Shelley started playing hockey when he was young in the Yarmouth County Minor Hockey Association until his midget year. He moved away from Yarmouth when he was 18 to play for the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Jody Shelley was originally signed as a free agent by the Calgary Flames on September 1, 1998, but never played for them. Almost 2 years later, on August 17, 2000, he was signed as a free agent by the Columbus Blue Jackets and played one game for them in the 2000-01 season. During that one game, he had ten minutes in penalties. Since then, he has played fairly regularly as the Blue Jackets' enforcer averaging over 200 minutes in penalties a season.