KARNS CITY — Jim Kelly stood in the Karns City High gymnasium, a place where he once terrorized the Gremlins as a member of the East Brady basketball team in the late 1970s, and spoke of never giving up on a dream.

It was his dream all those many years ago to play football in the NFL. It was a goal he achieved, but not easily.

“I have been on a roller coaster,” Kelly said. “I've gone through a lot of things in my life. Things aren't always going to go your way. It's what you do about it that counts.”

Kelly, a 1978 graduate of East Brady High School, went on to star in the NFL with Buffalo, leading the Bills to four consecutive Super Bowl appearances. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.

Kelly was at Karns City on Friday as part of the Hometown Hall of Famers program. A plaque was dedicated in his honor.

He also attended the Karns City football game against Keystone Friday night and said he will attend the Karns City-East Brady midget league game Saturday.

East Brady no longer exists as a high school. Students who live in the small town on the Allegheny River go to Karns City now.

Kelly did not ignore the strangeness of that situation Friday.

“It would have been different if (the consolidation) happened recently,” Kelly said. “For us, Karns City was always our big rival. It was always a battle, especially on the basketball court. I played some of my best games in this gym against Karns City.”

Kelly, though, was almost a Karns City Gremlin.

His father, Joe, worked as a machinist in a steel mill in Pittsburgh when he was transferred to Bradys Bend. With six boys, including 7-year-old Jim, the family was popular among athletic programs.

After great deliberation, Joe chose East Brady.

Kelly's coach with the Bulldogs was Terry Henry. The two have remained very close.

“Did I know he was going to play in the NFL and be a Hall of Famer? No,” Henry said. “He knew what his goal was. His goal was to play in the NFL.”

It was a tough road to get there.

Kelly was a Heisman Trophy candidate at the University of Miami during his senior year before he suffered a major shoulder injury.

“They told me I would never play another game of football again,” Kelly said.

But he overcame that injury and was selected by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the 1983 NFL draft.

Kelly, though, didn't want to play in Buffalo.

“When I was a little boy, I wanted to be like Terry Bradshaw on offense and Jack Lambert on defense,” Kelly said. “We tried to work out a trade so I could play for the Pittsburgh Steelers. That was my team. Black and Gold.”

When a trade couldn't be reached, Kelly was set to sign with the Bills. But Houston of the now defunct USFL swooped in and signed the quarterback.

He spent two years with the Gamblers before the USFL folded and then signed with the Bills in 1986.

He retired from the NFL in 1996. His No. 12 — which he wore because of Bradshaw — is the only number that has been retired by the Bills.

Kelly has had plenty of adversity after his playing days as well.

His son, Hunter, died in 2005 from Krabbe disease at the age of 8. Kelly still runs a foundation, Hunter's Hope, to raise money to find a cure for the disease.

This summer, Kelly was diagnosed with cancer in his upper jaw bone.

“The last two years, I've had major back surgery, double hernia surgery, neck surgery and three jaw surgeries before they found out I had cancer,” Kelly said. “I've been through the ringer.”

Kelly's cancer was removed, but his recovery has been slow, he said.

“It's getting there,” said Kelly, who looked healthy and strong at the presentation. “Interior and exterior are two different things. It takes time.”

Kelly was contacted by the Hall of Fame to participate in its Hometown Hall of Famer program.

Since 2011, the program has honored 81 Hall of Famers with ceremonies and plaque dedications much like the one Friday at Karns City.

During a standing ovation after his speech, Kelly blinked away a few tears.

“I always thought once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog,” Kelly said. “But now we're the same. We're reunited.”