How Can You Tell He’s From Western Pennsylvania?
Hearing of his selection to the Hall of Fame, Jim Kelly said, “I’m going out with my dad and brothers for shots and beers.”
Sentimentality note: In a hotel room in New Orleans, Kelly waited for word of whether he’d been selected with his father, five brothers, and his high-school coach from East Brady, Pa. Oh football gods, why did you deny this man a ring?
Enlightened Hall Politics:
TMQ praises the Canton loya jirga for taking Jim Kelly on the first ballot. That the Bills honked four straight Super Bowls should not prevent admiration for the fact that they were able to get into four straight meaning they are the only team ever to win four straight conference championships, which is the preferred emphasis in Buffalo. Buffalo never got the ring but may end up with seven in Canton from its Super Bowl team – Kelly and Marv Levy, already; Thurman Thomas and Bruce Smith, locks; Steve Tasker, Kent Hull, and Andre Reed, likely. Thus the football gods console the vanquished.
Kelly himself deserves kudos for his grasp of Hall politics. As TMQ noted a year ago, Kelly cut his career a little short, since he might have played an extra season or two, in order to become eligible in 2002, when he would have less Canton competition. Staring at Kelly’s brake lights are John Elway, Dan Marino, and Steve Young, all eligible soon and sure to monopolize Hall admission slots for quarterbacks. It was a savvy move for Kelly to make sure he got admitted before such gentlemen’s names went on the ballot.