by Budd Bailey, Buffalo Sports Page

We are counting from 99 to 0 to determine who’s the best Buffalo athlete to wear each number.  It’s Buffalo Sports By The Numbers here on Buffalo Sports Page.

We’ll have a new number and athlete every day this summer.  Each story also includes reaction from the Buffalo Sports Page staff, and a way to catch up on numbers you’ve missed.

After every 10 numbers, a Sylvester & Peck On Sports podcast will feature Budd Bailey and the guys reacting to the selection.

#55

Paul Maguire, Bills. His pro football career started when the AFL began in 1960 when he played in Los Angeles. The Bills added him in 1964, and he won two championships. After retiring after the 1970 season, Paul moved smoothly into a long broadcasting career. Others: Jim Haslett, Bills; Jochen Hecht, Sabres; Rasmus Ristolainen, Sabres; Jerry Hughes, Bills.

Bob Gaughan’s Numerical Musings:   I have to go with the linebacker in Jim Haslett over a punter in Paul Maguire everyday.  Haslett was the defensive rookie of the year in 1979.  He helped lead the Bills back to respectability with two playoff appearances in the Chuck Knox years.  The leader of the Bermuda triangle.  As much as Maguire achieved in broadcasting, Haslett trumps him by starting his coaching career at UB and then becoming an NFL head coach.  Haslett is the call for me.

Missed any of the previous numbers from 99 to 56?  Visit the Buffalo Sports By The Numbers section on the home page.

Budd Bailey

Budd Bailey has been involved in almost every aspect of the local sports scene for the last 40 years. He worked for WEBR Radio, the Buffalo Sabres' public relations department and The Buffalo News during that time. In that time he covered virtually every aspect of the area's sports world, from high schools to the Bills and Sabres and everything in between. Along the way, Budd served as a play-by-play announcer for the Bisons, an analyst for the Stallions, and a talk-show host. He won the National Lacrosse League's Tom Borrelli Award as the media personality of the year in 2011, and was a finalist for that same award in 2017. Budd's seventh and eighth books, one on the Transcontinental Railroad and the other about Ichiro Suzuki, are scheduled to be released in the fall.

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