| February 28, 2005 | « Previous Story | HOME | Next Story » | Posted at 12:34 AM |
Billy Shaw was a stubborn man; that’s just a fact of life. If he hadn’t been he may have ended up playing in the NFL with the Dallas Cowboys, the alleged “America’s Team”. Billy was an All-American offensive tackle at Georgia Tech where he also played defensive end. He didn’t appreciate Dallas’ plan to select him in the 1961 NFL draft in order to move him to linebacker, a position he’d never played.
So he came to the AFL and played on the offensive line of the Bills. During his nine-year career with the Bills, you can see how good he was consistently. Shaw lead Cookie Gilchrist around the corner, he would move anyone out of his and his players way. That was one of the most permanent sights in Buffalo history.
Shaw had it all, his skills were great, his technique was perfect and he had the composer of a seasoned veteran quarterback. Shaw's speed, strength, and natural ability made him the main guy on the offensive line. Short-yardage scoring plays were his forte, he would pull out from his left guard spot followed by heavy-duty runners Cookie Gilchrist and Wray Carlton.
Bills' quarterback Jack Kemp or his sub Daryle Lamonica generally followed the trio of blockers many times untouched into the end zone. The Bills teams of 1962, 1963, and 1964 still rank second, third and fourth in the team record book for most rushing touchdowns scored in a season respectively.
Shaw played in eight AFL all-star games, and just missed playing in the Pro Bowl by a year. He retired in 1969, one year before the Bills went to the NFL. He is the only Hall of Fame inductee to have spent his entire career in the AFL.
