Buffalo Bills legend Billy Shaw has tragically died at the age of 85, his family announced Friday.
The Hall of Famer, who spent nearly a decade in the AFL as an offensive guard, died at his home in Toccoa, Georgia.
The cause of death was revealed to be hyponatremia, a condition in which there is an abnormally low level of sodium in a person’s blood.
‘We are saddened to learn of the passing of Bills Wall of Fame member Billy Shaw. We are thinking of your friends, family and loved ones during this difficult time,” Buffalo wrote in X.
Shaw’s wife, Patsy, and his three daughters were at his bedside.
Buffalo Bills legend Billy Shaw has tragically died at the age of 85, his family announced.
A second-round pick out of Georgia Tech, he became an all-time AFL great who fueled the Bills’ famous rushing attack in the 1960s.
“Billy’s all-around athleticism brought a new dimension to the guard position and made the Buffalo Bills of the 1960s a formidable opponent capable of hurting opponents with a punishing running game,” the Hall of Fame president said Friday. Fame, Jim Porter, in a statement.
‘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 made eight AFL All-Star Games in his nine seasons. He was a five-time All-AFL selection and a two-time AFL champion.
He was also named to the AFL all-time team and the professional football team of the 1960s.
“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,” Porter added.
Shaw was drafted in 1961 by both the Bills and the Dallas Cowboys of the then-rival National Football League.
Shaw felt that his size (he was 6-foot-2 and 258 pounds) and speed made him better suited to play left guard than linebacker, so he chose to play in the AFL, which would merge with the NFL in 1970. a year after his retirement.
Although the AFL was known as a league where quarterbacks expressed themselves, that was not the case in upstate New York, where the Bills featured a powerful running attack and a solid defense.
Former Buffalo offensive line coach Jerry Smith called Shaw “the driving force of the offensive unit” that led the Bills to back-to-back titles in 1964-65.