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Shannon Sharpe of the Denver Broncos once said: “Guys like me, nobody pays attention to because we run our mouth, but guys like Mike Shanahan, people worry about because he never speaks and because of that, you never know what he is thinking.”
The same could be said of University of Maine men’s soccer captain and fifth-year senior Patrick Kelly. Despite being a vocal presence on and off the field, it’s his silent, steady play that has made him a player that opposing teams do not want to take lightly.
Coming from a place where the legend of Larry Bird ran rampant and Pele was just known for bar trivia, the Springfield, Mass. native has been a mainstay for the Black Bears since transferring from George Washington.
As the soccer program continues to improve from last year, Kelly hopes that the things he valued the most at UMaine will continue to flourish to current and future Black Bears.
“I think last year we were just down from just three games in the season.” Kelly said, “This season we’re still down but it’s frustrating because you and the guys you play with all want to win.”
When Kelly came in as a freshman, there was already enough hype to fulfill. Forget the fact that he was an MVP at his prep school or the fact that in his senior year in high school he was the team’s MVP and led them to a state finals birth. He also had to deal with the tradition that was left behind by his brother.
In 1997, things were going great, there was promise for the program as wins kept coming up and for someone who had never had a losing season before in his life, it looked like the choice of going to UMaine was paying off until things began to change.
“I had really high expectations when I came here.” Kelly said. “I was trying to follow my brother’s footsteps who made All-Conference from his sophomore to his senior year. The program was losing money and players [were] starting to leave and there was never a real solid group of people and when things don’t go your team’s way, things do not go your way.”
Little by little, the things that Kelly expected began to wash away. Once players started graduating or leaving to go play at other places, the concern for playing as a team was decreasing and a change in personnel was also a major factor.
Soon after a stint at George Washington that did not go as expected, Evans, as well as Kelley’s teammates, welcomed the player back with open arms. One of the people welcoming Kelly’s return was current assistant coach Mat Cosgrove.
“Mat and I were the only two people from my class that stayed the whole time,” Kelly said. “He has been my closest friend my whole time here. I had no place to stay and he and his roommate let me stay at their house.”
Even though he did not dress as a George Washington player, NCAA rules still said he must sit out the season.
“Washington D.C. was a nice place. The guys at George Washington were great but it just came down to a case of I missed Maine,” Kelly said. “When you’re here all the things you hate, you start to like when you leave. When I was at George Washington I was next to the campus hospital so it was always loud, but at UMaine it was just quiet and when I told my friends I was coming back, everybody welcomed me back.”
Kelley’s return meant that not only did the Black Bears have a good prospect coming back but a future leader as well. According to his teammates, it was the examples Kelley set off the field that stood out a bit more than those on of the field.
“When I first came here, I was nervous about many things,” junior Keith Moore said. “But having someone like PK [Kelly's nickname] around really helped because he had already seen what I had seen plus he is just an easy going person who is easy to talk to.”
As the sun set on the field after practice, Kelly sat on the bench and thought about what type of image he hoped he could leave at UMaine.
“I hope that the players who come in next year realize that the players before them sacrificed a lot to get them where they are,” Kelly said. “Hopefully you did a good job and you hope that people have a smile on their face when they mention your name.”
