patfitz Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 (edited) My favorite all time Bills' center and member of Bills' AFL Championship team was selected to the 2015 Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. Way to go Al! Edited June 4, 2015 by patfitz
Green Lightning Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 Great player. Played guard and center at 243 lbs! Would have made a fine Supervisor of Cheektowaga as well if he would have won.
billsfaninky Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 I got to meet him when I was a student teacher at Hutch-Tech. (He use to be a substitute teacher) Great person and very well deserving of this honor!
\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 (edited) Edited June 4, 2015 by \GoBillsInDallas/
Chandler#81 Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 I met him and had a great chat at the 50th Anniversary bash a few years ago. Grew up idolizing those mid 60's teams and he was an important cog. 10-0-0 National Champions?? Syracuse??? Congratulations, Al!
vorpma Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 My favorite all time Bills' center and member of Bills' AFL Championship team was selected to the 2015 Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. Way to go Al! Great player and member of the community!
ricojes Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 Met him a few times, very nice guy and hilarious. He had me rolling after a couple of his stories FYI...Here's the entire 2015 class... Former NHL defenseman Aaron Miller and long-time Buffalo Bandits star John Tavares headline the Class of 2015 for the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. Also on this year’s list are former Bills OL Al Bemiller, WNY racing legend Art Clark, former Bisons/Braves PR Director George Daddario, professional bowler Liz Johnson, New Era Cap Executive David Koch, former National League MVP Jim Konstanty, ex-Canisius softball coach Mike Rappl, former Notre Dame basketball star Keith Robinson, sports photographer Robert L. Smith, and Buffalo hockey Bisons leading scorer Larry Wilson.
Jim Gehman Posted June 4, 2015 Posted June 4, 2015 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."
26CornerBlitz Posted June 5, 2015 Posted June 5, 2015 Al Bemiller: "It's a great honor for me" (10:41)Former Bills Center Al Bemiller joined The John Murphy Show to discuss his upcoming induction into the Greater Buffalo Sports HOF, his time at Syracuse, and winning 2-AFL Championships with the Bills.
26CornerBlitz Posted June 7, 2015 Posted June 7, 2015 @buffalobills Congrats to Bills AFL center Al Bemiller, selected this week to the Buffalo Sports HOF! http://bufbills.co/xPZBkP
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