1962 Buffalo Bills season
OwnerRalph Wilson
Head coachLou Saban
Home fieldWar Memorial Stadium
Results
Record7–6–1
Division place3rd AFL Eastern
Playoff finishDid 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

Main article: 1962 American Football League 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

Final roster

1962 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

*Note: rookies in italics

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 August 12 at New York Titans W 20–10 1–0 Bowen Field 9,000
2 August 15 Boston Patriots L 7–12 1–1 War Memorial Stadium 22,112
August 18 New York Titans America Stadium (Atlanta, Georgia)
3 August 23 at Houston Oilers W 24–14 2–1 Ladd Stadium 17,257
4 September 1 at Boston Patriots W 7–6 3–1 Boston University Field 8,783

Regular season

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance Recap
1 September 9 Houston Oilers L 23–28 0–1 War Memorial Stadium 31,236 Recap
2 September 15 Denver Broncos L 20–23 0–2 War Memorial Stadium 30,577 Recap
3 September 22 New York Titans L 6–17 0–3 War Memorial Stadium 24,024 Recap
4 September 30 at Dallas Texans L 21–41 0–4 Cotton Bowl 25,500 Recap
5 October 7 at Houston Oilers L 14–17 0–5 Jeppesen Stadium 26,350 Recap
6 October 13 San Diego Chargers W 35–10 1–5 War Memorial Stadium 20,074 Recap
7 October 20 Oakland Raiders W 14–6 2–5 War Memorial Stadium 21,037 Recap
8 October 28 at Denver Broncos W 45–38 3–5 Bears Stadium 26,051 Recap
9 November 3 Boston Patriots T 28–28 3–5–1 War Memorial Stadium 33,247 Recap
10 November 11 at San Diego Chargers W 40–20 4–5–1 Balboa Stadium 22,204 Recap
11 November 18 at Oakland Raiders W 10–6 5–5–1 Frank Youell Field 11,700 Recap
12 November 23 at Boston Patriots L 10–21 5–6–1 Boston University Field 20,021 Recap
13 December 2 Dallas Texans W 23–14 6–6–1 War Memorial Stadium 35,261 Recap
14 December 8 at New York Titans W 20–3 7–6–1 Polo Grounds 16,453 Recap
15 Bye
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFL Eastern Division
W L T PCT DIV PF PA STK
Houston Oilers 11 3 0 .786 5–1 387 270 W7
Boston Patriots 9 4 1 .692 4–1–1 346 295 L1
Buffalo Bills 7 6 1 .538 1–4–1 309 272 W2
New York Titans 5 9 0 .357 1–5 278 423 L3

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

Roster

Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Defensive backs

Special teams

Awards and records

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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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