The Greatest Buffalo Bills Players of All Time
Buffalo's snowfall, about 95 inches a year, puts weather in a rank of the greatest Buffalo Bills players, since no Bills stadium there has had a roof. Every player here is named on at least 4 of the 11 Bills honor rolls and all-time rankings counted for this list: the team's own Wall of Fame, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the team's 50th Season All-Time Team (2009), and eight press rankings. Players left off no more than four of the sources that could have named them start in the top group; everyone else who clears the door starts below them, and your votes set the order from there.
Jim Kelly is #1 on “The Greatest Buffalo Bills Players of All Time”.
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Jim Kelly
On January 12, 1991, he passed for 339 yards and 3 scores against Miami in a divisional playoff, ran for 37 more, and the Bills won 44-34. His rights belonged to Buffalo from the 1983 draft, yet he went to the USFL's Houston Gamblers first, so his Buffalo career ran from 1986 through 1996. Nobody in the NFL threw more touchdown passes in 1991 than his 33. He ran the K-Gun, a no-huddle attack named for tight end Keith McKeller, and took Buffalo to 4 Super Bowls in a row, losing all 4. Buffalo's career leaderboards for completions, yards through the air and touchdown throws had his name on top when he retired. Every one of the 11 honor rolls and rankings counted here includes him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Kelly - 2
Josh Allen
He went 21 of 25 for 308 yards and 5 touchdowns against New England in the wild-card game that followed the 2021 season, a 47-17 win in which Buffalo never punted. Buffalo traded up in the 2018 draft and took him, and his first game as a Bill came on September 9, 2018, in relief against Baltimore. In 2020 he set the franchise's single-season records with 37 touchdown passes and 4,544 passing yards, and the AP voted him its MVP for the 2024 season. You'll see him on 5 of the 8 honor rolls and rankings that could have named him: the 2009 50th Season All-Time Team and NFL.com's June 2018 list both came out before that first game, and he is not eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame while he is active.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josh_Allen - 3
Bruce Smith
Super Bowl XXV's second quarter brought his safety, a sack of Jeff Hostetler behind the Giants' goal line that put Buffalo up 12-3, though the Bills lost 20-19. He came to Buffalo through the 1985 draft, and from 1985 through 1999 he piled up 171 sacks as a Bill before 4 Washington seasons took his career total to 200, the most in NFL history. The AP picked him as the league's top defender for 1990, a 19-sack season, and again for 1996. In 2009, the first year the rules allowed, the Pro Football Hall of Fame elected him, and 7 years later the Bills retired number 78. Each of his 11 Pro Bowl trips came as a Bill, between 1987 and 1998. His name is on all 11 of the lists behind this vote.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bruce_Smith - 4
O.J. Simpson
Flurries were falling on December 16, 1973, when he broke a 7-yard run against the Jets at Shea Stadium that carried him past 2,000 rushing yards, and he finished that day with 200 yards on 34 carries in a 34-14 win. The first pick of the 1969 draft, he played for Buffalo through 1977, and that 1973 season ended at 2,003 yards in 14 games, the first time any back reached 2,000, with Jim Brown's season record also falling that day. Rushing titles were his in 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1976, and the Maxwell Football Club handed him its Bert Bell Award for 1973. Count the honor rolls and rankings behind this list and he's on 10 of the 11.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O._J._Simpson - 5
Thurman Thomas
His 1991 season added up to 2,038 yards from scrimmage, 1,407 on the ground and 631 as a receiver, and he won the AP's MVP award along with its offensive player award. Oklahoma State's star arrived in the 1988 draft, and from 1988 through 1999 the Bills' backfield was his. Buffalo's career rushing record, 11,938 yards, belongs to him; the Pro Football Hall of Fame chose him in 2007, and the Bills put number 34 away for good in 2018. His yards from scrimmage led the league 4 seasons in a row. Of the 11 honor rolls and rankings counted for this list, 10 carry his name.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thurman_Thomas - 6
Andre Reed
A 1985 draft choice, he spent 15 seasons catching passes in Buffalo, 1985 through 1999. His biggest year was 1989: 88 catches, 1,312 yards and 9 touchdowns. He made every Pro Bowl from 1988 through 1994, and 4 of his Bills seasons went past 1,000 receiving yards. The Pro Football Hall of Fame passed him over for years after he became eligible in 2006 before electing him in 2014. In Super Bowl XXVII he caught 8 passes for 152 yards in the 52-17 loss to Dallas. He's named by every honor roll and ranking counted for this vote, all 11 of them.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Reed - 7
Joe DeLamielleure
Every one of his 14 games as a 1973 rookie was a start at guard, on a line that helped the Bills run for 3,088 yards, the most any NFL team has gained on the ground over a 14-game schedule. He played for the Bills from 1973 to 1979 and again in 1985, with 5 seasons in Cleveland in between. Not one game of those first 7 Buffalo seasons went by without him in the starting lineup, the AP's All-Pro voting had him at guard on the first team for 1975, 1976 and 1977, and a Pro Bowl invitation followed each of his Buffalo seasons from 1975 to 1979. His enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame followed in 2003, and 9 of the 11 honor rolls and rankings counted here include him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_DeLamielleure - 8
Billy Shaw
He picked the AFL over the NFL in 1961: the NFL's Cowboys wanted a linebacker, he saw himself as a guard, and the Bills, holders of his AFL draft rights, kept him through 1969. In 1965, a 2nd straight AFL title season, he started at left guard in each of Buffalo's 14 games. He played in 8 AFL All-Star Games. His 1999 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement was a first: nobody had gone in without playing an NFL game. On short-yardage plays he pulled from left guard and the ball carrier followed him into the hole. Shaw is named by 7 of the 11 rankings and honor rolls behind this list.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Shaw - 9
Jack Kemp
Buffalo paid a $100 waiver fee to claim him from San Diego on September 25, 1962, and he quarterbacked the Bills through 1969, missing 1968 with a knee injury. He had 7 of the 11 counted rankings and honor rolls behind him. In the AFL Championship Game on December 26, 1964, at War Memorial Stadium, he completed 10 of 20 passes for 188 yards and scored the last touchdown himself on a 4th-quarter sneak in a 20-7 win over the Chargers. A year later the Bills beat San Diego 23-0 for a 2nd title with him at quarterback. He co-founded the AFL Players Association with Boston's Tom Addison and was elected its president 5 times, and he later served in the U.S. House from 1971 to 1989.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Kemp - 10
Steve Tasker
Special teams made his name: a 9th-round pick of Houston's in 1985, he came to the Bills on a waiver claim on November 8, 1986, and from then through 1997 he was a gunner on their punt and kickoff units. Pro Bowl rosters included him for 1987 and for every season from 1990 to 1995, and Pro Football Weekly gave him its 1991 first-team All-Pro special-teams spot. In a wild-card win over Miami on December 30, 1995, he lined up at receiver and caught 5 passes for 108 yards, among them a 37-yard touchdown from Jim Kelly, in a 37-22 game; it was his first 100-yard receiving day. Go through the honor rolls and rankings this vote draws on and Tasker turns up on 7 of the 11.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Tasker - 11
Kent Hull
Before the NFL, he spent 3 USFL seasons as the New Jersey Generals' center, blocking for Herschel Walker. Buffalo had him snapping the ball from 1986 through 1996, and in his debut season there he replaced Will Grant and started all 16 games. From 1986 to 1993 he played in 121 consecutive games, he was the AP's first-team All-Pro center for 1990 and 1991, he earned Pro Bowl honors for 1988, 1989 and 1990, and he started in all 4 Buffalo Super Bowls. Of the 11 counted rankings and honor rolls, 6 include him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_Hull - 12
Cornelius Bennett
The Colts drafted him in 1987 but couldn't sign him, so that fall they dealt him to Buffalo in a 3-team trade with the Rams that involved Eric Dickerson, and he stayed a Bills linebacker through 1995. His first full season, 1988, brought 9.5 sacks and a first-team spot at outside linebacker from AP All-Pro voters, and NEA's 1991 first team included him as well. His 5 Buffalo Pro Bowls fell between 1988 and 1993. His teams reached 5 Super Bowls, 4 with the Bills and 1 with Atlanta, and lost all 5. His count is 5 of the 11 honor rolls and rankings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelius_Bennett - 13
Darryl Talley
His hometown was the setting: he ran an interception back against the Browns in Cleveland on November 4, 1990, for the first touchdown of his NFL career. Drafted in 1983, he never missed a game at linebacker in 12 Bills seasons, 1983 through 1994. His 1,137 tackles are the most in team history. The Sporting News put him on its 1990 first-team All-Pro squad, a season that also brought the first of 2 Pro Bowl trips, and in 2003 he was the 20th player added to the Wall of Fame. You can count 5 of the 11 rankings and honor rolls that name him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darryl_Talley - 14
Fred Smerlas
At nose tackle in 1980 he had 6.5 unofficial sacks for what the Pro Football Hall of Fame calls the top-ranked defense of 1980, holding teams to 256 yards a game, and the Bills won their first division title since 1966. He played in Buffalo from 1979 through 1989, arriving from Boston College through the draft. As a rookie he made 57 tackles and recovered 3 fumbles, running 1 back for a touchdown. Between 1980 and 1983 he made 4 straight Pro Bowls, and he added a 5th for 1988. In 2001 the team hung his name on its Wall of Fame, and 5 of the 11 honor rolls and rankings tallied here have him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Smerlas - 15
Mike Stratton
His shoulder hit on San Diego's Keith Lincoln midway through the 1st quarter of the 1964 AFL Championship Game broke Lincoln's ribs and knocked him out of the game, with the Chargers ahead 7-0. Buffalo used him at linebacker from 1962 through 1972, and a 1973 season in San Diego, which took his career interception total to 21, ended his playing days. Later in that first half, with Buffalo up 13-7, he intercepted Tobin Rote to end a drive at the Bills' 15, and Buffalo won 20-7. He made 6 straight AFL All-Star teams, 1963 through 1968, and picked off 18 passes as a Bill, with his name on 5 of the 11 honor rolls and rankings behind this vote.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Stratton - 16
Eric Moulds
He caught passes for 240 yards in a playoff game at Miami on January 2, 1999, after the 1998 season, an NFL postseason record, though Buffalo lost 24-17 after he fumbled away the Bills' first play. He was a Bill from 1996 through 2005. His 1,368 yards that 1998 regular season stood as the club's single-season best until 2020, and in 2002 he became the first Bill with 100 catches in a season, a team mark that also lasted until 2020. Pro Bowl selections went his way in 1998, 2000 and 2002. You'll find him on 4 of the 11 honor rolls and rankings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Moulds - 17
Butch Byrd
On September 18, 1966, he scored on a 60-yard interception return and again on a 72-yard punt return, both against Miami. He covered receivers as Buffalo's cornerback from 1964 through 1970, and Denver had him after that. Run through the honor rolls and rankings counted for this list and he's on 4 of the 11. His 40 interceptions, the 666 yards he returned them and his 5 interception-return touchdowns are all Bills records, he was an AFL All-Star 5 times between 1964 and 1969, and on October 5, 1969, he picked off 3 Houston passes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butch_Byrd - 18
George Saimes
A safety blitz on October 17, 1965, ended with him knocking the ball loose from Pete Beathard, recovering it and taking it 18 yards for the score. The Dallas Texans drafted him in 1963 and traded him to Buffalo for a high 1964 pick, and he played safety for the Bills from 1963 through 1969. His 22 interceptions came in 7 Bills seasons, and he was in the AFL All-Star Game every year from 1964 to 1968. In 1965 and again in 1967, first-team All-AFL honors came from the AP, NEA and UPI alike. The Bills added him to their Wall of Fame in 2000, and that honor roll is among the 4 of the 11 counted rankings and honor rolls that carry him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Saimes - 19
Tom Sestak
Buffalo won its first AFL title in 1964, and that season he made 14 starts at defensive tackle and scored on a 15-yard interception return. A 17th-round choice in 1962, 132nd overall, he started for the Bills as a rookie and lasted through 1968. His 4 AFL All-Star selections came in his first 4 seasons, and he scored 3 defensive touchdowns, 2 on interception returns and 1 on a fumble, before knee injuries ended his career. When the Pro Football Hall of Fame's selectors picked an AFL All-Time Team in January 1970, they took him at defensive tackle, and Sestak turns up on 4 of the 11 honor rolls and rankings.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Sestak - 20
Jim Ritcher
Left guard in 1990 meant 16 starts for him, lined up beside center Kent Hull in the hurry-up offense, in a season that finished in Super Bowl XXV. He won the Football Writers Association of America's Outland Trophy in 1979, went to Buffalo in the 1980 draft, switched from center to guard after his rookie season, and was a Bill through 1993. In all 4 of the team's Super Bowls he was the left guard in the starting lineup, and Pro Bowl berths followed the 1991 and 1992 seasons. When he left after 1993, his 222 total games were the most any Bill had played. His count stands at 4 of the 11 honor rolls and rankings on this list.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Ritcher - 21
James Lofton
Buffalo picked him up in free agency in 1989, after 2 thin years in Los Angeles with the Raiders, and the Bills kept him at receiver through 1992. Both of Kelly's touchdown throws in the 51-3 AFC title-game rout of the Raiders on January 20, 1991, went to him, and he finished with 5 catches for 113 yards. Of the 11 honor rolls and rankings, 4 have Lofton. His 1991 season brought 1,072 yards at age 35, and no older player had reached 1,000 receiving yards in a year before; on October 21 of that year he became, at the time, the oldest with a 200-yard receiving game, and that season also earned him a Pro Bowl selection.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Lofton
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