ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Just four days after his second surgery to fight oral cancer for a third time, Bills legend Jim Kelly was doing what he said he would: throwing a football to kids at his annual camp.

"Very sore, but it's part of my life,” Kelly said. “It seems like every year I'm sore three or four or five times for a period of time. But you know what, it is what it is. Just got to keep fighting. Hopefully one day I'll be able to just walk out my front door and feel good. That's what I'm banking on."

Kelly says stitches line his upper jaw, making talking tough. But it's the kids that provide the best medication.

"That's my life. This is why I do it. I love it,” he said. “If you don't love it doing it for 31 years then something's wrong. You're just doing it. I do it because my heart's in it. I love kids."

Kelly has at least two more surgeries on the horizon, with one in August followed by another in September. He isn't shy about the toll all of this is taking on him, but fights through with the vision of what hopefully waits at the end.

"I've got a lot of things on my plate that I want to do and I can't do them when I'm in this shape. But I'm going to keep working and the good Lord's the only one that knows what the outcome's going to be for what I'm about to do, what I'm about to go through,” Kelly said. “Hopefully I'm going to be able to smile at all you all guys and I'll have teeth. And I'll be able to talk so you all can understand me. Because I tell you what, it gets old. I want to be feeling good again and I know it's just a matter of time."

A feeling that Jim Kelly has for a short time with the kids.