Ben Roethlisberger did not have to attend Tuesday night's 79th annual Dapper Dan Dinner & Sports Auction, but he decided to go anyway. He wanted to do something nice for a friend.
This Jim Kelly was not the one pictured on a poster on Roethlisberger's wall as a child growing up in Findlay, Ohio, the legend that embodied quarterbacking grit on the way to a record four consecutive Super Bowls with the Buffalo Bills. This Jim Kelly was thankful to be alive after a second bout with oral cancer in the past two years, smaller in physical stature but larger in life, and still a hero to Roethlisberger all these years later for entirely different reasons.
They met 10 years ago, as Roethlisberger was beginning his NFL career, and Kelly has gone from "Mr. Kelly" to simply "JK" as their relationship has developed. Roethlisberger insisted on introducing Kelly, the winner of the Dapper Dan 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award...........
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Although this is a story about Jim Kelly, and deservedly so, I'm still very proud of Ben and how he has surrounded himself with good mentors and people of quality character. They stood by him, which says a lot about what is truly inside Ben's heart. It has taken a long time, but he has done an excellent job of rebuilding his reputation.