MSU Transfer DL Grady Kelly Holds Faith Dear to His Heart

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Aidan Champion | Last updated Apr 9, 2025 8:02 PM ET

Grady Kelly, one of Michigan State's newest defensive linemen, is a football player, but he prides himself in being more than that.

Kelly is a man of God, and he's not afraid to wear it on his sleeve.

The veteran lineman transferred over from Florida State, where he spent one season after playing three at Colorado State. He took an opportunity to open up about his faith on Tuesday when discussing what he thought Michigan State saw in him.

"I think there is an ability there that they see, but I think they just believe in me as a person, who I am and what I stand for," Kelly said.

And what does he stand for?

"I am a servant of God. I faithfully pursue Jesus, that's who I am, that's my whole personality," Kelly said. "People can call me whatever they want, but that is what my life revolves around, serving Jesus. I walk in light of that. I came here and believed my opportunity here was to be a ministry, to reach out to people and bring them along, to show them who Jesus was and the love of him.

"I'm married; I have a wife at 21. I love my wife very much; I'm very family oriented. I care deeply about the people that I'm around. I want to win; I have a desire and a passion to win. The bigger stage you can be on, the more you can glorify God."

Kelly believes his faith is shared amongst some of his new teammates.

"I think there has been a Jesus revolution on this team," the transfer said. "There's guys that are not only claiming to follow Jesus and to be Christians, but guys that are willfully and lovingly submitting their lives to him.

"We have guys like J-Hall [Jordan Hall], who I've just seen just grow even since I've been here and just really serve the Lord. And I think that the biggest thing about Jesus and sports and this is: When we have our identity in the world, we ride these ebbs and flows of performance, basically.

"Everything's performance oriented. So, when I do good, I'm on top of the world. And when I do bad, I hate myself; I'm shameful and guilty. And that affects performance, too. So, when you put your identity in Christ, your value as a person, no matter your performance, is unwavering, is unchanging because He's constant.

" ... So, yeah, I think just that freedom that comes with playing with Christ is such a reason that God has become so prevalent in this sport."

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This article first appeared on Michigan State Spartans on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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