Jim Kelly

James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons with the Buffalo Bills.

He also spent two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League (USFL).

Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on February 16, 1960.

He grew up in East Brady, Pennsylvania.

Kelly was a standout at East Brady High School, winning all-state Pennsylvania honors after passing for 3,915 yards, 44 touchdowns, and one interception in his high school career.

After his senior year, Kelly played in the Big 33 Football Classic.

Kelly also played basketball in high school, scoring over 1,000 points with six 30-plus-point games.

As a senior, he led East Brady to the Pennsylvania Class 'A' basketball state quarterfinals, and averaged 23 points and 20 rebounds.

Kelly was offered a scholarship to play college football at Penn State University under coach Joe Paterno, but Paterno wanted Kelly at linebacker, not quarterback.

Miami Hurricanes head coach Lou Saban promised Kelly he would be playing quarterback, which lured Kelly to attend the University of Miami, though Kelly never played for Saban, who left prior to the beginning of the 1979 season.

Saban was replaced by Howard Schnellenberger, and Kelly became an important piece in Schnellenberger's effort to build the program into one of the nation's best.

Kelly finished his career at the University of Miami with 376 completions in 676 attempts for 5,228 yards and 33 touchdowns.

Kelly played college football for the Miami Hurricanes, earning offensive MVP honors in the 1981 Peach Bowl.

One of the six quarterbacks taken in the first round of the 1983 NFL draft, Kelly was selected 14th overall by the Bills.

Because of fellow quarterback John Elway's well-publicized reluctance to play for the Baltimore Colts, which chose him in the 1983 NFL draft, Kelly's agent asked whether there were any teams he would not play for.

Kelly, who disliked cold weather, listed the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, and Buffalo Bills.

He was pleased to see while watching the 1983 draft on television that the Bills did not select him as the 12th pick in the first round, but learned from his agent that the team had another first-round pick; the Bills chose Kelly as the 14th pick.

Although Kelly at the time stated that he had expected the Bills to choose him, he later said, "You have to say those things ... I cried. (Laughs) I didn't really literally cry. I just had tears. I'm like, 'You got to be kidding me.'"

Although he believed that team owner Ralph Wilson would not bring in the right players to build a championship team, Kelly was resigned to playing for the Bills.

While meeting with the team to negotiate his contract, however, a Bills secretary mistakenly let Bruce Allen, general manager of the rival United States Football League's Chicago Blitz, reach Kelly on the telephone; Allen persuaded Kelly to leave the meeting.

Kelly later claimed that the USFL offered him his choice of teams because of the league's interest in signing quarterbacks.

He signed with the Houston Gamblers, who played in the climate-controlled Houston Astrodome, and said, "Would you rather be in Houston or Buffalo?"

In two seasons in Houston, leading offensive coach Mouse Davis's run-and-shoot offense, Kelly threw for 9,842 yards, 83 touchdowns, and 45 interceptions with a 63% completion percentage for an average of 8.53 yards per attempt.

He was the USFL MVP in 1984, when he set a league record with 5,219 yards passing and 44 touchdown passes.

Kelly's USFL records eclipsed those of fellow league quarterbacks Doug Williams and Steve Young.

When the Houston Gamblers folded, Kelly went to the New Jersey Generals and was slated as their starting quarterback.

Kelly appeared on a cover of Sports Illustrated while holding a Generals' helmet, but the league collapsed before he ever fielded a snap with the Generals.

Led by Kelly, the Houston Gamblers took on the Los Angeles Express and quarterback Steve Young, on February 24, 1985.

The game was supposed to be televised by ABC, but they opted to cover Doug Flutie's debut with the New Jersey Generals instead.

Only cameramen that worked for both teams were on hand to record the game.

Houston raced out to an early lead, but the Express mounted a comeback that led to them being ahead 33–14 with just under ten minutes left in the game.

Kelly led the Gamblers on a comeback that would see them pull off a 34–33 win, and in the end, Kelly threw for 574 yards.

Kelly threw three touchdown passes in the last Gambler drives of the game, including what turned out to be the game winner, a 39-yard strike to receiver Ricky Sanders.

He chose to sign with the Gamblers instead and did not play for the Bills until the USFL folded in 1986.

Employing the "K-Gun" offense, known for its no-huddle shotgun formations, Kelly led one of the greatest NFL scoring juggernauts.

From 1990 to 1993, he helped guide the Bills to a record four consecutive Super Bowls, although the team lost each game.

Kelly was also named to five Pro Bowls and received first-team All-Pro honors in 1991.

Along with teammates Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith, Kelly is one of only three players to have his number retired by the Bills.

He was inducted into the university's Hall of Fame in 1992.

He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.