Elmo L. Kelly, an end from Tipton, Oklahoma, was a key member of the 1939 and 1940 OBU football teams which won 16, lost 4, and tied 1.

The 1940 team won the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference championship with a 6-0-1 mark. Kelly was a second-team selection on the All-OCAC Team and a first team choice for the Associated Press' All-Oklahoma Collegiate Team.

When OBU dropped football after the 1940 season, Kelly transferred to Wichita State where he played for the Shockers.

In 1944 he played professional football for George Halas and the Chicago Bears.

Kelly lived in Shawnee and worked as a geologist until his death in 1996.