Two Bills Drive

‘Friday morning, Kelly took the time to talk to 200 high school and youth football coaches brought to town from across the nation for a three-day youth football summit. Kelly gave a heart-felt talk at Kent State University Stark Campus about his high school football experiences in rural Pennsylvania. It was his small way of thanking all high school football coaches for the important job they do of teaching America’s young athletes.’

‘By now, has anybody played the “diminished skills” card on him? “Not to my face,” Bledsoe laughed.’

‘”The day I signed with Buffalo,” Fletcher said after a Friday morning practice against the Browns, “Cleveland initiated a call, trying to get me to visit.”‘

‘Today’s scrimmage will be a major test. The Browns felt they performed well in a scrimmage against the Bills last year. The goal is to take it another step today.’

‘”This is a great organization, and they’re aggressive in the way they play defense. This is the best place for me. It suits my style.”‘

‘”How can you predict all of this?” said Joe Kelly, the father of six sons who were raised in East Brady, which sits 60 miles north of Pittsburgh. “I just wanted him to be a good person and work hard at what he wanted. He did all of that.”‘

‘The Bills eventually adopted the K-Gun offense in which Kelly ran a no-huddle offense and called almost all the plays. Dan Marino will take the credit for that. ”If we hadn’t been beating them so bad, they probably never do that K-Gun stuff,” said Marino, close friends with Kelly from their days growing up in Western Pennsylvania and then rivals when Marino played for the Dolphins. “We were up like 21-0 at halftime and they come out and do all that no-huddle stuff and come back and beat us. Jim runs in with like two seconds left to beat us.”’

‘Here’s a quarterbacks club you rarely hear about: Doug Flutie’s son, Doug Jr., has severe autism. Boomer Esiason’s son, Gunnar, has cystic fibrosis. Mark Rypien’s son died of a brain tumor. Jeff Blake’s son has no nerve endings to his intestines. Jeff Hostetler’s son has a heart ailment. Kurt Warner’s stepson is blind. And upon being inducted today into the Hall of Fame, Jim Kelly will spotlight his life of nevers with his son, Hunter.’

‘Schnellenberger called Kelly the single most important person in the revival of Miami football.’

‘”As tough as Jim is, he’ll be the first to tell you his son is tougher,” said Leo Armbrust, team chaplain for the Miami Hurricanes and Miami Dolphins and a close friend of Kelly’s.’

‘Selling the Bledsoe property might be difficult because of its size and price, Thompson said. The house is available for viewing by appointment only, said Maryanne Rizzo, from the DeWolfe real estate agency in Westwood, which is handling the sale.’

‘”I brought family, friends, teammates and coaches from as far back as I can remember,” Kelly said. “I wish I could have brought more.”‘

‘The former star of the Buffalo Bills has taken over two hotels in nearby Akron and expects about 1,200 close friends from upstate New York and his native western Pennsylvania to attend induction ceremonies on Saturday afternoon.’

‘After a relatively injury-free first week, seven Bills went down during Friday’s double sessions. The most serious injury was to backup middle linebacker Brandon Spoon, who suffered a ruptured right biceps tendon and will undergo surgery Monday. He could miss the entire season.’

‘In less than four hours Friday, 800 footballs — at $50 a pop — with Kelly’s likeness on them were sold.’