Max Kelley

The 1984 movie “The Natural” focused on the baseball career of fictional player Roy Hobbs, but if the movie was set in Limestone County, it might have focused on Max Kelley, a real-life natural.

Kelley, who was inducted into the Limestone County Sports Hall of Fame in 2009 and was also a member of the Madison County and Cullman County sports halls of fame, died Friday, May 18, at Cullman Regional Medical Center at the age of 83.

Kelley was a standout football and baseball player, beginning at Athens High School, where he earned All-County and All-Tennessee Valley Conference honors while playing for the Golden Eagles and their legendary coach Ferman Elmore.

Kelley’s family moved to Cullman midway through his high school career, and Kelley finished his high school years at Cullman, going on to earn both All-State and All-TVC honors with the Bearcats.

At the time of his Limestone County Hall of Fame induction, Ferman Elmore’s son, Jimmy Elmore, spoke glowingly of Kelley.

“Max is such a good person,” Elmore said. “Dad loved him and thought he was as tough a player as he ever coached. Max was a hard-nosed football player that would really hit you.”

That tenacity helped Kelley get a football scholarship to the University of Alabama, where he was a three-year starter for the Crimson Tide, playing both offensive guard and fullback. He was also a catcher on the Alabama baseball team.

Kelley’s teammates voted him football team MVP in 1956, and following his senior season, he received the highest honor an Alabama football player can receive, as his hand and footprints were enshrined at the Denny Chimes Walk of Fame.

After his playing career finished, he went into teaching and coaching. He started out as an assistant football coach at Dothan High School before moving back to north Alabama. He served as head football coach at Huntsville High before moving over to Butler High to become head baseball coach and assistant football coach. He also served as a high school basketball official for many years in North Alabama.

Kelley was laid to rest Sunday, May 20, at Valhalla Memory Gardens in Huntsville.