BOULDER – As a kid in Cleveland and for a couple of decades thereafter, Ben Kelly’s headgear of choice was a helmet. Which comes as no surprise to any University of Colorado football devotee who watched him return kickoffs, punts, and pick off passes in the late ‘90s.
But here’s what you didn’t know about Kelly: With a nudge or two (and if he hadn’t been so athletically gifted) persuading him to swap his helmet for a chef’s hat might have been as easy as buttering a bagel. His passion for the kitchen and cooking matched his electrifying 100-yard kick returns almost stride for stride.