BATAVIA, N.Y. -- Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly, who has been diagnosed with cancer three times in the past five years, will receive the Jimmy V Award for Perseverance at the 2018 ESPYs in July.
Kelly, 58, continues to recover from March surgery to remove oral cancer and reconstruct his upper jaw. The former Buffalo Bills star first had surgery to remove squamous-cell carcinoma found in his jaw in 2013 and later underwent chemotherapy in 2014 when the cancer returned in his maxillary sinus.
The award, named for former North Carolina State men's basketball coach Jim Valvano, has been given at the ESPYs since 2007.