History of the Bills: 1959-1963

by MattRichWarren on May 31, 2009 8:15 AM EDT in Buffalo Bills Seasonal Archives

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1959 - AFL and the Bills founded

1961- Laying the groundwork for success

1962 - Putting the pieces in place

1963 - First AFL playoff appearance

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What's in a name?

I wonder what the other “name the team” contest entries were? The “Bills” is kind of a weird name for a team.

by Gino Parilli on May 31, 2009 10:32 AM EDT reply actions

Neat question.

The only reason it works is because of Buffalo. Kinda like 49ers wouldn’t work anywhere else either.

Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

by MattRichWarren on May 31, 2009 11:24 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah

It would be like a team named the Oilers in Tennessee….wait.

by Dyl on May 31, 2009 8:52 PM EDT up reply actions

At least Tennessee changed their name. Look at the Utah Jazz…

by thefourwinds on May 31, 2009 9:02 PM EDT up reply actions

I think the worst of all...

…is the Los Angeles Lakers.

by Gino Parilli on May 31, 2009 9:25 PM EDT up reply actions

I think even worst is the Toronto Maple Leafs. Have you been to Toronto? Theres not a single tree in that city!

by CanadianBillsFan on May 31, 2009 10:15 PM EDT up reply actions

All good points guys.

The Lakers and Jazz don’t make much sense in their new venues.

Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

by MattRichWarren on Jun 1, 2009 8:09 AM EDT up reply actions

As someone with a history degree I love reading this kind of stuff. I also love to learn more about the Bills teams that were around before I was born. I can’t wait for the next installment. Keep up the good work!

I'll donate $1 to help Mary Wilson pay the estate tax...who's with me?!?

by O.J. Is My Bodyguard on May 31, 2009 11:27 AM EDT reply actions

Nicely done Matt

~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."

by Kurupt on May 31, 2009 11:33 AM EDT reply actions

Can't wait to go back and change the links to your great write-ups.

:-)

Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

by MattRichWarren on May 31, 2009 11:36 AM EDT up reply actions

Kudos to both of you. These series are great reads and make the summer slip by that much faster. And it’s always fun to read about Bills players of the past…. most of which I never herd of.

by CanadianBillsFan on May 31, 2009 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions

This was the perfect year to do it with the 50th anniversary.

I enjoy doing it. I know K does too. It’s good all around.

Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

by MattRichWarren on May 31, 2009 7:40 PM EDT up reply actions

i wish the bills wear their class logo and uniform permanently. they’re brilliant.

by chaucer on May 31, 2009 12:02 PM EDT reply actions

classic

by chaucer on May 31, 2009 12:02 PM EDT reply actions

hey where do you guys get all these facts?

by chaucer on May 31, 2009 12:04 PM EDT reply actions

not questioning it’s validity, but i would like to see some sources listed.

by chaucer on May 31, 2009 12:05 PM EDT reply actions

Most of the stats can be found through the links associated with each year. The vast majority of the information is compiled from ProFootballReference.com. It has box scores for every pro game ever played, season stats, and complete draft listings. I take the box scores, dress them up in paragraph form, and viola! The other information comes from RememberTheAFL.com and some other historical websites with biographical help from Wikipedia and nfl.com.

Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

by MattRichWarren on May 31, 2009 1:27 PM EDT up reply actions

sweet! thanks!

by chaucer on May 31, 2009 5:16 PM EDT up reply actions

I was 10 in 1963....

…and that was the first season during which pro football caught my attention. I was very disappointed that the Patriots throttled the Bills in the playoff but felt marginally better about it after the Chargers demolished the Pats in the title game.

In addition to being the back up QB, Daryl Lamonica was the punter that year!

by Gino Parilli on May 31, 2009 3:31 PM EDT reply actions

Until Paul McGuire came around right?

Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

by MattRichWarren on May 31, 2009 7:41 PM EDT up reply actions

McGuire was an upgrade in 1964......

Another guy from this era who deserves a bit more attention is Ernie Warlick, who didn’t get much mention in the recent discussions of the Bills’ history of relative mediocrity at the tight end position. I think he was an AFL all star each of the 4 years he played for the Bills. His career in Buffalo didn’t last long; I think he was 30 when he joined the Bills from the Canadian football league. He didn’t have a lot of catches each year - there weren’t too many Mike Ditka-type tight ends then - but he averaged over 17 yards per catch over his brief AFL career. Afterwards he was a sportscaster on Channel 2. He was pretty funny to watch — could have been the model for early Tank (“…and now for the norts spews”) Macnamara cartoons. He also had a Henry’s Hamburgers franchise on Main St. (I think it was near Leroy, or thereabouts.) I went in there one time and he was behind the counter taking orders. The guy has huge hands — the burger looked like it was about the size of a quarter when he was handing it to me.

by Gino Parilli on May 31, 2009 8:26 PM EDT up reply actions

Great story.

Warlick made a bunch of All-Star teams for the Bills in the 60’s. With the readership and editors getting beefed up on their history this summer we might see some more old school-new school comparisons being made which should be fun.

Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

by MattRichWarren on Jun 1, 2009 8:11 AM EDT up reply actions

The Kemp waivers story has always sounded strange to me...

….so I had a look for more information. See page 57 of this link to an excerpt from Larry Felser’s book about the AFL – NFL merger.

http://books.google.com/books?id=sSa-We82keMC&dq=the+birth+of+the+new+nfl&printsec=frontcover&source=bl&ots=GB0A8T_1bq&sig=rpLMaEjHcLJlZWfvKJ_B3nojpIs&hl=en&ei=BkEjStGIH5fCMoDNxb0J&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4#PPA47,M1

by Gino Parilli on May 31, 2009 11:02 PM EDT reply actions

What a gift!

~K
"As the governor of Louisiana once said, the only way Chris Kelsay can lose his job is if he got caught in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."

by Kurupt on May 31, 2009 11:20 PM EDT up reply actions

What a gem! Great find!

by CanadianBillsFan on Jun 1, 2009 1:05 AM EDT up reply actions

Can't wait to read the whole thing.

:-)

Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

by MattRichWarren on Jun 1, 2009 8:12 AM EDT up reply actions

The league was in cohersion!!!!!

Thanks for the great info Gino. It’s great having you around here for these conversations. freddyjj, too. You guys are invaluable.

Playing Realistic Optimist at Buffalo Rumblings since 2008. Fear can hold you prisoner. Hope can set you free.

by MattRichWarren on Jun 1, 2009 8:14 AM EDT up reply actions

The league was in cohersion!!!!!

Well why not? At the time they wanted to put up a product that could compete with the NFL in both skill level and excitement, so it didn’t make much sense to have 2 or 3 stacked teams and the rest suck. It was in the league’s best interest to have the Bills (and the other teams) be more competitive.

You just wouldn’t see that in today’s NFL though.

by CanadianBillsFan on Jun 1, 2009 5:19 PM EDT up reply actions