Countdown to Kickoff: No. 6

Kelly Campbell

The countdown to kickoff is officially on as Georgia Tech‘s season-opening matchup at Colorado on Aug. 29 is less than 100 days away.

Until then JOL will be counting it down with one Jackets’ player daily that wore the corresponding number of days remaining until toe meets leather in Boulder.

With it now six days until kickoff in Boulder, today’s focus is on No. 6 Kelly Campbell, a wide receiver whose name can be found all through the Georgia Tech record books as truly one of the best pass-catchers in the program’s history.

Campbell made his way to The Flats in the late 1990s after a strong prep career at Mays High (Ga.) in Atlanta as he decided to stay close to home to play for the Jackets and former head coach George O’Leary.

Campbell saw action in 10 games as a true freshman, playing some on special teams and offense, as he had 11 receptions for 131 yards and one touchdown.

The breakthrough year came as as sophomore in 1999 as Campbell exploded for 1,105 yards on 69 catches with 10 touchdowns as one of the top targets for former Tech QB great Joe Hamilton in his Heisman runner-up season. Campbell also had a rushing touchdown during the Jackets’ run to an 8-4 record and Gator Bowl berth and was named First-Team All-ACC.

Campbell carried that momentum over into the next season as the Jackets’ offense made the transition to another impressive starting quarterback, George Godsey, with little to no drop-off. He once again put up impressive numbers with 963 yards on 59 receptions with 10 touchdowns as well as 87 yards on the ground on four attempts with two TDs. He averaged 24.3 yards on 26 kick returns that Fall also and earned a Second-Team All-ACC nod.

Campbell closed out his Tech career with a 2001 campaign in which he played in nine games and had 708 yards on 56 catches with three touchdowns. He was once again named First-Team All-ACC as his production put him at or near the top of several Georgia Tech career records for receivers.

Campbell is still the Jackets’ all-time leader in career receptions with 195 and is second to only Calvin Johnson in career receiving yards with 2,907 and career receiving TDs with 24. He is tied for the most receptions in a single game in program history with his 14-catch effort vs. Clemson in 2000, is tied for second in single-season TD catches (10 in both 1999 and 2000), has the fourth-highest total of single-season receptions (69 in 1999) and yards (1,105 in 1999) and is fifth and sixth in single-game receiving yards with 209 vs. Clemson in 2000 and 203 vs. North Carolina in 1999.

Despite his impressive college career, Campbell went undrafted in the 2002 NFL Draft but signed as an undrafted free agent with the Minnesota Vikings. He went on to spend four seasons there from 2002-2005 before joining the Miami Dolphins’ franchise in 2006 and 2007. He later signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2009 but was placed on injured reserve before the start of the season.

In all for his NFL career, he played in 37 games with 11 starts and had 57 catches for 1,062 yards and eight touchdowns while also returning 40 kickoffs for a total of 861 yards (21.5 yard average). He later signed with the

Campbell also spent two years in the Canadian Football League in 2008 and 2010 with the Edmonton Eskimos. He led the CFL in yards per reception with a mark of 22.6 in 2008 when he caught 54 passes for 1,223 yards and seven touchdowns.

Campbell was inducted into the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame in 2013.

Honorable Mention

–Chris Milton (DB from 2012-2015; Finished his career with 96 total tackles with 82 solo stops, three tackles-for-loss, five interceptions, 12 passes defended, one forced fumble and two defensive touchdowns; Played in the NFL for the Colts, Titans, Giants and Dolphins from 2016-2021 with 36 total tackles and two fumble recoveries over 56 games)

–Keion White (DE/DL from 2021-2022 after transferring from Old Dominion; Finished with 58 total tackles with 31 solo, 14 tackles-for-loss and 7.5 sacks in his two seasons at Tech; Third-Team All-ACC in 2022; Drafted in the second round at No. 46 overall by the New England Patriots in the 2023 NFL Draft; Has played in 33 games with 17 starts over two seasons so far for the Patriots and has 82 tackles, 10 tackles-for-loss, six sacks, two forced fumbles and eight passes defended)