Buffalo Bills standout Billy Shaw, the only player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame without playing in the NFL, died Friday, the Hall of Fame announced. He was 85 years old.
According to his family, the man died from hyponatremia, an abnormally low level of sodium in his blood.
Shaw played his entire nine-year career as an offensive guard for the Bills, then part of the AFL. During that time, he was part of two AFL championship teams in Bills history, the most recent championships in 1964 and 1965, and was named All-AFL seven times and an AFL All-Star eight times. He was later named to the AFL All-Time Team in 1970.
He was also a standout two-way player at Georgia Tech, enough to influence his professional options. He was selected by the Bills in the 1961 AFL Draft and by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1961 NFL Draft. The Cowboys wanted him as a linebacker, but the Bills reportedly offered him an opportunity on offense.
Shaw chose the Bills and received an $11,000 contract and a brand new Pontiac Bonneville from team owner Ralph Wilson Jr.
His professional career ended after the 1969 season, the year before the AFL merged with the NFL to create the league that many know today. In doing so, he left an interesting spot in football history.
From the Hall of Fame:
“Billy Shaw holds the honor of being the only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to have played his entire career in the American Football League, a fact that is notable and good to recite. Yes, but he is far from explaining why 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 Buffalo Bills a formidable opponent in the 1960s, capable of hurting opponents with a punitive rushing attack.
“And while Billy may be ruthless to everyone on the football field, off the field he was a classic example of a ‘Southern gentleman’ to everyone he met.”
Shaw’s induction into the Hall of Fame in 1999 was also eventful.
Shaw, who entered the hall with Lawrence Taylor, Eric Dickerson and Ozzie Newsome, thanked everyone he could think of, then left the podium and posed for a photo with the bust. But he forgot one very important person – his wife Patsy.
From ESPN:
“My daughter who was sitting in the front row gave me this sign,” Shaw said, reenacting the throat-slitting gesture that Cindy Shaw gave him.
“When she did that, I realized I had messed up big time, and she said (spoken), ‘I forgot mom.'” During the break I walked up to the front of the stage. I went and got down on my knees and did this to her. ”
Shaw mimicked a respectful bow and theatrically raised and lowered his arms toward his wife.
Patsy was by Shaw’s side when he passed away, as were his three daughters.
