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Kelly's salute to son caps teary ceremony
August 3, 2002 Print it
CANTON, Ohio -- Jim Kelly never walked off a football field holding his son's hand. He never got to play catch with Hunter or take him camping or fishing.
But Kelly's 5-year-old son gave him something much more special: a hero.
Jim Kelly never tossed a touchdown pass as meaningful or had a moment on the field as sweet as the one that closed his induction speech into the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Choking back tears throughout his 10 minutes at the podium, the Buffalo Bills quarterback thanked the teammates, coaches, family and friends who helped him achieve football's highest honor.
Then Kelly looked down at his terminally ill child.
Hunter Kelly, who shares his father's birthday and grit, has Krabbes disease, a rare degenerative disorder of the nervous system that robbed him of motor skills.
"It's been written that the trademark of my career was toughness," Kelly said. "The toughest person I ever met in my life was my son, my hero, Hunter.
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