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Princeton University Athletics
Players Mentioned
His New Reality ? Cart Kelly Feature
October 30, 2009 | Football
As a freshman, he was the reality TV star who was going to play football at Princeton. As a senior, he's the Princeton football player — yeah, he was the one, right? — who used to on a reality TV show.
If you're looking for an indicator about how Cart Kelly's career with the Princeton football team has gone, that's about the best one.
Kelly spent the summer of 2006 as part of ESPN's “Summer House,” a show that featured six incoming college football players. His appearance generated a buzz about his arrival at Princeton.
Now a senior, that buzz was long ago replaced by his actual on-field accomplishments, which include an Ivy League championship and three years as a starting defensive back.
“I'm glad I had the experience,” Kelly says, “but I wouldn't want to have been known only for that. I've grown out of that, and I've been able to make a name for myself on the field, as opposed to just for the show.”
Kelly has started 23 straight games for Princeton, a streak that began a year after he played special teams and certain defensive situations for the 2006 team, which won the Ivy League title his freshman year. He has more than 100 career tackles and two interceptions, each in Ivy League victories.
“I know everybody says how it flies by, how it's gone in the blink of an eye,” he says. “I know what they mean now. It seems like yesterday we were here for FSI [a pre-freshman scholars program].”
Kelly grew up in Western Pennsylvania, where almost every boy plays football as a kid. He played at Baldwin High School, one of the larger schools in the area, and his team twice was able to qualify for the state playoffs, only to lose heartbreaking games both times.
“It's a way of life in Pittsburgh,” says Kelly, who also played basketball and was a high jumper in high school. “That's what you do; you play football. It was a great experience to go through, and it really prepares you for the next level, if that's what you're going to do.”
One area he wasn't prepared for was his TV career, which came about completely out of the blue. Chris Spielman, a former NFL linebacker who had played at Ohio State, was putting together a show for ESPN that would take six incoming college football freshmen and have them live together while competing in various tasks.
Kelly may have fit the position perfectly, but he didn't exactly pursue it.Part of the plan was to have five of the six be FBS scholarship players, with the sixth to come from a non-scholarship, highly academic school.
“I didn't even apply,” he says. “I came home one day, and ESPN was at my house. My mother had applied for me. I thought she was kidding. Then they interviewed me, and I went through a series of cuts.
Eventually, I made it.”
Kelly – who turned down interest from MAC schools like Akron, Bowling Green and Miami of Ohio and Eastern power New Hampshire to chose Princeton – was part of the six-man house. The other five were Cody Hawkins (now Colorado's quarterback), Taylor Potts (now the quarterback at pass-happy Texas Tech), London Crawford (wide receiver for Arkansas), Jarred Fayson (began his career at Florida before transferring to Illinois) and Terrence Austin (wide receiver at UCLA).
The premise was that the six would live together for two weeks and compete in athletic and non-athletic competitions, which would award different levels of points. There were events like an obstacle course, a scavenger hunt throughout Chicago, a cooking contest and others. Kelly ended up finishing second, two points behind Hawkins.
“I've stayed in touch with most of them,” Kelly says, “especially Cody and Taylor. I talk to them on Facebook all the time. We see how we're all doing.”
Of course, part of the point of the show was to showcase the difference between the experience Kelly would have at Princeton and the one the others would have at their schools.
“It's been drastically different,” Kelly says. “It took me a long time to learn how to balance the academic standards here with athletics and that it's a learning process the whole time.”
He earned his championship ring as a freshman, when he was one of several of the current seniors to make a significant contribution. His full-time playing status began as a sophomore, and he's continued to improve.
“The best way to get better is to play,” he says. “You learn from your mistakes. I learned a lot my sophomore year by playing, and I feel like I've matured the last two years. I have a much greater knowledge of the game, and that's helped me be a better player.”
Kelly is a sociology major, and he's unsure of what direction he'll take after graduation after doing internships at a pharmaceutical company and a law firm. For now, he's taking advantage of each week of his final football season at Princeton. His role now is as a three-year starter and team leader.
It's a long way away from his previous role as a reality TV star, and it's a role he prefers.
by Jerry Price