The Senator Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Was sitting in the chair at Vito's barber shop this afternoon and came across this... link - The AFL (Lamonica featured on pg 3 - many other Bills mentions throughout) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GOBILLS78 Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 I wonder if $8.25M could buy a proven head coach... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted July 18, 2009 Share Posted July 18, 2009 Great read! Brought back many memories. I LOVED the AFL even when it seemed Jan Stenarud was always kicking 8 FGs every time they played us. KC had GREAT defensive players with Lanier, Bell, Buchanon, etc. The Jets with Joe Willie, the first "white shoes" (with all respect to Billy Johnson). The Patriots with Nance. And of course Bambi, Hadl, Lincoln with the Chargers (still the BEST uniforms ever). I could go on and on. Thanks again, Ralph. Enjoy your day in the sun in Canton. Nobody deserves it more. GO BILLS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VJ91 Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 Great read! Brought back many memories. I LOVED the AFL even when it seemed Jan Stenarud was always kicking 8 FGs every time they played us. KC had GREAT defensive players with Lanier, Bell, Buchanon, etc. The Jets with Joe Willie, the first "white shoes" (with all respect to Billy Johnson). The Patriots with Nance. And of course Bambi, Hadl, Lincoln with the Chargers (still the BEST uniforms ever). I could go on and on. Thanks again, Ralph. Enjoy your day in the sun in Canton. Nobody deserves it more. GO BILLS!!! I was only 5 and 6 years old when the Bills won their two AFL titles, so I cannot say I enjoyed experiencing them. But reading about those teams, and those first two Green Bay teams that beat Kansas City and Oakland in SB's 1 & 2, I think the Bills were just one or two years ahead of their time back then! Those two AFL Championship teams seemed to match up with those two Green Bay SB teams much better then the Chiefs and Raiders did. If only the SB's would have started in 1964, Buffalo could be known as the first SB winning franchise, and perhaps have even won the first two SB's ever played!! It reminds me of those great Browns' teams in the mid to late 80's that could not get past those damn Broncos in the AFC Championship games! The Browns of those days were built much more like the Giants and Redskins and would have made much better SB' games then the Broncos did. As far as the 89' season, no team in NFL history could have stayed close with those 49'ers, and Browns' fans were most likely relieved that the Broncos went into that game! (49ers 55, Broncos 10) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRC Posted July 19, 2009 Share Posted July 19, 2009 If you are looking for additional AFL-related stories, I just updated the PFRA website with AFL articles our members have written over the years. These are not all of the articles we have written on the subject (check out the Articles section and Coffin Corner section for the complete list), but just a sampling. You will see the list of featured articles part way down the page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 And if you are looking for some really goofy looking old football cards that truly bring back memories, try here... 1965 Bills Cards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollars 2 donuts Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 And if you are looking for some really goofy looking old football cards that truly bring back memories, try here... 1965 Bills Cards Love it, Senator. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 Love it, Senator. Thank you. My pleasure, D2D - here's just a bit more nostalgia from that memorable season, newspaper clippings and all... 1965 AFL Champions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernMan Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 My pleasure, D2D - here's just a bit more nostalgia from that memorable season, newspaper clippings and all... 1965 AFL Champions Gee, I kinda wished I hadn't looked at the stats for the 1965 AFL Championship Buffalo Bills. They were rather unimpressive, even in a 14 game schedule. e.g. - Jack Kemp, 45.8% completion percentage, 2,368 passing yards. 54.8 passer rating. Kemp is something of a local hero, but with numbers like that, in today's game, we'd be all over Ralph to get rid of "the bum". The top receiver for the Bills, Bo Roberson*, had 483 yards catching. Top rusher, Wray Carlton, had 592 rushing yards. WTF? I thought the AFL was a wide-open offensive league. I was too young to remember a lot of detail about those teams, but all I can guess is that it must have been a completely different style of football back then. *odd, I don't even remember ever hearing this guy's name - and he was the top receiver (or Flanker :-) ??!? Isn't "Flanker" the word guys over 75 years old use when talking about Andre Reed? If they were to ask me, "Isn't he a flanker"?, I'd reply, " I don't care what he does in his spare time". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRC Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Gee, I kinda wished I hadn't looked at the stats for the 1965 AFL Championship Buffalo Bills. They were rather unimpressive, even in a 14 game schedule. e.g. - Jack Kemp, 45.8% completion percentage, 2,368 passing yards. 54.8 passer rating. Kemp is something of a local hero, but with numbers like that, in today's game, we'd be all over Ralph to get rid of "the bum". The top receiver for the Bills, Bo Roberson*, had 483 yards catching. Top rusher, Wray Carlton, had 592 rushing yards. WTF? I thought the AFL was a wide-open offensive league. I was too young to remember a lot of detail about those teams, but all I can guess is that it must have been a completely different style of football back then. *odd, I don't even remember ever hearing this guy's name - and he was the top receiver (or Flanker :-) ??!? Isn't "Flanker" the word guys over 75 years old use when talking about Andre Reed? If they were to ask me, "Isn't he a flanker"?, I'd reply, " I don't care what he does in his spare time". 1965: -Roberson was 10th in the league in Yards per game and seventh in number of receptions. -Carlton was top 10 in yards, attempts, rushing TDs, yards/attempt and yards/game -Kemp was top five in passes, completions, yards, TD, passer rating, yards/game and completion percentage I will leave out my opinions on comparing the game across decades as everyone pretty much already knows how I feel about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernMan Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 1965:-Roberson was 10th in the league in Yards per game and seventh in number of receptions. -Carlton was top 10 in yards, attempts, rushing TDs, yards/attempt and yards/game -Kemp was top five in passes, completions, yards, TD, passer rating, yards/game and completion percentage I will leave out my opinions on comparing the game across decades as everyone pretty much already knows how I feel about it. Top 10? Wow! Weren't there only like, 8 teams in the league?!?!? That'd be like being in the top 40 today! Holy cow! Who'd have thought 21st round draft picks could be so prominent? I don't mean to disparage the great players who are the forerunners of today's game, and were the heros the Buffalo's kids before Promo had his first lube job, but everything is relative. I was just saying that by today's standards, they would be boys among men. If they were somehow transported with Tony and Doug through the Time Tunnel and landed at St. John Fisher for a tryout, most of the players on that roster wouldn't qualify to be golf cart drivers, let alone be professional football players in 2009. How am I supposed to know how you feel about it? Are you that Conegrio guy with the AFL HOF website? Thanks for the mammeries. Nostalgic, for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRC Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Top 10? Wow! Weren't there only like, 8 teams in the league?!?!? That'd be like being in the top 40 today! Holy cow! Who'd have thought 21st round draft picks could be so prominent? I don't mean to disparage the great players who are the forerunners of today's game, and were the heros the Buffalo's kids before Promo had his first lube job, but everything is relative. I was just saying that by today's standards, they would be boys among men. If they were somehow transported with Tony and Doug through the Time Tunnel and landed at St. John Fisher for a tryout, most of the players on that roster wouldn't qualify to be golf cart drivers, let alone be professional football players in 2009. How am I supposed to know how you feel about it? Are you that Conegrio guy with the AFL HOF website? Thanks for the mammeries. Nostalgic, for sure. Crap like is is why I don't talk about it anymore. Holy hell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Top 10? Wow! Weren't there only like, 8 teams in the league?!?!? That'd be like being in the top 40 today! Holy cow! Who'd have thought 21st round draft picks could be so prominent? I don't mean to disparage the great players who are the forerunners of today's game, and were the heros the Buffalo's kids before Promo had his first lube job, but everything is relative. I was just saying that by today's standards, they would be boys among men. If they were somehow transported with Tony and Doug through the Time Tunnel and landed at St. John Fisher for a tryout, most of the players on that roster wouldn't qualify to be golf cart drivers, let alone be professional football players in 2009. How am I supposed to know how you feel about it? Are you that Conegrio guy with the AFL HOF website? Thanks for the mammeries. Nostalgic, for sure. Cookie, Sestak, Dunaway, etc.....would have been great at any time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Fontes Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 I was shocked to find out that Jim Dunaway pulled an OJ: killed his wife, got off, then was found civilly liable. What's up with these 60's era Bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 I don't mean to disparage the great players who are the forerunners of today's game, and were the heros the Buffalo's kids before Promo had his first lube job, but everything is relative. I was just saying that by today's standards, they would be boys among men. If they were somehow transported with Tony and Doug through the Time Tunnel and landed at St. John Fisher for a tryout, most of the players on that roster wouldn't qualify to be golf cart drivers, let alone be professional football players in 2009. Tell that to... Art Donovan The mere suggestion that guys like Jim Brown, Cookie Gilchrist, Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka, etc., wouldn't absolute chew today's pampered pus-sies up and spit them out seems somewhat ignorant. JMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Top 10? Wow! Weren't there only like, 8 teams in the league?!?!? That'd be like being in the top 40 today! Holy cow! Who'd have thought 21st round draft picks could be so prominent? I don't mean to disparage the great players who are the forerunners of today's game, and were the heros the Buffalo's kids before Promo had his first lube job, but everything is relative. I was just saying that by today's standards, they would be boys among men. If they were somehow transported with Tony and Doug through the Time Tunnel and landed at St. John Fisher for a tryout, most of the players on that roster wouldn't qualify to be golf cart drivers, let alone be professional football players in 2009. How am I supposed to know how you feel about it? Are you that Conegrio guy with the AFL HOF website? Thanks for the mammeries. Nostalgic, for sure. This is why it is utterly useless to compare athletes, regardless of sport, across eras. It's apples and oranges. You can ONLY compare players to others players in THEIR era. GO BILLS!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SouthernMan Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Crap like is is why I don't talk about it anymore. Holy hell. KRC - can I call you K? Crap like what? If you disagree with anything I said, why not address it and give me your point of view. Isn't that kind of dialogue what makes a forum interesting? What part am I off base about in your opinion? Do you disagree that the Bills 1965 individual stats would be laughable in today's game? Do you disagree that the players, as great as they were in their era, wouldn't last through the first camp cuts in 2009? Sure, there were those who might have been decent today as well, but I'd bet most would be working as insurance sales trainees in 2009. FWIW, I have a great love for the old AFL. I still have fond memories of sitting in the Rockpile seeing Namath & Maynard, (the real Big Ben) Ben Davidson, Jim Nance, Kemp & Co, etc. I think it's great that you have an interest in the AFL, but Christ, it's like these people born after 1977 that are in love with Elvis. The guy's bowels ceased up before they were born, and somehow he's become bigger in death. He was just a guy who could barely make a hit to save his life after he started doing C movies in the 60s. In your case, the AFL halted operation before you were through crapping in your diapers. You only know it through trading cards, film reels, yellowed newspaper clippings, and stories from Buffalo's boiler-maker drinking old-timers. It is part of the history and evolution of pro football, but in reality, the skill level was pale in comparison to today's atheletes. These were guys who drove trucks or tended bar in the offseason. But anyway K, if that is your AFL HOF website, thanks for sharing it with us old farts who actually experienced it. Cool stuff (even if they were inferior). BTW - I still have my 1960 Buffalo Bills media guide. Maybe you'd like to add it to your collection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 This is why it is utterly useless to compare athletes, regardless of sport, across eras. It's apples and oranges. You can ONLY compare players to others players in THEIR era. GO BILLS!!! Absolutely - it's like saying Ted Williams couldn't play in the majors today. Some of those guys played on both sides of the ball. Most of them had jobs in the off-season. There were half as many teams and roster sizes were smaller, so - by simple math - half of today's players wouldn't have been in the league back then. Given today's cushy treatment of professional athletes, coupled with astronomical salaries, modern training techniques, and advanced nutrition, you gotta wonder how those old warhorses would dominate in this era. Conversely, how many of today's spoiled and pampered prima donnas would have 'cut it' back then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Absolutely - it's like saying Ted Williams couldn't play in the majors today. Some of those guys played on both sides of the ball. Most of them had jobs in the off-season. There were half as many teams and roster sizes were smaller, so - by simple math - half of today's players wouldn't have been in the league back then. Given today's cushy treatment of professional athletes, coupled with astronomical salaries, modern training techniques, and advanced nutrition, you gotta wonder how those old warhorses would dominate in this era. Conversely, how many of today's spoiled and pampered prima donnas would have 'cut it' back then? Great question! Watch some of the old videos on youtube. There was really no celebrations for touchdowns and even tackles like today. You don't see guys running down the field looking for attention after making a tackle. I hate that part of today's game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdelma Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Who was the only player ever to die from undergoing knee surgery, days after a game playing the Bills? That would be a visting player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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