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.

#84

Ernie Warlick, Bills. The tight end only played in four seasons in Buffalo, but they were good ones. Warlick won two championships with the Bills. Twice he averaged more than 20 yards per catch, amazing for a tight end. Warlick later became a popular sports broadcaster in Buffalo. Others: Scott Chandler, Bills; Keith McKeller, Bills; Brandon Francis, Bandits.

Paul Peck’s Digit Discussion:  I personally got to know Ernie Warlick, and his heart was as big as his huge hands.  He was a trailblazer, and for that I can’t argue with Budd’s choice.  But Keith McKeller has a place in Bills history.  Not all fans know that the famed “K-Gun” offense was actually named after McKeller, and not Jim Kelly.  McKeller was an athletic, downfield tight end who balanced out the size and blocking ability of Pete Metzelaars.  It was the Bills ability to keep two tight ends on the field to gain mismatches that led to the no-huddle, fast paced offense that tore up the NFL in the early 1990’s.

Missed any of the previous numbers from 99 to 85?  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.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *