1961 Buffalo Bills season

1961 Buffalo Bills season
Owner	Ralph Wilson
Head coach	Buster Ramsey
Home stadium	War Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	6–8
Division place	4th Eastern
Playoffs	Did not qualify
←  1960 Bills seasons 1962  →

The 1961 Buffalo Bills season was the team's second year in the American Football League. The Bills played in the Eastern division, winning six games, losing eight, and missing the postseason.

The Bills didn't have a winning record at any point in the season; they played their final five games of the season on the road.

Season summary

The Bills had a problematic quarterback situation, with former Redskin M.C. Reynolds, second-year Bills QB Johnny Green and ex-Lion Warren Rabb all struggling at the passer position. None completed more than 46% of their passes, and only Reynolds had a winning record (2–1) and threw for more than 1,000 yards. ^[1]

Punter Billy Atkins led the league in punts, with 85; he also led the league with 44.5 yards per punt. Atkins also played safety for the Bills in 1961, and led the league with 10 interceptions, and was 2nd-Team All-AFL on defense. ^[2]

Middle linebacker Archie Matsos was 1st-Team All-AFL for the second consecutive year, as was defensive tackle Chuck McMurtry. Defensive tackle LaVerne Torczon was 2nd-Team All-AFL in 1961. ^[3]

Offseason

AFL draft

Main article: 1961 American Football League draft

The Bills amassed a great deal of talent on their offensive line in the 1961 draft. Four of their first seven picks—Rice, Shaw, Barber and Bemiller, all offensive linemen—would go on to make at least one All-AFL team in the next five years. This draft would form the nucleus for the Bills' power running game over the next five years.

Rice was All-AFL as a rookie in 1961.

= All-AFL [4]

Round	Player	Position	College
1	Ken Rice [5]	Tackle	Auburn
2	Billy Shaw [6]	Tackle	Georgia Tech
3	Art Baker	Fullback	Syracuse (from New York)
3	Tom Gilburg	Tackle	Syracuse
4	Stew Barber [7]	Tackle	Penn State
5	Norm Snead* [8]	Quarterback	Wake Forest
6	Fred Brown	Halfback	Georgia
7	Albert Bemiller [9]	Center	Syracuse
8	Charles Linning	Tackle	Miami
9	William Majors	Halfback	Tennessee
10	Don Kern	Halfback	VMI
11	Roy Wall	Halfback	North Carolina
12	Floyd Powers	Guard	Mississippi State
13	Tom Causey	Offensive end	Louisiana Tech
14	Ron Kostelnik* [10]	Tackle	Cincinnati
15	Jerry Frye	Offensive end	South Carolina
16	Vincent Scott	Offensive end	Maryland
17	Wayne Wolff	Tackle	Wake Forest
18	John Bodkin	Guard	South Carolina
19	Charley Barnes	Offensive end	NE Louisiana State
20	Everett Cloud	Halfback	Maryland
21	Larry Vargo	Offensive end	Detroit
22	Charles Baker	Tackle	Tennessee
23	William Mack	Halfback	Notre Dame
24	Frank Jackunas	Center	Detroit
25	Jack Harbaugh	Halfback	Bowling Green
26	Lorenzo Stanford	Tackle	North Carolina A & I
27	Bob Allen	Offensive end	Wake Forest
28	Jason Harness	Offensive end	Michigan State
29	Mike Stock	Halfback	Northwestern
30	William Martin	Halfback	Minnesota

1961 Preseason

The 1961 preseason was notable for the Bills as they became the only AFL (or NFL) team to lose to a CFL team, and it was the last game between the CFL and AFL/NFL met in history. ^[11]

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 8	at Hamilton Tiger-Cats	L 21–38	0–1	Hamilton Civic Stadium	12,000 [12]
2	August 18	Dallas Texans	L 26–35	0–2	War Memorial Stadium	11,166
3	August 25	at Boston Patriots	L 10–28	0–3	Mt. Pleasant Stadium (Providence, RI)	4,762
4	September 1	Boston Patriots	L 12–15	0–4	War Memorial Stadium	17,071

1961 Regular Season

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance	Recap	Sources
1	September 10	Denver Broncos	L 10–22	0–1	War Memorial Stadium	16,636	Recap
2	September 17	New York Titans	W 41–31	1–1	War Memorial Stadium	15,584	Recap
3	September 23	Boston Patriots	L 21–23	1–2	War Memorial Stadium	21,504	Recap
4	September 30	San Diego Chargers	L 11–19	1–3	War Memorial Stadium	20,742	Recap
5	October 8	at Houston Oilers	W 22–12	2–3	Jeppesen Stadium	22,761	Recap
6	October 15	Dallas Texans	W 27–24	3–3	War Memorial Stadium	20,678	Recap
7	October 22	at Boston Patriots	L 21–52	3–4	Boston University Field	9,398	Recap
8	October 29	Houston Oilers	L 16–28	3–5	War Memorial Stadium	21,237	Recap
9	November 5	Oakland Raiders	L 22–31	3–6	War Memorial Stadium	17,027	Recap
10	November 12	at Dallas Texans	W 30–20	4–6	Cotton Bowl	15,000	Recap
11	November 19	at Denver Broncos	W 23–10	5–6	Bears Stadium	7,645	Recap
12	November 23	at New York Titans	L 14–21	5–7	Polo Grounds	12,023	Recap
13	December 3	at Oakland Raiders	W 26–21	6–7	Candlestick Park	8,011	Recap
14	December 10	at San Diego Chargers	L 10–28	6–8	Balboa Stadium	24,486	Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

Program for the October 29 game against the visiting Houston Oilers.

AFL Eastern Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
Houston Oilers	10	3	1	.769	4–1–1	513	242	W9
Boston Patriots	9	4	1	.692	2–3–1	413	313	W4
New York Titans	7	7	0	.500	3–3	301	390	L2
Buffalo Bills	6	8	0	.429	2–4	294	342	L1

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.

AFL Western Division
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	PF	PA	STK
San Diego Chargers	12	2	0	.857	6–0	396	219	L1
Dallas Texans	6	8	0	.429	4–2	334	343	W2
Denver Broncos	3	11	0	.214	1–5	251	432	L7
Oakland Raiders	2	12	0	.143	1–5	237	458	L6

Note: Tie games were not officially counted in the standings in the AFL.

Personnel

Staff

1961 Buffalo Bills staff
Front office President/majority owner – Ralph Wilson Vice-president/minority owner – Pat McGroder Head coaches Head coach – Buster Ramsey Offensive coaches Offensive backfield – Floyd Reid Ends – Bob Dove			Defensive coaches Defensive backs – Harvey Johnson

Final roster

1961 Buffalo Bills roster
Quarterbacks 18 Johnny Green 14 M. C. Reynolds Running backs 33 Art Baker 26 Dewey Bohling 30 Wray Carlton 23 Bill Shockley K Wide receivers 88 Glenn Bass 44 Elbert Dubenion 84 Perry Richards Tight ends 80 Monte Crockett 81 Tom Rychlec		Offensive linemen 50 Al Bemiller C 60 John Dittrich G 77 Donald Chelf T 70 Chuck Muelhaupt G 74 Harold Olson T 75 Ken Rice T 66 Billy Shaw G Defensive linemen 64 Tom Day DT/DE 73 Chuck McMurtry DT 79 Jim Sorey DT 87 Laverne Torczon DE 71 Mack Yoho DE/K		Linebackers 64 Stew Barber OLB 54 Joe Hergert OLB/K 57 Ralph Felton 0LB 59Cotton Letner OLB 56 Archie Matsos MLB Defensive backs 20 Billy Atkins FS/K/P 25 Jim Crotty CB 42Don McDonald CB/SS 25 Vern Valdez CB 22 Jim Wagstaff SS		Reserve list 46Fred Brown RB (IR) 23 Willmer Fowler RB (IR) 15 Richie Lucas QB/WR/S (Military) 45 Dick McCabe CB (Retired) 14 Tommy O'Connell QB (Retired) 17 Warren Rabb QB (IR)
*Note:rookies in italics

References

1. Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1961 Buffalo Bills
2. Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1961 AFL Leaders and Leaderboards
3. Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1961 AFL Pro Bowlers
4. Players are identified as All-AFL if they were selected to the All-AFL at any time in their career.
5. All-AFL 1961
6. 8× AFL All-Star
7. 5× AFL All-Star
8. 4× NFL Pro Bowler for Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants
9. 1965 AFL All-Star
10. Inducted into Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame (NFL) in 1989
11. "Hamilton Tiger-Cats vs. Buffalo Bills, August 8, 1961". Archived from the original on January 19, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
12. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 369

Further reading

• Jeffrey J. Miller, Rockin' the Rockpile: The Buffalo Bills of the American Football League. Toronto, ON: ECW Press, 2007.
• Jeffrey J. Miller and Greg D. Tranter, Relics: The History of The Buffalo Bills in Objects and Memorabilia. Haworth, NJ: St. Johann Press, 2021.
• Sal Maiorana, Buffalo Bills: The Complete Illustrated History. Minneapolis, MN: MVP Books, 2010.