Pro Football Legend Billy Shaw Passes Away at 85 After Courageous Health Battle.

Billy Shaw, a legend of the Buffalo Bills, passed away at the age of 85 after suffering from health problems, his family has confirmed. Shaw, an offensive lineman inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, passed away on Friday, October 4, from hyponatremia, a disorder characterized by dangerously low blood sodium levels.

Shaw was a standout player in the American Football League (AFL) and is regarded as one of the most successful Bills players ever. Billy Shaw is the only Hall of Famer to have played in the AFL for the entirety of his career, a notable accomplishment that hardly begins to explain why he was inducted in the Class of 1999, said Hall of Fame president Jim Porter. The 1960s Buffalo Bills were a formidable team with a potent rushing attack thanks to his incredible athleticism, which gave the guard position a new dimension. He demonstrated to everyone what a “Southern gentleman” was all about when he was not playing.

Born in Mississippi in 1938, Shaw began his athletic career at Georgia Tech on a football scholarship. Following an outstanding collegiate career, he was selected in the 1961 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills, where he spent his whole playing career. Just before the AFL and NFL merged, in 1969, he retired from the team after just one season, having won two AFL championships and being named an AP All-Pro five times.