Former Buffalo Bills Quarterback Hosts Annual Football Camp

BUFFALO, N.Y. — It’s been a tradition at One Bills Drive for 36 years now, and while none of the campers are old enough to remember Jim Kelly’s days with the Bills, his football camp still sells out every year.

“A lot of grandparents talk to their grandkids and tell them all the things I did,” the Hall of Fame quarterback joked. “But it’s so much fun.”

Kelly says his goal is to inspire young players to improve on and off the field during the camp.

“You have to have fun and learn something when you leave here, knowing that it made you a better person and a better player,” he said. “They’re not just learning football. They’re learning life. They’re learning the right kids to hang out with. So I do what I do to make a difference.”

As is tradition, Kelly gets on the field and throws passes with the kids. After all, he says, he’s a big kid himself.

“A few years ago they were considering not allowing the camp here because there was so much going on. I thought, ‘I’ve been doing this for 30 years,’ and I thought, ‘I’m going to do this until the day I die,'” he said.

If he can give children a memory that they will keep for the rest of their lives, he will have done his job.

Kelly also shared, “Parents understand what it’s about, they’ve learned, and you wouldn’t believe how many parents came up to me the first day and said, ‘I was at your football camp, that’s why my son is here,’ which is pretty cool. I love that.”