April 23, 2000
BILLS ADD SAIMES AND KALSU TO WALL OF FAME
Orchard Park, NY - The Buffalo Bills today announced that former players George Saimes and Bob Kalsu will be added to the team's Wall of Fame for 2000. The two men will become the 15
th and 16th members of the Wall and this season will mark the only time in team history that more than one individual will be added.Saimes joined the Bills as a sixth round draft pick in 1963 following an All-America career as a defensive back and fullback at Michigan State. He went on to spend the next seven seasons as a safety with the Bills and was a key contributor on the Buffalo teams that captured back-to-back AFL titles in 1964 and '65. Saimes was selected as an AFL All-Star five times and is a member of the all-time AFL Defensive Team. In 1999, he was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame for his accomplishments with the team. Saimes has spent the last 18 years in the NFL as a scout, including the last 15 with the Washington Redskins. He recently left his position as Director of College Scouting with the Redskins to join the personnel department of the NFL franchise awarded to Houston.
A native of Oklahoma City, Kalsu was an All-America tackle at the University of Oklahoma and was an eighth-round draft pick by Buffalo in 1968. In his first year with the Bills, he started eight games as a guard and was voted the team's top rookie for 1968. Following the '68 season, he began fulfilling his ROTC obligation with the United States Army and started his tour of duty in Vietnam in November of 1969. On July 21, 1970, First Lt. James Robert Kalsu was killed by mortar fire defending Ripcord Base on an isolated jungle mountaintop near Vietnam's Ashua Valley. Kalsu is the only professional football player killed in Vietnam. This July will mark the 30
th anniversary of Kalsu's death. Last season, NFL Films produced a feature on Kalsu that has been nominated for an Emmy. Coincidentally, Kalsu's selection to the Wall of Fame took place on what would have been his 55th birthday, April 13th.The Wall of Fame was started in 1980 to honor former players, administrators, and coaches who have played significant roles in the team's history. To be eligible for induction, an individual must have played with the Bills for at least three years and be retired from professional football. Also eligible are other individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the Bills, including administrators and coaches.
Selections are made by a distinguished panel composed of media members and club personnel.