Monday, April 4, 2016

1977 Profile: Bob Chandler

Wide Receiver
No. 81
USC
"The most underrated wide receiver in the NFL. No other NFL receiver caught as many as he did last year.  Buffalo's one-man receiving corps, Chandler had 61 catches last year- the next best total on the team was 22- and caught 10 of Buffalo's 16 touchdown passes. Not fast, but he has excellent hands and runs good patterns. The players voted him the Bills MVP last year. A seventh round draft choice in 1971, Chandler has 117 receptions the last two years.
Born in Long Beach, California, he was the team captain at Southern Cal. He's an off-season law student at Western State (CA) and is a good golfer. Chandler is active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes."

-Rich Kucner, The Complete Handbook of Pro Football, 1977 Edition

"Chandler led all wide receivers in the NFL in 1976 with 61 catches for 824 yards. His 10 touchdown receptions tied a Buffalo record set by Elbert Dubenion in 1964. His reception total was the second best in Buffalo history (Bill Miller caught 69 passes in 1963) and his yardage total was the best since 1970 when Marlin Briscoe caught passes good for 1,063 yards.
He currently ranks second on the Bills all-time receiving list with 191 catches, 2,673 yards and 25 touchdowns. Bob has caught 116 passes in the last two years, more than anyone in the NFL.
Bob caught three touchdown passes in the Kansas City game, all in the first half, to tie another Buffalo mark. He had the longest catch of his career in 1976, a 58-yard touchdown pass in the Tampa Bay game.
He caught 55 passes in 1975 despite missing a game with a rib injury. He was slowed most of the 1974 season with a knee injury which was corrected by surgery in the off-season. Chandler led the Bills in receiving in 1973.
He runs precise patterns and relies on his quickness, his moves and his sure hands. He's the holder on conversions and field goal tries.
Bob was captain and an All-Pacific Eight flanker for the USC Trojans. He was Player of the Game in Southern California's 1970 Rose Bowl victory over Michigan, and played in the East-West Shrine game. Bob caught eight passes for 115 yards and one touchdown in his first game as a USC starter.
He led USC in pass receptions in each of his three varsity seasons. A member of the USC track team, his events were the long jump, the high jump and the triple jump.
During the off-season Bob attends law school and will soon have a law degree. He has been active in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes program and is a talented golfer. He was a finance major at USC with a minor in physical education."

-Buffalo Bills 1977 Press-Radio-TV Yearbook

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