Billy Shaw was a star guard for the Buffalo Bills who made the AFL All-Star squad eight times and won back-to-back AFL championships with the team.
- Died: October 4, 2024 (Who else died on October 4?)
- Details of death: Died in Toccoa, Georgia of hyponatremia at the age of 85.
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Billy Shaw’s legacy
Mississippi-born Billy Shaw’s play in high school earned him a football scholarship to Georgia Tech, where he was All-SEC and All-American, plus earned Southeastern Conference Most Valuable Lineman his senior year. He also made the College All-Star Team, all but securing his entry to professional play.
Shaw was drafted by the Buffalo Bills, then in the AFL, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFL. He chose the New York-based team, as the Bills wanted him on defense, and that was where he preferred to play. Shaw turned out to be among the best in the game, making eight AFL All-Star games, and helping hold down the defense on a squad that won three straight division titles and, in 1964 and 1965, back-to-back AFL championships.
In 1999, Shaw’s exemplary efforts earned him induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Because he retired from the sport in 1969, the year before the AFL merged with the NFL, he is the only Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee who never competed in the NFL. Shaw is also in the Georgia Tech Sports Hall of Fame and Georgia Sports Hall of Fame, and he’s on the Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame, among other honors.
Tributes to Billy Shaw
Full obituary: Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
