Jim Kelly

[Cane Dynasty]

Mike Rodak ‏@mikerodak 23m
Jim Kelly’s wife Jill announces that surgery has been canceled. “The cancer is in areas that surgery cannot successfully eradicate.

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[CaneFan79]

Praying for a miracle...My first UM QB and still my favorite of all time.

 

[Tad Footeball]

Mike Rodak ‏@mikerodak 23m
Jim Kelly’s wife Jill announces that surgery has been canceled. “The cancer is in areas that surgery cannot successfully eradicate.

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That doesn't sound good. I'll put my hope in this quote from ESPN earlier by his doctor though:

"Jim Kelly's condition remains very treatable and potentially curable," said Dr. Peter D. Costantino, who will direct Kelly's treatment at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. "Our immediate focus is on controlling his pain and beginning the process of eradicating the cancer."

 

[TheMatador]

He'll beat it just like he did the cowboys in the superbowl..

Are you serious. If I were a Mod I would ban you for life, you Troll.

He probably thinks Jacory or Snickers where better.

I doubt that Colostomy bag thinks. Period.

It's crazy how some folks on this board get bent out of shape if you rip on
one of the street agent coaches in soFla, but not a peep out of them when some
****** makes a comment on one of our former or current players.

Don't insult colostomy bags, or people who were 'em by comparing this cretin to one. I don't wear one, but just sayin'. You might offend somebody. I feel for people who wear them; I've had a number of friends who have had to. Everybody I've known has adapted well, but it must be hard to get used to.

 

[TheMatador]

With the bad news coming out about Jim Kelly it got me thinking. Is he the most underrated Cane in relation to actual importance to the overall history of the program?

I don't know if he is the most underrated but he was certainly Schnelly's first important recruit. I would argue that the most underrated Hurricane in the modern era is Lester Williams. Saban turned the tide by keeping kids like Williams home who would normally go to Florida or leave the state. One thing I know that 1981 Miami Hurricane defense is the most underrated defense in school history. And Miami was arguably the best team in the country by seasons end. Miami lost 2 games because they were jobbed at Austin and at Starkville.

Jim was nails. I liked Larry Brodsky a lot but he was a possession receiver. The other receiver was Mark Rodrique, a converted QB. Imagine if Jim was throwing to Eddie Brown.

Best wishes out to Jim and his family. He'll beat it.

great memory, Miami was a great team that year and got screwed in both of those games. Could have won their first title that year.

Yep, that was a great team. Beat a very strong PennState team that was loaded with NFLers like Sean Farrell, Mike Munchak, Curt Warner,
Kenny Jackson, Todd Blackledge, Paul Lankford,etc....Jim Kelly was part of that 1978 Class that was loaded with many highly-recruited players.
That was as good a class as any in UM history.
Ironically, the QB signee that garnered more attention than Kelly was this guy from Boca Raton named Mark Richt.
Anyways, what a class....players like Lester Williams, Tony Chickillo, David Jefferson, Fred Marion, Richt, Mark Cooper, Larry Brodsky, and
son recruited by everyone in the country.

The 78 class was terrific. It's too bad most Canes fans have no idea how much Lou Saban did to put it on the right path. He is almost completely overlooked.

People forget about Lou Saban's contribution to the program's turnaround. Years ago, I was talking to the wife of Gary Greaves (don't remember her first name). Gary was a player for UM around the late '50's, early '60's. She managed a bank right across from campus and was a very strong follower of UM football. She told me that, if he had stayed, Lou Saban would've won an NC even faster than Schnellenberger. She said he was a phenomenal recruiter--he could get any kid he wanted.

The story about Kelly and his recruitment to Penn State might be a great deal of misinformation--the public story was that Paterno wanted him for LB. I met a guy from East Brady back in the '80's who told me something else entirely. I won't get into it, though. Had more to do with test scores, etc. I'd really rather not repeat it. I'll never really know what the truth is. I think YouTube has the famous 79 upset of PSU when Kelly was a redshirt freshman. I think I saw a little OG and his name was Art Kehoe. Art was tiny, even then, for a major college OL. Of course, we often had rather smallish guys throughout the '80's. Bobby Garcia started one of the big games in the OB, I don't remember if it was the '88 OB against Oklahoma, or some other game. Post game radio interview had Tony Wise, I think, raving about starting center Bobby Garcia weighing only 238, and that was really small even in the late '80's.

Brodsky and Rodrique were known as the "Average White Boys," a takeoff on the band name, Average White Band. Brodsky was also known as the Jerusalem Cowboy because he was half-****** and liked to hang out in Country and Western Bars. Behind them was a real speedster, Rocky Belk, from northern Virginia, whom I was saddened to learn, died a few years back.

One player I really liked was Tim Flanagan from northern Virginia. He seemed to deliver crushing hits from his DE (really outside LB) position. We had Bob "Fuzzy" Nelson, from Dundalk Maryland. That's a real throwback working class part of the Baltimore area. Very blue collar. I remember names from that era like Greg Zappala, Andy Baratta, Smokey Roan, I don't know if these guys were all from the '78 class or a bit later. I think they all played with Kelly, who would've finished up in '82, but for his shoulder injury early in the season. We had Kelly, Kosar and Testaverde all on the roster at the same time--1982. In fact, when Mark Richt was suspended after the FSU game (he took over for the injured Kelly) it was Kyle Vandewende, who got the start at College Park against Maryland. I went to that game. We almost won as I recall--against Boomer Esiason. Schnelly used to briing in the backup QB to run a series or so during the 2nd quarter, just to keep him warmed up. Who came in? Vinny! He was actually ahead of Kosar on the depth chart. He was beat out by Bernie the next year (1983). Vinny never won a NC at UM as a starter.