent, the Argos never won the Grey Cup, which Kelly captured three times (1963, '65 and '67) with the Ticats, with that 1967 team being the best he ever played on. "The teams didn't change much in those days," said Kelly, who was a mainstay along with Mosca, Barrow, Henley, Faloney and other on those great Ticat teams of the '60's.
Although he remembers the success, he also remembers the fatigue involved with playing in the CFL, especially at a time when the imports were expected to play both offence and defence, which Kelly did until the 1965 season. It was a time when CFL teams also outpaid NFL teams for a player's services.
"What you found out after was that you also worked a lot harder for it," said Kelly, who hardly ever came off the field in the early days. "When you look at the old game films and see that when the commercials are done, all the guys are kneeling (to take a rest). It was extremely demanding, but after a ballgame, you didn't have to worry about guys doing this and that."
Kelly also had a demanding job in his post-football career, working with the Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre as a recreational officer. He started working there in 1976 and is planning to retire later this year, since "there's a lot of animosity there (against the new provincial government), so it's a good time to mosey on out."
His retirement should give him enough time to spend with his wife Sheila, six kids and four grandkids, as well as continue in his role as a CFL players-of-the-week selector.
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