Two Bills Drive

‘He was the linchpin for a franchise about to take its long-suffering fans for the ride of a lifetime. In fact, I proposed to my wife in the afterglow of a playoff-clinching victory in 1990.’

‘Hunter Kelly’s fragile life is only five hard, surprising years long, but it has given his famous father a sense of purpose after football.’

‘The No. 1 defense roared out, causing a Drew Bledsoe incompletion and then three successive negative plays before Bledsoe whipped an 18-yard strike to Peerless Price. Price had another 20-yard gain before the defense held off Bledsoe with a sack at the Browns’ 5 on the 12th play.’

‘Kelly is the first player from the Bills’ Super Bowl teams to be elected to the Hall of Fame. He will not be the last. Next year, kick returner Steve Tasker will be eligible for the first time. “He’s the greatest special teams player ever to play the game,” Kelly said. “There was nobody, nobody like Steve Tasker.”‘

‘When the 6-foot-4, 265-pound Smith sat on the cart, the vehicle’s four tires seemed to wilt under the duress. But away it chugged, whisking the 17-year veteran to his spot at the forefront of the celebration.’

‘God gave him Hunter Kelly. He also gave the Kellys a responsibility not many of us could carry.’

‘The city could have been renamed South Buffalo.’

‘From Penny M. Wolfgang, a New York Supreme Court justice, to what one East Brady, Pa., resident claimed was “half Jim’s hometown,” the party was pure Kelly. White collars and blue collars rubbed shoulders, and everyone knew Jim and one or more of his five brothers.’

‘Nikco Sports is offering a limited edition, 5,000 NFL-licensed footballs commemorating Kelly’s Hall of Fame induction, and donating 10 percent of the proceeds to the Hunter’s Hope Foundation, an organization that raises funds to support research efforts to find a cure for Krabbe disease and other leukodystrophies.’

‘”I feel like we’re at a Bills home game,” said Kelly’s former center Kent Hull. “Akron has never seen a party like the one we have planned.”‘

‘Every year, new Pro Football Hall of Famers talk about the people who changed their lives. But until Saturday, one of those had never been a 5-year-old lying in a canopied stroller in the front row, his eyes barely open, a line of oxygen wrapped under his nose.’

‘Besides Kelly, Thurman Thomas, the Bills former All-Pro running back, doesn’t see why Tasker shouldn’t have a bronze bust. “You talk about individuals making plays and making a difference, he’s the greatest special teams player ever to play the game,” Thomas said.’

‘Don’t count out Bledsoe, though. Given time, he is one of the finest passers in the league.’

‘The Buffalo turnout even drowned out the usually overwhelming number of “Terrible Towel”-waving Pittsburgh Steeler fans who showed up to cheer for Stallworth.’

‘”In an era of headsets and technology, he did it his own way: out on the field.”‘