Welcome to another ballot for Buffalo Rumblings' Best of the Bills Team! Over the past couple of weeks, we have started assembling a team of all-time Bills greats, and today that continues as we begin putting together our offensive line.
The Bills have, throughout their history, had some fantastic offensive line units. "The Electric Company" opened up holes for O.J. Simpson, one of the NFL's all-time greatest rushers (and not a member of our illustrious team). The unit that blocked during the heyday of Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Andre Reed wasn't half bad, either.
Today, we start assembling our offensive line by voting in two starting tackles. Here, Rumblers - as nominated by our very own kaisertown - are the four offensive tackle candidates:
Stew Barber ('61-'69): The Bills are lucky to have Barber as part of their history. Barber was drafted twice in 1961 - in the third round of the NFL Draft (by Dallas, no less), and in the fourth round by Buffalo in the AFL Draft. Barber chose the Bills, and in his nine professional seasons, he was a part of two championship teams, was elected to five Pro Bowls and was named first team All Pro twice. The 6'2", 250 pound Barber also left guard and linebacker during his time in Buffalo, displaying a versatility that today's NFL players simply don't have.
Dick Hudson ('63-'67): Hudson spent one season as a San Diego Charger - his rookie year of 1962 - before ending his six-year career with five straight seasons as a Bill. Hudson was Stew Barber's bookend during the team's two championship seasons of 1964 and 1965; in his five seasons in Buffalo, he was the team's starting right tackle for four of them, earning a Pro Bowl bid along with Barber in 1965. Barber was the "road grader" of his era; weighing in at 272 pounds, he was a huge asset blocking for running backs Cookie Gilchrist and Wray Carlton.
Joe Devlin ('76-'89): Quite simply stated, Devlin is one of the most unheralded Bills players of all-time. During his 14-year career (all spent in Buffalo), Devlin started a whopping 179 games, the vast majority of them at right tackle. Devlin played during some of Buffalo's worst seasons record-wise - likely a large factor into why he's so underappreciated in Bills lore - but to perform as a starting offensive lineman anywhere for 14 years is an outstanding feat. A 6'5", 261-pound tackle would not hold up for long in today's NFL, but Devlin and his blue-collar work ethic made it work for a decade and a half. He was never elected to a Pro Bowl.
Will Wolford ('86-'92): Best remembered as the Pro Bowl left tackle for the Bills' early Super Bowl teams of the Marv Levy era, Wolford would go on to play six more seasons in the NFL after leaving Buffalo (three in Indianapolis, three in Pittsburgh). Wolford was replaced by John Fina for the last Super Bowl season, but before he left Buffalo, he was a two-time Pro Bowl left tackle as a former first-round draft pick out of Vanderbilt. His legacy in Buffalo may be a bit overstated because of the performance of the teams he was on, but two Pro Bowls and 102 starts in seven seasons as a Bill is an excellent resume.
Let's hear it, folks. Debate, reminisce, but most importantly, cast your vote!