Few NFL athletes have ever shown leadership and determination like Jim Kelly. The erstwhile Buffalo Bills quarterback, who embodied toughness and determination, is a household name in Western New York and throughout the league. Having been chosen for five Pro Bowls and having led the Bills to their record-breaking four consecutive Super Bowls, Kelly emerged as the game’s all-time great. Years away from the gridiron, though, the Kelly family requires toughness and grit again.
There was an Instagram post update by Jim Kelly’s wife, Jill Kelly, concerning her father’s health. “To make a long story short, my dad is getting a pacemaker today (they just came to take him for the procedure). He was at the game yesterday and at the tailgate he had a serious incident and now this,” Jill wrote.
She went on with the plea for help, remembering how much prayer has allowed their family to overcome past struggles, before ending with: “I also know that many of you have reached out and prayed us through so so many of our trials…THANK YOU!!!! Can you please do it again?! God is sovereign and we trust Him! ❤️ And a huge THANK YOU to everyone who was there yesterday and stepped in to pray and help. 😭❤️”
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And there have been quite a few rough times for their family. Jim battled cancer a few years ago and was ultimately cancer-free. Even back in 2018, their daughter Erin Kelly-Bean updated the fans on how both Jim and Jill were hospitalized at the same time for separate illnesses. Erin said that her mom was hospitalized for pneumonia, and within 24 hours, her father was in the room next to her after his gallbladder was removed.
Sharing a picture of the couple hugging, Erin wrote, “These two… ♥️ In sickness and in health… Although I don’t understand… I’m choosing to trust God and cling to Him… the Healer!!!! Our family would love for you to surround us in prayer!!! Thank you!” With each test, there is an increasingly positive response of faith, prayer, and perseverance—something the Kellys have relied upon for decades.
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To the Bills’ faithful generations, Jim Kelly’s game day existence is perhaps the most cherished moment in team history. With his big arm and swagger, he raised the bar for Buffalo QBs. Kelly reached 30,000 career passing yards earlier than almost anyone in the NFL. In his 11 years with the Bills, he posted more than 3,000 passing yards eight times.
But numbers can’t put a price tag on what Kelly did for the game. Taken along with other stars like Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed, he was the force behind Buffalo’s iconic “K-Gun” no-huddle offense that changed the game’s complexion. The speed and shock of the system were too much for defenses to overcome, and it quickly became one of the most frightening systems of the early 1990s. To Buffalo, though, he was not just a quarterback—he was the maestro of a golden era.
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Circling back, while the family battles the health warning of Jill’s dad, they finally received good news on Jim Kelly’s grandson around mid-August.
Bills legend Jim Kelly on his grandson
The boy was born with medical complications, but the family hoped he would improve. “Life is both simple and complicated…and Beau reminds us of that every single day,” he wrote. “On the outside, he looks like a healthy, growing almost-2-month-old. But when you know what his little heart has endured, you see just how complex life really is.’’
They went on to express gratitude and faith, writing: “In the middle of both the beauty and the struggle, we find peace in the God who says that Beau is fearfully and wonderfully made in His image, the One who started a good work in Beau’s life and promises to complete it. Every moment with Beau is a gift, not a given.”
Beau had already passed impressive milestones of recovery. He’d just had his first successful check-ups confirmed by a pediatrician and a cardiologist. He was cleared to stop taking clot medicine by doctors, and these days, he only requires oxygen at night.
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Aside from the health developments, he’s fine like any baby—stuffing his food down, cranky, cooing, and waking parents up in the middle of the night. The Kellys closed their note graciously and gratefully: “Every step forward is a reminder that we can’t do this alone and that ultimately, God is writing a beautiful story. ❤️”
Be it his on-field fearlessness, his own battle with cancer, or now his loved one’s battle, the Kelly legacy remains one of grit, community, and unyielding faith.