The Green Bay Packers claimed cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly off waivers from the Seattle Seahawks on Nov. 15.
Kelly (6-0, 191), a rookie out of Stanford, was originally drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fifth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. He was released after training camp and claimed off waivers by Seattle. Kelly played in five games for the Seahawks this season.
He started 35 of 38 career games played for the Cardinals from 2019-22, earning second-team All-Pac-12 honors from the conference coaches in each of his last two seasons.
What happened to get you to Green Bay?
I got released from the Seahawks, as you all know, on Saturday. Sunday, I was back home. Monday, the phone call from up in Wisconsin. It happens quick. It happens quick.
Are you used to the mental switchup?
Yeah, my dad played for 12 years luckily, so I have someone in the business. He said, “It’s your rookie year, man. You had a rough year going all over the place, but it’s your first place – a year from now might not even be like this. Just stay the course, do what you can and just make sure you make it worthwhile.”
How are you absorbing information? Can you contribute quickly?
Going to work every single day. First of all, learning the playbook, make sure I know what I need to do and whatever’s asked of me, do it full throttle. That’s all you can do. Control what you can control.
Who has the better hands – you or Dad?
Yeah, it’s Year 1. So we’ll see about four years from now who’s got more. I’ll make sure I can leap that number, but yeah, he’s pretty good.
You have better hands?
Yeah, most definitely. I played receiver. He didn’t.
How are you picking up this defense?
Yeah, I got pretty good football IQ. I’ve been in three defenses now. You see similarities around the league. Some people do the same things, different terminology – similar to Seattle, I’d say, as what you guys do here. So, it’s coming pretty fast.
Dad prepare you for NFL process?
Similar to what I was saying, this is the nature of the beast, the league. It’s the NFL – Not For Long. You could be somewhere and think you’re doing well, and business side of things put you somewhere else. It’s just that mentality you gotta have being in this business. But it’s a great business to be in if you can get into it.
How soon can you play special teams?
Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely. I’m healthy, so wherever I need to go, I can go. That’s a good thing.
What’s the story of your name?
Definitely. So my dad wanted Blu. We’re all in the delivery room. I’m crying, and my mom’s not feeling it and wants something with a K. They compromised Kyu Blu.
Ever meet a Kyu?
No, probably never will.
Was Green Bay interested prior to the draft?
Coach Hood was my DB coach at the Senior Bowl. So, that was someone I had connected with, and we had a bunch of draft meetings. He said, “Keep my number.” You never know, and here I am. Things like that happen, for sure.
Did you ever meet assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia?
No, but he always got a Christmas card with me on it. He’s definitely a friend of my dad’s and someone who’s really close to the family, and now I’m getting to know him on a coaching level, which is pretty cool.
You’re big into designing video games?
I’m the chief creative officer of a video game I’m making and pairing into movie directing, too. It’s just something I stumbled in. My dad’s friends with somebody who does that. He didn’t know a thing about video games. He thought this movie idea would be a great video game, and they kind of streamlined me. I wrote some stuff up. I wrote a few scripts, and they really liked it.
I’m sticking with that, that’s my outside-of-football hobby pretty much.
Where did that interest start?
I didn’t have to go to school for it. It was just playing a lot of video games. When I wrote the script, they were like, “Who did this?” My dad’s like, “My son,” and they’re like, “Well, we’d like to do some other things with it,” but I tried to stay as much as I can into it. They allowed me to be the chief creative officer.
What do you bring?
Just versatility, somebody’s who played inside and outside, has special teams background in the league and a healthy body. Whatever they need me to.
Kelly brings versatility to field
