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Jim Kelly needs surgery to fight aggressively spreading cancer

Dec 22, 2013; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills former quarterback Jim Kelly on the sidelines during a game against the Miami Dolphins at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 22, 2013; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills former quarterback Jim Kelly on the sidelines during a game against the Miami Dolphins at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 22, 2013; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills former quarterback Jim Kelly on the sidelines during a game against the Miami Dolphins at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 22, 2013; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Buffalo Bills former quarterback Jim Kelly on the sidelines during a game against the Miami Dolphins at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

Jim Kelly, the Hall of Fame titan of a quarterback who led the Buffalo Bills to numerous Super Bowls and countless big wins over the years is in the battle of his life. After getting the all-clear a few months ago regarding his cancer, doctors recently found that it had returned and done so in an aggressive manner.

Now, according to NBC10 in Buffalo, the former Bills quarterback is going to have surgery on Thursday to try and stop the spreading of his cancer before it becomes too much to treat.

"Jim’s wife also said he is tentatively scheduled to undergo surgery this Thursday. Friends and former teammates visited with Kelly at the hospital late last week."

This is a story that is just making football fans everywhere sick, as Kelly was not only a hero the Bills fans everywhere, but he was also a hard guy to hate in the way he carried himself. In this age when head injuries and CTE are highlighted in the deaths and struggles of players, we forget that other things make our heroes mortal and cancer is a leading cause.

Kelly’s cancer isn’t terminal yet and there is hope that the surgery this week will stop the spread and help contain the disease. The photo circulating of Kelly’s sick body laying in a hospital bed with his daughter by his side is not only heartbreaking but it’s something that cancer patients, victims and survivors can all relate to in the most painful of ways.