Days After Jim Kelly's Wife Posts Heartfelt Tribute, He Takes Time To Write One to Her
In America, we like to shower people who excel in some special way with accolades. Maybe they’re particularly wealthy or exceedingly attractive or politically powerful or stupendously athletic.
Whatever the reason, these are the people who populate our news broadcasts and appear on the covers of magazines. As far as their personal character goes, though, we don’t often consider that.
But former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly is showing the world that integrity is every bit as important the ability to throw a football. And Kelly definitely knew his way around the pigskin.
According to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, only three other players in the sport’s history have ever passed the 30,000-yard-career-passing mark quicker than him. Kelly emphasized fast action and aggressive play, rarely pausing to huddle before a play.
He took the Bills to the NFL playoffs eight times during his 11 years with the team. Yet his toughest match up wouldn’t be on the gridiron.
Kelly was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma in 2013. According to Heavy.com, the cancer was located in his upper jawbone.
He had surgery, and when the cancer returned in 2014, he received radiation and chemotherapy. Physicians declared him cancer free.
Yet in March, Kelly announced that his cancer had returned. Since then, he’s been battling it ferociously, although treatment has taken its emotional and physical toll.
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He underwent an “extensive surgery” that lasted 12 hours not long after his diagnosis, and his relationship with area dentists was so strong that they decided to publicly honor him. “Jim is one of the greatest guys that we’ve ever met,” Dr. Jeffrey Martin of East Aurora, New York, told WIVB.
So Martin offered free oral-cancer screenings in honor of his football friend. But the Hall of Fame inductee drew praise from more than just professional acquaintances.
His wife, Jill, praised Kelly for his gracious grit. “Tomorrow is another procedure in the process of completing Jim’s oral reconstruction,” she wrote on Instagram.
“Honestly, I don’t know how he does it other than the grace of God and the prayers of so many. And, of course, being ‘Kelly Tough.’”
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For his part, Kelly seems to want to make sure that his wife gets her share of affection. Days after Jill’s heartfelt tribute, he posted his own Instagram praise on her birthday.
“Happy birthday to the most beautiful, caring, loving wife and best friend that a husband could pray for,” he said. “Jill, you are my everything.
“Love you more and more each and every day. I pray we spend many more birthdays together. Love you … MORE.”
It’s amazing to see such outright adoration from a couple in their fifth decade of life. Of course, that’s only a small part of what makes Jim Kelly such an impressive man.
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