Where Are They Now: Charley Ferguson
Ferguson played with the Bills from 1963-69

buffalobills.com
Jan 29, 2003

By Jim Gehman

Wide receiver Charley Ferguson was part of a successful Buffalo Bills team in the mid-60's

In the early 1960s, Charley Ferguson proved he could catch passes in the NFL. He even proved he could send messages by using his fingertips. But what he couldn’t do was get a raise in salary. And as it turned out, that negotiating setback would pay off for the Bills.

"My first year was with the Browns. At that time, (the U.S. Armed Forces) were drafting. (Cleveland head coach) Paul Brown, so (his eligible players) couldn’t be drafted, liked to get a lot of guys into the military by putting them in the National Reserve unit in Cleveland. And after I got out (following six months of duty), I was late reporting to (the Browns’ training) camp because I had not finished my M.O.S. school. And they told me, until I got an M.O.S., I’d have to finish. So I was in radio school dealing with Morse Code. Paul traded me during the exhibition season to Minnesota and so I went and played a full year there in ‘62. And then, believe it or not, I was a holdout for $15 hundred the next year. That’s peanuts in comparison to today, but they would not give me the $15 hundred increase. And I was the leading receiver on the team. So then, they released me at the last exhibition game.

"But there was an individual who was with the Bills (as the general manager) by the name of Dick Gallagher. Gallagher was a person who knew me (while both worked for the Browns). So I was contacted by the Bills and I got here in 1963. The Bills were coming off of a (two game) West Coast swing and when they returned, I was here waiting. I tried out and did extremely well and (head coach) Lou (Saban) offered me a contract. And I tried to get that $15 hundred in that offer," Ferguson laughed. "He gave it to me and believe it or not, I started at $75 hundred, so I went up to $9 thousand."

Ferguson earned the raise midway through the season when one of Buffalo’s starting receivers, Bill Miller, was out with an injury. Ferguson helped beat the Patriots by hauling in a 72-yard touchdown pass from Jack Kemp with only 28 seconds left on the clock. Buffalo beat Boston 28-21.

"Right before the game was about to end, Lou and (assistant coach) John Mazur called me to the side, and they called Jack over, and said, ‘We want you to run a deep streak pattern. Which is an up pattern, just different terminology. I saw how (the Patriots) were sagging off, trying to get to the outside of me, and I just kind of veered over a little more to the center of the field. It was just wide open. Jack read me extremely well. He threw it and I made the catch and it’s all history after that."

Unfortunately for Ferguson, he wasn’t able to participate when the Bills made history in 1964 by winning their first AFL championship.

"I went back to Cleveland in the offseason and was playing with the Browns’ basketball team. There was a famous baseball player there with the Cleveland Indians by the name of "Mudcat" Grant. We were playing and he fell while trying to get a rebound. Then I fell on his ankle which twisted my ankle. It was very painful and I had a lot of problems with my ankle," said Ferguson. "And then by the time training camp started, it still was not well. I used to run like I had a pinching sensation. At that time, (Bills’ team) Dr. Godfrey looked at it and took x-rays and said that calcium had built up in my ankle. He went in and scraped the bones around the ankle and I just didn’t recover during the ‘64 season."

Ferguson retired last May after working in management for 32 years at Delphi Harrison in Lockport, NY.

Fully recovered for the ‘65 campaign, through 11 games, Ferguson had a career-high 21 receptions for 262 yards. However, during the season’s 12th game against Houston, he suffered a pulled hamstring that would sideline him for the remainder of the year. That included the 1965 AFL Championship Game.

"I was a starter and then I pulled a muscle. I tried to come back and I felt good. (Bills trainer Ed) Abramoski had warned me. He said, ‘Do not try to run hard. Just gradually build yourself up.’ And me, I wanted to go out there and prove that I was okay. And immediately, I pulled it again. So they gave Ernie (Warlick) an opportunity to play in my slot. They went to the double-tight end formation and I think Ernie caught one touchdown in that game." He did, an 18-yard toss from Kemp, as Buffalo blanked the Chargers 23-0.

Ferguson’s playing days came to an end following the ‘69 season with 62 career receptions and 13 touchdowns, six while with the Bills.

"One thing that I’m proud of is being able to be part of a team that I thought was very, very good. Both defensively and offensively. What I mean by that is - the three years that we had a lot of success, ‘64, ‘65 and ‘66, although we did lose the (‘66) championship game to Kansas City. If we would have won that game, that would have given us the first opportunity of playing in the Super Bowl," Ferguson said. "I just thought at that time, we were really unified, a lot of camaraderie, the guys were very close, and we just showed that all the way. On the field and off the field."

Retiring last May after working in management for 32 years at Delphi Harrison in Lockport, NY; Ferguson and his wife, Janice, an assistant superintendent in the Buffalo school system, live in suburban Buffalo. They have a daughter, Victoria, 20, who is in her third year of college at Howard University, majoring in legal communications.

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