INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis Colts backup quarterback Chad Kelly is facing multiple lawsuits following two incidents from when he was with the Denver Broncos in October 2018.
The first suit, which was brought by Jackson Belcher, the personal photographer of Broncos pass-rusher Von Miller, claims Kelly hit Belcher during a Halloween party in Colorado on Oct. 22, 2018.
The complaint, which was filed by Belcher's attorneys in Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colorado, on Oct. 17, 2019, said Kelly was on drugs and intoxicated when he confronted Belcher at a theater in Englewood, Colorado.
Belcher said in the suit, which was obtained by TMZ and The Indianapolis Star, that Kelly punched him without being provoked "on the bridge of the nose causing him to fall into the group of people and then onto a railing." The suit also claims Kelly broke Belcher's video camera to the point that it couldn't be repaired.
Belcher, who was examined at an urgent care center following the incident, suffered a fractured nose and sinusitis from the punch, according to the suit.
"Doctors informed [Belcher] that if he had been hit one centimeter to the left, he very well may have died from the injuries," the suit states.
The cameraman had four surgeries to fix his injuries and could not work for four months while he recovered.
Belcher is seeking damages to cover "without limitation, pain, suffering, impairment of quality of life, physical impairment, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, and medical expenses."
The case was closed in Arapahoe County on Nov. 29, but it's expected to be reopened in federal court.
The second suit claims that Kelly, later that same night, broke into the home of a man and woman and sat down on the couch next to the woman, who was holding the couple's young child, according to court records.
The man yelled at Kelly to get out and hit him in the back with a vacuum tube. Police surveillance video showed a man wearing dark pants, a white long-sleeved shirt with a brown vest, and a red scarf around his neck entering the front door.
The suit, which was obtained by The Indianapolis Star, states that the family has "continued to suffer from this experience with anxiety, depression, terrors, nightmares, hypervigilance and fear."
The Broncos released Kelly, the nephew of Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, the day after he was arrested.
Kelly had no comment Wednesday and the Colts referred to comments made about Kelly when they signed him in May.
"Whenever you take a person in Chad's situation it's a case-by-case basis," coach Frank Reich said at the time. "I felt like from the tape that we saw, what the scouts thought [and] what we saw looking at the tape, the vetting that we did, the people we talked to -- it just felt like we would give Chad a chance here to come in and compete."
The NFL suspended Kelly without pay in May for the first two games of the 2019 season for violating the league's personal conduct policy.
Kelly was kicked off Clemson's football team for arguing with coaches during the spring game in 2014. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct after he was arrested for a bar fight in 2014. Kelly was in another fight at his brother's high school football game in New York in October 2016. Videos showed Kelly being held back by the coaches.