Chad Kelly's Agent Denies Ole Miss QB's Draft Combine Invitation Was Rescinded

Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly reportedly was originally invited to the NFL Scouting Combine but had that offer rescinded, according to ESPN's Bill Polian (via Adam Caplan of ESPN).

Matt Miller of Bleacher Report earlier reported that Kelly wasn't invited due to "off-field issues."

However, Kelly's agent Vance McAllister told 1270 The Fan in New York, (per ESPN's Mike Rodak) the NFL invited his client to the combine on Jan. 6, had him book a flight and has not taken away the invite.

The NFL changed its attendance policy regarding the combine in Feb. 2016. According to a report at the time from Lindsay H. Jones of USA Today, "the NFL will no longer allow players with convictions for domestic violence, sexual assault or weapons offenses to attend the annual scouting combine in Indianapolis."

In addition, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations, Troy Vincent, said in a memo that "invited prospects would be barred from 'any league-related event' if a background check turns up a felony or misdemeanor conviction," per Jones.

Kelly pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge in January 2015 for his role in a nightclub incident in Buffalo that ultimately led to Kelly being thrown out of the club. He also ran onto the field during a brawl that took place at his brother's high school football game between the two teams.

Additionally, in 2014 Kelly was kicked off the Clemson football team. 

"He has had a pattern of behavior that is not consistent with the values of our program," Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said at the time, per Andrea Adelson of ESPN.

He eventually transferred to Ole Miss and thrived on the field, throwing for 4,042 yards and 31 touchdowns in 2015 and 2,758 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2016 before tearing his ACL and lateral meniscus in Nov. 2016, cutting his season short.

Given the injury, Kelly wouldn't have been able to participate in the combine drills, but his presence in Indianapolis still would have had value, per Miller: 

It's one reason why the new combine rules haven't been universally embraced, according to Dane Brugler of CBS Sports:

As for his draft stock, Miller believes teams will continue to have interest in Kelly:

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He's still an intriguing quarterback prospect in a bad overall class.

Kelly has all the required tools on the field—arm strength, athleticism and no fear facing down SEC defenses. We shouldn't forget that he threw for 341 yards and three touchdowns in a win over Alabama in Tuscaloosa in 2015. The next season, in a loss, he threw for 421 yards and three scores.

NFL teams will have to sign off on Kelly's brash personality and cockiness, but as the saying goes, "If Hannibal Lecter ran a 4.3, we'd probably diagnose it as an eating disorder."

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If teams want the opportunity to explore Kelly's off-field concerns and attitude, they won't have the chance to do so at the combine. Those question marks leave Kelly as a prospect likely to come of the board as a mid- to late-round selection in April's NFL draft.