Where Are They Now: Daryle Lamonica
Lamonica helped the Bills to back-to-back AFL titles buffalobills.com
By Jim Gehman, Fresno Bee
Daryle Lamonica helped the Bills to a 12-2 record and the first of back-to-back AFL titles in 1964.
Persistence certainly paid off for the Bills in 1963. Even though Daryle Lamonica was drafted by the NFL’s Green Bay Packers in the 12th round, the Notre Dame quarterback chose to go with Buffalo, who were then playing in the AFL and had selected him in the 24th round.
"(Green Bay’s) scout had contacted me right after the draft and said he’d be back in a few days. Two or three weeks went by and no one contacted me. The Bills were contacting me daily and wanted to sign me. I had the East-West Shrine Game coming up and they convinced me to sign a contract before I went and played that game so in case I got hurt, I’d still have a contract," said Lamonica. "I can remember negotiating with Johnny Mazur, the receivers coach with the Bills. They offered me a $1,500 signing bonus and an $11,500 contract. You’ve got to understand, I was from Fresno, California and my mom was sending me five dollars a week out of her beauty shop tips. That was my date money and my spare money and I got along pretty good.
"I went to (Notre Dame head coach) Joe Kuharich and he said, ‘That’s a pretty good contract and you ought to sign it.’ I remember walking back to my dorm and I thought, ‘God, I’m worth more money than that!’ So I called Johnny Mazur back and I said, ‘Coach, I’m ready to sign but I’ve got to have more money.’ He said, ‘Well, what do you need?’ I said, ‘I need a $2,000 bonus and a $12,000 contract.’ There was a long pause at the other end of the phone. He said (later that) he was laughing so hard he almost dropped the phone. He said, ‘The contract’s in the mail.’"
Lamonica continued. "So I sent it back and went to the East-West game and was able to win the MVP. I had scouts coming up after the game saying, ‘We’ll give you a $100,000 bonus and a $100,000 contract to sign.’ I’m going, ‘What!?’ I didn’t realize there was that much money in the whole world! But hell, with that (extra) $500 I was able to end up buying a new Chevrolet Impala convertible."
With the car’s top down, Lamonica put the pedal to the metal and in a sense, floored Lou Saban. Impressed during training camp, the head coach put him on the team as Jack Kemp’s backup. Lamonica also handled the punting duties with 52 kicks and a 40.1 average. The following season, Kemp passed for 2,285 yards and 13 touchdowns, while Lamonica totaled 1.137 passing yards and six scores. They helped lead the Bills to a 12-2 record and the first of back-to-back AFL titles.
"Our chemistry was just perfect. We prided ourselves for being really in good shape so we could finish the fourth quarter. It didn’t matter what the situation was or what the weather was, we were a physical lot. We worked hard and the camaraderie we had as a team, it just jelled. We didn’t care whether the offense won it, the defense won it, or special teams won it. We always seemed to pull it out. We just felt that we could win and nobody could beat us," Lamonica said.
"I think what made us special is that the offensive line contributed to the game plan, the wide receivers contributed, all the backs, everybody had a little input into what we wanted to do and how we wanted to do it. That made it really easy because we were able to talk on the sideline and ask what was going on with the offensive line. And the receivers (would say) they thought they could do certain things. Then we’d dictate by offensive formation and get the situation that we wanted."
As it would turn out, that season was when Lamonica believes Oakland Raiders boss Al Davis initially decided that he wanted the young quarterback to wear the Silver and Black.
In 1967, Lamonica was traded to Oakland for quarterback Tom Flores and wide receiver Art Powell.
"I called a post pattern to Elbert Dubenion and dropped back to throw and Ben Davidson, their right defensive end, had come clean. I threw a long pass to Dubenion and he caught in full stride for a touchdown. Davidson really unloaded on me. I was told later that when Al Davis saw me take the hit and get up on one knee to see if the pass was completed, he wanted to get me as a quarterback."
In 1967, Davis got his wish. Oakland traded quarterback Tom Flores and wide receiver Art Powell for Lamonica and wide receiver Glenn Bass.
"I was shocked! The night before, I had talked to Ralph Wilson Jr. and Sr., and they both told me they were looking forward to me being their starting quarterback and coming back. Hell, I was all jazzed up. I could have run through brick walls. Eight hours later, I was traded," said Lamonica. " It’s how I found out about the trade I guess that was the biggest shock to me.
"I was in my hometown (Clovis, Calif.), and some buddies came up and said, ‘Hey, you’ve been traded to the Raiders.’ I said, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ok.’ I had to call the Fresno Bee, my hometown paper to find out. Well, I was devastated from having talked to the Bills organization the night before. I thought I would play more ball there, but as I found out, it’s a business. As it worked out for me, it was the best thing that could have happened for me. It gave me an opportunity to come back to the West Coast, where I was born and raised."
Lamonica and his wife, Mary, still reside on the West Coast, in Central California. They have two adult sons: Brian, who has a construction trucking company in Rochester, Minn. He is married and has three children; and Brandon, who recently graduated from Fresno State and is now involved in commercial real estate.
"The Mad Bomber" stays busy these days in commercial real estate and with some public speaking engagements. He’s also stayed loyal to his passion of hunting and fishing.
"That’s the way I stay in shape. Three years ago, I had a total artificial titanium (left) knee put in. That’s working out just great. I’m going up and down canyons that I haven’t been in in 30 years. I play 18 holes of golf with no pain. So I feel very fortunate that I’ve got good health and my family is all in good health."
No comments:
Post a Comment