Super Bowl LII: Jim Kelly’s advice to Nick Foles: Forget about Tom Brady

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly never had to face Tom Brady.

“Thank God,” he said.

But he did play in an era of elite quarterbacks and crossed paths with them on the field routinely. So when it comes to playing against someone the caliber of Brady in Super Bowl LII, Kelly had advice for Eagles quarterback Nick Foles.

Don’t even think about it.

That’s what Kelly said his mindset was in all those classic duels.

“I went against some of the greatest,” Kelly told Newsday on Radio Row at Super Bowl LII on Thursday. “I went against Marino, Montana, Elway. No. You don’t worry about that. You worry about what you have to do, you worry about what your offense does. Let the defense worry about that. That’s always been my mindset.”

The public, of course, always sees it differently. Quarterbacks are the marquee players and it’s only natural to pit them against one another.

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“I remember when people always said it’s Marino against Kelly every year when it was the Dolphins and the Bills,” Kelly said. “But I never worried about Dan.”

Kelly conceded that there is some awareness, at least, of his counterpart. And that will be the case for Foles on Sunday, too.

“You know that every single time you have to score and you can’t kick field goals,” Kelly said. “You have to score touchdowns.”

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.