Kaelin Clay
refer to caption
Clay with the Baltimore Ravens in 2015
No. 13, 14, 15, 16
Position:Wide receiver
Return specialist
Personal information
Born: (1992-01-03) January 3, 1992
Long Beach, California, U.S.
Height:5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight:195 lb (88 kg)
Career information
High school:Long Beach Polytechnic
College:
NFL Draft:2015 / Round: 6 / Pick: 184
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Receptions:6
Receiving yards:85
Receiving touchdowns:0
Return yards:803
Return touchdowns:2
Player stats at NFL.com

Kaelin Clay (born January 3, 1992) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah Utes,[1][2][3] earning first-team All-American honors in 2014. He was selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft.

Early years

Clay attended Long Beach Polytechnic High School in Long Beach, California.[4] He caught 20 passes for 502 yards and six touchdowns in his junior season on a team that won the Southern Section title. He began his SuperPrep All-American and All-Moore League senior season as a wide receiver before moving to the backfield for the final four games. He rushed for 1,048 yards and posted another 524 receiving to combine for 1,572 rushing and receiving yards as a senior while scoring 15 touchdowns (eight receiving, seven rushings) and adding 13 punt returns for 206 yards. Clay was ranked as the No. 53 wide receiver nationally by Rivals.com and the media outlet's No. 79 player overall in the state of California.[5]

Also a standout track & field athlete, Clay finished third in the state in the 100-meter dash (10.44) and fourth in the 200-meter dash (21.07) as a senior in 2010 with career-best times in both. He helped his track squad win Moore League titles in each his four seasons, while he was a four-time winner (100 meters, 200 meters, 4x100 meter relay, 4x400 meter relay) at the league track meet in each of his final two seasons, as well as the winner in both the 100m and 200m for each of his final three campaigns.

College career

Clay played one year at Utah after transferring from Mt. San Antonio College, where he was named first-team all-conference with 16 touchdowns.[6][7] He made four different All-American teams as a return specialist in 2014 with Utah and was named first-team All-Pac-12 as a return specialist. He also finished the season with a punt return average of 15.0 and three touchdowns. Also returned a kickoff for a touchdown last season and had a 24.9 average on kickoff returns.

On November 8, 2014, Clay received national coverage when, with Utah up 7–0 against the Oregon Ducks, on what would have been Clay's defining 79-yard touchdown for his collegiate career, he celebrated prematurely and dropped the ball on the 1-yard line, allowing Oregon's Joe Walker to recover the ball and return it 99 yards for a touchdown in the opposite direction, changing the potential 14–0 score to a 7–7 tie; Oregon would go on to win the game 51–27.[8][9]

Professional career

Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeight40-yard dash10-yard split20-yard split20-yard shuttleThree-cone drillVertical jumpBroad jumpBench press
5 ft 10 in
(1.78 m)		 195 lb
(88 kg)		 4.45 s1.59 s2.59 s4.26 s6.97 s33 in
(0.84 m)		9 ft 5 in
(2.87 m)		10 reps
All values from NFL Combine, 40-yard dash from Pro Day[10]

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers selected Clay in the sixth round of the 2015 NFL Draft with the 184th overall pick.[11][12] On September 5, 2015, he was waived by the Buccaneers and was signed to the practice squad.[13][14] On September 15, 2015, he was released by the Buccaneers.[15]

Detroit Lions

On September 22, 2015, Clay was signed by the Lions to the practice squad.[16]

Baltimore Ravens

On November 17, 2015, Clay was signed by the Ravens from the Lions' practice squad.[17] On November 22, 2015, Clay played in his first career game against the St. Louis Rams.[18] The next week against their divisional rival, Cleveland Browns, Clay returned the Browns’ first punt for an 82-yard touchdown on Monday Night Football.[19][20]

During the August 11 preseason opener against the Carolina Panthers, Clay fumbled a punt, giving Carolina possession. He was waived/injured by the Ravens on August 15, 2016 and was placed on injured reserve.[21] He was released from the Ravens' injured reserve list on November 11, 2016.[22]

Carolina Panthers

On April 7, 2017, Clay signed a one-year contract with the Carolina Panthers.[23]

Buffalo Bills

On September 2, 2017, Clay was traded to the Buffalo Bills for cornerback Kevon Seymour.[24] He was waived by the Bills on October 23, 2017.[25]

Carolina Panthers (second stint)

On October 24, 2017, Clay was claimed off waivers by the Panthers.[26] On November 26, 2017, he returned a punt for a touchdown against the New York Jets. It was the second of his career.[27]

Buffalo Bills (second stint)

On March 29, 2018, Clay signed with the Buffalo Bills.[28] He was waived on September 1, 2018.[29]

New York Giants

On September 1, 2018, Clay was claimed off waivers by the New York Giants.[30] He was placed on injured reserve on September 25, 2018 after suffering a sprained ankle in Week 2.[31] He was released on October 2, 2018.

Salt Lake Stallions

On December 22, 2018, Clay signed with the Salt Lake Stallions of the Alliance of American Football.[32] He was placed on injured reserve on March 13, 2019. The league ceased operations in April 2019.[33]

References

  1. ↑ The Salt Lake Tribune. "After blunder goes viral, Utah's Kaelin Clay fights to put it behind him (with video)". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on 2015-05-04.
  2. ↑ Brad Rock (December 18, 2014). "Brad Rock: Utah's Kaelin Clay shows the way to move on". DeseretNews.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015.
  3. ↑ MARK ANDERSON LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL. "Utah WR Clay moves on from gaffe". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Archived from the original on 2015-05-18.
  4. ↑ "Seven Long Beach Poly alumni make NFL rosters". Press Telegram. 2017-09-03. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  5. ↑ "Kaelin Clay Biography". calbears.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04.
  6. ↑ "Kaelin Clay College Stats". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  7. ↑ "Kaelin Clay". Mt. San Antonio College. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  8. ↑ Peters, Micah (November 9, 2014). "Utah's Kaelin Clay makes all-time goof, drops the ball too soon, Oregon returns it for TD. Oregon went on to win the game 51–27". USA Today. Retrieved November 9, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Oregon at Utah Box Score, November 8, 2014". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  10. ↑ "Kaelin Clay – Utah, WR : 2015 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile". nfldraftscout.com. Archived from the original on 2015-11-20.
  11. ↑ "2015 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  12. ↑ "Buccaneers Draft WR Kaelin Clay". Buccaneers.com. May 2, 2015. Archived from the original on August 20, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  13. ↑ Smith, Scott (September 5, 2015). "Tough Cuts: Buccaneers Get to 53". Buccaneers.com. Archived from the original on February 1, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  14. ↑ Smith, Scott (September 8, 2015). "Buccaneers Add to Practice Squad". Buccaneers.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  15. ↑ "Bucs Release Kaelin Clay, Cameron Brate". Buccaneers.com. September 15, 2015. Archived from the original on February 3, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  16. ↑ DemAra, Max (September 23, 2015). "Detroit Lions add speedster Kaelin Clay to practice squad". Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  17. ↑ Downing, Garrett (November 17, 2015). "Ravens Waive Asa Jackson, Jeremy Ross". BaltimoreRavens.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2015.
  18. ↑ "St. Louis Rams at Baltimore Ravens - November 22nd, 2015". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  19. ↑ Cleveland.com. "Watch Kaelin Clay give Baltimore a 7-0 lead on Monday Night Football". Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2015.
  20. ↑ "Baltimore Ravens at Cleveland Browns - November 30th, 2015". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  21. ↑ Mink, Ryan (August 15, 2016). "Ravens Waive Injured Returner Kaelin Clay". BaltimoreRavens.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  22. ↑ "Kaelin Clay: Released from IR". CBSsports.com. November 11, 2016. Archived from the original on March 18, 2017. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
  23. ↑ Strickland, Bryan (April 7, 2017). "Panthers sign Kaelin Clay". Panthers.com. Archived from the original on April 8, 2017.
  24. ↑ Brown, Chris (September 2, 2017). "Bills trade Seymour to Panthers for WR Clay and a pick". BuffaloBills.com. Archived from the original on March 13, 2018.
  25. ↑ Brown, Chris (October 23, 2017). "Bills awarded waiver claim for CB McRae; release WR Clay". BuffaloBills.com.
  26. ↑ Strickland, Bryan (October 24, 2017). "Panthers claim WR Kaelin Clay off waivers". Panthers.com. Archived from the original on March 8, 2018.
  27. ↑ "Carolina Panthers at New York Jets - November 26th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2018-06-06.
  28. ↑ Brown, Chris (March 29, 2018). "Bills bring back WR Kaelin Clay". BuffaloBills.com.
  29. ↑ "Bills make these moves to reach the 53-man roster limit". BuffaloBills.com. September 1, 2018.
  30. ↑ Eisen, Michael (September 2, 2018). "Giants waive QB Davis Webb, announce practice squad among roster moves". Giants.com.
  31. ↑ Eisen, Michael (September 25, 2018). "TE Garrett Dickerson called up from practice squad; Kaelin Clay waived/injured". Giants.com.
  32. ↑ "Salt Lake Stallions Sign Four More Locals". KSL Sports. December 22, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  33. ↑ Rothstein, Michael; Wickersham, Seth (June 13, 2019). "Inside the short, unhappy life of the Alliance of American Football". ESPN.com. Retrieved January 9, 2024.
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