Buffalo Bills History: Who Wore Number 6

Oct. 14, 2012; Glendale, AZ, USA; Buffalo Bills punter Shawn Powell (6) against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY SportsWe have so far looked at the players in Bills history that have worn the numbers 1 – 5. Today we begin who those players were to wear the number 6.

It started back in 1971. The first player to wear the number 6 was a punter, Dave Chapple. Chapple was draft in 1969 by the San Francisco 49ers but suffered a back injury and wasn’t able to play for 2 years. He came to the Bills in 71 and only played for them for that year. He moved on to e Rams and then finished his career with the Patriots in 1974.

Tom Dempsey is the next player to wear the #6. He finished off his 10 year career in Buffalo during the years of 1978 and 1979. Dempsey held the record for longest field at 63 yards made in 1970 when he was with the Saints. It was later tied by Jason Elam in 1998 and then by 2 other players, Janikowski in 2011 and Akers in 2012. It was topped by Matt Prater in 2013, 64 yards. Dempsey was born with no toes on his right foot and no fingers on his right hands. It was proven that his square shoe did not provide an advantage for kicking and was actually said to be tougher because of the smaller contact area.

Number 3 is another K/P for the Bills to wear number 6, John Nies, 1990. He was drafted by the Bills in the 6th round of the 1990 draft and only played one season in the NFL.

The 4th of 5 players to wear number 6 is that of Shane Matthews. Matthews came into e league in 1993 being drafted by the Chicago Bears. The Bills were one of 6 teams that he played for over. 13 year career. He was part of the Bills during the 2004-2005 seasons. While with the Bills, Matthews had three appearances and no starts.

The final number 6 for the Bills is 2012 undrafted free agent Shawn Powell. Powell was brought in by the Bills to replace the aging Moorman. After appearing in 18 games, e Bills released Powell after a dismal showing on Thursday night against the Browns. motorman was brought back in to replace Powell. Powell was signed by the Bengals in 2013 to replaced injured punter Huber but was released two weeks later after having a punt of 10 yards in a game against the Ravens.