- Coilin Baross
Blue Ace Alumni, NFL Player Returns to East
During East’s final home regular season football game, Xavier Kelly, an NFL player and East alumni, came to handle the coin toss against North. Kelly said it was great to come back to his roots, he displayed his nostalgia for his old high school.
“It feels amazing, man. It’s a blessing, I feel like I was just here yesterday. It’s a blessing to be here seeing East 74-0 at half time. I’m very proud,” Kelly said. “It’s great, it’s great to be back.”
According to the former Blue Ace and current Baltimore Raven, being at East aided his college and eventual career in the NFL.
“Coming to East helped me because I was surrounded by the best coaches in high school football, and they gave me the opportunity to show my talent here,” Kelly said. “They put me in the right position to go to a division one college.”
The now-pro football player also gave inspirational advice for all Aces wanting to be an athlete as a career after leaving East.
“Don’t be afraid to dream big, it all starts with a vision. If you can believe it you can do it, everybody has the same 24 hours in the day, we all put on the pants one leg at a time. So just work hard and you can achieve anything you want,” Kelly said.