The 1962 Buffalo Bills season was the team’s third season in the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

. 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. The Bills lost their first five games of the season, but finished the final nine games with only one loss (and one tie).

Season summary

The Bills were a run-heavy offense in 1962; they led the league in rushing yards, with 2,480. The Bills ran the ball 58.8 percent of the time on offense. The Bills gained 5.0 yards per carry as a team, tied for the league lead. Bills

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. Th ...

Cookie Gilchrist Carlton Chester "Cookie" Gilchrist (May 25, 1935 – January 10, 2011) was an American football player who played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). Career A star player at Har-Brack High S ...

, who came to the Bills in 1962 from the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a c ...

, led the AFL in rushing yards with 1,096 yards. and 13 rushing touchdowns. Running back

Wray Carlton Linwood Wray Carlton (born June 18, 1937) is a former American gridiron football running back who played professionally in both Canada and the United States. Unable to come to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles, who had selected him in the 19 ...

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 David Michael Stratton (April 10, 1941 – March 25, 2020) was an American professional football player who was a linebacker for 12 seasons in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He won two AFL championships w ...

, Ray Abruzzese, and

Booker Edgerson Booker Tyrone Edgerson (born July 5, 1939) is an American former professional footbal player who was a cornerback in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Western Illinois Le ...

won starting jobs.

Offseason

During the offseason, the Bills removed former coach

Buster Ramsey Garrard Sliger "Buster" Ramsey (March 16, 1920 – September 16, 2007) was an American football player for the College of William and Mary and Chicago Cardinals. He was the first head coach of the AFL's Buffalo Bills. Playing career After a ...

and hired

Lou Saban Louis Henry Saban (October 13, 1921 – March 29, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He played for Indiana University in college and as a professional for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference between 1946 a ...

to helm the team. The Bills also picked up former

Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division, and ...

quarterback

Jack Kemp Jack French Kemp (July 13, 1935 – May 2, 2009) was an American politician and a professional football player. A member of the Republican Party from New York, he served as Housing Secretary in the administration of President George H. W. B ...

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.Neft, David S.; Cohen, Richard M.; and Korch, Ric
The Sports Encyclopedia: Pro Football, 12th Edition
page 52, Martin's Press, August 1994,

AFL Draft

Defensive lineman Tom Sestak and linebacker

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 The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and har ...

winner

Ernie Davis Ernest Davis (December 14, 1939 – May 18, 1963) was an American football player who won the Heisman Trophy in 1961 and was its first African-American recipient. Davis played college football for Syracuse University and was the first pick in t ...

from

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy * Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' * Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York ** North Syracuse, New York * Syracuse, Indiana *Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, M ...

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 The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

team that drafted him, the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

, was led by avowed racist

George Preston Marshall George Preston Marshall (October 11, 1896 – August 9, 1969) was an American businessman best known for founding the Washington Commanders, an American football franchise belonging to the National Football League (NFL). He founded the team as ...

and had only drafted Davis as a

token Token may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Token, a game piece or counter, used in some games * The Tokens, a vocal music group * Tolkien Black, a recurring character on the animated television series ''South Park,'' formerly known a ...

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 The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conferenc ...

, and Davis instead signed with the Browns. Unfortunately for all parties, Davis was diagnosed with

acute monocytic leukemia Acute monocytic leukemia (AMoL, or AML-M5) is a type of acute myeloid leukemia. In AML-M5 >80% of the leukemic cells are of monocytic lineage. This cancer is characterized by a dominance of monocytes in the bone marrow. There is an overproduction o ...

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.

Personnel

Staff

Final roster

Regular season

Game-By-Game Results

Preseason

Regular season

Standings

Roster

Awards and Records

References

Buffalo Bills on Pro Football ReferenceBuffalo Bills on jt-sw.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:1962 Buffalo Bills Season

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

Buffalo Bills seasons