Getty Josh Allen warms up against the Arizona Cardinals
Ever since Jim Kelly took the Buffalo Bills to four straight Super Bowls in the early 90’s Kelly and his wife Jill have been waiting for something special.
They’ve been waiting for a quarterback to step up and fill the shoes that Jim did for the entirety of his NFL career in Buffalo, not only on the field but off the field as well.
On Sunday, Jill Kelly sent a special message to Bills Mafia basically saying one thing.
“The torch has been passed.”
In her message, Jill detailed how she, Jim, and their family have been patiently waiting for a Buffalo Bills quarterback to take the reins. She believes that Allen is that quarterback.
“We’ve got a guy who sincerely loves what we all have loved for so long, the team and the great people in this community and those who make up the greater #BillsMafia community!!” Jill Kelly said in her post.
Jill went on to thank Allen for coming to Buffalo, along with taking the torch and running with it with all he has. She also hopes he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.
“Like you said, we don’t ever want you to go and we hope you’re here for your entire career!” Jill Kelly said in her post. “We couldn’t be more proud of you! We’ve got your back!”
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The K-Gun in Buffalo
For 10 years, Jim Kelly controlled the offense in Buffalo. Led by legendary coach Marv Levy, the Bills implemented the high-paced, K-Gun offense with Kelly, legendary running back Thurman Thomas, and several weapons on the outside. It led them to six AFC East championships and four Super Bowl appearances from 1990-1993.
During his 10-year career with the Bills, Kelly passed for 35,467 yards and 237 touchdowns, while throwing for over 3,000 yards in seven of the 10 years. Ever since then, Kelly has been seen as the one franchise quarterback in Bills history.
They haven’t had the same leading passer for more than five years since Kelly’s departure. Ryan Fitzpatrick has the longest streak at four years from 2009-2012.
So, you can imagine how excited the Kelly’s and Bills fans are to see a quarterback like Allen start to set down roots in Buffalo. After Bills Mafia showed support for Allen after the recent passing of his grandmother, Patricia, by donating close to $700,000 to the Oishei Children’s Hospital, Allen said he never wants to leave Buffalo.
“[Buffalo] is truly a special place and I know my family is forever engraved here, myself included, and I don’t ever want to leave obviously,” Allen said. “I want to play here for as long as I can and give back to the community and give back to Bills Mafia.”
Bringing Excitement to Buffalo
Since his rookie season, Josh Allen has been Buffalo’s leading passer and he was even the team’s leading rusher as a rookie. Each and every year though the former Wyoming signal-caller has improved.
Coming out of college he was known for having a strong arm and he showcased that as a rookie after taking over for Nathan Peterman. But he lacked accuracy as he only completed 52.8 percent of his passes and he was criticized for it.
He’s improved though and he, along with general manager Brandon Beane, head coach Sean McDermott and offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, have turned the Bills into one of the best offenses in the league.
After Buffalo’s bye week this week, Josh Allen is currently sixth in the league in passing yards and yards per game and also has the eighth-most passing touchdowns. Early on in the season, Allen was even in the MVP running and still is as the season carries on, but he isn’t doing it alone.
His top wide receiver, Stefon Diggs, who was traded to Buffalo in the offseason, has the second most receiving leagues in the NFL and leads a receiving corp that is one of the best in the NFL.
The Bills come off their bye week this week and will face the Los Angeles Chargers at home.
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