Kelemete has an interesting and very colorful history as a versatile football player.
*****************************************************************************************
One shape fits all: Senio Kelemete is the rare peg that can fit any hole on Saints offensive line
For half a decade now, the New Orleans Saints have held the rights to a rare and priceless artifact, the sort of magical relic most of the other 31 NFL teams spend years trying to find.
New Orleans has the rare peg that fits any hole. Whether the hole is a square, a circle, a triangle, even a trapezoid, this peg always fits, almost always better than anybody could have expected and on short notice.
Senio Kelemete can be anything the New Orleans offensive line needs him to be.
"I don’t think there’s a limit to his abilities," Saints left tackle Terron Armstead said. "You got a guy like Senio that can play six positions, from left tackle all the way to the tight end, his value is outrageous, maybe the most value on the team."
Kelemete is ostensibly a guard, the position the NFL lists on his official profile page, but labeling Kelemete a guard is a little bit like calling Apple's most popular product the iPhone: those expensive but irresistible blocks of technology can do an awful lot more than make calls, send texts and record the occasional voicemail.
New Orleans lists Kelemete as a center-guard, a little more accurate but somehow still far away from telling the entire story.
Kelemete is the answer to any question the Saints face on the offensive line. If any one of the five starters on the offensive line go down due to injury, Kelemete can fill the spot, not just because of talent but also experience.
"That just amazes me," right guard Larry Warford, the injured starter Kelemete will likely replace in the starting lineup on Sunday against the Bears, said. "To be able to do that is uncommon."
Kelemete has spent his entire career doing this.
---
Tackle is the first position Kelemete ever played on the offensive line, but Evergreen High in Seattle needed him to do so many things at once that it feels like a footnote.
Kelemete played both ways, flipping back and forth from left to right tackle on offense and defensive end to linebacker on the other side of the ball as he led Evergreen to its first appearance in the state playoffs since 2001. He wrestled for the Wolverines, he threw the discus; Kelemete looked every bit like the type of driven athlete that often ends up playing at the professional level.
The reality is Kelemete might have left his potential unrealized if his coach hadn't intervened during his sophomore year.
"To be honest, I was just playing football because of my boys," Kelemete said. "It was just a thing to do. I didn’t want to go back home, so I played ball, and then my high school coach sat me down and was like, 'If you take it serious, you can play at the next level.'"
Kelemete's apathy turned to action, both on the field and in the classroom.
The next thing he knew, he was stepping onto Washington's campus, but not as an offensive lineman. Kelemete began his Huskies career as a defensive tackle and spent his entire freshman season at the position, making four starts.
He seemed headed for a career spent chasing quarterbacks.
Then Steve Sarkisian arrived. Sarkisian, who'd cut his coaching teeth under Pete Carroll at USC, wanted more athleticism on his offensive line and approached Kelemete about making the move.
For the first time in his career, Kelemete set all of his attention on the offensive line, specifically at right guard.
"I didn’t see myself playing on the offensive side at all, so when I made that switch, it was definitely a lot harder," Kelemete said. "I feel like as a defensive lineman, you’re always pushing off your toes, getting off the ball. I feel like an offensive lineman, it’s more like a patience game, know when to be aggressive, know when to be patient."
THE REST OF THE STORY
