Glory Days: Bills All-Time Team Loaded with Championship Talent
Glory Days: Bills All-Time Team Loaded with Championship Talent
Here is the second part of the team history series, picking an all-time roster for the Buffalo Bills. Feel free to disagree in the comments.
Picking an all-time roster for any NFL team can be a daunting task, although some teams with more history and background are more challenging. The Buffalo Bills franchise has had some great players, with most being associated with their playoff success and run of four straight Super Bowl appearances. We start with the head coaches.
Coach: Marv Levy is the all-time franchise leader in coaching victories, finishing with a 112-70 record and eight playoff appearances (including those four Super Bowls) in 11 full seasons. Others of note: Lou Saban (68-45-4) led Buffalo to two AFL Championships and Chuck Knox (37-36) took the Bills to their only two playoff appearances in the 10 years between Saban and Levy.
Quarterback: Jim Kelly is the obvious choice to start here. Kelly is a Hall of Famer who holds franchise records with 35,467 passing yards and 237 touchdowns. In addition to eight playoff appearances, five Pro Bowls, Kelly is the sentimental fan favorite, having beaten cancer multiple times. Behind Kelly is Joe Ferguson, who is second with 27,590 passing yards and 181 touchdowns and led the Bills to the playoffs three times. Jack Kemp was under center for AFL Championship teams in 1964 and ’65.
Running Backs: Very few teams can sport a pair of Hall of Famers at the position. Thurman Thomas is the Bills’ all-time leader with 11,938 rushing yards, including eight seasons with 1,000 or more, to go along with 65 touchdowns. O. J. Simpson was a five-time All-Pro with 57 career scores. His 10,183 yards includes 2,003 in 1973. Backups are Joe Cribbs, who was the catalyst for those early ’80s playoff teams, along with Fred Jackson and Travis Henry, who gained tough yards behind some bad quarterbacks in the past 20 years.
Fullbacks: Cookie Gilchrist and Wray Carlton both split time between the halfback and fullback position on successful teams in the 1960s.
Wide Receivers: Andre Reed was another member of the Hall of Fame amassed 941 receptions for 13,095 yards and 86 touchdowns in his 15 seasons. Eric Moulds began his career at the end of the Bills playoff run in the ’90s and finished his 10-year tenure with 675 receptions for 9,096 yards and 48 touchdowns (all second in team history).
Backups include Elbert Dubenion, who was a star in the ’60s, Bob Chandler, a top receiver in the mid-1970s and Jerry Butler and Frank Lewis, who were Ferguson’s favorite targets in the early ’80s.
Tight End: Pete Metzelaars was a hard-nosed receiver who was one of Kelly’s favorite targets in the early ’90s. Jay Riemersma was similar to Metzelaars in size and style and was a safety valve in the Doug Flutie years.
Tackles: Left tackle has four potential. The best is Stew Barber, who made five Pro Bowls and was named first-team All-Pro twice while anchoring Buffalo’s offensive line in the 1960s. Backups are two-time Pro Bowler Will Wolford, along with Ken Jones and John Fina. On the right side, Joe Devlin was a stalwart in the ’80s who started every game in 10 of his 13 seasons. Behind him on the depth chart is Glenn Parker, who was a part of six playoff teams.
Guards: One of the biggest position battles on the team is the left side, with a pair of eight-time Pro Bowlers. Billy Shaw gets the nod over Ruben Brown due to being selected a first-team All-Pro five times. Hall of Famer Joe DeLamielleure starts on the right side thanks to his five Pro Bowl and three All-Pro selections. Other backups include 1973 All-Pro Reggie McKenzie and two-time Pro Bowler Jim Ritcher.
Centers: Kent Hull was a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection who starred on the Bills’ Super Bowl teams of the ’90s. Backing him up is Al Bemiller, who centered Buffalo’s AFL Championship teams.
Defensive End: Bruce Smith is one of the few no doubt starters on the right side. He was an eight-time All-Pro and 11-time Pro Bowler in 15 seasons, and he amassed 171 of his NFL record 200 sacks in a Bills uniform. He will be backed up by Aaron Schobel, who had 78 sacks and two Pro Bowl selections, and Mario Williams, who also made two Pro Bowls. On the left side, Phil Hansen totaled 61.5 sacks in 11 seasons. Behind him are Chris Kelsay and Ben Williams.
Nose Tackle: One of the key positions in the 3-4 defense will be manned by Kyle Williams, who had 48.5 sacks and recently retired after making his sixth Pro Bowl appearance. Backups include five-time Pro Bowler Fred Smerlas and four-time Pro Bowl selection Jim Dunaway.
Outside Linebacker: Cornelius Bennett and Mike Stratton will start. Stratton was selected to the Pro Bowl six times and was a three-time All-Pro and Bennett was named to five Pro Bowls. Two-time Pro Bowler Darryl Talley and Lucius Sanford are the backups.
Inside Linebacker: Pro Bowl veterans Shane Conlan (three times) and Harry Jacobs (twice) will start with Sam Rogers and Jim Haslett as the reserves.
Cornerback: Nate Odomes starts on the left side. He was a two-time Pro Bowler with 26 interceptions. Behind him are Mario Clark (25), Booker Edgerson (23) and Terrence McGee (17). Opposite Odomes is George (Butch) Byrd, a five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro selection who is Buffalo’s all-time leader with 40 interceptions. The backups include Charles Romes (28), Nate Clements (23) and Leodis McKelvin (13).
Safety: On the strong side, Steve Freeman narrowly edges Henry Jones for the starting spot, despite Jones’ Pro Bowl and All-Pro season in 1992. The free safety is Tony Greene, who is second on the Bills’ all-time list with 37 interceptions. Two hard hitters in Mark Kelso (30) and Kurt Schultz (21) are the backups.
Kicker: Steve Christie was a six-time playoff participant who amassed 1,011 points with the Bills. Right behind him is Rian Lindell, who scored 980 points in 10 seasons.
Punter: Brian Moorman was a two-time All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection who totaled more than 40,000 yards in 13 seasons. His backup is Chris Mohr, who punted for the Bills in the playoffs seven times.
Special Teams: Before his successful broadcast career, Steve Tasker was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection.
Returners: McGee was electric, totaling 5,450 kickoff return yards and five touchdowns. Roscoe Parrish is Buffalo’s all-time leader with 1,576 punt return yards to go with three scores.
Next: Miami Dolphins
-By: Kevin Rakas