Billy Shaw, Hall of Fame guard and Bills legend, dead at 85

Pro Football Hall of Fame guard and Buffalo Bills legend Billy Shaw, who helped lead his team to back-to-back championships in the AFL, died on Friday. He was 85. 

Shaw, a legend at Georgia Tech, passed away surrounded by family at his home in Toccoa, Ga., the Hall of Fame confirmed in a statement. According to the family, hyponatremia was cited as his cause of death. 

"Billy Shaw holds the distinction of being the only member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to play his entire career in the American Football League, but while that fact is worthy of noting and nice to recite, it comes nowhere near providing the reason he was elected as a member of the Class of 1999," Hall of Fame President Jim Porter said.

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"Billy’s all-around athleticism brought a new dimension to the guard position and made the 1960s Buffalo Bills a formidable opponent capable of bruising opponents with a punishing rushing attack," Porter continued. "And while Billy could be unforgiving to anyone in his way on the football field, he was the classic example of the ‘Southern gentlemen’ off the field to everyone he encountered."

Shaw was born in Natchez, Miss., where he began his football career at Carr Central High School. He would go on to play at Georgia Tech, where he was an All-American, two-way player. 

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Shaw was drafted by two teams in 1961 – the Bills and the Dallas Cowboys – who played in the then-rival National Football League. But knowing the Cowboys' desire to have him play defense, Shaw signed with the AFL, where he would go on to become a Bills legend. 

In his nine seasons, Shaw was an eight-time All-Star, a five-time All-AFL selection, and helped the Bills to back-to-back AFL championships from 1964-1965. He retired the year before the merger in 1970. 

"I'm devastated to learn of Billy Shaw's passing," Georgia Tech football coach Brent Key said in a statement on Friday.  

"Billy was very special to me personally, and very special to the Georgia Tech football family. He was one of the best linemen to ever play the game of football, but an even better man. He represented everything it means to be a Tech Man. We will miss him terribly. On behalf of the entire Georgia Tech football family, I send our very deepest condolences to his wife, Patsy, their daughters, Cindy, Cathy and Cheryl, his grandson and my very dear friend, Jake Thornton, and the entire Shaw family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them tonight."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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