Jim Kelly - The Jim Kelly Foundation: Hunter’s Hope
The Buffalo Bills selected Jim Kelly in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft. Only three players in NFL history had reached the 30,000-yard career passing mark faster. Eight times during his NFL career he passed for more than 3,000 yards in a season, and twenty-six times he passed for more than 300 yards in a game. Kelly led the NFL in passing in 1990 and 1991. In 11 seasons in Buffalo, Kelly led the Bills to the playoffs eight times. In 17 playoff game appearances, including four consecutive Super Bowls, he passed for 3,863 yards and 21 touchdowns.Kelly has devoted much of his post-football life to his son, Hunter Kelly, who was diagnosed with globoid-cell leukodystrophy (Krabbe Disease) and died as a result of the disease at the age of 8. To honor his son, Kelly established Hunter’s Hope: a non-profit organization aimed to increase awareness of the disease. He and his wife Jill founded the annual Hunter's Day of Hope, which is held on February 14, and The Hunter James Kelly Research Institute at the University at Buffalo, where neuroscientists and clinicians are studying myelin and its diseases. Kelly also started The Kelly for Kids Foundation, a charity committed to serving disadvantaged and disabled youth in Western New York.