WWM Flashback: Rutkowski Helps Bills Catch O.J.

With the Bills coming off two gruesome losses and a victory that could easily be called wholly undeserved, it seems like a good time to remember that things could always be worse.

Much, much worse.

If you need convincing, watch the clip above, if you haven't already.

The 1968 Bills closed their season against the Houston Oilers, the ancestors of the 2012 version's opponent on Sunday, the Tennessee Titans.

The early moments of the highlights from that game, embedded below courtesy of YouTube, the preeminent copyright-infringement clearinghouse on the internet, feature Ed Rutkowski, the former wide receiver and future Erie County Executive. Injuries to future Bills coach Kay Stephenson, future two-time Super Bowl-winning Raiders coach Tom Flores, Dan Darragh and every other ambulatory passer in upstate New York forced Rutkowski into action at quarterback two weeks earlier.

The Bills, 1-9-1 at the time, lost relatively close games in Denver and Oakland over a four-day span. The latter was on Thanksgiving Day. The first meeting between the two teams (most American Football League teams met twice each season) resulted in a 48-6 Raiders win at War Memorial Stadium, ending the coaching tenure of Joe Collier, and ushering in the first Harvey Johnson Era.

Collier, the architect of the Buffalo defenses that backboned the 1964-65 AFL championship teams, had fallen from favor with Ralph Wilson after ordering a full-contact scrimmage during training camp after a poor exhibition game, during which Jack Kemp suffered a season-ending knee injury.

In the return match in Oakland, which most Western New Yorkers could watch as their turkey dinners settled, the Bills kept it close, thanks in large part to an off-day by Daryle Lamonica, who had left Buffalo after four seasons backing up Kemp to lead Oakland to the previous year's Super Bowl. The Bills had a chance to win or tie in the closing moments, but Rutkowski fumbled it away near the goal line.

So, it almost goes without saying, he became a folk hero in Buffalo. The fact he was Polish and Catholic certainly didn't hurt (and, being half the former by blood and somewhat the latter via immersion, I'm allowed to say that). Or maybe it was the novelty of seeing a quarterback wearing the number 40 on his jersey.

It certainly was not because he played the position very well. As the clip above shows, Rutkowski wasn't much at throwing the ball. Or holding onto it as it was snapped to him, for that matter. Imagine the current Bills resorting to Brad Smith at quarterback for an entire game, and you've got the idea.

Whatever the case, Rutkowski -- who was already a popular backup receiver and special-teamer, more for the reasons mentioned above than for anything he did on the field -- parlayed his brief bit of fame, as well as his friendship with soon-to-be Congressman Kemp, into a single term as Erie County Executive in the 1980s, followed by a much longer stint on the state parks commission.

The '68 Bills did not fare nearly as well in their season finale in Houston, but there was one bright spot resulting from the 35-6 loss, as pointed out by the final lines of the clip.

In case you haven't figured it out, the first overall pick they secured by getting thumped was a running back from the University of Southern California named O.J. Simpson.