1965: Bills Shut Out Chargers to Repeat as AFL Champions

The American Football League Championship game on December 26, 1965 featured a rematch of the previous year’s participants. This time it was the Buffalo Bills, now defending champs, going on the road to face the San Diego Chargers.

The Bills easily topped the Eastern Division with a 10-3-1 record. They were still coached by Lou Saban and QB Jack Kemp (pictured at right), a former Charger, was again lining up behind center and coming off of a season in which he received AFL Player of the Year recognition. But temperamental star FB Cookie Gilchrist had been dealt to Denver and not adequately replaced and injuries cost the offense the services of flanker Elbert Dubenion and split end Glenn Bass for most of the season. Flanker Bo Roberson and rookie TE Paul Costa helped to fill the void, but it was once again the rugged defense that allowed Buffalo to dominate its division. The unit that contained AFL All-Stars in DT Tom Sestak, LB Mike Stratton, CB Butch Byrd, and safety George Saimes was solid throughout. In addition, pioneering soccer-style PK Pete Gogolak led the AFL with 28 field goals.

San Diego won the Western Division for a third consecutive season by going 9-2-3. Under the direction of Head Coach Sid Gillman, the Chargers had the league’s highest-scoring offense. QB John Hadl was developing into a top passer and flanker Lance Alworth was the premier player at his position, possibly in either league. HB Paul Lowe led the AFL in rushing and versatile FB Keith Lincoln was formidable when healthy, which had not been the case through much of ‘65. The defense was strongest on the line, featuring DE Earl Faison and DT Ernie Ladd, and linebackers Chuck Allen and Frank Buncom led a capable group. Moreover, the Chargers had beaten and tied the Bills during the regular season and, playing for the championship at home, were 6.5-point favorites to win.

There were 30,361 fans in attendance on a pleasant day at Balboa Stadium. The game settled into a defensive battle with no scoring in the first quarter. CB Speedy Duncan of the Chargers intercepted a Jack Kemp pass at the San Diego 33, but San Diego had to punt from midfield. On their next series, starting from deep in their own territory, Paul Lowe took off on a 47-yard run, but the Bills tossed John Hadl for consecutive losses and the home team had to punt again. Coach Gillman chose to have rookie FB Jim Allison handle the punting rather than Hadl, in order to keep the quarterback rested, but when the first two kicks went just 19 and nine yards, respectively, Hadl took over that chore.

Early in the second quarter, a promising series for the Chargers reached the Buffalo 28 but Herb Travenio missed a 35-yard field goal attempt that was partially deflected. The teams exchanged punts until late in the period when the Bills put together a six-play, 80-yard drive. FB Wray Carlton had two eight-yard carries and Kemp passed to Paul Costa, who made an outstanding catch for a 22-yard gain. Following two short running plays, Kemp then threw down the middle to TE Ernie Warlick in the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown. Pete Gogolak kicked the extra point.

Following a short possession, the Chargers punted and Butch Byrd gathered in the 40-yard kick at his 26, evaded two tackles, and sped down the right sideline for a 74-yard touchdown. Gogolak converted again and the visitors were staked to a 14-0 lead.

On San Diego’s next offensive play, Hadl’s pass was intercepted by LB Harry Jacobs, who returned it to the Chargers’ 20, but the Bills were unable to pad their lead when Gogolak missed on a 24-yard try for a field goal. The Chargers advanced to the Buffalo 24 in the waning seconds of the first half as Hadl threw to Lance Alworth for 22 yards, ran for another 13, and completed two more short passes. But Travenio was wide on a 31-yard field goal attempt to close out the half.

The Chargers had the first possession in the third quarter and punted. The Bills went right to the air and a Kemp pass to Bo Roberson gained 49 yards to the San Diego 24, and while the Bills didn’t reach the end zone, they came away with an 11-yard field goal by Gogolak (pictured at left) that expanded Buffalo’s margin to 17-0.

Duncan returned the ensuing kickoff 49 yards to the Buffalo 48 and Keith Lincoln ran for 10 yards on first down. But after advancing to the 29, the Chargers tried to convert a fourth-and-one situation and a mix-up in the backfield caused them to lose five yards and turn the ball over on downs. It proved to be their last opportunity to get back into the game.

Following a punt by Buffalo’s Paul Maguire that pinned the Chargers back at their one yard line, the Bills blitzed Hadl, who hurried a long pass from his end zone that Byrd intercepted and returned to the San Diego 23. The Chargers continued to play tough on defense, but the Bills further added to their lead with a 39-yard Gogolak field goal.

Down by 20-0 as the game headed into the fourth quarter, the Chargers again turned the ball over on downs in their own territory and Buffalo capped the scoring with a Gogolak field goal from 32 yards. San Diego never again threatened in the remaining time and Buffalo won by a final score of 23-0.

The Bills led in total yards (260 to 223) and first downs (23 to 12). They also recorded five sacks, at a loss of 45 yards, to two by San Diego. The Chargers turned the ball over twice, to one by Buffalo, and were unable to take advantage of scoring opportunities.

Jack Kemp was not especially efficient with his passing, completing 8 of 19 throws, but they were good for 155 yards and a touchdown against one interception. Bo Roberson had three catches for 88 yards and Ernie Warlick contributed three receptions for 35 yards and a TD. Wray Carlton led the Bills with 63 rushing yards on 16 carries. Butch Byrd (pictured below) made significant contributions with an interception that he returned 24 yards and the touchdown on the punt return. Pete Gogolak was successful on three of his five field goal attempts.

For the Chargers, John Hadl, harried by the fierce pass rush, was successful on 11 of 23 throws for 140 yards and gave up two interceptions. Lance Alworth, who was double-teamed throughout the contest, caught four passes for 82 yards and Paul Lowe gained 57 yards on 12 carries, although most of that total came on one play.

“I can’t believe it,” said Jack Kemp regarding the final score. “Nobody expects to shut out the Chargers.”

“We just got beat,” stated a disappointed Coach Gillman of the Chargers. “We lost to a fine football team. The Bills have excellent personnel and coaching. What else is there to say?”

The AFL Championship game triumph proved to be the end for Coach Saban, who resigned to become head coach at the University of Maryland. Joel Collier, the assistant coach who had been in charge of the defense, was elevated to the top job. The Bills once again finished first in the Eastern Division but lost the title game to Kansas City and went into decline, not posting another winning record until 1973. The defeat for the AFL Championship also marked a transition for the Chargers. After having appeared in five of the league’s first six title contests, they did not appear in another. San Diego remained a respectable team but was blocked by the Chiefs and Raiders in the Western Division even while posting records above .500 for the remaining four AFL seasons before the merger with the NFL in 1970. The Chargers did not reach the postseason again until 1979.

1964: Bills Surge from Behind in Fourth Quarter to Beat Jets

The Buffalo Bills were undefeated at 6-0 as they hosted the New York Jets in an American Football League game on October 24, 1964. In their third season under Head Coach Lou Saban, Buffalo had a ball-control offense featuring the running of FB Cookie Gilchrist and the passing of QB Jack Kemp, who was frequently relieved by second-year backup Daryle Lamonica (pictured above) if the offense was bogging down or needed a change of pace. Another weapon, rookie Pete Gogolak, added to the team’s scoring potential with his then-unique soccer-style placekicking. The defense was the league’s best across the board.

The Jets were in their second season under the guidance of Head Coach Weeb Ewbank. The refurbished club was benefiting at the gate, having moved into the new Shea Stadium at Flushing Meadows. Rookie FB Matt Snell was Gilchrist’s rival for the AFL rushing title and there were outstanding receivers for strong-armed but immobile QB Dick Wood to throw to in flanker Don Maynard and split end Bake Turner. New York had played one less game than the Bills thus far and brought a 3-1-1 record into the game.

There were 39,621 fans present at War Memorial Stadium for the Saturday night contest. They saw the visitors score first as Wood threw to Turner for a seven-yard touchdown. Gogolak cut that to 7-3 in the second quarter with a 12-yard field goal, but New York responded with another TD, again on a pass by Wood - this time to Maynard from 12 yards out. The Bills cut New York’s lead with less than two minutes remaining in the half as Kemp connected with fleet flanker Elbert “Golden Wheels” Dubenion on a 44-yard touchdown play. The score was 14-10 in favor of the Jets at halftime.

Less than two minutes into the third quarter, the Jets extended their margin when Wood threw to Maynard for a 15-yard TD. Six minutes later, Jim Turner added another three points with a nine-yard field goal, and it seemed as though an upset was in the making with New York ahead by a 24-10 score.

Lamonica came on in relief of Kemp and led the Bills on an 80-yard drive in six plays. On the final play of the third quarter, rookie HB Bobby Smith finished off the possession when he ran off tackle for a 13-yard touchdown. With the successful extra point, the tally stood at 24-17 entering the fourth quarter.

It was all Buffalo in the final period. The Bills defense completely shut down New York’s attack. Lamonica threw to Dubenion for a 44-yard TD that, with Gogolak’s successful conversion, evened the score at 24-24 with 7:44 to go. The Bills went ahead to stay less than four minutes later as Lamonica dove into the end zone to finish off a three-yard run. Gogolak concluded the scoring with a 31-yard field goal and the Bills came away with a 34-24 win to keep their record perfect for another week.

Buffalo outgained the Jets (527 yards to 245) and had more first downs (20 to 15). However, the Bills also turned the ball over three times, to none by New York. The Jets averaged just 2.3 yards per carry on the ground (66 yards on 29 attempts) while Buffalo gained 180 on 37 rushes (4.9 avg.). In the anticipated showdown between the AFL’s top two rushers, neither Cookie Gilchrist (15 carries for 27 yards) nor Matt Snell (28 yards on 12 attempts) was a factor.

Bobby Smith was the rushing star for Buffalo, gaining 98 yards on 12 carries with a TD, and was especially effective during the second-half comeback. Elbert Dubenion (pictured below) had a huge performance with 5 catches for 218 yards and two touchdowns. Jack Kemp completed 8 of 16 passes for 220 yards with a touchdown and an interception while Daryle Lamonica was successful on 4 of 11 throws for 127 yards, also with a TD and one picked off, in his fourth successful relief effort of the year.


For the Jets, Dick Wood went to the air 40 times and completed 16 for 183 yards with three touchdowns and none intercepted. While Matt Snell didn’t accomplish much running the ball, he caught a team-leading 6 passes, for 48 yards. Bake Turner gained 74 yards on his 5 pass receptions and Don Maynard added four for 53 yards and two scores. HB Bill Mathis topped the running game, such as it was, with 34 yards on 12 attempts.

The Bills ran their record to 9-0 before being beaten by the Patriots; as it was, they finished first in the Eastern Division with a 12-2 tally and defeated San Diego for the AFL Championship. The Jets, after the promising start, won the next week against the Patriots but then lost six of their last seven games (including the rematch with Buffalo at Shea Stadium) as injuries accrued (especially in the defensive backfield) to end up at 5-8-1 and third in the division.

The quarterback combination continued to be productive for the Bills. Jack Kemp led the AFL in yards per attempt (8.5) and yards per completion (19.2 – a full three yards better than runner-up Cotton Davidson of the Raiders). The savvy 29-year-old veteran threw for 2285 yards and 13 touchdowns, as well as 26 interceptions, and was named to the league’s All-Star Game. Daryle Lamonica completed 55 of 128 throws (43.0 %) for 1137 yards with six TDs against eight interceptions. He also ran for 289 yards and six touchdowns (Kemp, also mobile, gained 124 yards and scored five times).

Elbert Dubenion caught 42 passes for 1139 yards (a gaudy 27.1 average) and 10 touchdowns. Like Kemp, he was named an AFL All-Star. While Cookie Gilchrist was the league’s leading rusher (981 yards), Bobby Smith, as he showed against the Jets, was an able change-of-pace runner and averaged 4.9 yards-per-carry (306 yards on 62 attempts). Pete Gogolak paved the way for more soccer-style kickers as he booted 19 field goals in 29 attempts and placed second in scoring with 102 points.

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1966: Pete Gogolak Jumps From AFL to NFL

Pete Gogolak had a place in American football history just by being the first to use the soccer-style approach to kicking the ball that is now standard practice. His success at Cornell led to him being drafted by the AFL’s Buffalo Bills in 1964 and in two seasons he made good on 47 of 75 field goal attempts (62.7 %) including an AFL-leading 28-of-46 record in ’65.

However, on May 17, 1966 Gogolak took a pivotal step in the battle between the AFL and NFL when, having played out his option in Buffalo, he signed a contract with the NFL’s New York Giants.

No player had jumped leagues since offensive end Willard Dewveall went from the Bears to the Oilers in 1961, and there had been an unofficial understanding in place that, while rookies were fair game, no veteran would be signed by a team from the other league until it was clear that no other club in his own circuit was interested. That was hardly the case with Gogolak, who had shown that soccer-style kicking was effective and thus helped Buffalo to back-to-back AFL titles.

It was no surprise that the Giants would be interested in Gogolak as they certainly had a need to upgrade the kicking game - their placekickers in 1965 were successful on a woeful 4 of 25 field goal attempts. But it was stunning that they would abrogate the understanding between the leagues and that Commissioner Pete Rozelle would approve the deal.

For Al Davis, the head coach/GM of the Oakland Raiders who had succeeded Joe Foss as AFL commissioner just five weeks before, the Gogolak signing was an unquestioned declaration of war by the NFL. As he told a sportswriter, “It was a declaration of war all right. And we had to do what the generals do in a way. Go after the supply lines. Hit the enemy where it hurts most.”

It didn’t take long for the repercussions to be felt. The day after Gogolak switched leagues, the Associated Press reported that two AFL teams had been in contact with at least four members of the Giants. Rumors spread very quickly thereafter that several NFL veterans had expressed interest in entertaining offers from the rival league, and that AFL teams were actively pursuing veteran NFL players.

Commissioner Davis promoted a strategy of signing select NFL quarterbacks to future contracts, and in the next few weeks it was reported that Roman Gabriel of the Rams had come to an agreement with Oakland and San Francisco’s John Brodie had accepted a significant offer from the Houston Oilers.

The war was escalating quickly, but in fact negotiations between the two leagues that had already been occurring behind the scenes reached fruition a short time later. While there was plenty of bad feeling and suspicion between officials of the NFL and AFL, they came to a merger agreement less than a month after Pete Gogolak became a member of the New York Giants. Of course, the player raiding came to an abrupt end.

The pairing of Gogolak and the Giants proved lasting. The Hungarian refugee, who had originally signed a one-year contract with Buffalo, received a four-year deal at significantly more money from the Giants. He ended up staying nine seasons (he missed a few games in 1967 due to military duty) and connected on 57.5 % of his field goal attempts (126 of 219).

Gogolak never matched his best season in Buffalo, and didn’t have great range. Reliable inside of 30 yards but spotty from beyond, he connected on just one kick longer than 50 yards – it was a then-team record 54-yard boot during the 1970 season in which he reached his high for field goals in a Giants uniform (25). Still, he stabilized the placekicking game and was generally consistent. And by his last season, 1974, nearly half of the teams in the league were using soccer-style kickers.