1960 Buffalo Bills season

Uniforms

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).

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.

Offseason

Main article: History of the Buffalo Bills

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." 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; 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.

1960 AFL draft

Main article: 1960 American Football League draft

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 Olson, 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

Personnel

Staff/Coaches

• President – Ralph Wilson
• Vice-President/Minority Owner – Pat McGroder
• General Manager – Dick Gallagher
• Head Coach – Buster Ramsey
• Offensive Backfield – Floyd Reid
• Ends – Bob Dove
• Defensive backs – Harvey Johnson

Roster

DE/K

OLB/K

CB/K/P

Season schedule

Preseason

Regular season

Season summary

Week 1: at New York Titans

First quarter

• BUF – Darrell Harper 35-yard field goal. ''Bills 3-0. '''Drive:''''' Second quarter
• NY – Bill Shockley 15-yard field goal. ''Tie 3–3. '''Drive:'''''
• NY – Al Dorow 2-yard run (Bill Shockley kick). ''Titans 10–3. '''Drive:'''''
• NY – Al Dorow 15-yard run (Bill Shockley kick). ''Titans 17–3. '''Drive:''''' Third quarter
• NY – Bill Shockley 39-yard field goal. ''Titans 20–3. '''Drive:''''' Fourth quarter
• NY – Art Powell 13-yard pass from Dick Jamieson (Bill Shockley kick). ''Titans 27–3. '''Drive:''''' ;Top passers
• BUF – Tommy O'Connell – 2/10, 37 yards, INT
• NY – Dick Jamieson – 9/18, 152 yards, TD ;Top rushers
• BUF – Bob Brodhead – 4 rushes, 42 yards
• NY – Pete Hart – 11 rushes, 66 yards ;Top receivers
• BUF – Elbert Dubenion – 1 reception, 22 yards
• NY – Don Maynard – 4 receptions, 116 yards

Week 3

Buffalo's first win in franchise history.

Week 6: vs. New York Titans

First quarter

• NY – Thurlow Cooper 3-yard pass from Al Dorow (Bill Shockley kick). ''Titans 7–0. '''Drive:'''''
• BUF – Wray Carlton 54-yard run (kick failed). ''Titans 7–6. '''Drive:''''' Second quarter
• NY – Bill Shockley 43-yard field goal. ''Titans 10–6. '''Drive:''''' Third quarter
• No scoring Fourth quarter
• BUF – Elbert Dubenion 32-yard pass from Johnny Green (Billy Atkins kick). ''Bills 13–10. '''Drive:'''''
• NY – Al Dorow 1-yard run (Bill Shockley kick). ''Titans 17–13. '''Drive:''''' ;Top passers
• NY – Al Dorow – 16/35, 158 yards, TD, 3 INT
• BUF – Johnny Green – 10/24, 127 yards, TD, 2 INT ;Top rushers
• NY – Al Dorow – 18 rushes, 72 yards, TD
• BUF – Wray Carlton – 9 rushes, 98 yards, TD ;Top receivers
• NY – Don Maynard – 6 receptions, 82 yards
• BUF – Elbert Dubenion – 3 receptions, 46 yards, TD

Week 7: vs. Oakland Raiders

Standings

References

References

1. "1960 AFL All-Pros - Pro-Football-Reference.com".
2. "1960 AFL Opposition & Defensive Statistics - Pro-Football-Reference.com".
3. "1960 Buffalo Bills Starters, Roster, & Players - Pro-Football-Reference.com".
4. "1960 AFL Standings & Team Stats - Pro-Football-Reference.com".
5. "Johnny Green Stats - Pro-Football-Reference.com".
6. [Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Rich [http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/isbn/0312110731/soft-cover/ The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition] Martin's Press, August 1994, {{ISBN. 0-312-11073-1
7. Lucas was not on the team after [[1961 Buffalo Bills season. the following season]]
8. (November 11, 2015). "A look back at Bills uniform changes". NFL Enterprises, LLC.
9. "Buffalo Bills Primary Logo - American Football League (AFL) - Chris Creamer's Sports Logos Page - SportsLogos.Net".
10. (October 26, 2012). "Texan millions are behind the American Football League - 01.25.60 - SI Vault".
11. "Buffalo Bills founder Ralph Wilson dies; Hall of Famer founded team 55 years ago".
12. Gaughan, Mark. (March 26, 2014). "Father’s example inspired Wilson in football and business".
13. "Buffalo Bills at Boston Patriots - September 23rd, 1960 - Pro-Football-Reference.com".
14. [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/196010230buf.htm Pro-Football-Reference.com]. Retrieved 2015-Apr-19.