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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.
| 1962 Buffalo Bills season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Ralph Wilson |
| Head coach | Lou Saban |
| Home field | War Memorial Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 7–6–1 |
| Division place | 3rd AFL Eastern |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
The Bills lost their first five games of the season, but finished the final nine games with only one loss (and one tie).
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.
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
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
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 |
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 | ||||||
| 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 |
| 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. | |||||||
| 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 | |||||
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