David Wesley Behrman (November 9, 1941 – December 9, 2014) was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

who played 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. ...

for the

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 ...

and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

. He was the fourth overall pick in the

1963 AFL Draft The 1963 American Football League draft was held in Dallas on Saturday, December 1, 1962. The Kansas City Chiefs drafted as the Dallas Texans, as their relocation would take place a few months later. With the first overall selection, they took B ...

by the Bills and the 11th pick in the

1963 NFL Draft The 1963 National Football League draft was held at the Sheraton in Chicago, Illinois, on Monday, December 3, 1962. The first overall selection was quarterback Terry Baker of Oregon State, the Heisman Trophy winner, taken by the Los Angeles ...

by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine ...

. He also played in the Midwest Football League for the Lansing All Stars / Capitals and Flint Sabres from 1972 to 1976.

College career

Behrman played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained populari ...

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It ...

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Behrman was the Bills' first-round draft pick in

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

and played for them that year, but not in 1964. During the

1965 AFL season Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

, Behrman became the Bills' starting center, replacing veteran Walt Cudzik, playing between left

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that ...

Billy Shaw William Lewis Shaw (born December 15, 1938) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive guard for the Buffalo Bills in the American Football League (AFL). After playing college football with the Georgia Tech Yellow J ...

and right guard Al Bemiller. However, due to a back injury, Behrman did not play when the Bills won their second AFL Championship game over the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

by a score of 23-0 under

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...

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 ...

. That season, Behrman was an

AFL All-Star The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the leagu ...

center. However, he did not play in 1966, replaced by Bemiller.

Denver Broncos

Behrman played with the AFL's

during the

1967 AFL season Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular an ...

when he played in 11 games.

Midwest Football League

Behrman signed with the

Lansing All Stars Lansing () is the capital of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is mostly in Ingham County, although portions of the city extend west into Eaton County and north into Clinton County. The 2020 census placed the city's population at 112,644, makin ...

of the Midwest Football League in September 1972. He played with the Flint Sabres in 1973 and 1974. He rejoined Lansing, now called the Lansing Capitals, in July 1975. He played with the Capitals through 1976.

Personal

On December 9, 2014, he died of pancreatic cancer.

References

1941 births 2014 deaths People from Dowagiac, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan American football centers American football offensive tackles Michigan State Spartans football players Buffalo Bills players American Football League All-Star players Denver Broncos (AFL) players American Football League players Midwest Football League (1962–1978) players {{offensive-lineman-1940s-stub