Jim Kelly

James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is an American former professional 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 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. 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 to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

Kelly was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on February 14, 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. He was inducted into the university's Hall of Fame in 1992.

Because of fellow quarterback John Elway's well-publicized reluctance to play for the Baltimore Colts, who 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 initially resigned to playing for the Bills, but while meeting with the team to negotiate his contract three days after the draft, 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. Then in the first week of May, the Montreal Concordes made a counter-offer on the basis that Kelly's girlfriend lived in Montreal. Kelly's agent, Greg Lustig, would insist on negotiating with the Blitz and the Concordes before doing so with the Bills. By the last week of May, Lustig said he was pleased with the Bills’ proposal and Kelly expected to sign with the Bills, but in the end he would sign with a different USFL team after Ken Weinberger made negotiations during the first week of June.