[...]... to the older more established nfl, the afl was looked at as the other league. ” In fact, as I understand it, the other league phrase was a description the afl owners bestowed upon themselves in 1960 when Lamar Hunt, Ralph Wilson, and a handful of other entrepreneurs formed the league Whatever its roots were, the phrase, like the constant comparison to the older league, only served to strengthen the. .. (1960–63) x ROCKIN’ THE ROCKPILE FOREWORD by Billy Shaw (Billy Shaw was a perennial All-AFL selection during his nine-year career with the Buffalo Bills, and is the only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to have played his entire career in the American Football League. ) It was a hot August day in Canton, Ohio, in 1999 As I stepped to the podium at the center of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement... in the afl, and also the Washington Redskins The offer from the Redskins was $6,500 Never received an offer from the Patriots because their whole organization wasn’t prepared to even talk about players I had an offer from the Canadian league for around $10,000 to $10,500, and took that They also gave me a bonus plus an off-season job in engineering At that time I think the philosophy of most of the. .. being radio, you’re always at the mercy of the ratings So in 1955, I went with the University of Buffalo In 1958, we won the Lambert Cup I worked there until 1960 The Bills came to town, and Dick Gallagher, the general manager, called me and asked me if I’d be interested in talking to him about going with the Bills I had never met him before He’d heard about the University of Buffalo program, and I think... signed Then when the nfl draft came along, I told the guy that was scouting me, Dick Gallagher, that I was going to Canada, but they still drafted me in the 14th round He was the scout for the Browns that covered me in Bluffton Then when the afl started he went to Buffalo as the general manager I was one of the first guys he signed—$7,000, no bonus Make the team—meal money I had been out of football. .. proclaimed, “Bring on the nfl.” The fans weren’t just Bills fans; they were “afl fans” too And we agreed with them After just a few short seasons, the Bills and several other afl teams were clearly the equal of any nfl team Without a doubt, our 1964 team would have matched up nicely against any of the topflight nfl teams Imagine the excitement we felt as players at the prospect of playing in one of those first... got drafted into the service I spent about 21 months in the service, and then the guy that signed me at Cleveland—Dick Gallagher—became the general manager at Buffalo They called me, and Cleveland was after me too, so I had two choices—either go to Cleveland or go to Buffalo They signed me in Buffalo I chose Buffalo primarily because of the new league and a better opportunity to make the team So I was... and they wanted to test my leg because they had heard about it They got this doctor, and he ok’ed me, so I stayed there Ted Marchibroda was there, Jack Kemp, Ernie Staughtner and Lenny Dawson Then I ended up at the Lions I was on their taxi squad, and then they put me on their regular squad When I called the Bills, I called Bob Dove and Buster Ramsey because I was at the Lions with them both I told them... because I have a lot of relatives that lived in the Bay Area, and I always wanted to go to California I said, “This is great!” But the coach out there got fired, so I never heard anything from them So I signed the contract with the Bills when Saban got there, so it all worked out great The ownership—they set the tone—$7,500—they called the shots I don’t know if Saban had the ability to offer a bonus because... any depth—you were in there for the whole ball game To play in the heat we had down there, we used to recruit our linemen out of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana—those places We would get running backs or fullbacks that were maybe 245 to 250, and bring them out here and make linemen out of them At the end of the whole deal, they weighed 215 I started off at 210 and at the end of the season I was down . Ange Coniglio, die-hard fan of the Buffalo Bills and the American Football League; Randy Schultz, author of Legends of the Buffalo Bills; P at Abramoski and. Encyclopedia of the National Football League (Bob Carr oll, et al.); Relentless: The Hard-Hitting History of Buffalo Bills Football (Sal Maiorana); and Tale of the