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The 1960 Buffalo Bills season was the club's first season in the American Football League (AFL) and their first overall season as a pro-football franchise. Home games were played at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo, New York. Head Coach Buster Ramsey's Bills compiled a 5–8–1 record, placing them third in the AFL Eastern Division.
| 1960 Buffalo Bills season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Ralph Wilson |
| Head coach | Buster Ramsey |
| Home field | War Memorial Stadium |
| Local radio | WGR |
| Results | |
| Record | 5–8–1 |
| Division place | 3rd AFL Eastern |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
Unlike most of the offensive-minded AFL, the Bills focused on defense, allowing the third-fewest points in the league (303). Their defensive line boasted Laverne Torczon and Chuck McMurtry (both of whom were 1st Team All-AFL in 1960),[1] as well as a mobile, hard-hitting middle linebacker in Archie Matsos, who was AFL All-Star in each of the three seasons he spent in Buffalo. The Bills' defense led the league in fewest passing yards allowed (2,130) and most passes intercepted (33),[2] with NFL veterans Richie McCabe and Jim Wagstaff in their secondary.[3]
The Bills' offense, however, was not as competent. The 1960 Bills had the worst passing attack in the AFL, throwing for 2,346 yards.[4] Former Cleveland Browns quarterback Tommy O'Connell started the season 1–3 before being replaced by Johnny Green. Green would go 3–3 as a starter, despite only completing 39% of his passes.[5] Richie Lucas, the Bills' first ever draft pick, was a bust, both at quarterback and at halfback,[6] throwing only 49 passes all season.[7]
The Bills did show glimmers of hope on offense, however, by showcasing running back Wray Carlton and flanker Elbert Dubenion, who would later go on to be AFL All-Stars for the Bills in the mid-1960s.
In their first season, the Bills wore silver helmets and royal blue home jerseys. Their road jerseys were white with royal blue letters. The team wore white pants both at home and on the road. The Bills' helmets displayed the player's number in royal blue on the side where the logo would normally be (much like the Alabama Crimson Tide's helmets).[8][9]
The uniforms, not coincidentally, resembled those of the National Football League (NFL)'s Detroit Lions. Bills owner Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. grew up in Detroit and had once been a minority owner in the Lions.
When Lamar Hunt announced formation of the American Football League in the summer of 1959, Buffalo was one of the target cities Hunt sought, based on its previous success with the Bills in the AAFC. His first choice of owner, however, turned him down; Pat McGroder (then a liquor store owner and sports liaison with the city of Buffalo) was still hopeful that the threat of the AFL would prompt the NFL to come back to Buffalo to try and stop the AFL from gaining a foothold there (as the NFL would do with teams in Minnesota, Dallas, St. Louis and later Atlanta). McGroder's hopes never came to fruition, and in 1961, he took a position in the new Bills organization.
Harry Wismer, who was to own the Titans of New York franchise, reached out to insurance salesman and automobile heir Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. to see if he was interested in joining the upstart league. (Both Wismer and Wilson were minority owners of NFL franchises at the time: Wilson part-owned the Detroit Lions, while Wismer was a small partner in the Washington Redskins but had little power due to majority owner George Preston Marshall's near-iron fist over the team and the league). Wilson agreed to field a team in the new league, with the words "Count me in. I'll take a franchise anywhere you suggest."[10] Hunt gave him the choice of six cities: Miami, Buffalo, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Atlanta, or Louisville, Kentucky; after being turned down in his effort to put a team in Miami, he consulted with Detroit media, who connected him with McGroder and The Buffalo News managing editor Paul Neville;[11][12] their efforts to lobby Wilson to come to Buffalo were successful, and Wilson sent Hunt a telegram with the now-famous words, "Count me in with Buffalo."
The Buffalo Bills were a charter member of the American Football League (AFL) in 1960. After a public contest, the team adopted the same name as the AAFC Buffalo Bills, the former All-America Football Conference team in Buffalo.
Two Rounds of draft were held, the first round called "First Selections", the second round "Second Selections".
First Selections
- Charles Bevins, HB, Morris Brown
- Don Black, E, New Mexico
- Bill Burrell, G, Illinois
- Paul Choquette, FB, Brown
- Mike Connelly, C, Utah State
- Jim Conroy, FB, USC
- Bob Coogan, T/G, Utah
- Louis Cordileone, G, Clemson
- Ted Dean, FB, Wichita
- Willie Evans, HB, Buffalo
- Ross Fichtner, QB, Purdue
- Jon Gilliam, C, E. Texas State
- Al Goldstein, E, North Carolina
- James Houston, E, Ohio State
- Ray Jauch, HB, Iowa
- Robert Khayat, T, Mississippi
- Ken Kirk, C, Mississippi
- Jim Leo, E, Cincinnati
- Richie Lucas, QB, Penn State
- Charles McMurtry, T/G, Whittier
- Bubba Meyer, E, TCU
- Ron Miller, E, Vanderbilt
- Gale Oliver, T, Texas A&M
- Harold Olsen, T, Clemson
- Ray Peterson, HB, West Virginia
- Vince Promuto, G, Holy Cross
- Rene Ramirez, HB, Texas
- Len Rohde, T, Utah State
- Joe Schaffer, T, Tennessee
- Wayne Schneider, HB, Colorado State
- Ivan Toncic, QB, Pittsburgh
- Larry Wilson, HB, Utah
Second Selections
- Dwight Baumgartner, E, Duke
- Tom Day, T/G, North Carolina A&T
- Babe Dreymala, T/G, Texas
- Joe Gomes, HB, South Carolina
- Mike Graney, E, Notre Dame
- Pete Hall, QB, Marquette
- Jim Hanna, E, USC
- Ernie Hanson, C, Arizona State
- John Littlejohn, HB, Kansas State
- Marvin Luster, E, UCLA
- Dwight Nichols, HB, Iowa State
- Merlin Priddy, HB, TCU
- Gary Ratkowski, HB, Citadel
- Dale Rems, T/G, Purdue
- Carl Robison, T/G, S. Carolina State
- Bob Sliva, T/G, Stephen F. Austin
- James Sorey, T/G, Texas Southern
- Jerry Thompson, T/G, Oklahoma
- Royce Whittington, T/G, Southwestern
- Darrell Harper, HB, Michigan
Staff/Coaches
|
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
|
Roster
Quarterbacks (QB)
Running backs (RB)
Wide receivers (WR)
Tight ends (TE)
|
Offensive linemen (OL)
Defensive linemen (DL)
|
Linebackers (LB)
Defensive backs (DB) {{{defensive_back}}}
|
|
Preseason
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 30 | Boston Patriots | L 7–28 | 0–1 | War Memorial Stadium | 16,474 |
| 2 | August 13 | Denver Broncos | W 31–14 | 1–1 | Aquinas Stadium | 6,200 |
| 3 | August 21 | at Boston Patriots | L 7–21 | 1–2 | Fitton Field | 7,000 |
| 4 | August 24 | Oakland Raiders | L 21–26 | 1–3 | War Memorial Stadium | 17,071 |
| 5 | September 4 | New York Titans | L 31–52 | 1–4 | War Memorial Stadium | 6,821 |
Regular season
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | Game Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 11 | at New York Titans | L 3–27 | 0–1 | Polo Grounds | 10,200 | Recap |
| 2 | September 18 | Denver Broncos | L 21–27 | 0–2 | War Memorial Stadium | 15,229 | Recap |
| 3 | September 23 | at Boston Patriots | W 13–0 | 1–2 | Boston University Field | 20,732 | Recap |
| 4 | October 2 | Los Angeles Chargers | L 10–24 | 1–3 | War Memorial Stadium | 15,821 | Recap |
| 5 | Bye | ||||||
| 6 | October 16 | New York Titans | L 13–17 | 1–4 | War Memorial Stadium | 14,988 | Recap |
| 7 | October 23 | Oakland Raiders | W 38–9 | 2–4 | War Memorial Stadium | 8,876 | Recap |
| 8 | October 30 | Houston Oilers | W 25–24 | 3–4 | War Memorial Stadium | 23,001 | Recap |
| 9 | November 6 | Dallas Texans | L 28–45 | 3–5 | War Memorial Stadium | 19,610 | Recap |
| 10 | November 13 | at Oakland Raiders | L 7–20 | 3–6 | Kezar Stadium | 8,800 | Recap |
| 11 | November 20 | at Los Angeles Chargers | W 32–3 | 4–6 | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum | 16,161 | Recap |
| 12 | November 27 | at Denver Broncos | T 38–38 | 4–6–1 | Bears Stadium | 7,785 | Recap |
| 13 | December 4 | Boston Patriots | W 38–14 | 5–6–1 | War Memorial Stadium | 14,335 | Recap |
| 14 | December 11 | at Houston Oilers | L 23–31 | 5–7–1 | Jeppesen Stadium | 25,243 | Recap |
| 15 | December 18 | at Dallas Texans | L 7–24 | 5–8–1 | Cotton Bowl | 18,000 | Recap |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. | |||||||
Season summary
Week 1: at New York Titans
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bills | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Titans | 0 | 17 | 3 | 7 | 27 |
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Week One: Buffalo Bills (0–0) at New York Titans (0–0)
at Polo Grounds, New York, New York
- Date: September 11
- Game weather: 65 °F (18 °C)
- Game attendance: 10,200
- Box Score
Week 3
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Buffalo's first win in franchise history.
Week 6: vs. New York Titans
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titans | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Bills | 6 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Week Six: New York Titans (3–2) at Buffalo Bills (1–3)
at War Memorial Stadium, Buffalo, New York
- Date: October 16
- Game weather: 58 °F (14 °C)
- Game attendance: 14,988
- Box Score
Week 7: vs. Oakland Raiders
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| AFL Eastern Division | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | PF | PA | STK | ||
| Houston Oilers | 10 | 4 | 0 | .714 | 5–1 | 379 | 285 | W2 | |
| New York Titans | 7 | 7 | 0 | .500 | 2–4 | 382 | 399 | L1 | |
| Buffalo Bills | 5 | 8 | 1 | .385 | 3–3 | 296 | 303 | L2 | |
| Boston Patriots | 5 | 9 | 0 | .357 | 2–4 | 286 | 349 | L4 | |
Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.
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