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.Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1961 Buffalo Bills
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.Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1961 AFL Leaders and Leaderboards
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.Pro-Football-Reference.com: 1961 AFL Pro Bowlers
Offseason AFL draft
= All-AFLPlayers are identified as All-AFL if they were selected to the All-AFL at any time in their career. Round Player Position College 1 Ken RiceAll-AFL 1961 Tackle Auburn 2 Billy Shaw8× AFL All-Star Tackle Georgia Tech 3 Art Baker Fullback Syracuse (from New York) 3 Tom Gilburg Tackle Syracuse 4 Stew Barber5× AFL All-Star Tackle Penn State 5 Norm Snead*4× NFL Pro Bowler for Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants Quarterback Wake Forest 6 Fred Brown Halfback Georgia 7 Albert Bemiller1965 AFL All-Star 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*Inducted into Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame (NFL) in 1989 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.
Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 August 8 at Hamilton Tiger-Cats L 21–38 0–1 Hamilton Civic Stadium 12,000 NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 369 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
Personnel Staff 1961 Buffalo Bills staffFront 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 Johnny Green M. C. Reynolds
Running backs Art Baker Dewey Bohling Wray Carlton Bill Shockley K
Wide receivers Glenn Bass Elbert Dubenion Perry Richards
Tight ends Monte Crockett Tom Rychlec Offensive linemen Al Bemiller C John Dittrich G Donald Chelf T Chuck Muelhaupt G Harold Olson T Ken Rice T Billy Shaw G
Defensive linemen Tom Day DT/DE Chuck McMurtry DT Jim Sorey DT Laverne Torczon DE Mack Yoho DE/K Linebackers Stew Barber OLB Joe Hergert OLB/K Ralph Felton 0LB Cotton Letner OLB Archie Matsos MLB
Defensive backs Billy Atkins FS/K/P Jim Crotty CB Don McDonald CB/SS Vern Valdez CB Jim Wagstaff SS Reserve list Fred Brown RB (IR) Willmer Fowler RB (IR) Richie Lucas QB/WR/S (Military) Dick McCabe CB (Retired) Tommy O'Connell QB (Retired) Warren Rabb QB (IR) *Note: rookies in italics
References
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.