This Day in Buffalo Sports History: A start
July 30, 1960 -- When several dozen football players took the field at War Memorial Stadium, they had no idea of the significance of what they were doing. They were starting a tradition that continues to this day.
They did know that it was the first game in the history of the Boston Patriots and the Buffalo Bills, a preseason opener. And they also knew that it was the first game under the banner of the American
Footblal League. But they had no idea what might be ahead.
The Patriots went on to win that game by an irrelevant 28-7 score. Defensive end Bob Dee scored the first touchdown in league history when he recovered a fumble in the end zone.
Maurice Bassett scored the first touchdown in Bills' history, which came when Boston was ahead, 20-0. Bassett was cut later in the week, so the TD didn't do him much good.
About 16,000 watched that game. By the way, two AFL fixtures were on the scene that day. The Patriots' coach was Lou Saban, and Buffalo would learn a lot about him in the years ahead. The Bills' announcer was Van Miller, who would stay for most of the next 40-plus years.
The AFL survived that first year, successfully fought the established National Football League, and lasted a decade before merging with the NFL.
--- Budd Bailey
