Patrick Joseph Kelly II (October 29, 1965 – March 28, 2003) was a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL)

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Lik ...

who played for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

(1988–1989) and the New York Jets (1990–1991). He was drafted by the Broncos in the seventh round of the 1988 NFL Draft. He played in 44 games over 4 seasons, starting only the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Bicenten ...

AFC Championship The AFC Championship Game is the annual championship game of the American Football Conference (AFC) and one of the two semi-final playoff games of the National Football League (NFL), the largest professional American football league in the world. ...

due to an injury to starter

Clarence Kay Clarence Hubert Kay (born July 30, 1961) is a former professional American football player. A 6'4", 237-lb. tight end from the University of Georgia, Kay was selected by the Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American footbal ...

. Kelly also played in Super Bowl XXIV. He died of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

on March 28, 2003.

Early years

Kelly attended R. L. Thomas High School in Webster, New York, before heading to Syracuse, New York to play with the Syracuse Orange football team.

Head Coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Greg Robinson said of him,

...There was Pat Kelly. Pat Kelly – what a character. This guy was as bright as they came. He was at the Jets, and at the Broncos, went on and was doing a wonderful job on Wall Street. Pat was the kind of guy who he could turn a locker room because of the way he could disrupt it with his sense of humor. He could take over a whole football team. He was a guy who everybody not only remembered as a player, but also as a person. Sadly, we lost Pat not too long ago. He is always remembered for what he was – a special person.

Kelly also won the Zunic Award, which is given annually to anyone who exhibits the courage and spirit of Mike and Judy Zunic. More specifically, it usually signifies overcoming a severe injury.

After football

After leaving the NFL, Kelly became a successful businessman. This led to him co-creating th
Joshua Frase Foundation
in the fall of 1996, a foundation devoted to raising funds for research into

Centronuclear myopathy Centronuclear myopathies (CNM) are a group of congenital myopathies where cell nuclei are abnormally located in the center of muscle cells instead of their normal location at the periphery. Symptoms of CNM include severe hypotonia, hypoxia-requi ...

and related congenital myopathies, with friend and former Syracuse/New York Jets teammate

Paul Frase Paul Frase (born May 5, 1965) is a former American football player who played professionally in the National Football League for 11 seasons, from 1988 to 1998. He grew up in Barrington, New Hampshire and studied psychology at Syracuse University. ...

. Frase's son Joshua, whom the foundation is named for, suffered from centronuclear myopathy and died on December 24, 2010, at the age of 15. Kelly also created the JFF Muscle Dream Team Gala and helped raise millions of dollars for the foundation.

References

External links

NFL.com player page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Pat 1965 births 2003 deaths Players of American football from Rochester, New York American football tight ends Syracuse Orange football players Denver Broncos players New York Jets players Deaths from brain tumor People from Webster, New York Sportspeople from Monroe County, New York