1964 AFL Champions



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          The 2024 season is the SiXTIETH ANNIVERSARY of the Buffalo Bills' first American Football League Championship. For unexplained reasons, the Bills organization rarely makes any public mention or acknowledgement of that accomplishment, the first of only two major league championships ever won by a Buffalo major professional sports team. This is a travesty. Below is my homage to that team, as my thanks for the pride they brought to Buffalo. Near the bottom of this page are some photos of these heroes as they were in 2014.
        The photos are from the 2014 Bills Alumni weekend, which owes its success to the efforts of many of those very men who played in that championship.
         By 2024, the numbers of the players had dwindled. Included are photos form a 'mini-reunion' at the Rockpile.

1964
and the

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Photo by Robert Smith, colorized by John Turney

December 26, 1964: Bills win first AFL Championsip

By Matt Warren  @MattRichWarren on Dec 26 2014, 2:30p

(Excerpted from Buffalo Rumblings: http://bit.ly/BillsFirstLeagueChampionship)
Ticket image from Bob Stoczynski

On December 26, 1964, the Buffalo Bills won their first league championship in team history, securing the AFL Championship over the San Diego Chargers in Buffalo, 20-7.

The 1964 Bills were led by former Chargers quarterback Jack Kemp and bruising runner Cookie Gilchrist. The team won their first nine games of the year, but had to win in their final regular season game to clinch the AFL East division title. The offense was a juggernaut, leading the league in points, yards, and yards per play, as Gilchrist pounded the defense while Kemp and receiver Elbert Dubenion lit up opposing secondaries. The defense was also stout, pacing the league in points and yards allowed, as well as rushing defense.

The Chargers ran away with the AFL West division title with just an 8-5-1 record, clinching the spot in the title game with two full weeks left in the year. Lance Alworth was the Chargers' primary threat, gaining over 1,200 receiving yards during the season. Two passers, Tobin Rote and John Hadl, combined for over 3,300 passing yards and threw 27 touchdown passes during the regular season.

When these two teams got together, people were expecting an exciting game. The Chargers raced out to an early 7-0 lead thanks to a Rote scoring pass following a 38-yard run from Keith Lincoln. Just over two minutes into the championship game, Buffalo was already in a hole.

On San Diego's next possession, however, the Bills' defense changed the complexion of the game. When his downfield receivers were covered, Rote looked to the left flat to find Lincoln to get rid of the ball. As the ball arrived, Bills linebacker Mike Stratton hit Lincoln so hard, it knocked the fullback from the game and came to be known as the "hit heard 'round the world." Lincoln's hands were up to catch the pass, and Stratton's shoulder landed directly in his rib cage.

San Diego's offense never recovered after the hit, and it sent a jolt of electricity through the Bills' bench and the Rockpile. With Alworth already unable to suit up for the game, the Chargers wouldn't score another point with Lincoln out.

Buffalo netted a pair of Pete Gogolak field goals sandwiched around a Wray Carlton scoring run. Kemp added an insurance touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Buffalo won 20-7. Fans stormed the field and tore down the goalposts before the final gun had even sounded.

The "Hit Heard Around the World": In the 1964 American Football League Championship game, early in the first quarter, the Chargers' Keith Lincoln, who had gained 206 yards on 13 carries in the previous year's title game, had gained 47 yards on three carries, scored a touchdown, and kicked the extra point. Leading 7 - 0, on the next possession, the Chargers were driving again. On this play Tobin Rote (18) is pressured by Tom Sestak (70), Jim Dunaway (78) and Ron Mcdole (72). He gets the pass away to Lincoln (22), who is levelled by Mike Stratton (58). Lincoln suffered broken ribs and could not return to the game. The Bills went on to win 20 - 7.

Footage courtesy of NFL Films and SHOWTIME.
See 'Full Color Football:The History of the American Football League' on SHOWTIME starting 8 PM 9/16/09.

Click here to see the "Hit Heard Around the World" in slow motion.

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Nineteen sixty-three was the first of a string of four consecutive years in which the Buffalo Bills participated in post-season play. They were the only American Football League team to accomplish that feat. They lost the 1963 AFL Eastern Division playoff to their arch-rivals, the Boston Patriots. But that taste of post-season action served them well, and they came back to make 1964 their first championship year.
This page is a tribute to that team. Click on images and articles for more.
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Note: The football cards reproduced below are from the TOPPS 1964 set, but the uniform shown on these cards is the 1963 version. Before the 1964 championship season, the Bills changed their uniforms, replacing the shoulder stripes with sleeve stripes (see 1964 uniforms worn by Carlton or Kemp, or in other action photos, below). At the bottom of this page, the TOPPS 1965 set of Bills cards is reproduced. That set shows the 1964 uniforms. Get it?

ED RUTKOWSKI	STEW BARBER	DAVE BEHRMAN

". . . the Bills defensive unit blunted KC's attack twice on 3rd and 4th down 'inches to go' plays." Wray Carlton runs behind pulling guard Billy Shaw and a block by Cookie Gilchrist on KC linebacker E.J. Holub. In a 1963 game, Sestak draws a bead on Dawson.

"Kemp found Bass for the score on the very next play from scrimmage at 12:26. Ten seconds later, the Bills got still another, with Tom Sestak intercepting Len Dawson's attempted screen pass on the 15 and charging in umolested

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AL BEMILLER	ELBERT DUBENION	JIM DUNAWAY

Image courtesy of Todd Tobias

"Daryle Lamonica started his first game at quarterback and promptly bombed the Broncos with a 46 yard scoring pass to Eddie Rutkowski."

"The Bills won their 3rd in a row, 30-13 over the defending champion San Diego Chargers before 40,167 wildly enthusiastic sellout fans."

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BOOKER EDGERSON	COOKIE GILCHRIST	JACK KEMP

"Daryle Lamonica completed 7 of 10 2nd half passes, including a 44 yard touchdowner to Elbert Dubenion, and scored once himself as the Bills made it four in a row with a tough 23-20 come fom behind win over Oakland."

"Kemp and Dubenion established records. Kemp's 378 net yards passing broke John Greene's old mark of 334. Duby's 187 reception yards fractured Wray Carlton's mark by 10. The Bills total yardage, 565, was also a new record."

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DARYLE LAMONICA	ED RUTKOWSKI	GEORGE SAIMES

". . . with Daryle Lamonica at the throttle, the Bills drove 80 yards in 6 plays. A 27-yard pass to Duby was followed by a 30-yard rollout heave to Ernie Warlick. Bob Smith crushed in from the 13 on the final play of the period."

"The largest crowd in the history of the American Football League -- 61,929 (60,300 paid) jammed beautiful, new Shea Stadium to see the Buffalo Bills, pro football's only unbeaten team, tangle with the New York Jets."

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TOM SESTAK	BILLY SHAW	MIKE STRATTON

"Kemp and Bass combined on a 42-yard pass play and when Jack found Bill Groman at the flag from the Patriots' 22, the Bills jumped back into the lead at 3:07."

"Shonta left the game but returned five minutes later in time to be victimized by a 43-yard Jack Kemp to Elbert Dubenion scoring pass."

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GENE SYKES	JOHN TRACEY	BUFFALO BILLS

1964 League Leaders

Passing: Jack Kemp � 8.49 yds/attempt

Rushing: Cookie Gilchrist � 981 yards

Receiving Avg: Elbert Dubenion � 27.1 yds/catch

Punt Returns: Hagoode Clarke � 33

Team Offense: Bills � 400 pts, 5206 yds

Team Defense: Bills � 242 pts, 3878 yds

       Bills great Paul Maguire was asked about coach Lou Saban’s legendary motivational tactics. He recalled an offbeat moment in the locker room before the ‘64 AFL Championship Game.
       “The Chargers were in the tunnel, and the official comes in and tells us we’ve got five minutes. We’re waiting for Lou, and Lou never came. Finally Lou runs down the ramp and jumps up on the middle of the table and says, ‘Everything that’s been said has been said . . . So the only thing I can tell you guys now is heads down and toes up.’ Cookie Gilchrist opened the door and turned around and said, ’What the heck does that mean?’ And Saban said, ’How do I know? I’m as nervous as you are.’ And we started laughing. So we went down the steps into the tunnel. We were lined up alongside the Chargers. And I had just played four years with those guys, and our whole team was laughing . . . . John Hadl looked at me and said, ‘Gonna be that easy?’ And I said, ‘I can’t explain it to you, you’d never understand.’
       “Lou didn’t have any idea what he was saying but he loosened the team up and we went out and beat the hell out of them.”

Excerpted from Mark Gaughan, Buffalo News, June 12, 2005

Early in the first quarter, the Bills' Ron McDole (72) closes in as teammate George "Butch Byrd" (42) prepares to tackle the Chargers' Keith Lincoln (22).

"Wray Carlton slammed 4 yards off right tackle to complete a 56 yard sortie after Kemp had hit Gilchrist with a sensational "falling-down" pass from the 19."

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". . . when Keith Lincoln, San Diego's fast, strong, do-everything fullback was knocked out at 6:41 of the first period, the Chargers' attack was wrecked."

Cookie Gilchrist caught two passes from Kemp for 22 yards and rushed 16 times for 122 yards - a 7.63 yards-per-carry average. It would be his last game as a Buffalo Bill.

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          The 1964 Buffalo Bills squad was one of the great teams in professional football history. The 1964 Bills allowed their opponents only 300 rushing attempts and held them to 913 yards rushing during the regular season; a pro football record, just over 65 yards per game!   They were the first American Football League team to win 13 games in a season. They scored 400 points, the most in the league, while their defense gave up only 242, the fewest in the league.
          In 1964, the Bills defense allowed only four touchdowns rushing all season, and started a string that would extend into the 1965 season: seventeen straight games without allowing an opponent to score a rushing touchdown.   The same defense registered fifty quarterback sacks, a team record that stands today, even though it was established in a 14-game season. Eight members of the 1964 squad were on that year's AFL Eastern Division All-Star Team. Three were eventually named to the American Football League's All-Time Team, six to the second team, and sixteen are in the American Football League Hall of Fame. The only player ever inducted to the "pro football" hall of fame, without ever playing in the NFL, was a member of the 1964 Bills; guard Billy Shaw.
          The images below are from the 1965 Topps AFL football card set, showing 1964 images of the palyers.

STEW BARBER	GLENN BASS	AL BEMILLER

WRAY CARLTON	TOM DAY	ELBERT DUBENION	JIM DUNAWAY

COOKIE GILCHRIST	DICK HUDSON	HARRY JACOBS

TOM KEATING	JACK KEMP	DARYLE LAMONICA	PAUL MAGUIRE

RON McDOLE	GEORGE SAIMES	TOM SESTAK

BILLY SHAW	MIKE STRATTON	JOHN TRACEY	ERNIE WARLICK

     "San Diego had taken the opening kickoff and marched down past where Saban was holding forth and into the Bills' end zone for a score.
     When the shock of it wore off a few seconds later, Saban shook his head and said:
     'That didn't take long, did it?'
     It had taken exactly 2 minutes 11 seconds. It now was time for the Bills to regroup. They did." ~ Bob Powell

     "Wire services and NFL stubbornites will call it merely the American Football League championship.
     But, regardless of what happens around Lake Erie's bend this afternoon, the Bills, until Baltimore or Cleveland chooses to prove otherwise, are World Champions.
     And the Chargers would be the first to advise the Colts and Browns, individually or collectively, not to attempt to disprove it." ~ Jim Peters

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1964 Buffalo Bills Statistics

Passing	Comp	Att	Comp %	Yds	Y/Att	TD	Int	Rating
Daryle Lamonica	55	128	43.0	1137	8.88	6	8	64.5
Jack Kemp	119	269	44.2	2285	8.49	13	26	50.9

Rushing	Rush	Yds	Avg	TD
Cookie Gilchrist	230	981	4.3	6
Bobby Smith	62	306	4.9	4
Daryle Lamonica	55	289	5.3	6
Joe Auer	63	191	3.0	2
Jack Kemp	37	124	3.4	5
Wray Carlton	39	114	2.9	1
Willie Ross	4	14	3.5	1
Dick Hudson	1	1	1.0	0

Receiving	Rec	Yds	Avg	TD
Glenn Bass	43	897	20.9	7
Cookie Gilchrist	30	345	11.5	0
Ernie Warlick	23	478	20.8	0
Elbert Dubenion	18	281	15.6	1
Ed Rutkowski	13	234	18.0	1
Joe Auer	11	166	15.1	0
Bobby Smith	6	72	12.0	0
Bill Groman	4	68	17.0	1
Wray Carlton	2	23	11.5	0

Kick Returns	Ret	Yds	Avg
Charley Warner	5	121	24.2
Ed Rutkowski	21	498	23.7
Bobby Smith	3	68	22.7
Hagood Clarke	16	330	20.6
Joe Auer	0	1	0.0

Punt Returns	Ret	Yds	Avg	TD
Charley Warner	3	55	18.3	0
Hagood Clarke	33	317	9.6	1
Ed Rutkowski	8	45	5.6	0
Butch Byrd	2	4	2.0	0

Punting	Punts	Yds	Avg	Blocked
Paul Maguire	65	2777	42.7	0

Kicking	PAT Made	PAT Att	PAT %	FG Made	FG Att	FG %	Pts
Pete Gogolak	45	46	98	19	29	65.5	102

Interceptions	Int	Yds	Avg	TD
Butch Byrd	7	178	25.4	1
George Saimes	6	56	9.3	0
Booker Edgerson	4	130	32.5	0
John (Jack) Tracey	3	12	4.0	0
Gene Sykes	2	36	18.0	0
Harry Jacobs	2	13	6.5	0
Charley Warner	1	30	30.0	0
Tom Sestak	1	15	15.0	1
Ron McDole	1	0	0.0	0
Mike Stratton	1	0	0.0	0

Generated: 12/01/2002
Source for this information: John Troan

Alumni photos courtesy of Tammy McDole

Mike Stratton		Ron McDole and daughter Tammy		Mike & Ron at the game

Butch Byrd and Ange Coniglio

Duby is helped by Ed Abramoski	Long-time trainer Ed Abramoski and wife Pat ~ 2014 ~	AL BEMILLER

A mini-reunion of the 1964 team was held on December 18th, 2024 at the Rockpile (now the Johnnie B. Wiley Amateur Athletic Sports Pavilion) with Buffalo News columnist Sean Kirst and team members Booker Edgerson, Ed Rutkowski and Wray Carlton, hosted by Director Cedric Halloway.


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