Jim Kelly

There has never been an athlete in the city of Buffalo who has commanded more attention, excelled at a higher level, and done more for the team or the city, than Jim Kelly. Drafted in the first round of the famous 1983 college draft, Kelly was one of 6 quarterbacks taken in the first round that year. Kelly was the third quarterback taken, after the Colts made John Elway the first pick overall. Todd Blackledge was the second QB selected, taken by the Chiefs as the seventh overall pick. Kelly was taken with the 14th overall pick. He was immediately inserted as Joe Ferguson's back up. Kelly had other things in mind, however. Kelly was entertaining offers from the Chicago Blitz of the United States Football League, a newly formed professional league scheduled to start in the spring of 1984. Chicago was offering Kelly his own radio show, TV show, a lakefront apartment and a quality of life that Buffalo, he was told, cannot offer. The Blitz then gave Kelly permission to talk to any team in the USFL. Bruce Allen, GM for the Blitz said he wanted Kelly in the USFL even if he didn't play for the Blitz. The Houston Gamblers offered Kelly a four year deal worth $4-$5 million. Kelly opted to play in Houston, where he would get an immediate chance to start and possibly become for the USFL what Joe Namath had meant to the AFL.

Jim Kelly became an instant superstar in the USFL. He was the league MVP in their first season. Kelly had nine 300+ yard passing games, compiling a total 5,219 yards and a single season pro football record 44 touchdown passes. Upon receiving the MVP award Kelly said, "I cried when Buffalo drafted me. Well, maybe I didn't cry, but it wasn't one of the greatest things to happen in my life. You can't be a great quarterback in snow and 30 mph winds."

In the spring of 1985 Kelly picked up where he had left off, setting pro football passing records with the Gamblers. On February 27, 1985 Jim Kelly passed for a record 574 yards and threw for 5 TDs as the Gamblers rallied from a 33-13 deficit to beat Steve Young and the Los Angeles Express, 34-33. Earlier that month Kelly stated, "If Buffalo were my last option, I would go there but every quarterback wants to play in warm weather. Of all the places that should have a dome stadium, it's Buffalo." Kelly's Gamblers were eliminated from the USFL playoffs in the first round that year. Kelly had taken a pounding in the run and shoot scheme employed by the Houston Gamblers. It was reported that Kelly had softened his anti-Buffalo stance stating that he would play for the Bills if the price was right. It also helped that the Gamblers' failed to pay their players during the final week of the season.

On August 4, 1986, USFL commissioner Harry Usher said his league was not folding but would suspend operations until 1987. Jim Kelly had a clause in his contract that stated he must play. If Kelly failed to play, he would be free to sign with any club he chose. On August 18th, Jim Kelly signed a five year  $1.75 million contract with the Bills, making him the highest paid player in the NFL. Later that day Kelly arrived in Buffalo. Fans lined the route from the airport to downtown Buffalo, cheering the new messiah. Kelly arrived with great expectations and for the most part, he delivered. He was a modern day Bobby Layne. Like the Lions quarterback of the '50s, he was probably the toughest quarterback in the league, during his prime. He had a touch of Joe Namath cockiness in him too. His arrogance turned a lot of people off and early in his career he had trouble excepting blame. As he matured, however, this would change and Jimbo became the undisputed, leader of the Bills.

Like Namath, he loved the spotlight and never shied away from it. He loved being the millionaire star quarterback, eligible bachelor, product endorser and Letterman guest. On Sunday night after the game, the party was at Kelly's house. Through all of this, however, Jim Kelly was really just a blue collar guy in a blue collar town.

Nine games into Kelly's first season with the Bills, Hank Bullough was fired after the Bills lost their 21st straight road game at Tampa Bay. In stepped Marv Levy. It took General Manager Bill Polian and Levy less than a year and a half to mold Kelly and the Bills into contenders. In 1988 the Bills started to come of age winning 11 of their first 12 games and clinching the AFC East in game 12 against the Jets. They made it all the way to the AFC Championship game losing to the Cincinnati Bengals 21-10.

Throughout the excitement of 1988, it was not lost on football fans that the Bills offense was rather dull and unimaginative. Kelly had his skeptics. One of them was not Ted Marchibroda, the Bills new offensive coordinator in 1989. Besides Levy's hiring in 1986, it was probably the biggest boost to Kelly's career. The '89 season opened with one of Kelly's most memorable games. He drove the Bills for two touchdowns in the final five minutes to beat Miami, 27-24. He operated out of the no-huddle mode for both of those drives, scoring the final TD himself, by diving between two defenders, head first into the end zone on the final play of the game.

"He was a general out there," guard Jim Ritcher said. "On the last drive, there was no doubt in our minds we were going to make it."

Kelly seperated his shoulder in the 5th game, a loss to the Colts and publicly blamed tackle Howard Ballard for missing a block. This was the begining of the Bickering Bills of 1989. Kelly came back from his injury, only to suffer through a late season slump. In the playoff loss to the Cleveland Browns, Kelly snapped out of it and passed for 405 yards, his career best as a Bill, opperating out of the no-huddle for most of the game.

In 1990 everything came together for Kelly and the Bills. James Lofton was now fully implemented into the offense and Marchibroda found the perfect venue to best showcase the best of Jim Kelly's talents, the no-huddle offense. The no-huddle was perfect for Kelly, requiring an experienced quarterback with great natural instincts for the game; almost with a sandlot mentality, spontinaity with a strong desire for total control. With awesome talent surrounding him and a limited cache of plays, Kelly and the Bills litterally chased defenses off of the field.

In the playoffs, Kelly and the Bills were unstoppable. Kelly outdueled Dan Marino in a 44-34 victory, throwing for 339 yards. The next week the Los Angeles Raiders defense had to call a time out after the fifth play of the game, just to catch its breath. They should have just forfitted the game right there. The Bills went on to win their first AFC Championship 51-3. Kelly and the Bills were going to the Super Bowl.

In Super Bowl XXV, the N.Y. Giants focused on the pass and controled the ball, eating up the clock and slowed down the tempo. The Bills managed to score 19 points in 19 minutes of ball control but lost 20-19. Kelly later stated in retrospect that he should have ran the ball more. It wasn't all of Kelly's fault for the loss however, the defense couldn't get the ball away from the Giant offense and if Scott Norwood would have been just a few feet more to the left on the game's final play........?

Kelly and the Bills offense would finish no lower than 6th in the stats for the next 3 years, going to a record 4 consecutive Super Bowls in that span. Unfortunately, losing all 4. As the Bills offense would lose players and Kelly's arm lost some of its steam over the ensuing years, Kelly turned to his running game. Kelly turned from a gunslinger into a thinking man's quarterback. He would guide the Bills to two more playoff appearences in '95 and '96.

During Kelly's 11 seasons at the helm, the Bills won more games than ever. In those 11 seasons they won more than in the past 20 seasons combined. Jim Kelly has a winning percentage of .631, better than either John Elway or Dan Marino at the time of his retirement.

In February of 1997 Kelly wrote an open letter to the fans of Western New York: