A little more than a month after undergoing what doctors hoped would be his final cancer-related surgery, Jim Kelly’s MRI results came back clean.

Kelly’s wife, Jill, posted on Instagram Friday afternoon that the results “took a bit longer than usual because of all the reconstruction Jim had inside his mouth,” adding that the doctors “wanted to be certain that all was good.” This is Kelly’s fourth time battling oral cancer into remission.

A standout quarterback at East Brady High School about 60 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, Kelly put together a Hall of Fame career in 11 seasons as quarterback of the Buffalo Bills. He was selected to five Pro Bowls and led the Bills to six division titles, becoming the first quarterback to guide his team to four straight Super Bowl appearances along the way. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002 in his first year of eligibility.

In the years following his retirement, Kelly has had to overcome several health complications. He first revealed in June 2013 that he had squamous cell carcinoma of the upper jawbone. He had surgery to remove the tumors, but then announced in March 2014 that the cancer had returned. Kelly then underwent weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatment before doctors declared him cancer-free that September.

Kelly’s second battle with cancer took a serious toll on him, as he underwent 12 biopsies in addition to the chemotherapy that eventually led to a MRSA infection in his facial bones. He spent more than three years in remission until the oral cancer returned in March 2018.

Doctors again declared him cancer-free in July 2018, one week after he received the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the 2018 ESPYs. Still, Kelly had to undergo another procedure in November 2018, one doctors hoped would be his last. With the MRI results coming back clean, that appears to be the case, although there is always a small chance for the cancer to return later on in life.

First Published: January 19, 2019, 12:20 a.m.