Jim Gehman

I was fortunate to have talked with Al a couple times and hope this excerpt will help tell some of the team’s younger fans what he did for the Bills. Dropping the Anchor Beginning in 1961 and through the next eight seasons, the Bills played 126 regular-season games; 42 preseason games; and four post-season games, including for the 1964, 1965 and 1966 AFL championships. Some games they won, some they lost, and some they even tied. But what was by and large the same regardless of the outcome was that No. 50, Al Bemiller, would be anchoring the offensive line at center. And when he was not there, he was just one step away and playing at guard. What does he attribute that dependability to? "The big L! Luck! A lot of luck," said the modest and humorous Bemiller. "And also I tell people that I always tried to stay away from the big boys [on opposing defensive lines] because I did all the line calls. I’d see big Ernie Ladd sitting off to my left and I was supposed to get him, I’d sic [Billy] Shaw on him. I’d go the opposite direction." All kidding aside, Bemiller proved to be as reliable and as tough as a 10-penny nail. Without question, he had his share of injuries, but pain was not going to sideline the Syracuse alumnus. "Back then we only had 33 ballplayers. You had to play," Bemiller said. "It wasn’t like today where you take off a couple days off, a couple weeks off, or a month off. You come back and you get your job back. It wasn’t that way. If you got injured, unless you were a superstar, you’re gone! So I played through injuries, sure. Not major ones. I was very, very lucky." That was until the 1969 season finale in San Diego, a 45-6 loss to the Chargers. Bemiller tore a ligament in his knee that required surgery. Still, it was not the injury that put him on the sideline. "No, I was in very good shape. I came back [for the 1970 season] and there were no problems with my knee. Then [John] Rauch came in [as head coach] and cleaned house," said Bemiller. "Of course, I was in pretty good company. Guys like [Ron] McDole, who later on became an all-time great in Washington. And he got rid of [Booker] Edgerson. He got rid of a bunch of us. I could have gone on and played. I was picked up by Detroit, and at the time, I had just opened a nightclub out in Hamburg, and it was going great guns. So I thought, ‘No, I’m going to stay here with the club,’ and that’s what I did. "Now years and years and years later, you think, ’Jeez, why didn’t I go for that?’ I had another two, three, four years in me. I know I did. I was very lucky in the sense that my body at that time was very young. It didn’t bother me. It got easier for me. The training camps, believe it or not, got easier for me. You know when to run, when to sit, when to take a drink of water, all that kind of stuff. Of course then you think back, if I would have gone then I could have really got hurt. So I had a great career."

I enjoyed having some conversations with Mike, and am proud to share a couple of his stories. Buffalo drafted 34 players during the 1962 AFL draft, including linebacker Mike Stratton. Granted, not all of them reported, instead opting for the NFL or going a different way for other reasons. That said, it's little wonder that the coaches had difficulty remembering who was who or, for that matter, who played what position, “Buster Ramsey had always been partial about everyone from Tennessee, so he was pretty instrumental in my being drafted. But when I got to camp, [Lou] Saban, who was the personnel director, had become the head coach by that time, and I wanted to be a tight end,” said Stratton. “Lou called out all the names of the players we had in camp and what time we were supposed to go out [onto to the field], and he never did call my name. So afterward, I walked over to him and said, ‘Coach, what group would you like me to go out with? He looked at me and says, ‘What was your name again?’ I told him, and he said. ‘Ah, just go out there with someone.’ “Anyway, they had already got Ernie Warlick from the Canadian League, and he was pretty well set as their tight end, so I didn't get much of an opportunity. They started me at defensive end, and I tried to play a little bit there. And then we got a bunch of linebackers hurt, thank goodness, and they changed me to linebacker. It was just a series of very fortunate events.” With a career-high six interceptions during his rookie season, Stratton and the Bills were fortunate that he still possessed the soft hands of a tight end. “I'd always pictured myself as a tight end,” said Stratton, who would deliver “the hit heard ‘round the world” on San Diego's running back Keith Lincoln two years later in the AFL Championship Game. “Most linebackers, I think, came to linebacker from tight end. We sort of all pictured ourselves as tight ends, although not very many other people did.” Memories of the AFL Championship Seasons “I think it really started the year before. We finally got on a good track and started winning some games. Although we did lose a playoff game for our division to Boston in ‘63, ‘64 was when everybody sort of came together. It was what I consider more of a team effort than anything else. We had a good mixture. We had some folks that had played with other teams and other leagues and everything. And then we had some younger folks, too. I think Paul Maguire added quite a bit to our team as a punter and being able to see from the Chargers, who had a good run. Of course, he was telling everybody that he had more talent than the Chargers did. So I think he did a lot to build up the confidence of the team. Besides, all of his wisecracks and everything kept the team very loose. I think it was sort of a special time where we had a nice group of players that sort of came together and played with a lot of heart for each other. It was just more of a team effort than anything else.”

Thought I’d add a few stories about Jerry’s Bills career from my book, “Then Levy Said to Kelly…” An Invisible Spotlight It’s not often when a team’s first-round draft choice – the league’s fifth overall pick, no less – is not in the spotlight. But during Buffalo’s training camp in 1979, that was the case for wide receiver Jerry Butler. The reason? He was selected after the Bills’ and the NFL’s top pick Tom Cousineau, a linebacker Buffalo chose with a draft choice it acquired as part of the O.J. Simpson trade with San Francisco a year earlier. "In my mind, no matter how I looked at it, I really was a second-round pick in some respects," says Butler. "But I know that I was the fifth pick, and I obviously felt that I had a lot to prove to myself. I think the spotlight was always on Tom Cousineau [who would hold out and never actually play for the Bills]. I kind of got overlooked in that respect, but that’s all right. I don’t really go for the accolades. I just go do what I need to do." An admirable attitude, but still, Butler was an All-American at Clemson and the first wide receiver chosen in the draft. Didn’t he feel slighted? "In some respects if you look back, maybe I was. But in the time that I was in it, I didn’t feel slighted because I really wasn’t an individual that looked for those things," Butler said. "I was more like, where’s my next challenge? What do I got to do now? "In just being in the NFL, having been drafted in the first round, that’s still pretty prideful for my family and everything and that was good enough for me. I really turned my attention to what I need to learn to be the best. My goal was hopefully one day to wind up in Canton. " Canton – where members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame wind up. The Butler Did it Four Times It did not take long for Jerry Butler to demonstrate why he was the most coveted wide receiver in the 1979 NFL draft. On September 23, in just his fourth game with the Bills and playing with a slightly separated shoulder, he placed his name in the team’s record book with 255 receiving yards on 10 catches. Four of the receptions were for touchdowns! Behind Butler and veteran quarterback Joe Ferguson’s 367 passing yards and five touchdown completions, Buffalo beat its division-rival New York Jets, 46-31. "I had chicken wings for the first time on that Saturday [evening before the game]," said Butler. "The waitress said, ‘How would you like them? Hot, medium or mild?’ I said, ‘Hot.’ I slammed the first one in my throat and I thought I had horse radish! My nose was running, my eyes were watering, I thought when she said ‘hot’ she meant the temperature of the wings. I didn’t know she was talking about the spice on the wings. I found out why you dip them in the blue cheese, to cool those suckers off!" Come Sunday, Butler was as hot as the wings. After catching the first touchdown of his career a little more than five minutes into the second quarter, he brought the Rich Stadium crowd to its feet with only seconds remaining in the first half. Trailing 21-12 and from their own 25, Ferguson called Big Ben, Buffalo’s name for the Hail Mary play. Seventy-five yards later, Butler was celebrating in the end zone. "Like most what you call Big Ben or Hail Mary plays, it’s a last-second desperation-type play," Butler said. "The jumper was Frank Lewis. His position is to get down the field so he can get up and get a hand on it where he can tap it to the left or to the right. Joe put a lot of air under the ball, and the tip was turning over, and it came down. And Frank, I don’t think he even got a chance to get his hand on it. They came over his back and actually tipped the ball themselves. I saw the ball falling back behind their stationary position, and I sprinted as fast as I could and caught it right before it hit the ground, and took off running. We took a roll of the dice, and it rolled up in our favor, and it equated to seven points. They had a little bit more to think about going into the half, and we went in feeling a lot more upbeat about what we had just accomplished." "Just a great effort on his part," said Ferguson. "We threw it up and there’s just a hope. A throw and hope. You work on it in practice, naturally, which we did. A lot of teams don’t work on it. They’d do it one time a week, and we’d do it 10. So we knew how to run the play. Then to have an athlete like Jerry that could run and jump, then you’ve got a big chance to make it." Butler and Ferguson came up big again in the third quarter. First they connected on a 74-yard scoring play. "It was a route that adjusted to a fade to the outside," said Butler. "I don’t remember if it was a blitz or not, but for some reason the coverage I got was a bump-and-run. If you’re able to get away from that defensive back and you can make a move to get into good position and get leverage on him, you’re in a pretty good situation to win. The ball was a little bit short. I remember slowing down a little bit and coming back inside, somewhat over the back of the shoulder. I think [Jets cornerback] Johnny Lynn pretty much stumbled and wasn’t able to recover, to actually catch up with me. I swiped the ball and took it all the way in." And on Buffalo’s next possession, a 55-yard drive was capped off with a nine-yard touchdown reception by Butler on a slant play. "A pass from Fergy, I would call a ‘frozen rope,’" Butler said. "He would zip that thing. People don’t realize, when you’re in the red area, as a receiver, you don’t even see the quarterback sometimes. The ball just comes out of there. That’s what practice is all about. You start to anticipate the timing. Being a rookie coming into the league, it was kind of a welcome party, and it was a good boost for my career." Welcome Back Butler Even though they were on the wrong side of a 14-9 final score, Buffalo’s 1985 season-opener against San Diego meant so much to so many. It was the NFL debut of defensive end Bruce Smith, receiver Andre Reed, and kicker Scott Norwood. It was the Bills’ debut of quarterback Vince Ferragamo. And it marked the return of All-Pro wide receiver Jerry Butler. Out of action since suffering a knee injury requiring surgery midway through the 1983 campaign, Butler had to rehab his body and his soul in order to get back on the field. "People that are trying to work back from an injury, it’s a mind game. It’s very tough not really feeling a part of the team. Every day, I was my own cheerleader. I had so much self-talk of what you had to do and your day and time will come. It was a process of going through a tunnel," said Butler. "That went for a while in ‘84. All I could think about in the off-season when I was working was, ‘I’ve got to do this!’ I was prayerful, and I told God, ‘Here’s the deal. If I’m able to come back through this, then I have to do something special in return.’ I made that vow. "In training camp down in Fredonia, I struggled here and there, and I was the third-, fourth-string receiver. I was wondering, did this team see value in me? Would they wait for me? By then, Kay Stephenson had taken over [as head coach]. I think Kay was hoping that I would come back. He was pulling for me when he was the [offensive] coordinator under Chuck Knox. "Our last preseason game, I wound up playing in the fourth quarter, and it dawned on me. Man, I go from a starter in the NFL, a Pro Bowl player, and now I’m playing in the fourth quarter of a preseason game! That doesn’t look good. As I moved toward the season, I’m not even sure if I’m going to make the team. I went and made the team, and through that [season-opening] week not being the starter. It got down to Sunday morning right before the game. Kay Stephenson came over to me and said, ‘How do you feel?’ I said, ‘I’m fine.’ He said, ‘Good. You’re starting today.’ I thought he was kidding! I didn’t prepare myself mentally. I guess I was beating myself up because of how far I had dropped. At that moment in time, I kind of took to myself and just started talking to God and thanking him and [thinking] ‘Don’t let me go out there and embarrass myself and him at the same time.’ I think I had 100-some yards [game-high 140 yards on four catches], and I just had a ball."

Here’s a little more about Smerlas, Haslett and Nelson which was not included in the press release. These first-person excerpts are from my book about the Bills – “Then Levy Said to Kelly…”. Tag Team Barnum and Bailey. Martin and Lewis. A picnic lunch and ants. Some combinations were just destined to be together. The Bills’ contribution to that theory was born during the 1979 NFL draft when Fred Smerlas, a nose tackle from Boston College, and Jim Haslett, a linebacker from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, were both selected in the second round. The two rookies initially became familiar when they each ventured into a hotel game room while in Buffalo for the team’s mini-camp. "I brought my girlfriend, five-foot, 90 pounds, a real hot looking girl," says Smerlas. "The busses were coming to take us over to the facility and so I go down to the pinball room and there’s this guy sitting between the two pinball machines like a kid in high school sitting between the sinks having a cigarette. It was Haz! He looked like a bird! A little tiny head, big wide shoulders, and that nose! He was looking at my girlfriend and said, ‘You’re girlfriend’s pretty well built!’ Not quite those terms. I said, ‘What? Who are you?’ We almost ended up fighting the first day I met him. Then we started goofing around and became better and better acquainted and we got to like each other." They may have liked each other, but they were not the most popular players at the team’s training camp. Especially among the veterans after Smerlas and Haslett shelved any thoughts of hazing rookies, turned the tables and began harassing them. "We did whatever we wanted. We tortured the veterans," Smerlas said. "They were on the downside so Chuck (Knox) was giving a lot more credit to the rookies. We instantly got all the pub up there and no one liked pub better than Haz. I saw him tackle a reporter once just to try to get his face on camera." Once camp ended and the regular season got underway, Smerlas saw Haslett tackling running backs, receivers and anyone else who may have gotten in the way. "One thing I did when I was a player, I enjoyed myself off the field, but I worked hard on the field," said Haslett. "I don’t know if I would have even started (had Buffalo signed its top draft choice, linebacker Tom Cousineau.) I don’t know if I would have been (playing) inside. I probably would have played outside, so I’m sure it would have been a lot different." Different? Maybe. Less vocal? Doubtful. "We’re lining up on the field and Haz is talking trash to everybody," Smerlas says. "He’s talking trash, grabbing people’s facemasks, punching people in the stomachs. Just getting everybody all riled up. Of course, I’m the nose tackle, so the first guy they’ve got to go through is me. So I have to start talking trash. So here are two loud rookies that are talking trash and backing it up! That makes people pissed off. "And he called his own crap. We had a few fisticuffs on the field because he’d have us move over or run slants (with line calls.) He’d yell, ‘Move over!’ And I’d yell, ‘Shut up!’ We just kept yelling back and forth at each other. But in the locker room, as much trash as he talked and as many fights as he got in, Haz was always a student of the game. He’d be in there after everybody went out for a few beers and watch film. He’d watch until two in the morning, breaking it down by plays. He was fanatical. That’s what impressed me about Jimmy." Heading Back to Honolulu For four consecutive years, Fred Smerlas’s seasons did not conclude in the cold winter air of Rich Stadium but in the tropical breezes of Honolulu’s Aloha Stadium. From 1980 to 1983, the nose tackle was recognized as one of the NFL’s best by being selected to play in the Pro Bowl. And following a four-year span, including two seasons when no players from Buffalo were selected (1985 and 1986), in 1988, Smerlas’ 10th season, he was named to the AFC’s Pro Bowl team for a fifth time. "When you keep going all the time, you kind of take it for granted. It was kind of like an annual trip," said Smerlas. "You’re going to Pro Bowls, and all of a sudden, you’re not going! There are several reasons. One is that the coach is not going to push you because he hates you. Things changed. It was so perfect when you get there, and then Chuck [Knox] becomes Kay [stephenson]. It was very, very difficult. I played poorly. When you rely so much on emotion to play, to just drain yourself, I didn’t play well for a couple of years. "In ‘84 I didn’t play well. In ‘85 I played Okay. And then Braincell [then-head coach Hank Bullough] came in. He kind of rekindled my career because I hated him so much. There was a giant lottery, the state lottery, and I went to the store. Everyone on the team was in line playing the lottery, hoping to win it so they could spit in Hank Bullough’s face. Can you imagine that? That’s how much we hated him." Buffalo’s second-round draft choice in 1979 continued. "Marv [Levy] came in the second half of ‘86 and really helped. My hatred toward Hank was so high that when Marv came in, he was anybody but Hank. I was pissed off that I didn’t go [to the Pro Bowls], and you start saying to yourself, ‘Did I lose it?’ So you rekindle yourself. I got fired up and played extremely well. Marv allowed us to have our legs back in games, too, so that helped. We weren’t exhausted like we were with Braincell. "So ‘88 came, and I made the Pro Bowl, which was just so gratifying. The press said, ‘Well, how do you feel? You’ve been playing great again.’ I said, ‘No. Not being conceited, but this goes for a lot of the players on the team. Jim Ritcher, Joe Devlin, Darryl Talley, a lot of guys. I’ve been playing well for a couple years, it’s just the [national] press hasn’t been here to see it. When you’re 2-14, no one sees you. If I’m a New York Giant, I’m in the Pro Bowl 10 times. Because I’m in Buffalo where the media coverage is limited and you’re losing, forget about it! "It was rewarding to go back after the four years because it legitimized the other years, too. Obviously, you must have been playing Okay. You don’t just resurge after 10 years. You must have been playing at a pretty good level. I started 156 games in a row. So that was really gratifying. It was nice to go back." Nothing to Lose, Everything to Gain It did not matter that Shane Nelson was not one of the 335 players chosen during the 1977 NFL draft. The Baylor linebacker would arrive at Buffalo’s training camp with the same attitude, whether he was a free agent, which he was, or a first-round selection. "My mind-set pretty much was all or nothing. There wasn’t no tomorrow," said Nelson. "As a rookie free agent, you’ve got to be able to strike quickly as far as getting the coaches to be aware of your talent. You don’t come in with any kind of guarantee. Maybe a first- or second-round draft pick has time to develop because they’ve invested in them. As a rookie free agent, boy, you’d better make things happen quickly to allow coaches to really recognize you. I had nothing to lose, everything to gain." It is not often that a rookie free agent is acknowledged right away by veterans. The newcomer is trying to take a job from them or their teammates. But Nelson’s “nothing to lose, everything to gain” mentality caught the attention of two veterans in the defensive huddle: linebacker John Skorupan and safety Tony Greene. "John really talked to me a lot about the game and helped me become even a better student of the game. He taught me a lot about preparation for a game. In college, you prepared yourself. But it’s a whole ‘nother level when you really start breaking down game films, understanding tendencies, down, and distance. All that means so much more in the NFL! "And Tony just was there, just constantly supportive and always encouraging me. He really was instrumental in helping me from the standpoint that it gave me somebody to go to. He constantly encouraged me and gave me little tidbits on the field." While Skorupan and Greene saw something in the young linebacker, after making the Bills’ roster, opposing running backs did as well – a No. 59 jersey in their faces! Nelson started every game and totaled 168 tackles, earning a place on the NFL’s All-Rookie team. Wrong Place at the Wrong Time There was at least one thing for certain from September 18, 1977, through November 1, 1981. When the Bills took the field, Shane Nelson would be a starting linebacker. A span of 72 consecutive games! Leading the team in 1979 with an incredible 192 tackles, Nelson continued to make stops the following season with 126 tackles, 74 solo. And he would remain in the center of the action until the ninth game of the 1981 season against Cleveland. "I was doing an inside blitz on [guard] Joe DeLamielleure, who used to be with the Bills, and as I faked him outside and started to come underneath, I had it [my leg] planted. What they did was an illegal chop block. Of course, they wouldn’t call it," Nelson laughed. "They set Freddy [smerlas] up and they really chopped him over, and all three of them came down on my right knee. I just ended up caught in a pile." In the wrong place at the wrong time, Nelson, a rookie free agent in 1977, missed the next five games before trying a comeback against New England on December 13. That came to a halt when he reinjured the knee and was sidelined for the season finale at Miami. After an exhaustive rehabilitation that lasted through the following year’s training camp, Nelson removed himself from the 1982 season opener against Kansas City when his knee failed him and required surgery. Not one to give less than 100 percent, Nelson was forced to hang up his helmet and shoulder pads. "That was real difficult because I’d always been a leader on every team I played on," said Nelson. "It’s a tough row when you’re not able to be out on the field. I think one of the great fundamentals of leadership is leading by example. Which is how you play the game, how you approach the game, how you studied the game. So it [being unable to play] was kind of a comfort-zone issue for me because it was a place I’d never been in. "As far as being on the sideline and still assume some leadership of the team, when my knee wasn’t ready, I retired rather than just hang[ing] around. I always approached the game with everything that I had, trying to be the best I could, trying to be a team leader. So trying to become a leader from the sideline was not something that I was comfortable with. It was difficult."

The Bills will honor their 1964 and ’65 AFL Championship teams during the season opener on Sunday. To introduce the team’s younger fans to some of the players who helped win those titles, as well as offer older fans an opportunity to reminisce, I’ve put remembrances and some excerpts from my book, “Then Levy Said to Kelly…” on a Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/thenlevysaidtokelly

I am fortunate to have interviewed Al, and hope this excerpt about him from my book about the Bills – “Then Levy Said to Kelly…” - will introduce Bemiller to some of the team’s younger fans and be a remembrance for others. Dropping the Anchor Beginning in 1961 and through the next eight seasons, the Bills played 126 regular-season games; 42 preseason games; and four post-season games, including for the 1964, 1965 and 1966 AFL championships. Some games they won, some they lost, and some they even tied. But what was by and large the same regardless of the outcome was that No. 50, Al Bemiller, would be anchoring the offensive line at center. And when he was not there, he was just one step away and playing at guard. What does he attribute that dependability to? "The big L! Luck! A lot of luck," said the modest and humorous Bemiller. "And also I tell people that I always tried to stay away from the big boys [on opposing defensive lines] because I did all the line calls. I’d see big Ernie Ladd sitting off to my left and I was supposed to get him, I’d sic [billy] Shaw on him. I’d go the opposite direction." All kidding aside, Bemiller proved to be as reliable and as tough as a 10-penny nail. Without question, he had his share of injuries, but pain was not going to sideline the Syracuse alumnus. "Back then we only had 33 ballplayers. You had to play," Bemiller said. "It wasn’t like today where you take off a couple days off, a couple weeks off, or a month off. You come back and you get your job back. It wasn’t that way. If you got injured, unless you were a superstar, you’re gone! So I played through injuries, sure. Not major ones. I was very, very lucky." That was until the 1969 season finale in San Diego, a 45-6 loss to the Chargers. Bemiller tore a ligament in his knee that required surgery. Still, it was not the injury that put him on the sideline. "No, I was in very good shape. I came back [for the 1970 season] and there were no problems with my knee. Then [John] Rauch came in [as head coach] and cleaned house," said Bemiller. "Of course, I was in pretty good company. Guys like [Ron] McDole, who later on became an all-time great in Washington. And he got rid of [booker] Edgerson. He got rid of a bunch of us. I could have gone on and played. I was picked up by Detroit, and at the time, I had just opened a nightclub out in Hamburg, and it was going great guns. So I thought, ‘No, I’m going to stay here with the club,’ and that’s what I did. "Now years and years and years later, you think, ’Jeez, why didn’t I go for that?’ I had another two, three, four years in me. I know I did. I was very lucky in the sense that my body at that time was very young. It didn’t bother me. It got easier for me. The training camps, believe it or not, got easier for me. You know when to run, when to sit, when to take a drink of water, all that kind of stuff. Of course then you think back, if I would have gone then I could have really got hurt. So I had a great career."

Coach Landry, Roger Staubach and another former Cowboy, Chad Hennings, also deserves recognition. I did this Q&A with him a few years ago. Coming out of high school, what led you to enroll in the Air Force Academy instead of accepting one of several college football scholarships? “I wanted a challenge. I wanted an experience that was unique and something that would kind of push me to limits that I hadn’t experienced previously.” As a senior at Air Force, you were an All-America defensive tackle and received the Outland Trophy for being the country’s top lineman. And you were also selected in the 11th round of the 1988 NFL draft by the Cowboys. “I watched the first couple rounds knowing that it’d be very unrealistic that I would ever get drafted there because of my commitment, and no one really knowing what to do with me, per say. But I was very pleased that the Cowboys drafted me, and very honored to be even selected. “(Dallas’ player personnel director) Gil Brandt, from all the different [post-season] bowl games, the Senior Bowl, etc, I’d see him and we’d always have a conversation. He said, ‘We’re going to take you.’ And I said, ‘OK. That’d be great! It’d be an honor.’ Myself, like Roger Staubach (who was drafted in the 10th round out of the Naval Academy in 1964), we were unique in that most teams didn’t know how to handle (the service commitment). But the Cowboys had the previous experience with Roger so they took a chance.” Before anyone could see if their gamble would pay off as well as it did with Staubach, you went into the Euro-NATO program. Tell me about your job. “Well, my job was to learn to fly jets. My first active duty assignment was to go through pilot training. And what the Euro-NATO joint jet pilot training program was was our standard U.S. pilot training, where we train with our NATO allies. So I had Germans, Dutch, Danes, Italians, Turkish, Greek instructor pilots as well as students that were there going through the program. So it was a great cross-cultural exchange.” Were you able to follow the team while you were doing that? Or did you try to put football out of your mind? “The pilot training in the Euro-NATO program was in Wichita Falls, so I’m just two hours away (from Dallas). I came down to a couple games while I was stationed there. But then the majority of my time was spent overseas and it’s difficult to follow because of the eight-hour time change. I did follow as best I could, but my job was to be a fighter pilot for the U.S. Air Force. We had our hands full doing that. “My commitment was supposed to be eight years after pilot training. But due to the reduction in force after the first Gulf war, our armed forces were downsizing. They were waiving commitments across the board for all officers as well as enlisted. So I volunteered at that time to go play for the Cowboys.” Considering that Dallas won three Super Bowls in four years after you joined the team in 1992, your timing could not have been much better. “Yeah, I wish I could take credit for that timing. But, in my opinion, that was a pure God thing that I was able to do that. I got spoiled. It set an expectation that we’re going to win every football game when we take the field. And that includes regular-season, playoffs, all the way up through the Super Bowl.” What does it mean to you to have been a Cowboy? “As I said when I represented the Cowboys in the (2012 NFL) draft (while announcing their second-round selection), it truly is America’s Team. And I was able to witness that being overseas either in England or in Turkey and Southwest Asia. That Dallas star, everybody knew what it was, what it meant, what it stood for. The American west, Dallas Cowboys, cowboys, it just exemplifies Americana. Thus, America’s Team.” And what does it mean to you to be an Air Force veteran? “Right up there, if not higher. That to me exemplifies service, sacrifice, leadership. That’s kind of who I am at my core. I identify with both very readily, but that also holds a special place in my heart.” Now making your home with your family in suburban Dallas, what are you doing these days? “I do a lot of public speaking regarding character training ever since I retired from the Cowboys. I also am in business development (as the chief operating officer) with a venture capital company, Colt Ventures, in Dallas. I’ve been doing that for a couple years. “Whether it’s public speaking, whether it’s representing the Cowboys as an ambassador, or whether it’s in business, it’s all about relationships. It’s just out there meeting people, learning about people, connecting people together, and communicating a message. Whatever that message might be.”

A little trivia: Jim Boeke not only played offensive tackle in the NFL for the Rams, Cowboys and Saints; he also played Dauber’s dad in the television series Coach. https://www.nflplayerengagement.com/next/articles/where-are-they-now-jim-boeke/

The Big Guy Steps Up During the 1990 and 1991 campaigns, tight end Pete Metzelaars stopped blocking long enough to post 15 receptions for 114 yards. But when the two-time defending AFC champion Bills traveled to San Francisco on September 13, 1992, the 6’7”, 254-pound veteran became the larger-sized Andre Reed and caught four of Jim Kelly’s passes for a career-high 113 yards and two touchdowns. The first time Metzelaars found the then-Candlestick Park end zone was early in the third quarter with Buffalo behind, 24-13, when he scored on a 53-yard play. And, well, it was not easy. "I barely got in," he laughed. "Actually, it was one of our real basic plays that we ran six or seven times a game. My part was to just run as fast as I could, which wasn’t real fast, and get out of the way. But for some reason Jim said, ‘Hey, Pete, just be ready.’ He just had a sixth sense in the middle of the game where he would just feel like something was going to work, something would be open. And more times than not, it would work out just the way he thought it was going to. So I released and got down the field a little bit, looked around, and there was the ball. I caught it and made the free safety miss, or he just missed, and got to the end zone. Barely!" Less than six minutes later, Metzelaars was back in the end zone finishing off a 24-yard scoring play that put the Bills on top, 27-24. They’d go on to win, 34-31. "That was actually about the same thing," said Metzelaars. "It was the same pattern. I don’t know that Jim said to be ready, but it was one where I was clearing down the field and he got some pressure and started scrambling. I just broke it off to the right and there was nobody there, and he threw me the ball for another touchdown. "It was a Ping-Pong match, a tennis match, whatever you want to call it. It was just back and forth. They’d go down and score, then we’d go down and score. That’s the way it went throughout. It was an incredible game.” Excerpt from: “Then Levy Said to Kelly…”

Four men with ties to the Buffalo Bills have been nominated for the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame. Wide receiver Marlin Briscoe; linebacker Tom Cousineau, who never actually played for Buffalo; guard Ruben Brown; and coach Dick Jauron. The two who may not be familiar to younger Bills fans, Briscoe and Cousineau, talked about their experiences with the team in my book “Then Levy Said to Kelly…” Marlin the Magician’s First Act Less than nine months after Denver’s rookie quarterback Marlin Briscoe passed for 335 yards and four touchdowns during a 34-32 victory over the Bills, on August 20, 1969, he appeared in Buffalo’s training camp. As a wide receiver! "After I had success my rookie year, I was not given the opportunity by [broncos coach] Lou Saban to compete for the job. I asked for my release thinking that some other teams would give me an opportunity, but that wasn’t the case," said Briscoe. Discouraged, he gave the Canadian Football League a brief try, but found he didn’t enjoy that style of play. And so with the thought that they had witnessed his ability, Briscoe started calling AFL teams he had played well against. "I’d almost beat the Oakland Raiders, and coach (John) Rauch was there, and then he got the job in Buffalo. So when I called, he said that he didn’t necessarily need a quarterback, but needed some help at wide receiver. Well, I had never played wide receiver in my life on any level. I was always the quarterback. "He did say they had drafted James Harris and that they had Jack Kemp and Tom Flores, but they were all injured. So when I got there, he had me throw and learn the position. I was actually playing two positions until those guys got healed, and then I was primarily learning the receiver slot," Briscoe said. "The only way I made it through that period was that I had negotiated in my contract that they not cut me until the last cut. I didn’t want to come there knowing that I’d never played the position before and get cut immediately. So I studied films of Paul Warfield and Lance Alworth. And Bill Miller, who was the receivers’ coach, took a special interest in teaching me the position. He was really diligent about giving me all the information that I needed to at least have an opportunity." Briscoe’s only chance to take advantage of that opportunity was on the practice field. He did not play during the preseason until the final game in Los Angeles. “I sat on the bench figuring they weren’t going to put me in and that was going to be it. Well, we were losing and Coach put me in in the last 10 minutes of the game, and Jack Kemp just kept throwing me the ball and I just kept catching it. At the end of the game, I was the leading receiver, so they couldn’t cut me. "I ended up playing second-string behind Bubba Thornton, and they had Haven Moses on the other side. Bubba was a track star from T.C.U., a 100-meter man, but he wasn’t really a football player. So as I progressed week after week. I got the opportunity to get into games. First it was in the last quarter, then I would get in at halftime, and then it got to the point where Bubba would play a couple series and I would play the rest of the game." When the AFL and NFL merged for the 1970 season, Thornton was gone and Briscoe was a starter. During Buffalo’s first NFL victory on October 4 against the New York Jets, 34–31, he had four receptions for 120 yards and two touchdowns including the game-winning 25-yard catch in the fourth quarter. "I had success against [cornerback] Steve Tannen for some reason. I guess I had his number. But to be up there against the likes of Joe Namath and that crew was very rewarding to come out successful." Briscoe would successfully find the end zone six more times during the season and become the team’s first 1,000-yard wide receiver and Buffalo’s only player selected for the Pro Bowl. Trading the No. 1 Tom Cousineau, Buffalo’s and the league’s number one draft pick in 1979, never found his way to the team’s training camp at Niagara University. He instead headed north of the border to play for the CFL’s Montreal Alouettes. But in March 1982, he bid au revoir to his Canadian team and returned home with the intention of playing in the NFL. The Bills had retained the rights to the former Ohio State All-America linebacker during his CFL tenure and could have him on their roster by matching any contract offer an NFL team rendered him. And there were rumors that Buffalo planned to do just that. The Houston Oilers tested that speculation and signed him to a reported five-year, $3.5 million offer sheet sheet, which included a $1 million signing bonus. The Bills matched it, only to then trade Cousineau to his hometown Cleveland Browns for their first-round draft choice in 1983, their third-round selection in 1984, and their fifth-round selection in 1985. "The three years I was in Montreal, the company line out of the Buffalo front office was that if I was going to play in the NFL, I was going to wear a Buffalo uniform," said Cousineau. "We did our thing. We talked to a number of teams. We came out with what we feel is an excellent offer from the Houston Oilers. We signed a deal, the offer sheet was sent to the Bills, and then all of a sudden their stand wavers a bit. They don’t respond. At that point, I was pretty certain that something was going to happen. They were going to try to make a trade. The offer sheet was very simple. It was one page with about six lines, and they said that they had to analyze it. Well, I had given them more credit business-wise. To analyze something that was not very complex at all, I felt that they were looking for a way out of the situation, which they were. "I didn’t speak to anybody from Buffalo. They never once called me during the time I was negotiating with other teams. What they wanted to do, basically, they said that they were going to match any offer that came down the pike, or across the table. I think they did that to scare people off, to intimidate them into not making an offer. Because what’s the use? Buffalo’s going to hit it anyway. Well, that wasn’t the case. I think that it got a little out of hand. They needed to talk with both myself and [my agent] Jimmy Walsh to come to terms. They couldn’t have made the deal themselves, and I think that’s where they made the mistake, with not talking to us and not trying to work things out." Backtracking the three years to when he was initially drafted, did Cousineau even want things to be worked out and play for the Bills? "I was very proud to be Buffalo’s number one pick in ’79," he said. "They let me know well in advance that they were going to draft me, and did I have any problems with that? I replied, ‘No,’ and that was the truth. The problem came when they offered me a very embarrassing contract. What made even less sense was when they didn’t sign me, they turned around and hired a man named Isiah Robertson. I don’t understand that! I think that my position was very well justified. It was pointed out even further with the Robertson deal."

After four Super Bowls and two Pro Bowls, former Buffalo Bills guard Jim Ritcher is reaching even greater heights after football. https://www.nflplaye...€"-jim-ritcher/

Both times that the Bills finished a season as the league champion occurred on December 26. On this date in 1964, Buffalo beat San Diego for the AFL title. In 1965: same opponent, same result. Some players who helped contribute to those championships shared their memories in my book about the Bills, “Then Levy Said to Kelly…”. "We’d beaten [san Diego] in Buffalo the first year and the second year, we’d gone out there. The time frame we were in, Sports Illustrated didn’t even recognize our [first] championship. That [the 1965 title game] was the first game they covered. They went out to San Diego and talked with the Chargers about the individuals they were going to play against. The magazine came out on the Thursday or Friday before we played that weekend, and to a man, just about, not very bright, these guys. They ended up talking about how they were going to kick everybody’s butt! So we ended up with all kinds of motivation because of what we were reading, what they said they were going to do to us on the field come the game. That was a great, great effort by our team." - Stew Barber, offensive tackle "We were all concerned about each other. It was a good mixture of blue collar, white collar, black and white. It never was a race issue that I knew of. You hear a lot of coaches and players talk about being family, but it’s hard to be family more than two or three years. The egos seem to get in the way. And then people start thinking about their own salary, etc. But it seemed to me in the ‘64 and ‘65 championship group, the chemistry was just good." - Glenn Bass, wide receiver "It was great. We were a family. We had a great time together. We all jelled. And then, of course, with everything else, through it all, you’ve got to have a lot of luck. A lot of luck." - Al Bemiller, guard, center "Well, let’s see, number one, we were truly a great defensive team. Even though we had Cookie [Gilchrist] and Elbert Dubenion and Jack Kemp, I think anybody will tell you that the strength of the Buffalo Bills team was its defense those years. It’s very interesting because the two teams that we beat were both the San Diego Chargers. On paper, I didn’t see how we could beat them. They had [Keith] Lincoln and [Paul] Lowe and [Lance] Alworth and [John] Hadl, [Dave] Kocourek, Ron Mix. And that was offense! Then they had Ernie Ladd and Earl Faison. I could almost repeat both sides of the ball verbatim because they were that good, that talented. So anyway, on paper, they looked to be very strong. But on game day, we were just very good, very confident. We just felt that our defense could play with anybody. I don’t think we were favored in either one of the games, but we were just absolutely confident that we could beat the Chargers. And we did." - Butch Byrd, cornerback "We were more of a solid football team. We just didn’t have any weaknesses. We weren’t glamorous or anything. The key for us, and I’m sure all the guys would say that we were a ball-control offense. Just run the clock, get the first downs, get down there close enough that if you don’t score a touchdown, kick a field goal and leave it up to our defense to give us the ball. We were a strong special teams. Paul Maguire was a great punter. We were just solid. We didn’t have any spectacular players except Cookie. Most of our guys were just blue-collar guys that just went out and beat you. Just very methodical, mistake-free football. Ball-control, solid defense, great special teams, a good field-goal kicker with [Pete] Gogolak. We were just solid. There’s nothing like winning." - Wray Carlton, running back "We had a great defense and we had a heck of a running back, Cookie Gilchrist. And we had a real good offensive line. We controlled the ball; we would just move down the field. And then the defense would come in there and one, two, three, out! On one occasion, we told the defense, ‘Don’t get out so fast! We’re tired!’ They didn’t allow anything. The defense was just great." - Elbert Dubenion, wide receiver "I think we played as a team and had some good talent to go with it. It just seemed that we worked together from ‘63 on and just seemed to jell. And I didn’t think a coach was as important as they really are until [Lou] Saban left. When he left, Joe Collier was a fine defensive coordinator, a good man, and I liked him very much. But a difference in philosophy and the way you handle certain things in a ballgame, Saban just had a knack for that. I don’t think we won but three or four games the next year after that year that Saban left." - Jim Dunaway, defensive tackle "The key was, every time we ran on the field, we knew we were going to win. That type of a feeling. Plus Saban believed in a very cohesive veteran offensive line. We had a very good offensive line and also a pretty good defensive line. These guys – Billy Shaw and Al Bemiller and Ernie Warlick and Dave Costa, the tight ends – these guys were playing together and were kind of the heart of the team. And of course, Cookie Gilchrist was excellent. Every position, we had some strength and we just kind of blossomed. We just had a very good team, and we beat San Diego twice." - Pete Gogolak, kicker "I think that the defense was the best in the American Football League and we obviously felt we were the best in football at that point in time. The stable performance of our offense was just fantastic. The best defense is having the offense on the field. They did a great job for us. Jack [Kemp] was really a stable quarterback who did a great job. He was a super leader. So I would say it was a combination of both those things. The biggest part of it was that we had a great team that worked together and made things happen. We were supported tremendously by a great offense. We all played as a team. We didn’t really care who got the credit for it just as long as we got the job done. And we got the job done. Everybody on the team was a hardworking type of personality who did their job." - Harry Jacobs, linebacker "In ‘64, we were successful because we had an all-around team. We had offense with Cookie and my passing. Good running and good blocking. And we had the greatest defense in the AFL with Tom Sestak and Butch Byrd and the guys. Saban was absolutely on fire. We went into Boston to play the Pats in a snowstorm, and we beat them [to clinch the Eastern Division title] and just jelled offensively and defensively. And I can’t overestimate the contribution of Cookie Gilchrist, even though we had a flare-out when he got mad at me for throwing too many passes. But we really were good friends and we are today, believe it or not. He just tore into the Pats at Fenway Park, and then we played the Chargers, and I think we felt we could beat anybody. "The next year, Cookie was gone. We didn’t quite have the offensive weapons, but we had a great defense. And we beat the heck out of the Chargers! They were so overconfident. I think they were two-touchdown favorites, and we whipped them convincingly. It was really, if not the capstone of my 10 years in the AFL, close to it." - Jack Kemp, quarterback "I had a lot of confidence in Lou Saban. I think he was an excellent coach. He treated everybody as men. We only had 36-man rosters then, and the chemistry was right with the guys. We played really well as a team. We worked hard, and the camaraderie we had as a team, it just jelled. We didn’t care whether the offense won it, the defense won it, or special teams won it. We always seemed to pull it out. We were a physical team. We took a lot of pride in ourselves. We played just as hard in the fourth quarter as we would in the first quarter. I think that made a difference. We just felt that we could win and nobody could beat us, and we played that way. Our chemistry was just perfect. Nobody dogged it. It didn’t matter what the situation was or what the weather was; our defense could hit with the best of them. You knew you were going to be in a game because we fought for four quarters." - Daryle Lamonica, quarterback "The same thing that’s the key today: no injuries. We had very few. In fact, when we went to the Chargers in ‘65, the only injury we had was Billy Shaw, who’s now in the Hall of Fame. Billy was hurt, and George Flint took over playing in his spot and did a hell of a job on [defensive end] Ernie Ladd. We played so well out there, we shut them out! " - Paul Maguire, punter "We were following Lou Saban. He kept saying we could win. We just had a lot of good ballplayers. We didn’t have that one person. There were guys like (Tom) Sestak that I’m sure should be in the Hall of Fame. We had a good defense. We had a good offense. It seemed like every week, somebody else would step up and get the job done one way or another. Whether it’d be Elbert Dubenion or Jack Kemp or Cookie Gilchrist or Wray Carlton, it was just an all-around good team. In fact, the ‘64 and ‘65 championship teams, there weren’t that many different ballplayers on those teams. I think that was the big success. We just played well together, and the coaching was good, assistant coaches like Joe Collier and people like that. We were just a good team." - Ron McDole, defensive end "Well, I don’t know how you get the right chemistry, but we had the right chemistry for a couple years there. The right players came along. I don’t know what caused the chemistry, but it was there. I could say a lot of things, but who knows? Everything clicked. We had a lot of good players, and everything fell into place. We went [into the championship games] with the mind-set that we could win. We had a lot of confidence. We had no doubt that we could win the first year, and then the second year, we felt the same way." - George Saimes, safety "We were successful because of two things. One was that we had the best defensive team in football during that period of time. We were led by our defense. They were dominant! They gave up seven points in two [championship] games! The other point was that the offense was good enough to capitalize on the opportunity that the defense gave us. But when we talk about the Bills of that era, I’m proud that the offense was just good enough to get the job done, but our defense was awesome." - Billy Shaw, guard "I think it really started the year before. We finally got on a good track and started winning some games. Although we did lose a playoff game for our division to Boston in ‘63, ‘64 was when everybody sort of came together. It was what I consider more of a team effort than anything else. We had a good mixture. We had some folks that had played with other teams and other leagues and everything. And then we had some younger folks, too. I think Paul Maguire added quite a bit to our team as a punter and being able to see from the Chargers, who had a good run. Of course, he was telling everybody that we had more talent than the Chargers did. So I think he did a lot to build up the confidence of the team. Besides, all of his wisecracks and everything kept the team very loose. I think it was sort of a special time where we had a nice group of players that sort of came together and played with a lot of heart for each other. It was just more of a team effort than anything else." - Mike Stratton, linebacker "We just had an awful lot of talent. We had a great offensive line with Billy Shaw and Stew Barber and [Al] Bemiller. A tremendous defense! Our defense sometimes was our best offense! We had a nice, friendly rivalry between the offense and defense. If we got stalled on offense and couldn’t do anything, when we were coming off the field, the defense would say, ‘Don’t worry guys. We’ll score for you if you guys can’t score a touchdown.’ And they did! They’d intercept passes and run them back for touchdowns. We just had some great guys and great coaches. That’s what it was all about." - Ed Rutkowski, wide receiver "We had the horses, number one. That was an excellent team. Cookie Gilchrist running the ball, Bass and Dubenion at wide receivers, we had speed and an excellent offensive line. And defense. The defense was really great. But I think we finally jelled as a unit and, as they say, we went out there and kicked butts!" - Ernie Warlick, tight end

I've interviewed Lamonica a couple times, and for a little background on his career in Buffalo - the arrival and departure - here are two excerpts from my book about the Bills: “Then Levy Said to Kelly…” You Snooze, You Lose The National Football League and the still-upstart American Football League were fishing in the same pool of college players during much of the 1960s. In 1963, the Bills selected Notre Dame quarterback Daryle Lamonica in the 24th round, 188th overall, while Green Bay chose him in the 12th round of the NFL draft. Appearance-wise, it seemed the Packers were more interested in the young signal caller than the Bills were. Buffalo, however, proved to be more persistent. "Their [Green Bay’s] scout had contacted me right after the draft and said he’d be back in a few days. Two or three weeks went by and no one contacted me," said Lamonica. "[Meanwhile] the Bills were contacting me daily and wanted to sign me. I had the East-West Shrine Game coming up, and they convinced me to sign a contract before I went and played that game so in case I got hurt, I’d still have a contract." Quarterback? Check! Team leader? Check! Contract negotiator? Well, not so fast. "I didn't know what an agent was, and I was too embarrassed to call [former college teammate] Paul Hornung up in Green Bay and talk to him about it," Lamonica said with a laugh. "I can remember negotiating with Johnny Mazur, who was a receiver at Notre Dame and the receivers coach with the Bills. He was calling every day with the Notre Dame tie. They offered me a $1,500 signing bonus and an $11,500 contract. You've got to understand, I was from Fresno, California, and my mom was sending me $5 a week out of her beauty-shop tips. That was my date money and my spare money and I got along pretty good. "I went to [Notre Dame head coach] Joe Kuharich and said, ‘Coach, this is the contract that I was offered.’ And he said, ‘That’s a pretty good contract, and you ought to sign it.’ I remember walking back to my dorm, and I thought, ‘God, I’m worth more money than that.’ So I called Johnny Mazur and said, ‘Coach, I’m ready to sign, but before I go to the East-West Shrine Game, I've got to have more money. I need a $2,000 bonus and a $12,000 contract!’ There was a long pause. He said [later that] he was laughing so hard he almost dropped the phone. He said, ‘The contract’s in the mail.’" Lamonica continued. "So I sent it back and went to the East-West game. I was able to win the MVP. I had scouts coming up after the game saying, ‘We’ll give you a $100,000 bonus and a $100,000 contract to sign.’ I’m going, ‘What?’ I didn't realize there was that much money in the whole world! But hell, with that [extra] $500 [from the Bills], I was able to end up buying a new Chevrolet Impala convertible." Lamonica’s Sent West Approaching the 1967 season, after four seasons as Buffalo’s backup quarterback, Daryle Lamonica thought that he’d be seeing more playing time and that he just may, in the immediate future, be taking the field with the starters. But on March 14, just two and a half months after capturing their second straight AFL title and the day of the AFL and NFL’s inaugural combined college draft, the Bills traded him along with wide receiver Glenn Bass and third- and fifth-round draft picks to Oakland for quarterback Tom Flores, wide receiver Art Powell and a second-round draft selection that year. "I was shocked! The night before I had talked to Ralph Wilson Jr. and Sr., and they both told me they were looking forward to me being their starting quarterback," said Lamonica. "Hell, I was all jazzed up! I could have run through brick walls! Eight hours later, I was traded. It’s how I found out about the trade, I guess, that was the biggest shock to me and disappointing from my standpoint. "I was in Fresno, California, and some buddies came up and said, ‘Hey, you've been traded to the Raiders.’ I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.’ I had to call the Fresno Bee, my hometown paper, to find out. Well, I was devastated from having talked to the Bills organization the night before. And to this day, I have never heard from the Bills in regards to the trade or why I was traded." Lamonica’s attention quickly focused on the AFL’s upcoming schedule and Oakland’s game in War Memorial Stadium on October 15. "I started training right then and there for that particular game," Lamonica said. He and Jack Kemp each completed two touchdown passes but also combined for six interceptions. The Raiders won the game, 24-20, their first victory in Buffalo since 1961."I thought I would play more [while with the Bills], but as I found out, it’s a business. As it worked out, it was the best thing that could have happened for me. It gave me an opportunity to come back to the West Coast, where I was born and raised. My family could come up and see the games."

Jan. 11 marks the 35th anniversary of Chuck Knox being named as the head coach of the Bills. As you’ll read, the situation that Knox faced in 1978 is quite similar to what Buffalo’s newly hired head coach Doug Marrone is facing today. Knox Landing Chuck Knox’s reputation for success preceded him. Hired for his first head-coaching job by the Rams in 1973, he guided Los Angeles to the penthouse of the NFC West division. And so with the goal to move into the AFC East’s top floor, in 1978 the hardworking Knox was hired by the Bills as their vice president in charge of football operations. In other words, he was the new head coach. "Ralph Wilson came out and visited with me and told me what he wanted to do," explained Knox. "I’d just finished five years within which we won five straight divisional championships. Fifty-four wins, 15 loses, one tie. And that was playing a 14-game schedule. So the Bills job appealed to me because they had won like three or four games [actually five] over a two-year period, and I felt like we could go in there and turn the program around." Knox’s willingness to tackle such an adventuresome project, considering that the Bills had only played in a single playoff game since the leagues merged in 1970, no doubt shocked at least a few around the league. "Anytime you leave a team like the L.A. Rams," said Knox, "where we were winning big, and going to situations like that, where they were having a lot of problems, I think it surprised a lot of people. "The goal always is to win the Super Bowl championship. But in light of that, you’ve got to put a competitive team out on the field, which they obviously didn’t have those last couple of years before we got there. We had to change the attitude of the team. We had to completely redo the scouting department, which wasn’t much of anything. So we hired some scouts. We brought Norm Pollom in [as the director of college scouting], who had been with me with the Rams. And then we also went and got some veteran players to bring some toughness. We became a pretty good football team. We were competitive that first year." "When Chuck took over it was like a breath of fresh air," said third-year defensive end Ben Williams. "We hadn’t been very successful. What Chuck did when he came was he brought the team together and showed us a lot of unity and how to win. Nobody ever taught you how to win early in my career." Excerpt from “Then Levy Said to Kelly…”

Dial *84 for Warlick During the foundation-building days of the American Football League, the eight teams recruited players by scouting games and practices, watching game films or, in the case of tight end Ernie Warlick, over the telephone. "I received a call from a guy just out of the blue asking me how I was doing and did I ever plan to move to the AFL or NFL, come back to the states? I said, ‘I don’t know, maybe in the future.’ I had no idea who this guy was. But as it turned out, apparently he was somebody that knew [recently-hired Bills head coach Lou] Saban," said the three-time Canadian Football League All-Star. Buffalo was not the only team in the league that was aware of Warlick. He was also contacted by the Boston Patriots and New York Titans. "Well, the Titans, I went there and I just didn’t like what I saw. Harry Wismer was the owner at the time, and when he found out I was going to talk to another AFL team, he was going to sue," laughed Warlick. "I just didn’t like the whole operation there. I was living in Washington, D.C., at the time, and Saban called me up and came to see me. He wanted to talk to me because he was coming to Buffalo and he’d like for me to come with him. So we went out to dinner and I signed up that night to come to Buffalo." During the 1962 campaign, Buffalo’s leading quarterback Warren Rabb completed 67 passes. Warlick had 35 catches. The following season, Warlick was still a target with 24 receptions. They, however, came from a new quarterback, but someone he was still familiar with, Jack Kemp. "Kemp and I were both in the Canadian League. We both went to training camp, I think, in ‘57 or ‘58. He and Tom Flores [who would be with the Bills from 1967 to 1969] were released from up there, and I stayed. That type of offense up there requires a quarterback that could run the ball and neither one of these guys were great runners. So this was my second time running into Kemp. I knew a little bit about how he could throw a ball. I thought that [claiming him off waivers from San Diego] was an excellent move."

A Hull of a Center Buffalo’s 1986 training camp was in full swing when Kent Hull landed in Fredonia following three seasons with the USFL’s New Jersey Generals. The free-agent center chose to sign with the Bills out of nine NFL suitors, and it took all of five days before he was atop the depth chart and starting in the third preseason game. "I was coming out of the USFL, and I really hadn't proved myself, and I just wanted a chance," Hull said. "I told my wife that I was going somewhere where there was a need for me and not necessarily for the money. Buffalo had Tim Vogler as the starting center, and he injured his knee and was going to be out for six weeks. I said I know I’ll get six weeks in, so I picked Buffalo just to show what I could do. It was the best decision I ever made in my life." Hull and quarterback Jim Kelly became members of the Bills the same day and helped the team become contenders three seasons later by reaching the 1988 AFC Championship Game against Cincinnati. Two seasons after that they were the conference champions for the first of four consecutive years. "There were a lot of factors, and coach Levy obviously was the largest factor. I think the prior coaching staff was more of a boot camp-type deal. When Marv came in, it became 'Let's work hard, but let's work smart.' He knew how to treat players," said the three-time Pro Bowl selection. "Instead of bringing a brown bag to the stadium with you, we had lunches served to us. And you weren't scared about being released the next day. I think that's when we became a family and a team. And when you do that, I think you perform like that. The different makeup of every player, when you become a family like that, there are no differences. Marv brought that to us." Retiring after the 1996 campaign, Hull brought 11 seasons of stability and leadership to the Bills "The thing that I'm most proud of is the accomplishments of the people around me. Jim Kelly going into the Hall of Fame. Marv Levy going into the Hall of Fame. I look at the things that Thurman Thomas has done. Andre Reed, James Lofton. I'm proud that I had something to do with what they did," said Hull, a team captain during his final seven seasons. "As an offensive lineman, if you're in the paper, usually it's bad. That’s the way it is, and you understand that going into the position. When you pick up that paper on Monday morning after a win, it says, ‘Jim Kelly threw for 300-some yards, sacked one time.' Or 'Thurman Thomas rushes for 200-some yards.' That's where most offensive linemen get their gratification. If you look back, it was a very unselfish offensive line. They did not want to be in the spotlight. We got our gratification picking up that paper on Monday and seeing what the people around us did."

The Bills and 49ers have met in San Francisco on six occasions, with each team earning three victories. One of Buffalo’s wins occurred 20 years ago, and was a game that ol’ No. 12 will never forget. Showdown in San Francisco Jim Kelly had many special games under center for Buffalo. But when the Bills traveled west on September 13, 1992, to meet the San Francisco 49ers, he was spectacular! As was his counterpart, Steve Young. Kelly completed 22 of 33 pass attempts for an NFL career-high 403 yards and three touchdowns, two to tight end Pete Metzelaars and one to running back Thurman Thomas. Young, meanwhile, passed for a career-high 449 yards and three touchdowns. The teams combined for 1,086 yards of offense, the fourth-highest total in league history. However, they did get into the NFL’s record book by playing in a game where, for the first time, no punts were attempted by either team. The Bills won, 34-31, for their second of four victories to open the season. "It was one of the most exciting games I’ve ever played in," said Kelly. "When you don’t punt, either team, and you rack up as many yards as we did and wind up winning the game, we were very fortunate. Andre [Reed] was a key. Of course, Kent Hull was a key and Thurman was a big key. But as far as the passing game, Andre was my man. He was the guy that I knew to go to in certain situations. I knew that he was the guy that not many could handle one-on-one on the inside. He was my go-to man, without a doubt! "Pete was a guy that if I was ever in trouble, I knew I could look for that big ol’ frame, and he was going to be there. He ran the best routes probably of anybody on the team. Not much as far as run after catch, but Pete was one of those guys who was Mr. Reliable. We were on the same page every single play." As far as what turned out to be a Quarterback Challenge that was not a made-for-television event and did not involve trying to hit a target on a moving golf cart? "I remember playing him [Young] in the USFL, too," recalled Kelly. "‘The Greatest Game That Nobody Saw’ was the Sports Illustrated caption. We dueled out in Los Angeles, and the final score was like, 38-35, or something like that. They [L.A. Express] were beating us [Houston Gamblers] by three touchdowns, and we came back to beat them. Every time I played against Steve Young it was a battle." Excerpt from “Then Levy Said to Kelly…”

A little more about Kenneth Davis with these excerpts from my book about the Bills: “Then Levy Said to Kelly…”. Plan B was K.D. Elijah Pitts was a standout player, a terrific coach, and when Kenneth Davis showed up at Rich Stadium during the 1989 Plan B free-agency period, he proved to be an outstanding recruiter as well. His candor attracted and impressed the fourth-year running back. "I think coming in and talking with him, he was being real honest with me and frank about what was going on and where the organization was trying to go with their athletes," said Davis, who had spent the previous three seasons with Green Bay. "And letting me know that he did have other guys that were ahead of me [on the depth chart]. He would give me an opportunity to compete, but also an opportunity to contribute to a team that he felt was going to do a lot of great things. "He didn’t mention any specific role [i would have with the Bills]. He just told me that he felt that we had a good, young team that was going to be successful and that I could be an integral part of that success. He didn’t know how much or how little. That’s something that he couldn’t promise me. He said that those opportunities would be left up to me." Davis accepted Buffalo’s offer and joined the team, which had just made it to the AFC Championship Game and had a solid running back in Thurman Thomas, who would be entering only his second season. Certainly, he knew he would be second string, but with his attitude, that did not bother him. "To be able to have an individual come off the bench and go in there and make some plays and make some things happen, that’s part of being successful," Davis said. "You’ve got to be able to do what it takes to win by being a starter or a backup. I came off the bench, but I always prepared as a starter. I didn’t look at it any other way because I felt that when it was my time to go into the game, I was the starter! That’s the only way to look at it. You have to go in there and give your best because you don’t know what play is going to be the key play to win or lose the ballgame." Role Player Rolled Out the Door For six seasons, Bills running back Kenneth Davis was as reliable as duct tape. A backup to Thurman Thomas, he would have likely been a starter on many other NFL clubs. Yet he was happy with his role and was a sound contributor to the team’s four consecutive AFC championship titles. And while he had many fine moments on the field during the regular seasons, Davis seemingly glowed during the playoffs: scoring three touchdowns against the Raiders in the 1990 AFC Championship Game; totaling 319 rushing yards during the four-game 1992 postseason; starting in Super Bowl XXVI when Thomas was temporarily helmetless; and leading the Bills in rushing in the following two Super Bowls. But during the 1995 off-season, Davis was reminded that professional football was not just about Xs and Os; it was at times a somewhat brutal business. "I think one of the hardest things in my life was when the Bills told me they didn’t want me back. I felt I wasn’t through playing," said Davis, who originally signed with Buffalo as a Plan B free agent in 1989. "It was a decision that they made that they didn’t need me back or want me back or whatever. I went in to talk about the situation. What were we going to do about the season coming up? Were we going to start working on my contract now or later? John Butler said, ‘We’re not going to re-sign you.’ "When I left, John Butler pretty much knew that I really didn’t want to go play anywhere else. Maybe it was selfish or stupidity on my behalf, but that’s just how much I cared about the organization and playing under Coach Levy. I could have gone to a couple other teams; the Carolina Panthers offered me a contract. I didn’t take it. I just felt confined to Buffalo. It was where I wanted to be, where I had been. I didn’t want to be a player that just bounced all around the league. So I just got out. It was time to accept that and move on. Buffalo is a very special city to me. And it was a very special team."

Congratulations to former defensive end Phil Hansen, the latest Bills Wall of Famer, who will be enshrined at halftime of Buffalo’s home opener against the Raiders on Sunday. Introducing Dependability If a rookie can play, it really does not matter whether he arrives in Buffalo from a college football powerhouse such as USC, Ohio State or Texas. Or in the case of Phil Hansen, from defending Division II champion North Dakota State. After being selected in the second round of the 1991 NFL draft, Hansen found himself filling in for an injured Bruce Smith in the Bills’ starting lineup in only his second game, against Pittsburgh on September 8. "I’m sure I was nervous, but I was up for the challenge. I was finding my way, I guess you’d say. I was finding what would work for me and what wouldn’t," said Hansen, who would make 10 starts as a rookie and total 40 tackles and two sacks. "I had a great supporting cast. When they talked amongst themselves, I’m sure they said, ‘Aw jeez, we’ve got to cover for him.’ Which they pretty much did, but they never made me feel that way. They always accepted me and made me feel like I was a part of their unit. And once we got out there and the bullets were flying for real on the field, it didn’t matter. It was us against them. And I was improving. They could see improvement week to week." Week to week became year to year. And in 11 seasons, Hansen – who became the starting left defensive end, played in 156 games and had 876 total tackles, 133 quarterback pressures, 61.5 sacks, and one touchdown – scored against the Raiders in 1998 on a 13-yard fumble recovery. Although admired and consistent in the eyes of Buffalo’s coaches, players, and fans, because Smith was at the other end of the line, Hansen may not have received the national recognition he deserved. "No, I’m very happy with my career," said Hansen. "You know, you could look at that several different ways. When people looked at our defense and looked at our defensive line, Bruce Smith was the first thing that came to mind. So maybe I got lost in the numbers and they didn’t account for me as much. I don’t think that was a bad thing. Do I think I got overshadowed? I got a lot of good publicity. I would have loved to go to a Pro Bowl, which I never got to do. But was that because of Bruce Smith? No, that was because I didn’t play well enough to go to a Pro Bowl. "I was never the greatest player on the field, but what I gave to the Bills, I want to be remembered as a consistent, dependable, and accountable football player. Someone who the coaches always knew where I was and what they’d get out of me week in and week out. I had an 86-game, five-year starting streak. I’m proud of that! Eighty-six games over the span of five years! A lot of those things, they followed me from youth, and they’ll follow me for the rest of my life. I’m dependable. I’m accountable. I’ll stand up if I make a mistake. You won’t have to worry about me shifting the blame. It’s my mistake and I’ll fix it. I was always consistent. A lot of coaches were very happy with, ‘Well, he may not be the best player in the world, but at least we know what we get with Phil Hansen. He may not be in the line of Bruce Smith, but he’s not going to let us down. He’s going to give us everything he has.’" Excerpt from “Then Levy Said to Kelly…”

Much has been said about Buffalo’s inexperienced offensive line as they get ready to open the regular season on Sunday. But 50 years ago the Bills fielded a line that was even less experienced. It was made of up two rookies, a third from the 1961 draft would join them a year later, and the trio of Billy Shaw, Al Bemiller, and Stew Barber would become reliable mainstays, two-time AFL champions - and in Shaw’s case, earn a place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame - during their nine-year Bills careers. The (Almost) Natural The NFL’s Dallas Cowboys had one idea. Billy Shaw, an All-America offensive tackle at Georgia Tech where he also played defensive end, had another. And after selecting him in the second round of the 1961 AFL draft, the Bills smartly sided with Shaw. "[The Cowboys] wanted me to play at linebacker! I never played linebacker before, and I just didn’t want to try to play a new position," Shaw said. "The AFL drafted first, and [buffalo] drafted me and told me that I would either play defensive end or they would possibly try me on the offensive side of the ball at guard. So I signed with the Bills before the NFL draft because they were going to play me at positions that I was used to playing. But because of the infancy of the AFL at the time, the Cowboys went ahead and drafted me, although I had signed with the Bills, in the anticipation or hopes that the AFL would fold." While the Cowboys would be incorrect, Shaw showed up at Buffalo’s training camp and came across as if he had been playing guard all his life. But in fact, he had only taken up the position a month earlier while practicing for the annual College All-Star Game in Chicago. "I was playing defensive end and not really doing a good job at it," admitted Shaw. "My nemesis all the way through my career in Buffalo was a defensive tackle in Boston by the name of Houston Antwine. Houston was one of those players that might have been six feet tall, if he stretched. But Houston weighed about 280 and had a really low point of gravity. He was extremely quick and gave me fits. But at the All-Star Game, about halfway through the practice session, Houston was playing offensive guard and not doing a real good job at it. I was playing defensive end and not doing a real good job at it, so Otto Graham, who was our coach, swapped us. That was his salvation and mine as far as football was concerned. When I came to Buffalo, they played me at guard immediately." Having to wait until his second year before being selected to play in the AFL All-Star Game, Shaw would end the next seven consecutive seasons with the same acknowledgement. Later chosen for the All-Time All-AFL team, in 1999 he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "It is certainly an honor that I cherish, but not so much individually. Being the only Hall of Famer to be inducted who played his whole career in the AFL, there was a love affair in the AFL. It was made up of guys that had spent a great deal of time in the NFL, and then there were guys that had shunned the NFL and chose the AFL, which I was a part of. I kind of look at my induction as a person there representing those guys that toiled for so many years in the AFL, mostly in obscurity. It’s an honor to represent them." Dropping the Anchor Beginning in 1961 and through the next eight seasons, the Bills played 126 regular-season games; 42 preseason games; and four postseason games, including for the 1964, 1965, and 1966 AFL championships. Some games they won, some they lost, and some they even tied. But what was by and large the same regardless of the outcome was that No. 50, Al Bemiller, would be anchoring the offensive line at center. And when he was not there, he was just one step away and playing at guard. What does he attribute that dependability to? "The big L! Luck! A lot of luck," said the modest and humorous Bemiller. "And also I tell people that I always tried to stay away from the big boys [on opposing defensive lines] because I did all the line calls. I’d see big Ernie Ladd sitting off to my left and I was supposed to get him, I’d sic [billy] Shaw on him. I’d go the opposite direction." All kidding aside, Bemiller proved to be as reliable and as tough as a 10-penny nail. Without question, he had his share of injuries, but pain was not going to sideline the Syracuse alumnus. "Back then we only had 33 ballplayers. You had to play," Bemiller said. "It wasn’t like today where you take off a couple days off, a couple weeks off, or a month off. You come back and you get your job back. It wasn’t that way! If you got injured, unless you were a superstar, you’re gone! So I played through injuries, sure. Not major ones. I was very, very lucky." That was until the 1969 season finale in San Diego, a 45-6 loss to the Chargers. Bemiller tore a ligament in his knee that required surgery. Still, it was not the injury that put him on the sideline. "No, I was in very good shape. I came back [for the 1970 season] and there were no problems with my knee. Then [John] Rauch came in [as head coach] and cleaned house," said Bemiller. "Of course, I was in pretty good company. Guys like [Ron] McDole, who later on became an all-time great in Washington. And he got rid of [booker] Edgerson. He got rid of a bunch of us. I could have gone on and played. I was picked up by Detroit, and at the time, I had just opened a nightclub out in Hamburg, and it was going great guns. So I thought, ‘No, I’m going to stay here with the club,’ and that’s what I did. "Now years and years and years later, you think, ’Jeez, why didn’t I go for that?’ I had another two, three, four years in me. I know I did. I was very lucky in the sense that my body at that time was very young. It didn’t bother me. It got easier for me. The training camps, believe it or not, got easier for me. You know when to run, when to sit, when to take a drink of water, all that kind of stuff. Of course, then you think back, if I would have gone then I could have really got hurt. So I had a great career." Switch Back to Where You Were An All-America offensive tackle at Penn State, Stew Barber was switched to outside linebacker as a rookie with the Bills in 1961. He made the transition from blocking to tackling and showed that he could catch the ball as well. Collecting three interceptions, he found the end zone in Denver with one after picking off Broncos quarterback Frank Tripucka and motoring 21 yards for the score. However, when Lou Saban succeeded Buster Ramsey as the head coach in 1962, one of the moves he made was returning Barber back to the offensive line. "[Following the 1961 season] I’d gone on a six-month program in the military. I worked my butt off to get my weight down because I weighed about 240," said Barber. "I came out of the service at about 220 and went to training camp. Saban, on about the second or third day, came to me and said, ‘We’re going to make an offensive tackle out of you.’" The svelte Barber’s reaction? "So be it. I gained 20 pounds in about two weeks and got my butt beat by everybody, blocking guys that were 270, 280. By the end of training camp, I’d gained about 20, 25 more pounds and still had all the quickness that was necessary for pass-blocking and all the other stuff. I’m glad that it worked out." Excerpts from “Then Levy Said to Kelly…”

Well, this is certainly awkward. But I have a suggestion for a Bills book that's available on Kindle. "Then Levy Said to Kelly..."

I would suggest adding another player to this list, the unquestionable leader of Buffalo’s Bermuda Triangle defense – Shane Nelson. Wrong Place at the Wrong Time There was at least one thing for certain from September 18, 1977, through November 1, 1981. When the Bills took the field, Shane Nelson would be a starting linebacker. A span of 72 consecutive games! Leading the team in 1979 with an incredible 192 tackles, Nelson continued to make stops the following season with 126 tackles, 74 solo. And he would remain in the center of the action until the ninth game of the 1981 season against Cleveland. "I was doing an inside blitz on [guard] Joe DeLamielleure, who used to be with the Bills, and as I faked him outside and started to come underneath, I had [my leg] planted. What they did was an illegal chop block. Of course, they wouldn’t call it," Nelson laughed. "They set Freddy [smerlas] up, and they really chopped him over, and all three of them came down on my right knee. I just ended up caught in a pile." In the wrong place at the wrong time, Nelson, a rookie free agent in 1977, missed the next five games before trying a comeback against New England on December 13. That came to a halt when he reinjured the knee and was sidelined for the season finale at Miami. After an exhaustive rehabilitation that lasted through the following year’s training camp, Nelson removed himself from the 1982 season opener against Kansas City when his knee failed him and required surgery. Not one to give less than 100 percent, Nelson was forced to hang up his helmet and shoulder pads. "That was real difficult because I’d always been a leader on every team I played on," said Nelson. "It’s a tough row when you’re not able to be out on the field. I think one of the great fundamentals of leadership is leading by example. Which is how you play the game, how you approach the game, how you studied the game. So [being unable to play] was kind of a comfort-zone issue for me because it was a place I’d never been in. "As far as being on the sideline and still assume some leadership of the team, when my knee wasn’t ready, I retired rather than just hang[ing] around. I always approached the game with everything that I had, trying to be the best I could, trying to be a team leader. So trying to become a leader from the sideline was not something that I was comfortable with. It was difficult." Excerpt from “Then Levy Said to Kelly…”

"There’s no question in my mind, and now that I’m a [high school] head football coach, I truly understand what makes a team successful. Talent doesn’t win. And I’m not taking anything away as far as talent because talent-wise we were extremely loaded. But what wins is just camaraderie. You like your coach; you like the whole atmosphere that you’re in. I’ve got to tell you, we were family then. People still talk about that team! People from other teams talk about that team! I’ve been at a lot of different functions since I retired, and guys will come to me and say, ‘Man, you guys had something special, didn’t you, in Buffalo?’ And I’ll say, ‘Yeah. We did.’ And what made it special was the community – our general managers, John Butler and Bill Polian, and our head coach, Marv Levy. "John Butler, God rest his soul, was one of the great human beings in the NFL. I would put Polian in that category. And without a doubt, my number one guy is Marv Levy. I can’t tell you enough good things about Marv Levy. He is an amazing guy. I wish I could be half the man Marv Levy is." - Don Beebe, wide receiver "[The first Super Bowl, XXV, was] probably a little more [than what was expected]. I played for a national championship [at Penn State] before, and that was a pretty big deal. But I would say [the Super Bowl hoopla is] times three. It’s an event! And it’s a hell of a lot more fun for the patrons than it is for the players. But I think we were the best team that first year." - Shane Conlan, linebacker "I don’t remember a whole lot about it [super Bowl XXV] because you get caught up in it and you’re like, ‘Hell, I can’t believe we’re in the Super Bowl!’ We knew we were good enough. You’re playing during the Persian Gulf War, and the intensity was just amazing. We were playing in front of the world, and I’m a part of it. And I’m proud to say that was one of the best games that I played in the NFL, going against [New York’s] Lawrence Taylor and some of the other guys. You wish you can remember more, but you can’t. But it was a lot of fun. That’s the hardest one for me to watch on the TV replays because obviously that one hurts more than any of the others because we did have a chance to win it in the end. We just couldn’t come through." - John Davis, guard "[The Super Bowl teams were successful] for a lot of different reasons. I think one of the biggest reasons started with Coach Levy. I think that he had us well prepared. Not only did he have us well prepared, but I think he had his coaching staff well prepared. Everyone got along. I think the parties that we had at Jim’s [Kelly] house after the games and the different things we did out in the public together helped generate a lot of that excitement. It was just that time of year, just that aura that everything was coming together. I think that being able to have that type of a vision and being able to have that type of cohesiveness as a team, that’s what made us so good. You’ve got to have cohesiveness as a team! You don’t have to love each other, but you’ve got to be able to get along with each other and you’ve got to be willing to help one another. When another guy’s not picking up his slack, not only do you help him, but you tell him that he’s got to pick it up, too. They just put together a special group of guys." - Kenneth Davis, running back "[That first Super Bowl, XXV, was] probably more than I expected. Everything went so fast it was a blur. We win the AFC Championship Game, and the next thing I know I’m in Tampa. With the media and the fans and families, it was just so confusing. You were almost relieved the day of the game. As hard as it is to play the game of football and especially a Super Bowl, it was a relief! I never dreamed that there would be anything like that. "We were fortunate enough to get to four straight Super Bowls in a time before free agency. You had a chance to groom young players in a need where you had maybe an older guy that was getting to the end of his career. Now you sign him to a three- or four-year contract, and in the fourth year when he really matures, free agency takes him away from you. We didn’t have to worry about that. I don’t think with the way things are structured in the National Football League today, you could keep a core of players together like we had in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s." - Kent Hull, center "I tried to remove myself from all of the distractions. As far as the hoopla was concerned, it lived up to expectations. There’s a lot of excitement surrounding the game. There was a lot going on [prior to Super Bowl XXV] because of the war in Kuwait and Desert Storm and all that. But that was kind of a whirlwind year because, if you recall, they didn’t have a two-week delay before the game. They only had one week between the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl. Sunday morning, you’re preparing to play for the AFC championship, and Monday morning you’re in a plane on your way to Tampa. It was exhausting, really. And once I got there, I just tried to remove myself, stay in the motel and watch film and get prepared. But there were a lot of distractions, and I think the team that can be more successful is the team that can eliminate the distractions." - Mark Kelso, safety "[That first Super Bowl, XXV,] was an incredible experience, the emotion of the whole thing. It was during Desert Storm, and all that stuff was going on. So that was all stacked up on it also. It was a great time, but at the same time that whole week went by it seemed like in about 12 hours. It just flew by! You kept going, ‘Wait! Slow down! I want to enjoy this a little more.’ [Four consecutive AFC championships] I think is something we can hang our hat on. And although we did not win the Super Bowl, which was our goal and continues to be every player’s goal, we can say we went four times in a row. No one’s ever done that, and no one probably ever will do that. It’s something that we’re very proud of. Yeah, we came up short, and that’s all you can say. But we achieved and accomplished a lot, and we’re proud of what we accomplished." - Pete Metzelaars, tight end "Never experiencing anything like that, it was all right. I enjoyed it for a lot of different reasons, for my teammates, my coaches. I just wish the outcome could have been a lot better. Even though we didn’t win, all of us wanted to go out and play hard for each other. There’s one thing about the team: we really cared for each other. All of us are still friends. We might not talk a lot, but we’re still friends to the end. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I enjoyed playing for Buffalo and I enjoyed working for Mr. Wilson. He’s one of the better owners in the NFL." - Nate Odomes, cornerback "I didn’t get to play a lot [in that first Super Bowl, XXV]. I played in short-yardage and goal-line situations. During the season I played so much, and once the playoffs rolled around, I didn’t get to play as much as I had hoped. And then the Super Bowl, it was a neat experience to be there, but we didn’t have a week off between like they do so often now. So you really just went right from the championship game; we’re on a plane and there we are. It was fun, but I was so caught up in being a rookie in the NFL, the Super Bowl was just one more event. "I don’t think anybody’s going to that [go to four straight Super Bowls] again. Not in this era. And let’s face it, in the pre-salary cap free-agency era, nobody had done it, so I don’t think anybody can get it done again. It’s too hard to keep your nucleus together, too hard to keep players hungry. A lot of credit goes to Marv Levy for doing that. He kept the team on an even keel, yet always hungering for that next step." - Glenn Parker, guard "Number one, we were a highly confident team. My last few years were so different in a lot of ways than those Super Bowl years. During the Super Bowl years, we as a team, as a whole from top to bottom, went into every game and honestly in our hearts knew we were going to win. That was the mentality that we had. There are four areas of football. There’s offense, defense, the kicking game, and special teams. The great players we had on offense – Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed – they knew we had that covered there. The same way with the defense. They knew that whatever happens on this kickoff or that punt, we’ve got good players over there. And we did during those years! We had a lot of really high-caliber players: Dwight Drane, Jamie Mueller, Hal Garner, and Carlton Bailey. You can just go down the list. Each area of football, they knew that the other guys have their back." - Mark Pike, special teams "There were a lot of keys. I think the main key was that we wanted to stay together. With free agency and everything that’s going on now, a lot of teams aren’t staying together. A lot of players are moving around. We wanted to stay together, and we knew that we had something special if we just worked at it and got to know each other on the field. That was probably a big reason why a lot of the guys did want to stay with the Bills at that time. We had the nucleus of a team that could be very successful, and we were. I played with some Hall of Fame players, and in order to be a Hall of Fame player, you’ve got to have some people around you also. "We had a good quarterback, a good running back, and a good defensive end. And then we had guys that played a certain kind of role for our team that put us over the top. That was the special part about it, that anybody on any given Sunday could play well and could contribute." - Andre Reed, wide receiver "The Super Bowl experience is probably third in my life as to what are the best things that ever happened to me. The first two are my two kids being born. To walk out through that tunnel on Super Bowl [XXV] Sunday and we’re in the Gulf War... When those planes flew over your head with the one missing, you got chill bumps on your arms and legs. The hairs on your arms stood up when you walked out on the field. And then you’ve got millions and millions of people looking at you, watching you play that game. And you think about that. ‘Where else would you rather be than right here, right now?’ to quote Marv. "I look back at it as being a member of one of the gutsiest and the most resilient football teams I’ve ever seen or been around. I’ve never seen so many people that refuse to give in or refuse to bow down or be told what they can do or what they can’t. Even when nobody wanted us to come back, we were like Jason! We just showed up." - Darryl Talley, linebacker "We didn’t really get a chance to experience the hoopla and the excitement in Buffalo because about 12 to 14 hours after the championship game against the Raiders was over, we were on a plane [to Tampa for Super Bowl XXV]. We never really got a chance to feel the excitement that the city was feeling. So that was kind of a downer that we missed out on all of that. But other than that, when we got down there, the game and everything was great! All except the part where we lost. "The fact that we went to four straight was very cool, and it was very unique and historic, but I also feel like we never got done what we really wanted to get done. That was win. That was the ultimate goal. We never really got that achieved, although in trying to get there, we went four times in a row, and all of a sudden that was kind of special, too." - Steve Tasker, special teams "We had guys who were together for a long period of time. We had guys on our team that knew football. I think that was the bottom line. We knew at certain times what we needed to do as a whole team. We did have our scouting department, but I think the guys that I did play with during those four years, they knew a lot of players and they knew their tendencies. They knew things that they struggled at. I think that was the difference for us being the top team in the AFC for four straight years." - Thurman Thomas, running back "I think we jelled as a team as far as getting key players in the right positions. Everything just started meshing, and we realized what we had. Everybody just played their position the best they could. It was awesome! When a team comes together like that, it’s a good feeling for everybody. If you would have told me I’d have a chance to win four Super Bowls, almost five if we didn’t lose to Cincinnati in ‘88, I would have never thought that anybody on one team could get to four Super Bowls in a row. That’s a hard one because you just don’t ever think of that. The Super Bowls were a lot more than I expected. Our first one in ‘90 against the Giants was during Desert Storm. There were a lot of other things out there in the air. We didn’t even know if we were going to have a Super Bowl or not have a Super Bowl. People can say, ‘They went to four straight Super Bowls, but they didn’t win any of them.’ But look at our record. I dare you to find anybody that has a better record than ours in those five years." - Jeff Wright, nose tackle Excerpts from my book – “Then Levy Said to Kelly…”

It ain’t over ‘till it’s over. Those six words were seldom more appropriate than when the Bills faced New England at Rich Stadium on November 22, 1981. With no timeouts and trailing 17-13, Buffalo had 35 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to travel 73 yards for a touchdown. Just getting in range for Nick Mike-Mayer to attempt a field goal was clearly not an option. The Bills lined up for what they called 90 All Go. The pass play’s first option was for quarterback Joe Ferguson to look for the halfback – in this case, veteran Roland Hooks, who was in for an injured Joe Cribbs – down the middle of the field. "Everybody took off,’ said Hooks. "The outside receivers were supposed to clear and get the defensive backs downfield and put pressure on the safeties. I was supposed to split the seam and get behind the backers, which I was lucky enough to do. The ball was slightly overthrown, and I had to dive, and I caught it with my fingertips. It was a pretty big catch." It was indeed. The 36-yard gain left Buffalo at the Patriots’ 36-yard line. But with the much-needed time still running, Ferguson quickly threw a pass out of bounds to stop the clock with just 12 seconds remaining. As the Bills huddled, they were equally excited and confident. "We’d got the ball deep in our own territory when the series started, so we were moving the ball," Hooks said. "I know we didn’t have a lot of time. and Big Ben was a desperation last play. But we had made up so much ground in a short period of time, and we probably would have had two shots. I don’t ever remember playing a game, particularly a close game, where we have a chance of winning, thinking, ‘We can’t do this.’ Particularly on offense, we were pretty confident that we could get the job done." The Big Ben play that Hooks referred to called for receivers Jerry Butler and Frank Lewis to line up beside him and sprint to the end zone relatively close together and try to haul in Ferguson’s pass among New England’s defenders. "Frank was in the middle; he was the leaper. Jerry was on the outside, and I was on in the inside. In practice Joe got most of the work, but we had run it so many times, I was familiar with the play. I don’t know that it ever worked in practice," Hooks said with a laugh. "But we had had some success with it. Jerry actually caught one against the Jets [in 1979]. "I was feeling real tired. When the signals were called and the ball was snapped, I just took off downfield and was trying to space myself because we knew that the ball was going to go up the middle to Frank. I was just trying to get in a good position; if it was deflected, I would be in a position to catch it." Hooks was in the right position at exactly the right time. He cradled the ball, which had deflected off Patriots linebacker Mike Hawkins, for the touchdown with only five seconds left in regulation. "I was lucky enough for things to work out that way. We were all lucky enough for it to work out that way," said Hooks "I was mobbed in the end zone. I was standing up when I caught the ball, and the next thing I knew, someone had stepped on my back, and I don’t know how many guys were on top of me. But looking at the film, there were quite a few on the pile. I had the breath knocked out of me. I think I had landed on the ball. I was just happy that I made the catch and that we came up with a win that we needed." Excerpt from: “Then Levy Said to Kelly…”

The Bills have won four of their last 10 games in Miami. Not great, but they have done worse against the division-rival Dolphins. Much worse! After all, Buffalo was winless against Miami during the 1970s. This, of course, included every game in the Orange Bowl. However, all streaks come to an end eventually. And as youll see from this excerpt from my book Then Levy Said to Kelly… when this one did, it was a record-breaking day for veteran quarterback Joe Ferguson. Sunshine, Surf, Shula and a Win For 14 seasons, when the Bills traveled south to Miami, they headed back north with a loss. But on October 9, 1983, after winning 38-35 in overtime, the trip back to Buffalo was much more pleasurable. Quarterback Joe Ferguson, who had been aboard 10 of those previous extra-long flights home, had the game of his career that afternoon in the Orange Bowl. He set the Bills single-game records with 55 pass attempts, 38 completions, and 419 yards. He also tied his own single-game team record with five touchdown passes. "Shoot, I dont know," Ferguson replied when asked what clicked for him that game. "We just wanted to beat Miami so bad. It just felt good. I guess everything was going well for the team. We didnt turn the ball over, and that was usually the key when we played Miami. Usually whoever had the most turnovers lost the game, and usually it was us. Miami were the games of the year for us. It didnt matter, the Sun Belt and the Snow Belt. The whole team played well that day. Everything was clicking. "You dont really have a feeling when you go out on the field. You just go out and do your job, and things fall in place. I didnt have a feeling that I was going to do a great job, I just went out and played one play at a time and whatever happens, happens. If it falls in place that day, it does." With Joe Danelos 36-yard field goal in overtime, the Bills record went to 4-2. Miami dropped to 3-3 in rookie quarterback Dan Marinos first career start. "Maybe Joe had some motivation because of that, but Fergy was a great quarterback in his own right," said running back Joe Cribbs, who scored two touchdowns. "I really think that he probably doesnt get as much credit as he should get. Buffalo always had some great running teams when he was there, and he threw for a lot of yardage when you consider that most of the time he had to be handing the ball off to the likes of [O.J.] Simpson and [Terry] Miller. I think he had an exceptional career." "I just remember that they were a good enough football team to come back, and we had to win it in overtime to show what a great football team we were," said Ferguson. "It was just a relief that we did win, and we won in Miami. That was the biggest thing. That was the best part about it, winning there."