James Edward Kelly is a former American 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 at Miami, where he was the Offensive MVP of the 1981 Peach Bowl.
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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.
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 honours 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 Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.
What happened to Jim Kelly’s son Hunter?
Hunter Kelly, whose battle with a fatal nervous system disease inspired his Hall of Fame father Jim Kelly’s charitable works, died. He was 8.
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Hunter died at Women & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, Hunter’s Hope Foundation spokesman John Dudek said. The young boy had been experiencing breathing problems the past week.
“He has been struggling for a while,” Dudek said. Hunter’s doctor, Patricia Duffner, said he died of respiratory failure.
Hunter’s Hope Foundation, named after Jim Kelly’s son, was established in 1997 by the Hall of Fame quarterback and his wife, Jill. It has raised more than $6 million and awarded more than $3.8 million to leukodystrophy and other neurological disease-related research.
Born in 1997, Hunter Kelly was given no more than three years to live after being diagnosed with Krabbe disease, an inherited degenerative disorder of the central and peripheral nervous systems. The disease hinders the development of the myelin sheath, a fatty covering that protects the brain’s nerve fibres.
The disease has no known cure. The foundation released a statement saying the Kelly family is grateful for the support people have shown.
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