Inside The Bills

Kelly color blind like Fergie

Leading up to the 2011 uniform unveiling Friday night was an untold uniform story on buffalobills.com about how the club changed the helmet color to help then quarterback Joe Ferguson to better distinguish his receivers from the opposition. Bills HOF QB Jim Kelly had heard this story, and what’s ironic is he too is color blind.

“I’m color blind and I’ve never had any problems with it even though we had red helmets when I played,” said Kelly. 

Kelly said instead of looking at helmets, he distinguished his teammates from the opposition by looking at the jerseys.

“You’re always in dark jerseys and light jerseys and I’ve never had any problems with that,” he said. ”Maybe that’s just something somebody brought up and it just went from one person to the other.”

Kelly reminded of 90′s jerseys

Bills Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly, who was part of the Bills uniform unveiling Friday night felt the new uniforms harkened back a bit to the jerseys he and his teammates wore in the early 90′s.

“I was in the locker room before we went out and I like them,” said Kelly. ”The uniforms remind me of back when we played which is a big plus. But what I like more than anything is the helmet. The white and how the charging buffalo charges, even though the tradition back in the 1960s was the standing buffalo, I’m all for going forward. The charging buffalo and aggressiveness stands out more on the white helmet, so that’s pretty cool. I like it.”

Kelly played his entire career with the Bills in a red helmet with the charging buffalo.

“Bringing back the blue brings back great memories in my mind,” Kelly said.

Kelly has back surgery

Jim Kelly was hosting his 25th annual Celebrity Golf Tournament Monday, but for the first time he was not swinging the clubs.

That’s because three weeks ago Kelly had back surgery.

“It got to the point where I couldn’t even play basketball with my daughter anymore,” he said at Terry Hills golf course in Batavia strapped with a back brace. ”When I got up in the morning it took me 15 to 20 minutes just to get loose. I couldn’t put socks on anymore. That’s not a way to live.”

Bills team physician Dr. Andrew Cappuccino performed the procedure and had a bit more work than he planned after he went in.

“It was an L-2, L-3 disc replacement and once he got in there he found a lot more damage than he thought there would be so he wound up having to put a metal plate in there also and he put that in through my side so I’ve got two nice scars now too,” Kelly said. ”Just to add to the other scars I have on my body.”

Kelly attributes it to all the hits and twists and turns his body took over the years. With the additional work that needed to be done on his back, Kelly isn’t sure how long his rehabilitation will take.

“They don’t really know (how long the rehab is) because when he went in there was a lot more that he had to do and it’s affected other parts of my body,” he said. ”We’ll just take it week by week and go from there.

The toughest part for me is I’m an outdoorsman. I had to cancel some hunting trips already. It’s turkey season, so for me to do that… but I looked at my schedule and decided I had to do this sooner rather than later because I couldn’t handle the pain anymore.”

Kelly golf tourney

The Jim Kelly Celebrity Golf Tournament is celebrating its 25th year today.

Kelly and a host of his former teammates along with Bills alumni and other notable former NFL players will be on hand today at Terry Hills CC in Batavia.

Proceeds go to universal newborn screening as part of Hunter’s Hope.

Hunter’s Day of Hope Sat.

Join Bills Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly and his wife Jill Kelly at the Hunter’s Day of Hope for Children, this Saturday, Feb. 12th from 1-4 pm at the Bills Fieldhouse at One Bills Drive.

The Day of Hope for Children is a FREE event with activities, entertainment & food for the whole family!

Troop bowl game for Kelly

Bills Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly along with fellow Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas and Bills Wall of Famer Andre Reed are visiting with the troops overseas in Iraq this week to give them a taste of Bowl season.

Kelly and Rodney Peete will be squaring off in a flag football “Connect to Home Bowl” this week, with troops from the Army and the Air Force as teammates. Kelly and Peete appeared on CNN to talk up their efforts overseas.

Highlights of the troops “bowl game” with Kelly, Thomas and Reed will be aired during halftime of the Fiesta Bowl between Oklahoma and Connecticut.

Kelly in attendance

Bills HOF QB Jim Kelly is on hand for today’s game against the Jaguars.

Kelly also has his dad with him at the game today. As usual Kelly has assumed his familiar position down on the field, on the home team sideline at about the 30-yard line.

Jim Kelly book signing

Bills Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly and his wife Jill Kelly will be doing a book signing appearance on Sat. Sept. 18, at the Barnes & Noble location at 3701 McKinley Parkway in Buffalo from 3-5pm.

They’re promoting Jill’s new book ‘Without a Word’ – How a Boy’s Unspoken Love Changed Everything

For additional information you can go to Jill Kelly’s website or the Hunter’s Hope website

Jim and Jill Kelly book signing

Bills Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly and his wife Jill Kelly will be doing a book signing appearance on Thurs. Sept. 16, at the Borders location at 1000 Hylan Drive in Rochester from 7-9pm.

They’re promoting Jill’s new book ‘Without a Word’ – How a Boy’s Unspoken Love Changed Everything

For additional information you can go to Jill Kelly’s website or the Hunter’s Hope website

Jim Kelly book signing

Bills Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly and his wife Jill Kelly will be doing a book signing appearance tonight (Friday) and Saturday night. Here are the details.

The Kelly’s will be signing copies of their new book ‘Without a Word’ at the Barnes & Noble location at 1565 Niagara Falls Blvd in Amherst from 7-9pm.

They’ll also have a table in the Fieldhouse on Sunday for fans that may want more information on the book.

There will also be another signing by the Kelly’s on Thurs. Sept. 16, at the Borders location at 1000 Hylan Drive in Rochester again from 7-9pm.

For additional information you can go to Jill Kelly’s website or the Hunter’s Hope website.

Hall of Famer at practice

Bills Hall of Famer Jim Kelly is in attendance at training camp tonight.

This is the first practice in which Kelly has been on hand.

Join Jim Kelly and the Bisons

Join Jim & Jill Kelly along with the Hunter’s Hope staff at the Bisons baseball game for a variety of fun activities including an autograph session with Hall of Famer and former Bills QB.

The game is this Friday, July 9, 2010.  Gates open at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are just $10.00 and a portion of each ticket sale benefits Hunter’s Hope. Please note that Tickets must be purchased from Robert Kates at the Bisons to benefit Hunter’s Hope.  Call (716) 864-2032 or email rkates@bisons.com.

Tebow in 2nd round?

Bills Hall of Famer Jim Kelly after having dinner with Tim Tebow, is impressed with what he thinks he can bring to an NFL team. As far as where to draft him if he was picking for the Bills is where it gets interesting.

Kelly told NFL.com’s Vic Carucci he wouldn’t mind suggesting taking Tebow with Buffalo’s 2nd round pick at 41.

He also raised the possibility at trading down at nine. Kelly however, also pointed out that he’s not a scout and can’t give an educated opinion on how Tebow’s game would translate to the NFL.

As much as Tebow has going for him, the bottom line as I see it is Tebow will not be a quality starter for just about any team as a rookie. The Bills have too many positional needs to use a first or second round pick on a player that’s not going to make an impact in year one.

Most people see Tebow as a player that will need time to develop (2-3 years). Buffalo’s roster needs starting caliber talent right now, especially with their first two picks. That’s not Tebow with all he is still undertaking in revamping his game.

Despite all that I think there are enough teams enamored with him that he’ll get drafted before Buffalo’s pick at 41. Hopefully for his career he can go to a team where he can continue to develop a passing delivery more suited to success in the NFL game, without having to worry about leading a team on the field as a rookie as well.

NFL wants best picks of all time

In celebration of the 75th NFL Draft, which kicks off in primetime for the first time on Thurs. April 22, fans now can help choose the 75 Most Valuable Draft Picks of all time. You can vote for your choices at NFL.com now through April 18. 

The 10 Most Valuable Draft Picks will be announced during Round 1, when many of the Top 10 will be in attendance at Radio City Music Hall, the home of the 2010 NFL Draft. The order of the Top 10 will be revealed after the conclusion of the Second Round of the Draft on Friday night.  Many of these players will be on hand for the announcement.

NFL.com editors narrowed down the first 74 Drafts to a list of the top 320 players, consisting of 10 players from each team.  Fans begin the process of determining the Most Valuable Draft Pick by choosing between pairs of players randomly generated from the list of 320 greats.  After selecting winners of 30 random matchups, fans will begin to build their own Top 10 list.  Fans may continue to vote in order to make changes to their personal Top 10 list as well as the All-Time Top 10 announced at the Draft. Users then may share their lists and their head-to-head winners on Facebook.

NFL.com delivers comprehensive information on each of the 320 players, including the player’s draft information and career accomplishments to help the voters make educated selections in determining the Most Valuable Pick.

Below is the list of Bills nominees.
Gary Anderson – never played for the Bills, but was a late round draft pick that went on to be one of the league’s all-time scorers.
Ruben Brown – 8 Pro Bowls
Joe DeLamielleure – Hall of Famer
Jim Kelly – Hall of Famer
Reggie McKenzie – Well known member of the Electric Company
Andre Reed – Bills Wall of Famer, 4 time HOF finalist
O.J. Simpson – Hall of Famer
Fred Smerlas – Bills Wall of Famer
Bruce Smith – Hall of Famer
Thurman Thomas – Hall of Famer

Hunter’s Hope Candlelight Ball

Bills Hall of Fame quarterback, Jim Kelly, and his wife, Jill, will hold their eighth annual Hunter’s Hope Candlelight Ball this Friday (March 26). This gala event, which has annually drawn a large and supportive crowd, is an evening to celebrate life and love for all children while raising funds to help broaden public awareness of Krabbe disease and other leukodystrophies as well as fund research efforts that will identify new treatments, therapies and ultimately a cure.  

This year’s event will take place at the Radisson Hotel Rochester Riverside from 6 pm to midnight. Greg Connors, of Connors and Ferris LLP, and his wife Jeni, will serve as Honorary Chairs.

Registration and Corporate Opportunities for the event are still available online at www.huntershope.org. For more information on Hunter’s Hope Foundation or the Rochester Candlelight Ball, please visit them online or call 716-667-1200.

The Hunter’s Hope Foundation continues to make significant progress toward their highest priority of Universal Newborn Screening throughout the United States.  Jim Kelly, Founder of Hunter’s Hope, addressed state representatives when he was invited to speak at the National Conference of State Legislatures Legislative Summit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  In addition, the Kelly Family, along with Hunter’s Hope, received national attention in October, when the National Institute of Health Newborn Screening Research Program was named in memory of Hunter Kelly.  The program is authorized to carry out, coordinate, and expand research in newborn screening.

Buffalo weather part of QB eval.

The evaluation of the quarterbacks currently on Buffalo’s roster will be taking place in the coming weeks, with head coach Chan Gailey entrusted with that task. And don’t think that Buffalo weather won’t be a factor in judging each one of their capabilities.

A QB’s arm strength isn’t the end all, be all, but it likely carries a little more weight for teams like Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Buffalo that play in cities where the weather come November and December can dish out some pretty nasty stuff.

Suffice to say it’s on the mind of Buffalo’s GM.

“You don’t bring a guy in here a quarterback for example that has questionable arm strength,” said Buddy Nix. ”In this wind and this climate you’ve got to be able to throw through that. So you bring one in that can do that.”

Now Nix did not say it was necessary to bring in a QB with superior arm strength, just not a QB with “questionable arm strength.” Accuracy is probably a more coveted attribute in quarterbacks, but the ball does have to get there sooner rather than later too.  

“It’s an important factor,” said Bills HOF QB Jim Kelly, who believes the team is already weighing their options at quarterback to see if there is any way they can ensure more consistent play at the position.

“When you lose players like Eric Wood and Brad Butler on your offensive line it’s going to make life more difficult for quarterbacks like Trent Edwards and Ryan Fitzpatrick to succeed,” said Kelly. “I feel for Trent and Ryan, but this is the NFL.

“I’m confident the front office is already looking to the college ranks on quarterbacks. They’re looking at what quarterbacks in the league might be available and what free agent quarterbacks will be out there.”

The pickings however, will be pretty slim at QB, especially with the new free agent guidelines keeping the unrestricted pool smaller. And the draft does not offer a deep pool of talent at the position either. A trade might prove to be the most fruitful route to take.

Kelly to be in Tennessee this weekend

Bills Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly will be in the Volunteer state this weekend.

Kelly will be spending time with his good friend, country music star Tim McGraw, this weekend in Tennessee as the two will be going out hunting together.

They’ll also be taking in the game between the Bills and Titans on Sunday.

10th Annual Hunter’s Hope Ball

The 10th Annual Hunter’s Hope Candlelight Ball will be taking place in just a couple of weeks, on Nov. 20th at Samuel’s Grande Manor in Clarence. 

Corporate sponsorships and tickets are still available for this worthy cause. For more information you can go to the Candlelight Ball site online or call the Hunter’s Hope Corporate office at 667-1200 ext. 207.

Jim Kelly to be on sidelines tonight

Bills HOF QB Jim Kelly is usually at most home games watching from the sidelines, but he’s taking his show on the road.

Kelly traveled with the team to New England and will be on hand at Gillette Stadium.

Apparently ESPN will be interviewing him during the game for an appearance he’ll be making on Good Morning America. I don’t have many more details than that, but ESPN and ABC are sister networks so the cross promotion makes sense.

Jim Kelly ‘Every Step’ walk on Saturday

If you haven’t signed up for the ‘Every Step’ walk to benefit universal newborn screening on Saturday there’s still time.

Just go to www.huntershope.org and register for Saturday’s walk from 10:15am to 1pm at Beaver Island State Park on Grand Island. Registration is $20 and includes lunch, activities and entertainment.