TOWN OF TONAWANDA — City of Tonawanda native Chad Kelly has been blessed with a strong arm, calm demeanor and a raw athletic ability that has the St. Joe’s coaching staff grinning from ear to ear.

Kelly, a junior transfer, will be barking the signals under center this fall for the Maroon and White.

While he had a long road back to his hometown, Kelly was perhaps privileged to have a mentor unlike any other high school quarterback in Western New York.

“It helps when you have a Hall of Fame uncle,” Kelly said with a laugh. “He definitely teaches me a lot.”

Coincidentally, Kelly is the nephew of beloved former Buffalo Bills quarterback, Jim Kelly, and will line up at the very same position his uncle mastered in the early 90s for the hometown team.

It could be argued that uncle Jim is revered more than any other professional athlete to ever stroll through these parts.

And although Chad Kelly would agree wholeheartedly, he’s hoping to put his own stamp on Buffalo football.

“I’m not going to lie, it does get me a little upset when people bring that up because I’m my own person,” said Kelly, who currently resides in Niagara-Wheatfield with his parents. “I just try not to worry about it.”

Marauders first-year coach Dennis Gilbert said he already marvels at his QB’s drive and willingness to do everything it takes to win.

“I love the way he plays. He’s extremely competitive,” Gilbert said. “He has a lot of fire in him and that’s contagious with the other kids. He gets the kids around him motivated. He’s a natural leader.”

Despite having a QB with family connections such as Kelly, Gilbert said it was important to treat him just like any other member of the team and provide an opportunity to create his own identity in Western New York.

“Everyone refers to him as, “Jim’s nephew,” or ask, “which Kelly kid is he,”’ said Gilbert, who has 23 years of experience as an assistant coach at St. Joe’s. “He’s Chad, and that’s how we’ve been dealing with him. He’s just another kid who wants to go out and play and compete.”

Kelly, who’s father Kevin is Jim Kelly’s brother, transferred to St. Joe’s last fall after attending Red Lion Area Senior High School, just 20 minutes southeast of York, Pa. where he and his family moved too when he was in the sixth grade.

There, Kelly made local and national headlines after capturing a record four NFL Punt, Pass and Kick competitions.

When he was introduced to the event as an 8-year-old, all he really knew how to do was throw. Next thing you know, he said, he was taking quick lessons from Bills punter Brian Moorman and former Bills gunslinger, J.P. Losman.

“It’s great. I get to see a lot of football games — NFL, college,” said Kelly, who said he talks to his uncle Jim about three times a week on average. “It definitely helps. I get to talk football all the time with him and everybody in our family.”

Meeting and greeting NFL superstars, while jotting down a few pointers is something he has grown accustomed to.

“I’ve talked to T.O. [Terrell Owens] multiple times, Donte [Whitner], Alex Van Pelt, all of them know from my uncle Jim about me, so it definitely helps because they want everybody to get better,” he said.

With a rich bloodline and fortunate upbringing comes some added pressure, Gilbert said. But so far, Kelly has handled those circumstances quite well.

“I think there might be some expectations, understandably,” he said. “There may be some extra expectations that people would put on him. I don’t think he puts them on himself. He’s not afraid of every challenge. He’s the type of kid that’s going to run right at it.”

Kelly has exceptional size at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds and a prodigious arm that can launch passes more than 70 yards.

Gilbert added that although his arm and accuracy sets him apart from any other quarterback on the roster, his vision is what will benefit the team the most.

“He’s been exposed to a lot at an early age,” Gilbert said. “His vision on the field is unbelievable. He’ll be looking one way and because what he sees, he automatically knows where he’s going on the back side. He gets through his progressions one to three very fast. At his age, that’s not normal.”

Senior wide out Mike Arena has been pleased with his new QB’s abilities as well, and said Kelly is an upgrade to those at the position in recent years.

“He’s got a great arm and makes great reads in the pocket,” Arena said. “He sits back and makes his read and delivers the football.”

Thus far this preseason, Msgr. Martin League AA rival Canisius has garnered most of the hype regarding a shot at a league title, but Kelly said the Marauders will turn some heads this season.

With the help of a sleek and agile senior tailback, Nick Hall, and receiver Arena, Kelly said St. Joe’s has plenty of home run threats to make onlookers think differently about the team’s potential this season.

“We have to start visualizing that we’re going to score, make plays and everything,” he said. “We just have to come together as a team and just execute. We’re definitely going to surprise some people.”

The Marauders open up their 2010-11 season at Aquinas Institute of Rochester at 7 p.m. on Sept. 3.

Contact sports editor Brandon Koch at 693-1000, ext. 117.