Billy Shaw, a Buffalo Bills great who remains the only player inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame without playing in the NFL, died Friday. announced the Hall of Fame. He was 85 years old.
His family said he died of hyponatremia, an abnormally low amount of sodium in the blood.
Shaw spent his entire nine-year career playing offensive guard for the Bills, who were then members of the AFL. During that time, he was part of two AFL championship teams in 1964 and 1965, the most recent championships in Bills history, and was a seven-time All-AFL selection and eight-time AFL All-Star. Later, he was named to the AFL all-time team in 1970.
He was also a standout two-way player at Georgia Tech, to the point that it affected his pro chances. He was selected in the 1961 AFL Draft by the Bills and in the 1961 NFL Draft by the Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys reportedly wanted him at linebacker, while the Bills offered him a chance on offense.
Shaw chose the Bills and received an $11,000 contract and a new Pontiac Bonneville from team owner Ralph Wilson Jr.
That pro career ended after the 1969 season, a year before the AFL merged with the NFL and created the league many know today. That left him an interesting place in football history.
From the Hall of Fame:
“Billy Shaw has the distinction of being the only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to play his entire career in the American Football League, but while that fact is noteworthy and enjoyable to recite, it doesn’t come close in “He was elected to the class of 1999,” said Hall of Fame President Jim Porter. “Billy’s all-around athleticism brought a new dimension to the guard position and made the 1960s Buffalo Bills a formidable opponent capable of hurting opponents with a punishing running game.
“And while Billy could be ruthless toward anyone who got in his way on the football field, he was the classic example of ‘southern gentlemen’ off the field to everyone he encountered.”
Shaw’s induction into the Hall of Fame in 1999 was also eventful.
Entering the Hall alongside Lawrence Taylor, Eric Dickerson and Ozzie Newsome, Shaw thanked everyone he could remember and then stepped away from the lectern to take photos with his bust. However, he forgot one very important person: his wife Patsy.
Of ESPN:
“My daughter, sitting in the front row, gave me this sign,” Shaw said before recreating Cindy Shaw’s throat-cutting gesture.
“When she did that, I knew she made a big mistake. And she (mouthed) ‘I forgot mom.’ During intermission I went to the front of the stage, got down on one knee and did this to her.”
Shaw imitated a reverential bow, theatrically raising and lowering his arms in his wife’s direction.
Patsy was at Shaw’s side when he died, as were his three daughters.