James Edward Kelly (born February 14, 1960) is a former American football quarterback in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills and in the USFL for the Houston Gamblers. He played college football for the Miami Hurricanes. While Kelly was drafted by the Bills in 1983, he did not want to play for them at first, instead joining the Gamblers in the USFL. He was a star player for Houston until the USFL went out of business in 1986, after which he finally joined the Bills. 