"That's a lot, man," Kelly said, his smile wide and his eyes gleaming. "That's a whole lot."

But don't expect Kelly to start living the high life of young millionaires.

"I've got my same car from high school, man, my '95 SS Impala. It looks good, though; I got 22s," he said, referring to the size of the car's custom rims. "I'd been wanting that car ever since I was in middle school. I got it the year I graduated (high school), and I'm going to have it until it stops running."

And although Kelly has the look to grace magazine covers, he says he'll have little use for thousand-dollar suits.

"You know me, I'm all country," Kelly said. "I'm not no big spender or nothing like that. I'm in warmups and T-shirt every day. I'm not going to need no Armanis or Guccis or nothing like that. I can't even see myself in that sort of stuff, unless it's some kind of awards show or something like that where you dress up."

Kelly has spent the last few days participating in the NFL Scouting Combine, impressing NFL coaches, scouts and general managers first with his striking frame, then his strong handshake, then his gregarious personality. If not for an injury to his thigh, he would spend Sunday impressing them even more with a workout.

Kelly's workout won't be until early April, and he expects to blow everyone away.

Kelly said a GM told him that if he could run the 40-yard dash in 4.55 seconds or less, he would certainly be drafted in the top 15 picks of the NFL Draft on April 26. He said he was told if he could run a sub-4.5, he'd go even higher.

"I said, 'Man, that's going to be nothing,' Kelly recalls. "I'm going to kill that."

For the record, Kelly ran 4.52 as a freshman at OU, and, because of injuries hasn't recorded a 40 time since.

Kelly's on-field production speaks for itself. As a junior, he caught 49 passes for 821 yards and nine touchdowns. During his sophomore season, he had 62 receptions for 993 yards and 10 scores.

But the confidence Kelly has about his impending 40-yard dash comes from his recent six weeks of work under renowned fitness trainer Chip Smith at CES Sports in Atlanta.

Kelly played at OU at 217 pounds, but Friday he weighed 224 and was noticeably more muscled up.

"This stuff this dude has down there, it's like all resistance stuff, then you have resistance on your biceps that's connected to that," Kelly said. "It's amazing."

Kelly has limitless upside, but some feel he's far from the finished product.

"I think Kelly has tremendous potential," NFL.com senior writer Gil Brandt said. "I wish he would have stayed in school because history tells us the more experienced wide receivers get, the better chance they have. Very hard position to learn. Second-hardest other than being a quarterback."

Some mock drafts have projected Kelly going to Buffalo with the 11th pick. He thinks with a good 40 time, the top 15 is a lock. The six players chosen between the 10th and 15th spots in last year's draft signed contracts that averaged $19.78 million in their total worth, with an average of $10.64 million guaranteed.

Kelly's father, Moses, is a mechanic at a chemical company in Longview, Texas. His mother, Marva, used to work there, too, but has been ill for almost a decade. His parents, he said -- not cool cars and fancy clothes -- were the priorities when he decided to skip his senior year and turn pro.

"The first round is good, but I feel like the higher I go, I can take care of me and my family," he said. "That's the biggest thing with me, man. My momma came down with lupus and she couldn't work. . . . I just want to make it my duty, man, that whenever I get here, I take care of them."

John E. Hoover 581-8384
john.hoover@tulsaworld.com