WCBI Sports Director Derek Cody and sports anchor Tim Kelchner are proud to announce that The End Zone will have a big addition to Friday night’s show as former Aberdeen and Mississippi State Bulldog Reggie Kelly of the Cincinnati Bengals is set to co-host the show tonight from the studios in Columbus.
“It’s an honor to have Reggie come on the show,” said Cody who has been with WCBI since December of 2006. “He is a fantastic football player, but an even better person. The amount of community service he does is astounding, and him taking time out of his schedule to come spend some time with us is just a testament to the type of person he is.”
Kelly, who runs a summer football camp in his hometown of Aberdeen, has long been none for his generosity and down-to-earth character unlike the most people’s stereotype of today’s athletes in the NFL.
“Reggie is just a great guy,” said Brandon Speck Sports Editor for the Monroe Journal. “He is the type of player that doesn’t worry about how many catches he makes in a game because he wants to do whatever it takes to win. He is that same kind of person off the field too, he wants to do whatever it takes to make people from Aberdeen have a shot at a better future.”
“It’s Refreshing to see a professional athlete whose head you don’t have to grease to get through the door,” Cody.
Photo from Monroe360.com -- courtesy of the Cincinnati Begals.
Kelly is in the beginning phases of a six-month healing process after a season-ending ruptured Achilles’ tendon.
“It’s very unfortunate,” offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski told the AP. “We lost a very good player who is a true professional, a leader and a gentleman. There’s nothing we can do about it. It’s a freak thing. We have to face it, go forward and find a way.”
Kelly tied his career-high with 31 catches last season (also in 2000). He has 184 career receptions in his 10 NFL seasons, the first four with Atlanta (1999-2002) and the remainder with the Bengals. He last scored an NFL touchdown in 2006 and has five in his pro career.
He was a second-round pick (42nd overall) of the Falcons in the 1999 draft, the second of four Mississippi State players to be picked in that draft.
When asked if the “Our Turn” duo would extend Reggie any challenges Cody laughed and said, “You know, we’re going to let Reggie call some highlights since he’s a decidedly better athlete than the two of us combined, we might be able to get him in that area.”
Fans are encouraged to call 662-245-0133 or 800-844-WCBI to call in scores on Friday nights (or any other night for that matter). They can also post scores on Twitter using the hashtag #WCBIendzone or reply to @WCBISPORTS.
“This season has truly become fully interactive for our fans,” said Cody. “Fans who have joined our End Zone Facebook page can leave scores there as well as post their pictures and videos from Friday night’s action and interact with other fans from around North Mississippi and West Alabama.”
The End Zone airs at 10:10 p.m. on Friday nights on WCBI then switches over to My Mississippi for a longer version of the show that wraps up at 11:05 p.m.
If you miss either airing you can catch the rebroadcast on WCBI at 12:35 a.m. and again at 10:00 a.m. on My Mississippi.
Notes… The show has been called “The End Zone” since 2006, but has been a long time fixture to WCBI’s Friday night news broadcast. The last two seasons, they did a show similar to The End Zone called The End Zone 2, which focused on college football. The show included Matt Wyatt, John Darnell and Freddie Milons — they are working on bringing that show back for season 3 later this month. They also have done two bowl specials, high school football preview shows, and a football playoff preview show last year.
Derek Cody is originally from Ada, Oklahoma and went to school at Mississippi State before finishing at Central Oklahoma. He was promoted to Sports Director in January of 2008.
Tim Kelchner is originally from Millville, Pennsylvania and graduated from Elizabethtown College. He has been sports reporter/anchor since February 2008 and to answer the number one question I get when asked if I know Tim — sorry ladies, he is not single.
