By Kevin Eckleberry

Sports Editor

Braxton Kelley has been here before.

After helping the LaGrange Grangers win a state championship in 2004, Kelley was a starting linebacker at Kentucky the following fall when he suffered a season-ending knee injury seven games into the season.

Kelley returned stronger than ever, and he went on to start three more seasons at Kentucky, becoming one of the SEC’s best defensive players.

Kelley is hoping history repeats itself.

Kelley, who seemed to be a strong candidate to make the Denver Broncos’ roster this year after spending his rookie season on the team’s practice squad, was participating in a drill earlier this month when he suffered another knee injury.

He suffered some torn ligaments, and soon after, he got the news that he’ll be out for the season.

Kelley had surgery last week, and now he’s ready to begin the rehab process, and hopefully return as strong as ever for the 2011 season.

Kelley was released by the Broncos, but when no one signed him off of waivers, he was re-signed by Denver, meaning he’ll remain with the team.

“It was pretty bad when they told me what it was,” Kelley said Wednesday afternoon from Colorado. “But I’ve been through it once, my freshman year in college. I know I can overcome it.”

Still, it’s a devastating break for a player whose career was just taking off.

After leaving Kentucky following the 2008 season, Kelley was signed by the Broncos as an undrafted free agent.

He didn’t make the regular roster, but he was one of the select players who made the practice roster, so he was there every day, making an impression on the coaches.

Kelley felt good about his chances to make the team this year.

“It’s not like I could ask the coaches. They don’t want to hear that. But I was pretty sure I had a good chance of making the squad,” Kelley said. “I feel like I had made a lot of progress.”

The first week in June, Kelley was participating in an organized team activity (OTA) when his dream of being an NFL player was put on hold.

“We were doing a special teams drill,” Kelley said. “I turned around, and my foot just slipped from under me, and I got hit in the back and my knee got twisted.”

Kelley went down, and he hoped that the injury wasn’t as severe as he suspected it was.

“I was pretty sure it was torn when it happened, but you have to be optimistic at the same time,” Kelley said. “I was hoping it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was.”

Kelley’s suspicions were soon confirmed.

He was done for the year.

Kelley had surgery on June 16, and soon he hopes to be ready to begin the rehab process.

‘The surgery went good,” he said. “Now it’s just rehab, physical therapy. I’ll be back, ready to play full speed again.

“I take it as a challenge, to get back on the field as fast as I can.”

Kelley will remain in Colorado for the moment, although he hopes to come home later this summer, perhaps in July.

For now, he remains upbeat, and he won’t dwell on what might have been.

“There’s no use complaining about it,” he said. “Complaining won’t make any difference. I’m just trying to make my way through it.”