Buffalo Bills: Top 10 First Round Draft Picks of All Time
By Paul Taylor
3) Jim Kelly
Selected: 14th overall in 1983
Played: 11 seasons, all with the Bills
Career highlights: 5-time Pro Bowler, 1-time first team & 2-time second team All Pro, 1991 NFL passing touchdown leader, only quarterback to lead team to four straight Super Bowls, Hall of Fame
It’s funny how life turns out sometimes. When Jim Kelly was drafted by the Bills in 1983 he wanted no part of the team, going so far as the play in the upstart USFL with the Houston Gamblers.
However, by the time Kelly’s football career was over, he had formed a bond with Buffalo, which will never be broken. To do this day, he still resides in the Western New York area.
Unsurprisingly, the five-time Pro Bowler is at the top of most of the major career passing records for the Bills. This includes yards, touchdowns and, most importantly, wins behind center.
The main knock against the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native is the fact he is the only quarterback in NFL history to lose four Super Bowls. However, he is also the only one to make four consecutive championship game appearances.
Renowned for running the “K-gun” no huddle offense and calling his own plays, Kelly left the game after 11 seasons in Buffalo. He was enshrined in the Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility and is one of only two Bills players to have his number retired.