Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Where You At?: Kelly Baraka Edition

The "Where You At?" series continues with a look at former Michigan running back and Portage Northern phenom Kelly Baraka.

In college football, where 18 year-old kids are told they are destined for NFL millions before ever setting foot in a college classroom, there are bound to be some major "what-ifs". Every college football team has at least one. What if Randy Moss had not been kicked out of both Notre Dame and Florida State before ending up at Marshall? What if Jason Gwaltney could ever get his act together at West Virginia? What if Willie Williams could stay out of jail long enough to stick at Miami or Louisville? The list goes on.

For Michigan fans, Kelly Baraka is the [insert here] portion of that what if question. The Portage Northern standout was Tom Lemming's 16th ranked overall player for the recruiting class of 2001, a versatile speedster who could make an immediate impact at running back, wide receiver, defensive back, and returner. Baraka was a recruit who had reached mythical status, the sort of can't miss prospect that gets an offer from every major program in the country. In his first game of his junior season at Portage, he ran for 149 yards on 18 carries, caught 3 passes for 65 yards, made 9 tackles on defense, and returned a punt 64 yards for a touchdown...in the first half. He also ran a 10.3 100 yard dash, beating future Spartan superstar (and Lions bust) Charles Rogers for the state title.

I Am Legend

Baraka headlined a Michigan recruiting class that featured six top-100 players, including Marlin Jackson, Ernest Shazor, and Pierre Woods (as well as Pat Massey and David Underwood...oh well). However, he was arrested twice for marijuana possession before the start of his freshman campaign, and was suspended for the season by Lloyd Carr. Still, before the 2002 season, Baraka was supposed to bring lightning speed to a Michigan backfield that hadn't seen a speedster of his caliber since Tyrone Wheatley. Instead, Baraka was dismissed from the team for "undisclosed reasons" in April of 2002.

Without a Division 1-A team calling, and with the stigma of two drug arrests on his record, Baraka spent a season and a half at Joliet Junior College, a member of the NJCAA, before injuries and lost passion for the game dropped him completely off the football map.

Baraka resurfaced in 2006, showing up at a tryou
t for the Grand Rapids Rampage of the Arena Football League. He recorded the fastest 40-yard dash time at the tryout (4.57 seconds), but failed to latch on with the team.

One would think that failing to stick in the Arena League would signal the end of Kelly Baraka's tumultuous football career. However, Baraka was determined to continue playing the game he had a renewed passion for. For the past two seasons, Baraka has played for the Kalamazoo Xplosion, a member of the Continental Indoor Football League. The CIFL is a professional 7-on-7 indoor league, based in the Great Lakes area, that boasts high scoring games and an opportunity to move on to higher leagues.

An older, wiser, cornrowed Baraka.

Baraka has not put up mind-blowing numbers at Kalamazoo, but he sounds like he has landed on his feet. In a March 2008 interview with ESPN Radio's Kalamazoo affiliate, he expressed gratitude for the opportunity to play professional football, as well as remorse for his past mistakes. He still holds out hope of making the NFL, but most importantly, he sounds like he has his life together, and has learned from his checkered past. I'd highly recommend listening to the entirety of the interview, which can be found here.

Whether you think Kelly Baraka is a moron who wasted his talent, or a young kid who made one too many mistakes, I hope you don't hold any ill will against him. When high school kids are handed so much, some are bound to make poor choices, and ultimately what Baraka did hurt himself more than it ever hurt the Michigan program (Chris Perry and Mike Hart did a pretty good job of covering the years Baraka would have starred for the Wolverines). It is great to see that he still loves the game of football and is making the most of the opportunities that are still available to him.

Baraka could star at RB, WR or DB (ESPN)
Tom Lemming's revised top 100 for 2001 (ESPN)
Baraka dismissed by Carr, won't return (Michigan Daily)
Kelly Baraka Junior College Statistics (NJCAA)
Former U-M Blue-Chipper at Rampage Tryout (rampagefootball.com)
High school phenom gets another chance at professional football (Kalamazoo Xplosion)
Player Profile: Kelly Baraka (CIFL)
About the CIFL (CIFL)
Podcast: ESPN 1660 Sports Report (Podango)

9 comments:

Jeremy said...

I grew up around the corner from Kelly. I still remember him finishing incredible distances ahead of all competition at our school's track & field day... in fourth and fifth grade.

He definitely had the world at his fingertips (Chris Perry would not have had the career he had at Michigan had Kelly stayed clean) and wasted it away. The story was that he was arrested for smoking pot and trying to flush it when the cops arrived at the house of an armed robbery suspect. Not very smart.

On a side note, his father worked (works?) at Portage Northern high school and was always kind and friendly to everyone.

Anonymous said...

I'm pretty sure baraka i saw him hanging the jay man. Jay manske

s1baraka said...

I am Kelly's big sis' & I do not appreciate Jeremy's comments on my brother. You don't know the details of what happened. You're just operating on hearsay. Just because you live around the corner from my family & possibly went to school with Kelly DOES NOT mean that you know what's going on. Jeremy keep my brother's name out of your mouth!! NO ONE knows better than Kelly's family what happened, what didn't happen, & what's going to happen. You have no idea the pain and struggle we(The Baraka Family) went thru!!!

Unknown said...

shit is crazy, i went to kalamazoo central with greg jennings (green bay packers) and jerome harrison (cleavland browns) and honestly, kelly supposed to be right there in the league with them...those were by far the 3 best players i had ever seen play in person...shit is truely a tragedy...

Anonymous said...

s1baraka....why don't you tell us what happened then? So the police reports, which are public records, are INACCURATE? Hmmm, if Kelly is sorry for his mistakes, then why are you picking on a poster for stating the obvious...he did waste a great opportunity. Do you think you guys were the only ones that had a tough upbringing...come on! Of course we don't know all of what you went through, but that's not the point. We all hope Kelly is doing well and wish him the best. Don't be so negative.

Anonymous said...

Im rufus barnett kellys younger cousin..what my cousin did was a mistake that many people have and will always make..and now hes paid for it and is moving on to better things....

Anonymous said...

...pot shouldn't be illegal anyway

Anonymous said...

I knew Kelly very well years ago. I have not spoke to him for quite some time, but I know my family has. He has made his mistakes, and has had to face the repercussions of this actions for many years. However, I hope that he finds happiness and contentment in whatever adventures come his way in life! Best of luck to him and his family.

Matt Pinard said...

I won a State Title with Lloyd Carrs Son, who played ahead of me even though I was better, his son did far worse than Kelly in college and kept his scholarship and was given a Ufer Award, LC is the biggest racist hypocrite in the history of CFB