Thursday, July 31, 2025
Will Jalen Ramsey's NFL Odyssey Wind Up in Canton?
Thursday, July 17, 2025
State Your Case: Is Ndamukong Suh Destined for Pro Football Hall?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Release 1976 Alternate Uniform and It' Excellent
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1976 Throwback Uniforms |
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1977 Bucs white jersey with red numerals |
Chargers New Alternate Uniforms Drop—Ho Hum
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All yellow - called "Charger Power" |
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All navy -- called Super Chargers |
Friday, July 11, 2025
OPPONENT FUMBLE RECOVERIES 1970-2024: "If You Are Not Taking the Ball Away"
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Jason Taylor |
Happy 100th Birthday (Early) to Marv Levy !
by Jeffrey J. Miller
I had recently written Rockin’ The Rockpile and was looking for a new project when I began reading The 50 Greatest Plays in New York Giants Football History by my friend John Maxymuk. I thoroughly enjoyed not only John’s excellent authorship but also the format. After doing a little research, I found out that the publisher, Triumph Books of Chicago, was doing a series of 50 Greatest books, which also included versions for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Bears.
Duly inspired, I fired off an email to Triumph’s acquisition
department informing them of my previous work and my desire to write a Buffalo
Bills version of 50 Greatest. To
my surprise, I received a positive response from Adam Motin, Development Editor
at Triumph Books, just a few days later in which he expressed their interest in my proposal. There was one catch, however.
Triumph had some sort of commitment to do a book with Marv Levy. Would I mind collaborating with the Hall-of-Famer
and greatest coach in Buffalo Bills history?
Pregnant pause.
Well, I cannot remember my exact response, but I am sure it
went something like “No freakin’ way!”
Not really. It was probably more
of a restrained “yeah, sure!” as I tried to mask the excitement of being
offered a chance to work with someone of Coach Levy’s stature. Sure, I was
confident in my ability, but at this point, I had only written two football
books (Buffalo’s Forgotten Champions and Rocking the Rockpile),
so this was a huge step. But one I
welcomed gleefully!
A couple of days later, I came home from work and saw the
little red light flashing on my answering machine. I pushed the button and the first message
that sprang forth went something like this … “Hello Jeff, this is Marv
Levy. I understand we are going to be
writing a book together. Please give me
a call at (his private number) and we can discuss the particulars.”
For a solid week I played that message for anyone who
happened to drop by the house for a visit. Come on ... who wouldn't?
I returned Marv’s call straight away. We had a nice chat in which he expressed
excitement at writing this book with me. He
informed me that he had a heavy schedule of commitments that will limit his
availability and that I will “have to play quarterback” for this project and
let him know what particular plays from the team’s history I wanted him to
write about, and proofread the chapters he sends to me. Not a problem!
The initial idea was, as stated above, to produce a book
consistent with Triumph’s 50 Greatest series. Within a very short time, Marv and I were
corresponding daily via email, phone and fax (this was the dark ages of 2009,
after all). We eventually compiled a
tentative list of the plays we planned to cover. We agreed that Marv would write about the
plays that occurred during his time as the Bills’ head coach, while I would
tackle any of the selected plays that happened before or after his tenure. Marv even sent me a few hand-drawn sketches
of some of the plays we intended to feature in the book. Thank goodness I saved those faxes!
Here are a few ...
Though we never met face-to-face during the writing portion
of this book, we corresponded several times each week, even several times in a
day in some stretches. Marv would send
me his chapters and ask my opinion or that I go through and check for typos,
etc. In some cases, his chapters were
very long and I had the responsibility of having to whittle away some content
to make it fit into the available space.
My friend Jeff Mason (my former high school history teacher who has proofread nearly
everything I have ever written over the years) proofread the finished
manuscript for any misspellings, typos, grammatical errors, and so on.
Our book was officially published in October 2009. In all, we included 36 plays or events from Buffalo Bills history. The hard-bound book was lavishly illustrated and presented as a nice coffee table style book for die-hard Bills fans.
That's my seven-year-old son Benjamin in front.
I will always cherish this episode in my writing
career. Working with Marv Levy was quite a
thrill! I was honored when he agreed to
write the foreword for my next book (“100 Things Bills Fans Should Know &
Do Before They Die”), which affirmed for me that he enjoyed the collaboration
as well.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Coach Levy!
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Making the Case for Butch Byrd
by Jeffrey J. Miller
The Buffalo Bills won back-to-back championships in 1964 and ’65, and made it to a third championship game in 1966. The universally recognized strength of that outstanding AFL-era team was its defense, which at one point went 17 straight games (16 regular season and one post-season) without giving up a rushing touchdown—a record that stands to this very day. Yet for how great that team and its defense was, only one player from that period has been deemed worthy of enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. That player was guard Billy Shaw, who, though arguably one of the greatest guards of all time, played his entire career on the OFFENSIVE side of the ball.
It says here that there are several players from that team deserving
consideration by the Hall of Fame selectors.
Linebacker Mike Stratton, for instance, played in six AFL All-Star games, was selected First-Team
All-AFL three times, won two AFL championships, and delivered the most famous
tackle in AFL history when he dusted San Diego’s Keith Lincoln for “The Hit
Heard ‘Round The World in the 1964 Title Game.
Defensive end Ron McDole is the NFL’s all-time leader in interceptions
among defensive linemen with 12, and ranks third all-time in blocked kicks with 21. And don't get me started on Big Ses ...
This article, however, will focus on the career and credentials
of defensive back George “Butch” Byrd, who was a cornerstone of the Bills' defense for seven
seasons from 1964 through 1970.
The Bills selected Byrd out of Boston University in the
fourth round of the 1964 college draft.
A two-way star at BU, Byrd led the Terriers in rushing in both his
junior and senior years and was an All-East selection in 1963. The Dallas Cowboys of the NFL selected him in
the seventh round, but Butch signed with Buffalo because the Cowboys had
already chosen Mel Renfro in the first round, and he realized his chances
at a starting job were better with the Bills.
It turned out to be a good move for both Byrd and the Bills, as the six-foot, 211-pounder made an immediate impact, winning the starting right corner position in his first training camp and holding it down for the next seven seasons as the final piece of the Bills' championship puzzle. He recorded his first interception in just his third game as a pro, picking off Tobin Rote of the Chargers and racing 75 yards for a score. In all, Byrd intercepted seven passes during his rookie season, setting a Bills record and earning an invitation to the AFL All-Star Game, the first of five in his career. Along the way he gained a reputation as not only one of the best, but also one of the most aggressive defensive backs in the league. He was also very durable, missing only one start during his time in Buffalo. He'd go on to rack up a team-record 40 career interceptions (five of which he returned for scores, also a club record) and appear in three AFL title games with the Bills (1964, ’65 and ’66).
In fact, he seemed to come up biggest in the big games, recording an interception in both the 1964 and 1965 championships. His 74-yard punt return in the 1965 Title Game set an AFL post-season mark that stood until the AFL-NFL merger.
Byrd was also a pioneer in race relations among AFL
players. “My roommate was Mike
Stratton,” he recalled. “Mike and I were
the first mixed couple. That honor usually goes to Gale Sayers and Bryan
Piccolo, but I believe we were ahead of them.
I think Mike and I were the first white and black ballplayers to room
together, and that was controversial.
There were some ballplayers on our team that didn’t like it. Ballplayers came from all parts of the
country, and they brought with them their own baggage. I really can’t tell you why or how it
happened—he thought it was a good idea or I thought it was a good idea—I can’t
even remember who raised the subject.
Maybe we just found ourselves in the same room by accident, and decided
to keep it that way.” The two remained
close friends until Stratton’s passing in March 2020.
The Bills traded Byrd to the Denver Broncos prior to the
1971 season, but he played just one season for the Broncos before calling
it a career.
Byrd is one of the most decorated
members of the AFL-era Bills, beginning with being named to the All-Time AFL
Team (second squad) by the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee in
1970. He received the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Distinguished Service Award for
“service to the Bills’ organization and the Western New York community during
his career” in 1994. He was honored
with induction into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 2008. He and his cornermate from the Bills glory
days—Booker Edgerson—were corecipients of the team’s the Kent Hull Hard Working
Man Award in 2010.
He was enshrined in Boston University’s Athletic Hall of Fame in 1980.
2-time
AFL Champion
5 AFL
All Star Games
3-time
First Team All-AFL
1-time
Second Team All-AFL
40 career
regular season interceptions (remains a Buffalo record)
5
interceptions returned for touchdowns (a Buffalo record)
4 fumble
recoveries
2 career
post-season interceptions
2 punts returned for touchdowns (1 regular season, 1 post-season)