Kelly said Wednesday that he and Gundlach would have joined forces as minority stakeholders if an established bidding group needed extra capital. If need be, they could have enlisted the help of other financiers that would have made them majority owners. However, once it became clear the Toronto-based group fronted by rock star Jon Bon Jovi was unlikely to produce the winning bid, Kelly and Gundlach knew Pegula would get the team, and they slowed down their pursuit.

Since his retirement from the Bills in 1997, Kelly has played an active role in the organization, primarily as an ambassador, and once Pegula is officially approved by the other NFL owners in October, Kelly said he will make contact.

”I hope to sit down with Terry sometime in the near future to see if there’s some way I can help out and maybe do the things I’ve been doing the last 20 years in Buffalo, ” he said. ”He’s willing to sit down and talk later, but right now, let the process take care of itself and let him go through it. ”

Kelly, still gaunt after losing 51 pounds during his treatment for oral cancer and still experiencing pain in his mouth and jaw, was driving Wednesday from a doctor’s visit to his office in Williamsville, and he came across something that made him smile.