Celeri was born in Fort Bragg, California to Hugo Celeria and Pearl Mable Bishopb – he was the youngest of their three children, all boys.

[5] Celeri returned for the 1947 through 1949 seasons, with one of his teammates being Jackie Jensen, who went on to play professional baseball.

[7] After the 1949 season concluded with a Rose Bowl loss, Celeri played in two additional games.

The first was the Hula Bowl in Honolulu, where he helped the College All-Stars defeat an All-Hawaii team,[8] and the second was a for-pay game matching Celeri against fellow-quarterback Eddie LeBaron of College of the Pacific, played at the Grape Bowl in Lodi, California, which Celeri's team lost 7–6 due to a missed extra point.

[22] After sitting out the remainder of the 1953 season, Celeri signed with the Kitchener-Waterloo Dutchmen of the ORFU in February 1954.

[5] In 1968, he joined the Buffalo Bills in a personnel role, working with head coach Harvey Johnson.