Finding faith can seem like a difficult process, but a former NFL star is now talking openly about his conversion to Christianity in an effort to encourage and evangelize others.
The venerable Buffalo Bills quarterback, Jim Kelly, 63, discusses on Instagram how his newfound religion has helped him cope with his son’s death in 2005 and his own struggle with squamous cell cancer in his upper jaw.
Kelly stated in his essay, “I’m not a man of many words and I don’t speak ‘Christianese.’ All I know is that God altered my life. “After Hunter entered paradise, I felt completely lost and enraged with God. However, God never stopped loving me and never gave up on me.
“Becoming a Christian is the best decision I’ve made in my life. I wish I would’ve come to him sooner. But his timing is perfect. And finally, I was baptized. I have so many people to thank especially all of the people who have prayed for me for so long. THANK YOU,” he also included a clip of his baptism.
Kelly gained notoriety during his 11-year time with the Bills, which began in 1986, and helped his team win an astonishing six divisional championships. He retired in 1996, and in 2002 he was given the prestigious honor of being admitted into the NFL Hall of Fame.
From the start, the Kelly family’s voyage was fraught with difficulties. Their son Hunter James Kelly, commonly known as globoid-cell leukodystrophy, was born in 1997 with Krabbe Disease. Tragically, he was just eight years old when he went suddenly. In an effort to preserve their son’s memory, Kelly and his wife founded a foundation in his honor and later helped the University of Buffalo construct the ground-breaking Hunter James Kelly Research Institute. Today, committed scientists at the center remain unrelenting in their search for a treatment for this uncommon illness.
In 2013, Kelly revealed that squamous cell carcinoma, a type of cancer, had been found in his jaw. He underwent surgery and was declared cancer-free, but a year later the illness reappeared. Through 2019, he waged the conflict intermittently.
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Kelly is a committed philanthropist as well as a supporter of his son’s foundation. He participates in the yearly Jim Kelly Celebrity Golf Classic to support his charity for his children. In addition, he is an important mentor to young football players at a summer camp that is annually hosted at the Bills stadium.
