1965 - DEFENSE OF THE TITLE

The Buffalo Bills proved. during the 1965 football season that they are worthy of the title "WORLD CHAMPIONS", the Green Bay Packers notwithstanding. Any team that goes through a season without their top two receivers, their regular strong-side safety, have to depend on an ailing quarterback and still win the league championship deserves this acclaim. On the following pages is a portfolio of the Bills during their most exciting moments of the 1965 regular season. Included are excellent action-packed. snapshots of the Bills in both victory and defeat during their defense of their title.

LOOKIE, LOOKIE, LOOKIE, BILLS STOP COOKIE! In Cookie Gilchrist's first appearance in War Memorial Stadium since being traded to the Denver Broncos, Cookie gets a warm welcome by the Bills stonewall defense. Here Harry Jacobs and Ron McDole stand up Cookie for no gain. Gilchrist totaled 87 yards in 21 carries in his return to Buffalo.

Courage is the mark of the true champion, and it was this facet which enabled the Buffalo Bills to defend their American Football League throne in 1965. The Bills had to prove that their winning of the AFL championship in 1964 was no fluke, as the other teams in the league had claimed. They had to accomplish this feat without the services of Cookie Gilchrist, the ‘64 AFL rushing champion, who had been traded off to Denver. Most experts felt Buffalo would drop down to second because of this trade.

Another weakness suddenly appeared in the Bills offense besides running during the preseason. That was the lack of an adequate backup receiver in case anything happened to first-stringers Glenn Bass and Elbert Dubenion.

In the third exhibition game right before the 1965 season (against the New York Jets), Bills Head Coach Lou Saban decided to give Bass and Dubenion a rest to see how the subs would do. The results were almost disastrous. About one out of every eight passes was caught by the Bills' receivers - the other seven either bounced off the fingertips or were dropped. After the game, Saban sat down and prayed. He asked the Lord for mercy and not let anything happen to Bass and Dubenion.

Saban's prayer probably went astray, for in the third game in the regular season against the Jets, disaster struck. The Bills had the ball on the New York eleven, and the Bills were driving for a touchdown. Bills' quarterback Jack Kemp dropped back into the pocket to throw. He waited for his receivers to open up when he

Bills' safety George Sames (26) intercepts a pass to put an end to a New York Jet scoring drive. The intended receiver, Geoge Sauer, leaps into the air in vain. The other Bill covering the play is rookie linebacker (and future head coach of the Browns and Chiefs), Marty Schottenheimer. The Jets won this game, 14-12.

saw Dubenion outmaneuver Jet cornerback (and former Bill) Willie West to get free in the endzone. Kemp threw right on target and Duby caught the bail for the touchdown. West had leaped to break up the pass, but was too late. He landed on Elbert and caused him to bend his left knee the wrong way. By doing so, he tore ligaments in Duby's knee that forced an operation that night. Elbert Dubenion was finished for the year.

If this blow wasn't enough to demoralize the defending world champions, a bigger one was in store the following week. This time the Bills' opponents were the Oakland Raiders. Glenn, now that Dubenion was out, would have to take the major burden of the Bills receiving duties. This burden was short lived, however. Against the Raiders, Bass leaped high into the air to try and catch a pass near the left sideline. As he came down, Bass twisted his left ankle and tore some ligaments. Saban's worst nightmare had come true: Bass, along with Dubenion, would have to be spectators for the remainder of the season.

Buffalo would now have to go with reserves Ed Rutkowski and Charley Ferguson. How would the Bills fare without both Bass and Dubenion in the lineup? The San Diego Chargers quickly answered this question with a 34-3 lacing of the Bills in the very next game. In this game, Kemp was on target on almost every pass, but the Bills' receivers dropped the ball so many times, one would swear that Kemp must have been throwing fire balls.

Kemp hit on only 7 of 23 attempts, so second-string quarterback Daryle Lamonica came in. Be didn't do much better- completing only 8 of 14.

At this point of the campaign, Saban was really scratching his head trying to find a solution for his depleted receiving corps, and he didn't know where to turn. Be suddenly remembered that Oakland flanker Bo Roberson was playing out his option and the Raiders wanted to give rookie Fred Biletnikoff a try at that Robinson's flanker position. Saban called Raider coach Al Davis and offered him sophomore tackle Tom Keating in a straight man-for-man deal. Davis agreed and told Saban to announce tie trade after that Sunday's game with the Chiefs.

Harry Jacobs points the way towards the Chiefs' goal line after the Bills recover a fumble by Kansas City quarterback Len Dawson (16). In on the play are Jim Dunaway (78), Ron McDole (72) and John Tracey (51). The Bills won this final home game of the 1965 regular season, 34-25 over the Chiefs.

Saban was talking over the agreed deal with Kemp when he saw another disaster transpire out of the corner of his eve. There was Tom Keating laying on his back. On the opening kickoff of the Buffalo Bills- Kansas City Chiefs game, former Bill Chuck Hurston gave Keating a blistering block and impact caused Keating a serious knee injury. Examinations after the game showed that Keating had, what else, torn ligaments. Keating joined Dubenion and Bass on the sidelines for the remainder of the season.

As soon as the airplane carrying the Bills touched down at Buffalo International Airport hours after the K.C. game, Saban dashed out of the plane towards the nearest telephone booth. He had to see if the deal with Oakland was still on. Davis said he would have to send another player alone with Keating, now that Tom was injured. Lou, who was in practically no position at all to bargain, agreed to the new terms set by Davis. He announced the trade to AFL Commissioner Joe Foss at 11:59 that night, lust one minute before the AFL trade deadline.

"1 don't recall doing anything like this before," said Saban in a nervous laugh. "I had trouble finding a dime for the phone call."

The Raiders took Keating and a reserve guard George Flint after the season.

The Bills were 5 and 1 after the Kansas City game and their closest pursuers, the Houston Oilers, were 2 ½ games behind. So Buffalo now had time to experiment and get its offensive gears in tact. From this point on, the Bills were 5-2-1. During this time, Jack Kemp proved himself as the AFL's Most Valuable Player, despite such ailments as a separated shoulder, a bruised knee and a twisted ankle. Kemp led the Bills to their second straight Eastern Division and AFL title in spite of all these injuries.

In the second game with the Oakland Raiders, Kemp pitched the Bills to a 17-14 victory. The winning touchdown came with only seven seconds remaining. The next game against the San Diego, Kemp did the impossible by taking the Bills from their own 25, with 79 seconds remaining, to the San Diego 22,with no time outs left, to set up the Bills' field goal. Pete Gogolak, the Hungarian kicker who is playing out his option, booted the field goal with only 6 seconds left to give the Bills a 20-20 tie with the Chargers.

Bills' linebacker John Tracey falls on the ball in the endzone after Hall of Fame receiver Lance Alworth had taken a pass 65 yards to the goal line. Cornerback Booker Edgerson saved the day by tackling Alworth and forcing the fumble in the endzone where Tracey recovered. The Bills and Chargers played to a 20-20 draw in this Thanksgiving Day game in San Diego.

The Bills showed great courage throughout the 1965 season despite all the injuries that befell them. On December 26, the date the Bills had their sights on for during the entire season, was the 1965 American Football League Championship game. Buffalo entered the game as definite underdogs, hut emerged as the AFL champions for the second year in row by white- washing the San Diego Chargers, 23—0.

Chargers' head coach Sid Gillman predicted a San Diego blowout along with the rest of the media. He told Buffalo News reporter Larry Felser before the game, "You know, there is no way we can lose this game Sunday,"

Gillman said the reason was "Because of Kemp. We're going to win this game because Kemp has the maturity of a 10-year-old girl."

Kemp and the rest of his Bills proved Gillman and the world dead wrong.

"We lost to an excellent football team, that's all. I have no alibis," Gillman changed his tune after the game. "There was no single factor, they just beat us. They are a beautiful team and beautifully coached. I don't know why, it was just their day and they beat the hell out of us."

It is easy for so-called experts to look over a team's characteristics and project whom they believe is the best team, but it doesn't always work out this way. Take the San Diego Chargers, for example. The 1965 Chargers led all the AFL team offensive and defensive statistics, and two players on that Western AFL championship team won individual titles. Then the Chargers went into the championship game and sot slaughtered.. The Bills, on the other hand, were last or close to last in almost every team department, and they had no individual champions. But what they did have was teamwork. Every player on the club put out 100% for the team, bypassing individual glory. The result was that the Bills won the most games in the AFL (10) and their second consecutive championship.

In 1965, the Bills proved that them could win without Cookie Gilchrist, Elbert Dubenion, Glenn Bass. Tom Keating, and Gene Sykes.

Jack Kemp gets off a pass before 300-pound Ernie Ladd is about to pounce on the Bills quarterback in the 1965 AFL Championship game. On this play, Kemp completes an 18-yard pass to another Ernie, Ernie Warlick for a touchdown.

The 1966 season proved to be even tougher for the Bills as they had to do without the services of Billy Joe, Bo Roberson, Jim Davidson, Howard Simpson, Tom Keating, George Flint, and, most of all, coach Lou Saban. Saban suddenly quit the pros to go back to coaching college football at Maryland. So the head coaching job went to assistant coach Joel Collier. At 33 years of age, Collier became the youngest Head Coach in pro football at that time. Although he worked under Saban for 8 years, Collier could not pull the rabbit out of the hat like Saban did in 1965.

First of all, Collier had trouble filling the six holes made by the Roberson trade and the Miami Dolphins who chose several Bills in the expansion draft. The Dolphins drafted Joe (fullback), Roberson (flanker), Davidson (offensive tackle), and Simpson (defensive tackle). Coming in to fill those holes were rookies Bob Burnett (halfback), Bobby Crockett (split end), Paul Guidry (end) and Tony Fire (tackle) to name a few.

Ernie Warlick snares the 18-yard throw by Jack Kemp in the endzone to score the first touchdown of the AFC Championship game. It turned out to be the only offensive touchdown of the entire game.

Joel Collier, who had been the defensive wizard for the Bills in the four years under Saban, found it difficult adjusting to the Head Coaching spot in Buffalo. However, he went to Denver a few years later and became a very successful head coach.

On September 9, 2000, the Bills held a pre-game ceremony honoring the ‘65 AFL Champions. Saban joined 40 of the 52 players who played on that team and all reminisced about the glory years. A couple days before the Bills-Packers game that day, there was a cocktail party and dinner. Then before a cheering sellout crowd that Sunday before the Packers and Bills played, the Bills staged a ceremony to honor the past heroes and all were invited to Quarterback Club luncheon the next day.

Such stars from that ‘65 team who attended were: Jack Kemp, Ernie Warlick, Mike Stratton Butch Byrd, Elbert Dubenion, Marty Schottenheimer , Hall of Fame guard Billy Shaw,, Wray Carlton, Booker Edgerson, Harry Jacobs, Ed Rutkowski, Ron McDole and. Al Bemiller. Tom Day had passed away only a few weeks earlier and Tom Sestak passed away years earlier.

"I had a great fondness for that team," Saban reflected. "I thought it was one of those teams that I coached that did it when they were all beat up and still able to win the championship. I had great respect for the people as individuals as well as football players."

"After every game, we would look at each other and find someone with a bandage on his leg or somebody would be out two or three weeks," Saban continued. "But not a lot was said about it. The purpose never changed. The goals never changed. They just felt they could win no matter what the circumstances. Our strength was one of cohesiveness. This is one of two or three teams that I felt did something special under the most severe circumstances."

Other Bills from that team had great memories from 35 years previous.

"The championship is a part of the history we like to hang onto," Harry Jacobs said. "A big part of the reason why I stayed here was the people and the way they treated us. When I worked at the Liberty Building years after I was done playing, I would walk down the street three or four blocks and people would be saying, "Hi Harry.' It was an awesome feeling. I called them by their first names, too, which meant even more."

The times have changed and players make many times more than what those ‘65 Bills made. For example, in 1965 after winning the second straight AFL Championship, Jack Kemp signed a new contract worth around $50,000. Today, that doesn't even make a dent in a player's signing bonus, let alone a salary for a season that sometimes is over $10 million per year.

"When we played, we had to keep other jobs," Hall of Fame member Billy Shaw said. "Today, football is a full time job, of course they're more serious about it. I'm not so sure some of today's Bills could have played when we played- and we couldn't play today. The game definitely changed a bit. It's still football, and that's what's important. Fans enjoy it more today, so it's got to be better."

Back in the mid-60's, the Bills played with more heart, with more real team desire than most athletes ever display these days. Pride and love for the game were the elements fueling the Bills passion to compete and play at their absolute best.

One of the biggest questions that Bills fans have asked since that 1965 season was just how good were those Bills and the team from 1964? If the Super Bowl had started one year earlier, would they have won it? If Saban had stayed one more year, would the Bills have beaten the Chiefs in the AFL Championship game and faced Green Bay in the first Super Bowl ever? Only Lou Saban knows and he's not telling.

Copyright © 2000 Bills Thunder & Rick Anderson, all rights reserved.