Jim Kelly is everything that Pittsburgh stands for — tough.
Last night, at the 75th annual Dapper Dan awards ceremony, Jim Kelly was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his outstanding play on the field and his perseverance off it.
Toughness has always been part of Kelly’s football identity. In many ways, his post-football life has tested his toughness more than any hit in his 13 years in professional football. In the past 18 months, Kelly has endured two surgeries to remove cancer from his jaw and face. His wife, Jill, and two daughters keep fans abreast of his cancer fight with updates on Twitter and Instagram, always with #KellyTough accompanying the message.
Kelly was a prep standout at East Brady (Pa.) High School where he won All-State honors after passing for 3,915 yards and 44 TD’s in his career. Though heavily recruited by Penn State, Kelly chose to continue his academic and athletic career at Miami.
Kelly helped lead a resurgence to the Miami Hurricane football program. He was a Heisman Trophy candidate before separating his shoulder during his senior season. Kelly finished his college career with 406 completions in 646 attempts (62.8 percent) for 5,233 yards and 32 TD’s. He was later introduced into to the University of Miami Hall of Fame in 1992.
Bypassing the opportunity to play in the NFL, Kelly joined the former USFL (United States Football League). In two years with the USFL, Kelly threw for 9,842 yards and 83 touchdowns, completing 63 percent with an average of 8.53 yards per attempt with 45 interceptions. He was the USFL MVP in 1984, when he set a league record with 5,219 yards passing and 44 TD passes.
Kelly finally joined the Bills (who had retained his NFL rights) in 1986 after the USFL folded. He helped lead the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances and six divisional 
championships from 1988 to 1995. Buffalo made the playoffs in eight of Kelly’s 11 seasons as their starting quarterback. Kelly finished his 11 NFL seasons with 2,874 completions in 4,779 attempts for 35,467 yards and 237 touchdowns, with 175 interceptions, all of which are Buffalo records. He also rushed for 1,049 yards and seven touchdowns.
Including his time in the NFL and USFL, he finished with over 45,000 passing yards and 320 touchdowns. In 2001 the Buffalo Bills retired his number 12 jersey.
On August 3, 2002, Kelly was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Other award winners at the Dapper Dan Cermony were:
- Sportsman: Antonio Brown, Pittsburgh Steelers
- Sportswoman: Christa Harmotto, Penn State Volleyball
