Albert Delane Bemiller (April 18, 1938 – November 30, 2022) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was an

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line (OL), while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line ( ...

for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

(AFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

. He was a member of two

AFL championship For its first nine seasons, 1960 through 1968, the American Football League determined its champion via a single playoff game between the winners of its two divisions (although ties in the standings in 1963 (Eastern) and 1968 (Western) necessitat ...

s with the Bills and was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Hall of Fame in 2015.

Buffalo Bills

Bemiller was drafted as an

by the

in 1961, when he immediately became their starting center, replacing Dan McGrew, although the latter was the All-AFL 2nd team center in the Bills' inaugural season of 1960. During the 1961 season, Bemiller played in all 14 games, between fellow rookie

Billy Shaw William Lewis Shaw (December 15, 1938 – October 4, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a guard for the Buffalo Bills in the American Football League (AFL). After playing college football for the Georgia Tech Yellow Ja ...

at left

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tende ...

and second year pro Chuck Muelhaupt at right guard, under

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Buster Ramsey Garrard Sliger "Buster" Ramsey (March 16, 1920 – September 16, 2007) was an American football player for the College of William and Mary and Chicago Cardinals. He was defensive coordinator for three Detroit Lions championship teams in the ...

. In 1962, he continued to play center next to Shaw and new right guard Tom Day under new head coach

Lou Saban Louis Henry Saban (October 13, 1921 – March 29, 2009) was an American football player and coach. He played for Indiana University in college and as a professional for the Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) between ...

. These three linemen would play together up to 1963, when the Bills tied for first place in the AFL east division, but lost a playoff game to the

Boston Patriots Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

. In 1964, Bemiller was switched to right

, playing between veteran center Walt Cudzik and right

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tendency to cause acts of violence by the ...

Dick Hudson, when the Bills won their first AFL championship. They repeated in 1965, when Bemiller became an

AFL All-Star The American Football League All-Star game was the annual game which featured each year's best performers in the American Football League (AFL). The game was first played in 1961 and the final AFL All-Star game occurred in 1969, prior to the lea ...

at right guard, still next to Hudson but with a new center,

Dave Behrman David Wesley Behrman (''Pronounced:'' BEER-man) (November 9, 1941 – December 9, 2014) was an American football offensive lineman who played in the American Football League (AFL) for the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos. He was the fourth over ...

. In 1966, under new head coach

Joe Collier Joel Dale Collier (June 7, 1932 – May 6, 2024) was an American professional football coach who was the head coach of the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League (AFL) from 1966 through part of 1968, compiling a 13–16–1 record. He l ...

, Bemiller switched back to center, playing between Shaw and right guard Joe O'Donnell. From 1967 to 1969, he remained the starting center but also played left

in 1967. In 1968, he played between Shaw and

Bob Kalsu James Robert Kalsu (April 13, 1945 – July 21, 1970) was an American professional football player who was an All-American tackle at the University of Oklahoma and an eighth-round selection in the 1968 NFL/AFL draft by the Buffalo Bills of the ...

and in 1969, his final year, between Shaw and O'Donnell. Bemiller was replaced the following year by Frank Marchlewski. In his nine-year career with the Bills, he never missed a game.

Post NFL

After playing for the Bills, Bemiller became a

substitute teacher A substitute teacher is a person who teaches a school class when the regular teacher is absent or unavailable; e.g., because of illness, personal leave, maternal leave and so on. "Substitute teacher" (usually abbreviated as sub) is the most c ...

for the

Buffalo Public Schools Buffalo Public Schools serves approximately 31,000 students in Buffalo, New York, It is located in Erie County, New York, Erie County of western New York and operates nearly 70 facilities. History The Buffalo Public School System was started ...

and could be seen on occasion at

Hutchinson Central Technical High School Hutchinson Central Technical High School, informally known as Hutch-Tech, is a high school in the City of Buffalo, New York. Its founding on September 14, 1904 under the name ''Mechanics Arts High School'' marked the beginning of technical educa ...

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. Bemiller also worked 33 years as a high school wrestling official for the Niagara Frontier Wrestling Officials Association of section 6 (NYS), from 1970 to 2003 and was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. Bemiller also worked 25 years as a recreation coordinator at Wyoming Correctional Facility in Attica. Bemiller's grandson,

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Jake Dolegala Jake Dolegala (born October 7, 1996) is an American professional football quarterback for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Central Connecticut, and signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as ...

, was signed as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

in 2019. Bemiller died on November 30, 2022, at the age of 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bemiller, Al 1938 births 2022 deaths American football centers Buffalo Bills players Syracuse Orange football players American Football League All-Star players Sportspeople from Hanover, Pennsylvania Players of American football from York County, Pennsylvania American Football League players Schoolteachers from New York (state)

Buffalo Bills

Post NFL

See also

References