Wiedmer: Kelly has super story after all

Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly and his wife, Jill, lost their luggage Tuesday afternoon on their way to Chattanooga. Scheduled to speak to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes banquet at the Convention Center, they scrambled madly to find coats and ties and dinner attire from local merchants.

Yet through all the confusion the former Buffalo Bills great never misplaced his sense of humor, especially when discussing current Bills general manager Buddy Nix. Nix, a former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach, was inducted into our town's Sports Hall of Fame on Monday.

"I really like Buddy," said Kelly. "I need an interpreter to understand [his Southern accent], but I think he's going to get us turned around."

The Kellys' life was turned upside down on Feb. 14, 1997, when their son Hunter was born with Krabbe's disease, a rare genetic disorder of the nervous system.

Hunter bravely fought Krabbe's for more than eight years, so much so that Jim led off his Hall of Fame induction speech in 2002 discussing his son.

"It's been written that the trademark of my career was toughness," a tearful Kelly said that summer afternoon in Canton, Ohio. "But the toughest person I've met in my life is my hero, my soldier, my son Hunter. I love you, buddy."

When Hunter died three years later, the Kellys began searching for some way to honor him and help increase awareness for the disease. In 1997 they established the nonprofit organization Hunter's Hope.

In addition, Jill has authored three books, including the critically acclaimed "Without a Word," which details the family's life with Hunter.

"My whole life has been a roller-coaster ride," Jim Kelly said. "I came to be a Christian fairly late. God has forgiven me a lot of things I've done in my life."

By his own admission, his football life was a relatively charmed one if you discount the four straight Super Bowls he lost in Buffalo. Remembering that he barely beat out Georgia football coach Mark Richt for the starting quarterback job at the University of Miami, Kelly said, "If Coach [Howard] Schnellenberger had started Mark at quarterback instead of me against Penn State, our careers might have been completely opposite. Mark was a really good quarterback; he might have wound up in the NFL."

Of course, Kelly actually started his career in the United States Football League, then moved to the Bills in 1986. Over the next 11 years he led Buffalo to nine winning seasons, won 10 or more games six times and reached those four consecutive Super Bowls from 1990 to '93.

A concussion against Jacksonville - the sixth of his career - forced his retirement in 1996.

"They've tried so many things to make the game safer," he said. "Now it's in the spotlight more than ever. I know there were times I shouldn't have gone back in. One time I called the same play six straight times. [Running back] Thurman Thomas had to call a timeout after the last one because he couldn't catch his breath."

Between running the Hunter's Hope foundation and helping Jill raise their daughters Erin and Camryn, Kelly doesn't have much time to catch his breath these days. He did give Georgia fans reason to hold their breath regarding the recruitment of Kelly's nephew - quarterback Chad Kelly.

"He's only a junior," the Hall of Famer said. "But he's 10 times the athlete I was. I'm kind of hoping he goes to my alma mater, Miami, but he's talking to Florida State and I'm pretty sure Mark Richt's recruiting him."

In addition to their other interests and parental duties, Jim and Jill recruit for FCA Outdoors.

"I'm the national spokesperson," Kelly said. "It brings young people closer to the wonders Jesus has made. We're very proud of it."

Jim and Jill's message to the FCA banquet was for young athletes everywhere to live a life to be proud of.

"Show me your friends," he said, "and I'll show you your future. The priorities of Christians are in line with what your priorities should be."

Whatever the sound of those friends' accents.

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