1962 Buffalo Bills season

1962 Buffalo Bills season
Head coach Lou Saban
Owner Ralph Wilson
Home field War Memorial Stadium
Results
Record 7–6–1
Division place 3rd AFL Eastern
Playoff finish did not qualify

The 1962 Buffalo Bills season was the team’s third season in the American Football League. The Bills finished the season with a 7–6–1 record, third place in the AFL East; it was the Bills' first-ever season finishing with a winning record.

The Bills lost their first five games of the season, but finished the final nine games with only one loss (and one tie).

Season Summary

The Bills were a run-heavy offense in 1962; they led the league in rushing yards, with 2,480.[1] The Bills ran the ball 58.8 percent of the time on offense.[2][3] The Bills gained 5.0 yards per carry as a team, tied for the league lead.[4]

Bills running back Cookie Gilchrist, who came to the Bills in 1962 from the Canadian Football League, led the AFL in rushing yards with 1,096 yards.[5][6] and 13 rushing touchdowns.[7] Running back Wray Carlton ran for 530 yards, but led the league with 5.6 yards per rushing attempt.

The Bills' defense got a major infusion of talent on defense, as rookies Tom Sestak, Mike Stratton, Ray Abruzzese, and Booker Edgerson won starting jobs.

Offseason

During the offseason, the Bills removed former coach Buster Ramsey and hired Lou Saban to helm the team.

The Bills also picked up former Chargers quarterback Jack Kemp off the waiver wire. Kemp had a broken hand, and as such could not play until the twelfth game of the season, but he would prove to be the best Bills quarterback of the 1960s.[8]

AFL Draft

Defensive lineman Tom Sestak and linebacker Mike Stratton started for the Bills on defense as rookies; both would go on to be AFL All-Stars multiple times.

Ernie Davis

Main article: Ernie Davis

The Bills selected Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis from Syracuse with their first draft pick, and Davis may have very well signed with his hometown Bills (Davis grew up in nearby Elmira), since the National Football League team that drafted him, the Washington Redskins, was led by avowed racist George Preston Marshall and had only drafted Davis as a token black to avoid losing the Redskins' stadium lease; Davis refused to play for the Redskins. The Redskins traded Davis's rights to the Cleveland Browns, and Davis instead signed with the Browns. Unfortunately for all parties, Davis was diagnosed with acute monocytic leukemia in the summer of 1962, and the Browns barred him from playing for the team (despite the cancer being in remission by the time the preseason began). The cancer later returned, and Davis died May 18, 1963, having never played a down of professional football.

= AFL All-Star[9]
Round Player Position College
1 Ernie Davis Halfback Syracuse
2 Glenn Glass Halfback Tennessee
3 John Elwell End Purdue
5 Tom Dellinger Halfback North Carolina State
6 Dave Viti End Boston University
7 Jim LeCompte Guard North Carolina
8 Paul White Halfback Florida
9 Bill Saul Center Penn State
10 Amos Bullocks Halfback Southern Illinois
11 Jerry Croft Guard Bowling Green
11 Tom Pennington End Georgia
13 Ron Gassert Tackle Virginia
13 Mike Stratton[10] End Tennessee
14 Ron Scufca Tackle Purdue
15 Roger Kochman Halfback Penn State
16 Frank Imperiale Tackle Southern Illinois
17 Tom Sestak[11] End McNeese State
18 Joe Kehoe End Virginia (VOIDED) Carolina
19 Bill Johnson Linebacker Southeast Louisiana
20 Sam Tidmore End Ohio State
21 Carey Henley Halfback Chattanooga
22 Tom Hall End Minnesota
23 Ray Abruzzese Halfback Alabama
24 Stan Sczurek Guard Purdue
25 Dave Gash End Kentucky
26 Ed Reynolds Tackle Tulane
27 Claude Crabb Halfback Colorado
28 Roy Walker Fullback Purdue
29 Jim Beaver Guard Florida
30 Cody Binkley Center Vanderbilt
31 Jim Collier End Arkansas
32 Ken Erickson End Syracuse
33 Tony Parilli Guard Illinois
34 Ben Charles Quarterback USC

Personnel

Staff

1962 Buffalo Bills staff

Front Office

Head Coaches

Offensive Coaches

  

Defensive Coaches

Season schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Attendance
1 September 9, 1962 Houston Oilers L 28–23
31,236
2 September 15, 1962 Denver Broncos L 23–20
30,577
3 September 22, 1962 New York Titans L 17–6
24,024
4 September 30, 1962 at Dallas Texans L 41–21
25,500
5 October 7, 1962 at Houston Oilers L 17–14
26,350
6 October 13, 1962 San Diego Chargers W 35–10
20,074
7 October 20, 1962 Oakland Raiders W 14–6
21,037
8 October 28, 1962 at Denver Broncos W 45–38
26,051
9 November 3, 1962 Boston Patriots T 28–28
33,247
10 November 11, 1962 at San Diego Chargers W 40–20
22,204
11 November 18, 1962 at Oakland Raiders W 10–6
11,700
12 November 23, 1962 at Boston Patriots L 21–10
20,021
13 December 2, 1962 Dallas Texans W 23–14
35,261
14 December 8, 1962 at New York Titans W 20–3
16,453

Standings

AFL Eastern Division
W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
Houston Oilers 1130.7865–1387270W7
Boston Patriots 941.6924–1–1346295L1
Buffalo Bills 761.5381–4–1309272W2
New York Titans 590.3571–5278423L3

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings until 1972.

Roster

Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

 Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

References

  1. ↑ Buffalo's 1,984 passing yards were fewest in the AFL.
  2. ↑ 501 rushes in 852 offensive plays
  3. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1962 AFL Standings, Team & Offensive Statistics
  4. ↑ Tied with the Dallas Texans
  5. ↑ Gilchrist in '62: 78.3 yards per game
  6. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1962 AFL Leaders and Leaderboards
  7. ↑ Tied with Abner Haynes of the Dallas Texans
  8. ↑ Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition, page 52, Martin's Press, August 1994, ISBN 0-312-11073-1
  9. ↑ Players are identified as an AFL All-Star if they were selected for the AFL All-Star Game at any time in their career.
  10. ↑ AFL All-Star 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968
  11. ↑ AFL All-Star 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965
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