By Budd Bailey, Buffalo Sports Page Columnist
Joe Devlin of the Bills
Taken in Round 2 in 1976
Other picks in the round: Chris Bahr (No. 51) led everyone in the round in career NFL games at 210 games, but he was a kicker. Devlin was second. Tony Galbreath had some good moments at running back with the Saints, Don Macek (No. 31 to Washington) and Randy Cross (No. 42 to San Francisco) also had long careers on the offensive line.
The details: Devlin saw a lot of bad times and a few good times with the Bills, but missed the great times. Joe needed a year to reach the starting lineup as an offensive tackle in 1977, and stayed there all the way through 1989. Devlin missed four games in his entire career. He only played on four winning teams, which is probably why he never popped up in the Pro Bowl. So consider him a very underrated player.
Other 52s: Al Bemiller was a part of the Bills’ offensive line from 1961 to 1969. After retirement, he stayed in Buffalo to work in the school system. It took until Year Four for Marcellus Wiley to become a starter for the Bills. Then he jumped to San Diego (six years, $40 million) as a free agent. The defensive end had one good season in 2001, but his production feel off from there.
He got away: Jim Kanicki signed with the Browns in 1963 instead of the Bills, and had seven good years with Cleveland. Then he was traded to the Giants, and spent most of 1970 and 1971 as a starter in New York.
(Follow Budd on Twitter @WDX2BB)
Leave a Reply