Legends of the Buffalo Bills: Marv Levy, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, and Other Bills Stars by Randy Schultz

Author:Randy Schultz
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781613217894
Publisher: Sports Publishing
Published: 2015-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

“At the same time the Bills were looking at me, so were the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Cowboys’ interest in me faded quickly. But the Steelers’ didn’t. The only difference was that Duby brought along a contract for me to sign. I was desperate so I signed right away with Buffalo. Ironically, the Steelers came along a week later, but they were too late. I was on my way to Buffalo.”

The Bills had come off one of their worst seasons in franchise history, finishing dead last in the NFL with a 1-12-1 record. They relieved their interim coach, Harvey Johnson, and replaced him with John Rauch, who had left the Oakland Raiders to come to Buffalo.

For their efforts in 1968, Buffalo drafted Simpson number one out of the University of Southern California.

“Buffalo had high expectations for O. J.,” remembered James. “But I knew that he couldn’t turn their entire program around in just one year. I also think that people expected a lot out of Coach Rauch. He had come from the Raiders, where he had helped develop a winning organization. I found out very quickly that the people in Buffalo were used to winning and wanted a winner right away.”

James recalled his first two days of training camp, especially day two.

“My first day I really struggled,” admitted James. “I had the speed, but I couldn’t backpedal very well that first day. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it past day two until I found out that the team was going to have a scrimmage. In that scrimmage we were allowed to hit. I knew I could hit and I did. I hit hard. By the end of day two I had earned the respect of both the coaches and the veteran players. That turned things around for me, and I was on my way.”

James also talked about the conversion from linebacker to cornerback.

“It was a natural move for me,” added James. “I had all that untapped speed that Duby knew about. I had run the 40-yard dash in college in 4.4. I didn’t think that football scouts would make a big deal out of that. I was simply running a 4.4.”

The only thing that James couldn’t adjust to was losing, something the Bills continued to do during his first four seasons in the NFL. Buffalo again hit bottom in 1971 when they finished dead last in the league again with a 1-13 mark. He also admitted that playing in War Memorial Stadium took some getting used to.

“When I got to Buffalo, I guess I expected more,” said James. “I’ll have to admit that War Memorial Stadium wasn’t what I was used to. But I was glad to be in Buffalo and playing pro football.

“But I never got over the losing. I wasn’t used to that, and it was something I didn’t want to get in a habit of doing. But that all changed when Lou Saban arrived.”

Saban came to Buffalo for his second stint in 1972.

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