“I went to (Bobby Dodd, head coach at Georgia Tech),” Shaw recalled, “and said, ‘Coach, here are my options. Help me.’ He said, ‘There is a place in football for a new league, and you have a chance to be part of history, because if done correctly, it won’t fail. It will enhance football.’ And he was exactly on cue. I actually signed with Buffalo before the NFL draft, and the reason that I did that was that Dallas had made contact with me before the draft and they wanted to play me at linebacker, and I had never played linebacker. Coach Dodd recommended I go to Buffalo because they wanted me to play on either side of the
On behalf of Bills fans everywhere, I say, “thank you, Bobby Dodd!” Shaw went on to anchor one of the most formidable offensive lines in AFL history, beginning with paving the way for Cookie Gilchrist as he became the first AFL running back to top the 1,000-yard mark (1,096) in 1962, protecting quarterback Jack Kemp en route to the back-to-back championships in ‘64 and ’65, and eight straight AFL All- Star games. Shaw was so well respected that he was selected to play in the All-Star Game after the 1967 season despite missing five games that year to a severe knee injury.
Halfback Bobby Burnett attributed a great amount of responsibility for his Rookie-of-the-Year campaign of 1966 to Shaw. “Billy Shaw, in one of the very first practices, told me, ‘You want to be All-Pro?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘ You get on my butt and follow me where I go. I’ll make you All Pro.’”
Our interviews covered a range of subjects,
including the early days of the team and the American Football League, the
dominant years from 1964 to 1966 when the team made it to three straight AFL
title games, the down year of 1967 that saw Billy miss a large chunk of the
schedule due to a knee injury, 1968 when the team won just one game, the AFL
All Star game in January 1965 when the black players took a stand against
racial discrimination and mistreatment, his assessment of many of the players
he played against, memories of old War Memorial Stadium, Bills fans and much
more.
Once the project was near completion, I had to make a decision about who I wanted to write the foreword for the book. I had many great options from which to choose, and I know that anyone of them would have been willing and done a great job. But when it came down to it, Billy was the best choice. To my delight, he was more than happy to accept the invitation. And he did an outstanding job!
Billy’s passing stands as a reminder of a time when the Bills stood at the forefront of professional football (even if it was the AFL), and that the number of surviving members of that exclusive AFL fraternity is sadly dwindling. A recent reunion of the 1964 AFL championship team held at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park (the current home of the Buffalo Bills) was attended by all of five alumni (Butch Byrd, Wray Carlton, Booker Edgerson, Paul Maguire, and Ed Rutkowski). There are a handful of others still among us, but they were unable to attend due to health issues.
I didn’t want to make this article one of those typical listings of the man’s accomplishments (though it appears I did do some of that) with a year-by-year account of his career. That approach gets tiresome after a while. Just wanted to pay tribute and say “thank you” to Billy for being so generous with his time and memories, and for writing such a wonderful foreword for my book. And as I am thinking about it now, that book would most likely not have been possible, or at least necessary, without Billy Shaw.
Fantastic job on article.
ReplyDeleteWell done, Jeff. A great Bill was Billy Shaw.
ReplyDeletereally nice piece Jeff....not to nitpick (but nitpicking), while PFR don't credit any "alternative leagues", the pedant notes that Jim Kelly played for (was it the?) San Antonio Gunslingers for a year or two, ergo, Shaw is the only "true" full-time Bill HoFer.....
ReplyDeleteBW ...
DeleteJim Kelly played for the Houston Gamblers. He was a passing gun-slinger there too. A precursor to Moon and the Oilers, run-and-shoot offense.
Well, we tend to think in terms of NFL teams since the PFHOF has not included USFL, WFL or CFL teams ...
ReplyDelete