Jim Kelly joins former players and coaches to honor the late Terry Henry
BRADYS BEND — “Once a Bulldog, Always a Bulldog.”
That’s the motto that appears on a sign unveiled Saturday, Sept. 6, at the Bradys Bend Sports Complex, honoring the late East Brady High School football coach, Terry Henry.
Coaches who used to work with Henry and players who played for him, including one who ascended to the pinnacle of the sport, attended the match between the Bradys Bend Bulldogs and the Allegheny-Clarion Valley Falcons youth teams on Saturday. A ceremony unveiling the sign took place between games.
Jim Kelly, an East Brady native who played for Henry before his 11-season career as quarterback for the Buffalo Bills earned him an induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, repeated the motto during the ceremony. Kelly said Henry was his best friend, and they remained close until Henry’s death on Feb. 16 at the age of 75.
Henry was a graduate of East Brady High School, where he starred in football and basketball. After graduating from Slippery Rock State College, he served as head football coach at East Brady High from 1973-79 and 1982-83. When first hired at East Brady, he was just 23 years old.
Henry also was the head football coach at Seneca Valley High School from 1984 to 1995. He served as athletic director at both East Brady and Seneca Valley high schools.
He coached East Brady high's football team to seven appearances in the Little 12 Conference title game and coached Seneca Valley to the WPIAL title game in 1989. In 21 seasons combined at both schools, he amassed a record of 143 wins, 64 losses and five ties.
East Brady High School closed its doors in the 1990s and the borough became part of the Karns City Area School District.
Henry was inducted into the Seneca Valley Hall of Fame in 2013, Butler County Hall of Fame in 2014, Minor Football Pro Hall of Fame in 2016, Pennsylvania Scholastic Football Coaches Hall of Fame in 2017 and Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002.
“Terry was my best friend. Me and him, I took him to 32 Super Bowls. I enjoyed every minute with him,” Kelly said. “We hunted everywhere in the world. I’ve taken him to Africa. I took him everywhere and he was not only my best friend, but he’s one of the main reasons I wear a gold jacket.”
When he returns to East Brady, Kelly said he was always welcomed by Henry and his wife, Debbie.
“It hurts me to think that this man had to leave us so early because I loved him just like he was one of my brothers,” Kelly said.
Henry coached Kelly and five of his six brothers, he added.
He imparted a message to the young athletes.
“I just want all you young men to know that you want to bust your butt, you want to work as hard as you can. What I always say every year — I’ve had a football camp for 38 years — what I always used to say and coach taught me this is when you play the game of football, know who you’re playing against,” Kelly said. “Know the individual you’re playing with beside you and you want to make sure when you walk off that football field that you are walking with your head held up high and you gave everything you had because you don’t want that guy on the other sideline thinking he beat you.”
He also spoke about gratitude and his roots.
“Thank you all very much for everything you’ve done for my career and for everything I represent when I travel the country speaking, because one of things I always say is I’m from East Brady, Pennsylvania, and when I was being brought up, my dad always said be proud of where you came from, be proud of your name. No matter where I go I’m always a Bulldog and as we always say here in East Brady, ‘Once a Bulldog, always a Bulldog,’” Kelly said.
Kelly recited a refrain he often uses when briefly speaking about surviving four bouts with cancer after his playing career ended.
“My motto right now is I might have lost four Super Bowls, but I kicked cancer’s butt four times,” Kelly said.
He went on to thank Dave Kerschbaumer, his brother-in-law, who he said beat all of his high school records and is the main coach at his football camp near Buffalo, N.Y., for organizing the ceremony.
Debbie Henry said Kelly returns to his hometown every year to spend time with friends and boat on the Allegheny River and they regularly talk and text with each other.
“Jim’s an East Brady boy,” she said.
On Saturday, though, Kelly was one of many people in attendance whose lives were impacted by Debbie’s late husband.
“He wouldn’t have wanted this. He did realize the impact he had on people. He enjoyed the teaching part of it, molding their minds, getting them to enjoy it as much as he did,” she said.
She said she and Terry have visited Kelly’s hunting lodge, Hunter’s Haven Lodge, in upstate New York. The lodge was named after Kelly’s son, Hunter, who died from an inherited fatal nervous system disease at age 8 in 2005.
“The majority of the people here Terry has coached,” Debbie said.
Three people who worked as football coaches with Henry at Seneca Valley were in the audience.
Bob Magerko, Tim Parish and Alan Cumo all said Henry had a great sense of humor, and used to diffuse tense situations when they arose.
“It was great to be a coach and friends with him,” Cumo said.
“He was very personable and made you laugh all the time,” Magerko said.
“He changed people’s lives,” Parish said.
