Two more Buffalo Bills personnel will be added to the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in the Class of 2016; longtime trainer Bud Carpenter and former All-Pro guard Reggie McKenzie. The official induction won’t be until this fall.
McKenzie enjoyed was drafted by the Bills in the second round of the 1972 draft to pave the way for O.J. Simpson. As a member of the vaunted Electric Company, McKenzie helped turn on The Juice immediately and in 1973, Simpson became the first running back in league history to go over 2000 yards in a single season, helping to earn McKenzie his lone All-Pro nod. Even more impressively, McKenzie started every game for the Bills for nine seasons and 147 in total before playing two final years with the Seattle Seahawks.
As team employees go, Carpenter is a rarity. He’s been with the Bills more than 30 seasons and more than 20 in his role as head athletic trainer. His staff was twice honored as the NFL’s Training Staff of the Year; in 2007 following the Kevin Everett injury and again in 2014.
The total membership in the GBSHOF now tops 300. The other 2016 inductees are basketball official Benjy Bluman, NFL fullback Don Bosseler, basketball coach Sal Buscaglia, UB wrestling coach Ed Michael, prolific Buffalo sabres goal scorer Alex Mogilny, track and field athlete Cindy Wyatt, and posthumous inductions track and field booster Carl Brandt, Buffalo Bisons executive Frank Offermann, boxing and football official Frank Rustich, and youth hockey advocate Bob Westphal.