High School senior Ty Kelley was a nightmare for opponents on the gridiron in Bourne, Massachusetts, this season.The 17-year-old quarterback ran for 11 touchdowns and passed for seven more, while picking off the opposing QB six times while playing safety. Kelley also starred on special teams for Bourne High School. He returned kicks while also serving as the team’s punter and kicker.”I love playing safety, but quarterback was obviously more exciting,” Kelley said.Kelley led the Canalmen to the playoffs and won the 2023 Otto Graham Award, which is given to the top senior high school football player on the South Coast of Massachusetts.He accomplished all of this despite being born with only a thumb and pointer finger on his right hand.”I’m not sure if I was a righty when I was born, but I definitely could have been. So I had to learn how to do everything lefty,” Kelley said. “Everything to the right side is a little bit more difficult, I would say, but you really don’t notice it because I’m so used to it.”Tammy Kelley, Ty’s mother, said she only worried about her son’s symbrachydactyly when he was born.”It’s always heartbreaking to know that your child is going to have to overcome some sort of disability,” Tammy Kelley said.But those fears went away once Ty started excelling at essentially everything, including baseball and hockey.”There really isn’t anything he can’t do because if it’s hard for him, he’ll work at it,” Tammy Kelley said.Ty Kelley has also put in some hard work in the classroom which has paid off with him becoming a member of the National Honor Society.”Just because you have a disability or a uniqueness that is different from others, it doesn’t mean you can’t do what they can do,” Tammy Kelley said.Ty Kelley said he wants to continue to play football in college and has already been offered roster spots at both Framingham State University and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
High School senior Ty Kelley was a nightmare for opponents on the gridiron in Bourne, Massachusetts, this season.
The 17-year-old quarterback ran for 11 touchdowns and passed for seven more, while picking off the opposing QB six times while playing safety.
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Kelley also starred on special teams for Bourne High School. He returned kicks while also serving as the team’s punter and kicker.
“I love playing safety, but quarterback was obviously more exciting,” Kelley said.
Kelley led the Canalmen to the playoffs and won the 2023 Otto Graham Award, which is given to the top senior high school football player on the South Coast of Massachusetts.
He accomplished all of this despite being born with only a thumb and pointer finger on his right hand.
“I’m not sure if I was a righty when I was born, but I definitely could have been. So I had to learn how to do everything lefty,” Kelley said. “Everything to the right side is a little bit more difficult, I would say, but you really don’t notice it because I’m so used to it.”
Tammy Kelley, Ty’s mother, said she only worried about her son’s symbrachydactyly when he was born.
“It’s always heartbreaking to know that your child is going to have to overcome some sort of disability,” Tammy Kelley said.
But those fears went away once Ty started excelling at essentially everything, including baseball and hockey.
“There really isn’t anything he can’t do because if it’s hard for him, he’ll work at it,” Tammy Kelley said.
Ty Kelley has also put in some hard work in the classroom which has paid off with him becoming a member of the National Honor Society.
“Just because you have a disability or a uniqueness that is different from others, it doesn’t mean you can’t do what they can do,” Tammy Kelley said.
Ty Kelley said he wants to continue to play football in college and has already been offered roster spots at both Framingham State University and the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
