Longtime Buffalo Bills athletic trainer Ed Abramoski passed away this week. He was hired before the AFL team had even played a game and spent more than 36 years on the sidelines and working behind the scenes for the organization.
Like many parts of the organization in its infancy, Abramoski came over to the Bills from the Detroit Lions, where Bills’ team founder Ralph Wilson was a minority owner before coming to Western New York in 1959. He retired in 1996.
After receiving multiple awards from the Bills’ Alumni Association, he was elected to the Bills’ Wall of Fame in 1999 as the 14th member. He was inducted in to the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1996 and the National Athletic Trainers Hall of Fame in 1986.
“I can’t think of anybody who has done more for the Bills than Eddie,” said Wilson in 1999 when Abramoski was put on the Wall of Fame. “You can see how much the players care about him by how many showed up here to help honor him.”
Initially noted for his friendliness as a young man, the rapport he had with the players changed over the years to that of wise elder statesman. His frequent interactions with players and tableside manner are the thing most cited in remembrances, not his training regimens or work on injuries.
Abramoski was married in 1960 and had five daughters and seven grandchildren.
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