East Brady Native Kelly to Receive ESPN’s Jimmy V Award in July

| June 8, 2018


BATAVIA, N.Y. (D9Sports) – East Brady native and Buffalo Bill Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly will be receiving the Jimmy V Award presented by ESPN at the ESPY Awards July 18 from Los Angeles.

(Photo by Mike Schnelle)

Kelly will receive the award for the perseverance and toughness he has displayed during his ongoing battle with oral cancer.

The award is named for late North Carolina State men’s basketball coach Jimmy Valvano, who gave an inspirational speech at the ESPYs in 1993 less than two months before he died of cancer.

Kelly, 58, was initially diagnosed with oral cancer in 2013 and had been cancer free from September 2014 until tests in March showed cancer had come back. At that point, Kelly underwent surgery to have cancer removed from his jaw, and he currently is still unable to eat foods. He is slated to undergo another procedure June 21 where doctors will add tissue to the upper portion of his mouth.

Kelly is a 1978 graduate of East Brady High School (now part of the Karns City School District) where he threw for 3,915 career yards and 44 touchdowns and also scored over 1,000 career points in basketball while averaging 23 points and 20 rebounds as a senior. He went to college at Miami (Fla.) and then played in both the USFL for the Houston Gamblers and in the NFL for the Buffalo Bill. He led the Bills to four straight AFC Championships and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

In 2014, the D9Sports.com football Most Valuable Player Award was named after Kelly.


Copyright © 2024 EYT Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Any copying, redistribution or retransmission of the contents of this service without the express written consent of EYT Media Group, Inc. is expressly prohibited.

Category: Local News, News, Sports