Seeking Information

[Graeme]

Hi, my name is Graeme, writing from the City of Bradford in the UK. I'm a medieval, local studies & local sports historian, seaching for some information, & thought I may find some pointers here.

 

In 1971, the Bills tried out a place kicker named Terry Price. Terry was a well known Wales Rugby Union international, who had recently completed a contract with English rugby league club- Bradford.

 

I'm attempting to find out if Terry was ever offered a contract with the Bills, & if so, do any team photographs from the period still exist. Would there be any Bills historians or archivists who may help with my enquiries? I wrote to the Bills website through the contact form, but received no reply or acknowledgment.

 

Thanks;

[GunnerBill]

Welcome Graeme from Bratford. What is the latest with the Bulls have they gone totally or is there still hope of a saviour on the horizon? Such a shame. Those early Super League teams were fantastic fun to watch. I'm a British born and British based Bills fan but not old enough to remember Terry Price trying out for Buffalo .

[Kirby Jackson]

You probably want to try to track down Denny Lynch. I believe that he is retired now but he is sort of the "keeper of Bills history." If anyone has something it will be him.

[Just Jack]

Wikipedia says no https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Price_(rugby)

 

Pro Football Reference does not list him http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/

(there is a Terry Price that played for Chicago, but it was 1990)

 

His obit says yes http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-terry-price-1454267.html

 

I'd say no based on 2 out of 3 saying he did not make it

[ALF]

In 1971, he tried out as a placekicker for an NFL American football team, the Buffalo Bills,[1] but did not play for them.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terry_Price_(rugby)

[Graeme]

Thanks for the replies; I'm conversant with the internet & press articles relating to Terry Price, though most are contradictory with regard to whether he played or signed a contract with the Bills, & the reason why I pursue the subject here. Wiki can't always be relied upon.

 

The Pro Football Reference website is very interesting, but does it also include contracted players on a roster- not having played games? A number of similar English soccer websites don't list non-playing squad members- yet are contracted to a club.

 

From memory, I don't recall Terry making a quick return to the UK following his tryout, so he may have signed a short term contract with the Bills- or another club. Can anyone point me in the direction of the aforementioned Denny Lynch?

 

Thanks;

[ocemur]

Here's a small piece of the puzzle. From a Green Bay Packers history site is the box score from a 1971 preseason game. It lists a Grant Guthrie as having kicked for the Bills. If we can track down the other preseason games, it may prove he was in training camp. I know you said he never played for the team, but I'm assuming that means regular season games. If he had any stats in a preseason game, he would have had a contract.

 

(EDIT) I found on ebay a ticket stub from the August 29, 1971 Bills at Atlanta preseason game. I'll keep digging around for stats, but it's friday afternoon and time for BEER! I'll see if we can piece together the preseason schedule and stats for 1971 and see if your guy pops up. We'll see if we can come up with team pictures/rosters or anything that might have him.

Edited April 21, 2017 by ocemur

[Graeme]

Here's a small piece of the puzzle. From a Green Bay Packers history site is the box score from a 1971 preseason game. It lists a Grant Guthrie as having kicked for the Bills. If we can track down the other preseason games, it may prove he was in training camp. I know you said he never played for the team, but I'm assuming that means regular season games. If he had any stats in a preseason game, he would have had a contract.

 

(EDIT) I found on ebay a ticket stub from the August 29, 1971 Bills at Atlanta preseason game. I'll keep digging around for stats, but it's friday afternoon and time for BEER! I'll see if we can piece together the preseason schedule and stats for 1971 and see if your guy pops up. We'll see if we can come up with team pictures/rosters or anything that might have him.

Thanks, that's very interesting. Hope you can turn up something. Having put down Wiki, I now see Terry Price is listed among their players here- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Buffalo_Bills_players

[ocemur]

I'm not finding much more on the preseason results or even schedule. I would bet the answers you are looking for were in the newspapers of the time. You would be looking for the Buffalo News and/or the Buffalo Courier Express sports sections from August or late July of 1971.

 

Also, I stumbled across a reference to an article: "Bills Impressed With Welshman", Associated Press Report in Abilene (Texas) Reporter News, August 11, 1971

 

Here is a newspaper archive link to the page, the article is on the lower left. Maybe you can do their free trial and read it. I tried saving the image to my computer and blowing it up, but it was unreadable.

[Graeme]

I'm not finding much more on the preseason results or even schedule. I would bet the answers you are looking for were in the newspapers of the time. You would be looking for the Buffalo News and/or the Buffalo Courier Express sports sections from August or late July of 1971.

 

Also, I stumbled across a reference to an article: "Bills Impressed With Welshman", Associated Press Report in Abilene (Texas) Reporter News, August 11, 1971

 

Here is a newspaper archive link to the page, the article is on the lower left. Maybe you can do their free trial and read it. I tried saving the image to my computer and blowing it up, but it was unreadable.

 

Thanks again- having just thumbed through a book on the history of the Bradford Rugby Club- again, I am reminded of an extract stating Terry ‘signed on for the Buffalo Bills’. From what I’ve learnt to date, it seems likely he was offered a contract, & the fact was recorded within the archive of Buffalo newspapers, which I’ll have a look through over the next few days. However, any images are likely to be of poor quality, & would still appreciate some help with regard to team photos of the era. I will write to the Bills again- & hope for a reply, as there must be a statistician, historian or archivist somewhere, with access to the information I seek.

[cd1]

Here is a link to ALL of the Bills past rosters:

 

http://www.footballdb.com/teams/nfl/buffalo-bills/roster/1971