COLTS

No-nonsense Ryan Kelly ready for work with Colts

Zak Keefer
zak.keefer@indystar.com
The Indianapolis Colts' first-round draft pick in the NFL draft, Alabama center Ryan Kelly, met with the local media Friday, Apr 29, 2016,  at the Colts' complex.

He said thanks but no thanks to the bright lights of Chicago and the TV cameras and the green room at the NFL draft. Ryan Kelly chose to watch from his parents’ couch. “I wanted to be around all the people who helped me get where I am,” he said. “Crowds stress me out a little bit.”

He says things that warm a coach’s heart; things like, “Ultimately, it’s about how hard you work,” and “I never want to go into a game unprepared,” and “One of the biggest things is, can your teammates and coaches trust you?” Ding! Ding! Ding! Man, does he sound like an offensive lineman, or what?

He’s a no-BS, no-nonsense throwback who loathes the spotlight and loves the work. He’s a Sabanized man. Asked to hold up his new jersey (No. 78, for those curious) at the Indianapolis Colts’ practice facility Friday afternoon, Kelly did so without allowing a grin to crease his face.

“It’s OK to smile,” a photographer joked. So Kelly did. Barely.

He is many things: The first center the Colts have taken in the first round of the draft in franchise history, maybe the next Jeff Saturday, maybe Andrew Luck’s new best friend. The Colts are betting he’s the long-sought solution to their four-year headache at the position. That’s why he’s here. He’s the prospect Ryan Grigson has been eyeing since December, when the Alabama All-American shot to the top of his draft board and never left. The thinking: This kid could be the backbone of the Colts’ offensive line for a long, long time.

“The coaching staff has put a lot of trust in me, obviously they’ve done their homework,” Kelly said Friday. “It’s not going to be easy, but like anything in life, if you want something bad enough you’re going to work for it.”

Kelly knows. He spent the past five years of his life playing for Nick Saban, the Crimson Tide’s hard-driving coach, and lived to tell about it. He thrived under three different offensive coordinators at Alabama, called plays and audibles from the line of scrimmage, captained the Tide through the rugged SEC, won a national title in his final game as a collegian and — oh yeah — lost just five games in four seasons. He left as the embodiment of the position he plays: the selfless, spotlight-shunning spine of the offense who never gets the credit he deserves.

And he’s fine with that. Invited to the green room for Thursday’s first round of the NFL draft, Kelly instead stayed at home in Cincinnati. He figured the circus wasn’t for him, and he’d be more comfortable surrounded by a few dozen family members and friends than a bunch of people he’d never met. Let others have the spotlight. It’s the credo of an offensive lineman.

Kelly was asked Friday how he, an Ohio native, ended up playing at Alabama.

“I got in my car and drove,” he deadpanned.

Doyel: Colts just got Andrew Luck his Jeff Saturday

The  Saturday comparisons are inevitable, and probably unfair. But Kelly doesn't shy away from it. He doesn’t shy away from the shoes left by No. 63, the steady rock at the heart of the Colts’ offensive line who made six Pro Bowls and proved in every way an equal to the man he snapped the football to for 13 seasons, Peyton Manning. The Colts have been seeking The Next Jeff Saturday for four seasons. They haven’t come close to finding him.

Kelly is here to fix that.

“Jeff Saturday and Peyton Manning worked hand in hand, and made each other better,” he said. “They made the entire offense better.

“I’m not Jeff Saturday and he’s not me. We have different skill sets. (But) no matter who you are playing (at) center, you’re going to have to be a great leader. I think Jeff Saturday is one of the best centers (there has ever been.)”

So it starts. Rookie minicamp commences next week. He’ll join the team for organized team activities soon after.

Kelly and his parents visited his new office for the first time Friday, met with owner Jim Irsay, Grigson, coach Chuck Pagano and some of his new teammates. At his introductory news conference a few hours later, Kelly answered questions with a cool and collected efficiency, exuding the confidence and humility that will serve him well very soon.

A team doesn’t take a center in the first round unless they’re sure. And the Colts were sure about him.

"Easy," Grigson called the decision late Thursday night.

So much is expected of Ryan Kelly. He’s the Colts’ presumed savior at center. He’s also a rookie walking into an NFL locker room for the first time.

“Nobody’s going to hold your hand at this level,” he said.

And you get the sense that this kid likes it that way.

Call IndyStar reporter Zak Keefer at (317) 444-6134 and follow him on Twitter: @zkeefer.