Inside The Bills

Players’ original numbers

As we cover the Untouchable Bills numbers on the home page of Buffalobills.com today, we thought we’d also take a look at some of the jersey numbers that some notable Bills wore prior to getting the number by which they’re most recognized.

We’ll start big with the team’s first Hall of Famer, O.J. Simpson, who wore another number prior to 32.

“O.J. was 33 initially,” said Bills equipment manager Dave Hojnowski. ”I think he may have also worn 36 as well for a brief time. He almost got a completely different number because the head coach John Rauch wanted to make him a wide receiver instead of a running back.”

James Lofton, who joined the Bills in 1989 was another interesting case. He had worn 80 his entire career, but that wasn’t the case when he first arrived in Buffalo.

“He was 86 at first,” Hojnowski said. ”He eventually got 80 from Flip Johnson.”

Bills all-time leading receiver Andre Reed was issued a horrible number for a wide receiver when he first reported to One Bills Drive.

“Andre was 46,” said Hojnowski. ”When he first came in that’s what he got. He was a fourth-round pick and it was one of those minicamp numbers.”

Here is a rundown of some other Bills who wore another number prior to the one they are most identified with.

Cornelius Bennett was 97 before going to 55
Ryan Denney was 90 before becoming 92
Lee Evans was briefly 84 but got 83 eventually
Jabari Greer was 37 before he went to 33
Tony Hunter was 49 before he was 87
Harry Jacobs was 56 and 54 before becoming 64
Sammy Morris was 45, then 33 and finally 31
Jamie Mueller was 39 before going to 41
Mark Pike was 57 and then 94
Jay Riemersma was 49 before he was 85
Aaron Schobel was initially 95 before getting 94
John Tracey was 85 before taking 51
David White was 50 before becoming 51
Shaud Williams was 36 before going to 40
George Wilson was 15 and now is 37
Wil Wolford was 69 before going to 73
Kenyatta Wright was 57 before taking 98

HOFers that have RSVP’d for induction day

More than 70 Hall of Famers have RSVP’d and will be attending enshrinement ceremonies on Aug. 8 at the Pro Football HOF in Canton. And there are several former Bills on that list as expected.

Among the Bills HOF’ers who have already RSVP’d are Joe D., Jim Kelly, Marv Levy, James Lofton and Billy Shaw. I think it’s safe to assume that Thurman Thomas will be attending knowing he’s one of Bruce Smith’s closest friends. He just probably hasn’t sent the RSVP back yet.

Here’s the whole list of the HOF’ers that have RSVP’d that you can expect to see if you’re attending HOF weekend.

Kelly on T.O.

Jim Kelly was asked about a lot of things at his annual charity golf tournament Monday including the Bills’ addition of Terrell Owens. Kelly likes that there will be a guy with a strong personality in the locker room.

“To be honest with you, you need sopmething to stir up that locker room and get the team excited again,” said Kelly. “All he can ask for is an opportunity to come in and show he wants to be part of this team. One thing you can say about T.O. is he’s a football player. He wants to be good, he wants to be the best and he’s going to give you everything he’s got on the football field. He’s Mr. Touchdown.”

Kelly has compared the Bills’ acquisition of Owens to that of the Bills of his era acquiring James Lofton.