Jim Kelly first received national attention thanks to his athletic prowess as the quarterback of the University of Miami Hurricanes in the early 1980′s. He then went on to star in the United States Football League with the Houston Gamblers and eventually the National Football League with the Buffalo Bills. Based on his abilities and his accomplishments, he would go on to be voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Here is a look at 30 interesting facts about the great Jim Kelly of the Buffalo Bills.

-Jim Kelly’s first choice for a college to go to was Penn State, but they only offered him a chance to play linebacker. He then chose the University of Miami because of the opportunity to play quarterback.

-During his senior year in high school at East Brady, Pennsylvania, Jim Kelly also starred on the basketball team. He averaged 23 points and 20 rebounds a game that year.

-Jim Kelly was born on Valentine’s Day in 1960.

-After the USFL folded, Jim Kelly would be recognized as the league’s all time leader in passing touchdowns with 83.

-Jim Kelly also holds the single season records in the USFL for passing yards (5,219) and passing touchdowns (44).

-Jim Kelly threw more touchdown passes against the New York Jets, a total of 33, than he did against any other team in the league.

-Kelly was the league leader in interceptions in the NFL in 1992 with 19.

-During his NFL career, Jim Kelly threw just one overtime touchdown pass. It happened in 1989 in a 47-41 victory over the Houston Oilers and was his fifth touchdown pass of the day. It went for 28 yards and was caught by Andre Reed.

-There have been thirteen 3,000 yard seasons in the history of the Buffalo Bills, eight of them were accomplished by Jim Kelly.

-No player caught more touchdown passes from Jim Kelly than fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame member Andre Reed. Kelly and Reed teamed up for 65 touchdowns. The player who caught the second most from Kelly was tight end Pete Metzelaars with 22.

-Jim Kelly caught two passes during his career. The first one came in 1987 and went for 35 yards. The second and final one came one year later in 1988 and was good for five yards.

-Kelly’s record in the NFL as a starter was 101-59.

-Jim Kelly was inducted into the University of Miami Hall of Fame in 1992.

-The first touchdown pass Jim Kelly ever threw in the NFL came in his first game in 1986. It was a two yarder in the first quarter of a 28-24 loss to the New York Jets and was caught by running back Greg Bell.

-In terms of touchdown passes thrown, the second quarter was Jim Kelly’s most productive quarter of play. He threw 47 touchdown passes during his career in the first quarter, 55 in the third, and 60 in the fourth. In the second quarter however, he threw 74 touchdown passes. He also added one overtime touchdown pass too.

-Jim Kelly once appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated holding a New Jersey Generals helmet. After his team, the Houston Gamblers, folded he had been slated to be the starting quarterback for New Jersey, but then the USFL would fold before that got a chance to happen.

-Jim Kelly was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft. Other quarterbacks taken ahead of him were John Elway and Todd Blackledge. Quarterbacks taken after him included Tony Eason, Ken O’Brien, Dan Marino, Jeff Christensen, Reggie Collier, Babe Laufenberg, Gary Kubiak, Tom Ramsey, Bruce Mathison, Jim Bob Taylor, Clete Casper, David Mangrum, and Scott Lindquist.

-Including Kelly, six eventual members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame would be drafted in the first round of the 1983 NFL Draft: John Elway, Eric Dickerson, Bruce Matthews, Jim Kelly, Dan Marino, and Darrell Green.

-Jim Kelly’s first 300 yard passing game came in 1986, his first year in the league, in the ninth game of the season. He completed 29 of 39 passes for 342 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. This performance came in a 34-28 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

-Jim Kelly was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002. Other inductees that year with him were John Stallworth, Dan Hampton, Dave Casper, and George Allen.

-When Jim Kelly was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002, his former head coach, Marv Levy, was his presenter. Levy is also in the Hall of Fame.

-Kelly’s first win in the NFL as a starting quarterback came in week three of the 1986 season in a game in which the Bills defeated the Cardinals.

-Jim Kelly scored just seven rushing touchdowns during his NFL career, four of those came in the fourth quarter.

-Jim Kelly ended a season with 17 interceptions four different times, in 1986, 1988, 1991, and 1994.

-In 1996, Quinn Early caught the last touchdown pass Jim Kelly threw during the regular season in his career. It was a four yarder in the fourth quarter of a 20-9 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

-The last touchdown pass Kelly would throw ever came in the playoffs following the 1996 regular season. It was a 7 yarder in the first quarter of an opening round loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

-During his career, Jim Kelly threw 237 touchdown passes and had 175 interceptions. In the 17 post season games he played in, he threw 21 touchdown passes and 28 interceptions.

-In 1992, Jim Kelly combined with Steve Young in what would be just the fourth time in league history where two quarterbacks would pass for more than 400 yards in the same game. The Bills would beat the 49ers in that game by the score of 34-31.

-The longest rushing touchdown of Jim Kelly’s career went for 15 yards in the fourth quarter of a 35-21 loss to the Detroit Lions in 1994.

-In week two of 1986, his first season in the NFL, Kelly would complete an 84 yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Chris Burkett in a 36-33 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. This would be the longest touchdown pass of his entire NFL career.

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Tony Romo is one of those great NFL stories. He was a backup quarterback, who though he was thought of as somewhat of a prospect, he wasn’t thought of as a top flight quarterback at all. He got his shot though to lead the Dallas Cowboys and ever since he has been justifiably grouped with the better quarterbacks in the league.

In his short time in the league, who have is favorite receivers been? When it comes time to throw a touchdown pass, who does he throw to the most?

Here is a look at the top five receivers through the 2009 NFL season, based on the number of touchdown passes thrown to them by Tony Romo.

Terrell Owens – 34

Patrick Crayton – 19

Jason Witten – 14

Miles Austin – 14

Roy E. Williams – 7

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Few players have made as big of an impact on their team as the quarterback of the New England Patriots, Tom Brady. Brady came to the Patriots out of the University of Michigan and was initially fairly far down on the depth chart. He eventually came in to replace Drew Bledsoe because of an injury and has not relinquished the starting quarterback job ever since (other than briefly because of an injury of his own).

Tom Brady was a key reason that the Patriots won three Super Bowls during the first decade of the 2000′s. His keen intellect, deceptively strong arm, and great accuracy have played a big role in the many important touchdown passes he has thrown for the team. Who has caught the most Tom Brady touchdown passes over the years though?

Here is a list of the top five receivers through the 2009 season based on number of touchdown passes they have caught from Tom Brady.

Randy Moss – 36

Daniel Graham (tie) – 17
Ben Watson (tie) – 17

David Patten – 16

Troy Brown – 15

Just missing the top five list is Super Bowl XXXIX MVP, Deion Branch with 14 career touchdown receptions from Tom Brady.

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Here are some interesting facts about Steve Bartkowski:

-In 1980, no quarterback in the NFL threw more touchdowns than Steve Bartkowski did with 31.

-The longest pass during the 1982 season was an 86 yarder from Steve Bartkowski to running back William Andrews.

-Steve Bartkowski finished his career with a record of 59-68 as a starter.

-After 11 seasons with Atlanta, Steve Bartkowski finished his career with one season with the Los Angeles Rams in 1986.

-Steve Bartkowski made it to the Pro Bowl in 1980 and 1981.

-Steve Bartkowski was the first client ever of famous sports agent Leigh Steinberg.

-Steve Bartkowski was chosen with the first overall pick in the 1975 NFL Draft. The Falcons passed on two members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame who would be picked within three picks after Bartkowski, Walter Payton and Randy White.

-Steve Bartkowski was the second quarterback ever in NFL hisotry to post back-to-back 30+ touchdown seasons when he threw 31 in 1980 and 30 in 1981. The first player to accomplish that feat was Y.A. Tittle.

-After finishing his career with the Falcons and before signing with the Rams, Steve Bartkowski was briefly signed with the Washington Redskins but did not see any action.

-In a 1981 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Steve Bartkowski threw for the most yards in one game of his career, 416.

-The player who caught more of Steve Bartkowski’s 156 career touchdown passes than anyone else was Falcons wide receiver Alfred Jenkins with 32.

-A full third (52) of Steve Bartkowski’s 156 career touchdown passes were thrown to wide receivers named Alfred, 32 by Alfred Jenkins and 20 by Alfred Jackson.

-Steve Bartkowski threw more touchdown passes against the New Orleans Saints, 26, than any other team.

-Gerald Tinker only played two seasons in the NFL and during his career he only caught 20 passes and one touchdown. His one touchdown pass though was the first touchdown pass thrown by Steve Bartkowski.

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Over the course of his career he has also shown himself to be a fairly good passer too. He has completed eight passes in eleven attempts, seven of those completions going for touchdowns. What about that one pass completion that didn’t go for a touchdown though? That came in 2004 and was a 38 yard completion back to the quarterback, Drew Brees.

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The Seattle Seahawks came into the National Football League in the mid 1970′s, the same year as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and have had an up and down success rate during their history. Matt Hasselbeck came to the team in the early 2000′s and gave them something they hadn’t had in a very long time, if ever, one of the better quarterbacks in the league.

During his time with the team, Hasselbeck has made some big plays and been a part of some great moments, even helping the team get to the Super Bowl. He’s thrown some important touchdown passes, some of the most important in team history, but during that time who has his favorite receiver been?

Here is a list of the top five receivers through 2009 based on how many touchdown receptions they have caught from Matt Hasselbeck.

Darrell Jackson – 33

Bobby Engram – 17

Nate Burleson – 13

Jerramy Stevens – 13

Koren Robinson – 11

Shaun Alexander – 11

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Marc Bulger burst onto the NFL scene with the St. Louis Rams as the unheralded backup quarterback to Kurt Warner. Warner had similarly burst onto the scene a few years earlier, coming out of nowhere to lead the Rams to the Super Bowl and accumulate a serious amount of individual awards. With Warner experiencing injury and sub-par on field results, Bulger was given a shot at running the team. And run it he did, putting up some of the best season numbers of any quarterback in the league during the mid 2000′s.

He played in a lot of big games for the team and threw a lot of big touchdowns. Who was his favorite receiver though? Who has Marc Bulger thrown more touchdown passes to than anyone else?

Here are the top five receivers, through 2009, based on how many touchdown passes have been thrown to them by Marc Bulger.

Torry Holt – 46

Isaac Bruce – 22

Kevin Curtis – 9

Donnie Avery – 7

Steven Jackson – 6

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photo credit: daveynin

Ben Roethlisberger has only been in the National Football League for a short time, but he has already made quite a mark on the league, and on his team the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is highly regarded by fans and teammates for both his toughness and his accuracy. In a very short time, including multiple Super Bowl wins, he has established himself as one of the best quarterbacks in the league.But no quarterback can do it alone, and who are Ben Roethlisberger’s favorite receivers?

Looking at it from the point of view of who has caught the most touchdown passes from Ben during his time in the league, here is a look at his top five favorite receivers to throw to.

Hines Ware – 36

Heath Miller – 24

Santonio Holmes – 17

Nate Washington – 11

Mike Wallace – 6

There is only one Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers are very lucky to have him. Ben, though, is very lucky to have had great players surrounding him during his career, including the five receivers listed above.

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Here is a look at a small selection of 29 interesting facts about Pat Haden.

-Pat Haden’s middle name is “Capper”.

-Haden was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame in 1995, thanks to his playing career at Bishop Amat Memorial High School in La Puente, California.

-Because his parents moved during his senior year of high school, Haden spent that year living with the family of one of his friends and high school teammates. That was the family of John McKay, the then head football coach at the University of Southern California.

-While attending the University of Southern California, Haden and the Trojans made it to three Rose Bowls and won two national championships.

-Pat Haden was the co-MVP of the 1975 Rose Bowl.

-Pat Haden was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 1995.

-Pat Haden was also successful in the classroom in college, eventually being awarded a Rhodes Scholarship.

-Haden chose to play his first season of pro football in the World Football League with the Southern California Sun because it allowed him to utilize his Rhodes Scholarship and attend Oxford University in the United Kingdom.

-The longest touchdown pass of Pat Haden’s NFL career went for 68 yards in the second quarter of a 26-23 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1978. It happened in week ten and was caught by Billy Waddy.

-Pat Haden finished his NFL career, playing all of it with the Los Angeles Rams, with a win-loss record as the starting quarterback of 35-19-1.

-Haden just missed his only 3000 yard season in 1978 when he started all 16 games and passed for 2,995 yards.

-Pat Haden threw more touchdown passes, a total of 11, against the New Orleans Saints than he did against any other team in the NFL.

-After injuries kept him from being effective on the field, it was Pat Haden who came in off the bench to replace future Hall of Famer Joe Namath in his final season of pro football with the Los Angeles Rams in 1977.

-Haden and the Rams were strong finishers, right before the half and right before the end of the game. Of his 52 career touchdown passes, only seven came in the first quarters and eight in the third quarters of the games he played in. However, he threw 23 of them in the second quarter and 14 in the fourth quarter.

-It wasn’t until week 12 of the 1978 NFL season, a 31-28 win over the 49ers, that Pat Haden threw the first third quarter touchdown pass of his career. Up until then, all 29 touchdown passes that he had thrown over more than two and a half seasons had come in the first, second, or fourth quarters.

-Rams receiver Ron Jessie caught Pat Haden’s first NFL touchdown pass ever. It was a 47 yarder in the fourth quarter of a 30-14 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

-The most touchdown passes thrown by Pat Haden during a season in the NFL was 13 and this happened in 1978, his third season in the league.

-The Los Angeles Rams went to Super Bowl XIV following the 1979 season but, due to an injury to Haden, it was Vince Ferragamo who would be the starting quarterback for the second half of the season and in the post season.

-Rams receiver Ron Jessie not only caught Pat Haden’s first touchdown pass in the NFL, with a total of 8, he also caught more of his career touchdown passes than any other player on the team.

-Haden rushed for four touchdowns in his first year with the Rams, two in his second, and then never ran a touchdown in again, finishing with six for his career.

-Pat Haden was the quarterback for one of USC’s greatest wins, known as “The Comeback”, in which they defeated Notre Dame 55-24 despite trailing 24-0 at one point and being down 24-6 at halftime.

-The most touchdown passes Pat Haden ever had in a game was three. This happened in 1979, in a 35-17 win over the New Orleans Saints.

-All four of Haden’s rushing touchdowns during his rookie season came in consecutive games. The first one in a week ten loss to the Cardinals, then one in a week eleven win over the 49ers, then one in a week twelve win over the Saints, and finally one in a week thirteen win over the Falcons.

-Pat Haden’s biggest rushing day came in a 10-3 loss to the Saints in 1978 when he carried the ball seven times for 49 yards.

-The last touchdown pass of Pat Haden’s NFL career came in 1981 in a 33-31 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in week 12 of the season. It was a third quarter two yard pass that was caught by Walt Arnold.

-Because of his commitment to the Southern California Sun of the World Football League, Haden’s stock dropped in the NFL Draft and he wound up not being selected until the 7th round in 1975. Other quarterbacks selected ahead of him that season include Steve Bartkowski, Gary Sheide, Steve Grogan, David Humm, Bob Avellini, Tom Shuman, and Steve Joachim. Quarterbacks taken after him include Harry Knight, Rick Worley, Carlos Brown, Condredge Holloway, Jim McMillan, John Graham, Tom Doyle, Chris Kupec, Alvin White, Bill Malouf, Mitch Anderson, and Neal Jeffrey.

-Haden had just one 300 yard game during his career. He went 20 of 39 for 310 yards with one touchdown and one interception in a 20-17 loss to the 49ers in 1981, his final year in the league.

-Pat Haden finished his career with four touchdown passes thrown during Monday Night Football games.

-Pat Haden earned a law degree from Loyola Law School following his career in pro football.

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-In 1971, Larry Csonka led the entire NFL is average yards per rushing attempt at 5.4.

-Larry Csonka was selected to five straight Pro Bowls, fro 1970 to 1974.

-Larry Csonka started and ended his career with the Miami Dolphins. In between though he spent one season with the Memphis Southmen of the World Football League and three seasons with the New York Giants.

-Larry Csonka was selected with the 8th overall pick in the 1968 NFL/AFL Draft. The seven players selected ahead of him were offensive lineman Ron Yary, center Bob Johnson, defensive end Claude Humphrey, offensive lineman Fred Carr, defensive lineman Dennis Byrd, and defensive end Kevn Hardy.

-The most touchdowns ever rushed for in one game by Larry Csonka is three. He did this twice, both in 1979, when he scored three against the Chicago Bears in week four and then scored three against the New England Patriots in week fourteen. Both games were wins by the Miami Dolphins.

-Larry Csonka was inducted into the Miami Dolphins Honor Roll during its first year of existence in 1990. The other four people honored were former owner and team founder Joe Robbie, quarterback Bob Griese, center Jim Langer, and wide receiver Paul Warfield.

-Larry Csonka was the second running back that the Miami Dolphins franchise had selected in the first round of the draft. Two years earlier in 1966 they picked Jim Grabowski out of the University of Illinois with the number one overall pick. Other running backs selected in the first round over the years by Miami include David Overstreet in 1981, Lorenzo Hampton in 1985, Sammie Smith in 1989, John Avery in 1998, and Ronnie Brown in 2005.

-Larry Csonka’s first 100 yard rushing game came in week nine of the 1969 NFL season when he carried the ball 16 times for 121 yards (7.56 yard average) in a 17-16 win over the then Boston Patriots.

-During college, Larry Csonka was the Most Valuable Player of the East-West Shrine Game, Hula Bowl, and the College All-Star Game.

-Almost 75 percent of Larry Csonka’s 68 career rushing touchdowns (21) were scored from inside the three yard line.

-Larry Csonka was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

-In 1972 Larry Csonka rushed for 1,117 yards and his teammate Mercury Morris ran for exactly 1,000 yards. This was the first time in NFL history that two players on one team broke the 1,000 yard rushing mark.

-Larry Csonka caught four touchdown passes during his career. Three were thrown to him by Bob Griese and one by longtime backup Don Strock.

-Larry Csonka worked for a time for the Jacksonville Bulls of the United States Football Laague in the roles of both director of scounting as well as general manager.

-Larry Csonka scored more touchdowns in the fourth quarter than he did during any other quarter during his career.

-One of Larry Csonka’s post football jobs was as an announcer for the television show “American Gladiators”.

-Larry Csonka scored 68 career touchdowns in the National Football League. Interestingly he scored 34 on the road and 34 in home games.

-In 2005, Larry Csonka and others were stranded on a disabled boat caught in a severe storm in Alaska and had to be rescued by helicopter.

-Larry Csonka’s highest touchdown total in one season is 13 and this occured during his last season in the league.

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