5 players you forgot suited to the Buffalo Bills

Strong points

• Reggie Bush ended his disappointing NFL career with one season with the Buffalo Bills.
• Terrell Owens didn’t quite reach the 1,000-yard mark in his lone year with the Bills, but he came pretty close.
• Percy Harvin played two seasons in Buffalo, catching 21 passes for 224 yards.

Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens was a six-time Pro Bowler, winning the honor with three different teams. Owens began his 15-year NFL career with eight seasons with the San Francisco 49ers, with whom he made four Pro Bowls and was named first-team All-Pro three times.

Owens then shined during stints with the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. He had a total of nine 1,000-yard seasons with his first three teams, but remember his lone year with the Buffalo Bills in 2009? Although he didn’t quite reach the 1,000 yard mark in Buffalo, he was close.

Owens isn’t the only player you may have forgotten about who played for the Bills. Which four join TO on this entertaining list of five?

1 Reggie Bush

Reggie Bush only threw 12 carries during his short stint with the Bills in 2016.

Reggie Bush is arguably one of the best college football players to ever step on the field. A versatile running back for USC, Bush won the Heisman Trophy in 2005 after throwing for 1,740 yards and 16 touchdowns. He averaged 8.7 yards per carry as a junior with the Trojans.

Even though the hype was there, Bush never found that type of success in the NFL. Selected by the New Orleans Saints with the second overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, he failed to live up to the hype.

He played five seasons in New Orleans and never had more than 581 rushing yards in a season. He finished his time with the Saints with 2,090 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns before being traded to the Miami Dolphins in July 2011.

Bush started 15 games in his first year with the Dolphins and had the best season of his career, rushing for 1,086 yards and six touchdowns and averaging 5.0 yards per carry. He narrowly missed the 1,000-yard mark again (986) in 2012, then signed a deal with the Detroit Lions before the 2013 season.

In his first year with the Lions, Bush rushed for 1,006 yards in what would be the final productive season of his 11-year professional career. The Lions released Bush after two seasons and he signed with the San Francisco 49ers for the 2015 season.

After a year with the Niners, Bush latched on to the Bills in 2016. In Buffalo, he appeared in 13 games, rushing 12 times for -3 yards to close out his NFL career.

2 Terrell Owens

Terrell Owens caught 55 passes in his lone season with the Bills in 2009

As mentioned above, Terrell Owens made a name for himself in the first eight years of his 15-year NFL career. He spent those eight seasons with the 49ers, the team that took him in the third round of the 1996 NFL draft.

In eight seasons with the Niners, Owens made four consecutive Pro Bowls from 2000 to 2003 and was named first-team All-Pro from 2000 to 2002. After his eight seasons in San Francisco, Owens played two years with the Philadelphia Eagles, reaching the Super Bowl in his first season after completing 77 passes for 1,200 yards and 14 touchdowns.

From there, he played three seasons with the Dallas Cowboys and continued his dominance. Owens recorded three 1,000-yard seasons in Dallas and was named first team All-Pro for the fifth time during the 2007 campaign.

In 2009, Owens signed with the Bills. Although he fell short of his fourth straight 1,000-yard season, he still made his presence felt in Buffalo, finishing with 55 catches for 829 yards and five touchdowns.

Owens only played one year with the Bills and finished his career with one season with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2010.

3 Percy Harvin

Percy Harvin showed early promise as an explosive receiver for the Vikings

Percy Harvin was one of the most explosive receivers of his era, but he simply couldn’t stay on the field long enough to showcase his talents. A series of injuries and illnesses prevented Harvin, a first-round draft pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 2009, from showing his full potential. In his eight-year NFL career, he only played in all 16 games once.

He played the first four seasons with the Vikings and was named offensive rookie of the year after catching 60 passes for 790 yards and six touchdowns. Harvin, an explosive returner also on special teams, missed time during the season due to recurring migraines.

Harvin’s best statistical season came in 2011, when he had career highs in catches (87) and receiving yards (967). He also finished with six touchdowns, tying his career high.

Harvin was traded to the Seattle Seahawks in March 2013 and suffered a hip injury in the offseason, requiring surgery. He played one game in November but missed the remainder of the season due to complications from surgery.

After playing one season with the New York Jets, Harvin signed with the Bills in 2015. He played two seasons in Buffalo and had a total of 21 catches for 224 yards and a touchdown.

4 Terrelle Pryor

Terrelle Pryor just couldn’t make it big in the NFL, playing for five teams in seven years

Terrelle Pryor made a name for himself as a quarterback at Ohio State, but struggled to settle into the NFL.

The Oakland Raiders took Pryor in the 2011 supplemental draft, and he played three seasons with the team, going 3-7 in 10 starts during that span.

Pryor played for five different teams during his seven-year NFL career and eventually moved to wide receiver. After his time with the Raiders, he played for the Cleveland Browns and had a breakout 2017 season as a receiver, catching 77 passes for 1,007 yards and four touchdowns.

After short stints with the team now known as the Washington Commanders and New York Jets, Pryor signed with the Bills in October 2018 and played in two games with the team, recording two catches for 17 yards before to be released in November.

5 Shawne Merriman

After three Pro Bowl seasons to start his career, injuries proved to be Shawne Merriman’s downfall.

Shawne Merriman made his money with the San Diego Chargers, earning Pro Bowl honors in the first three seasons of his six years with the Bolts.

A fearless linebacker from Maryland, Merriman was named Defensive Rookie of the Year after recording 10 sacks and 57 tackles in his first NFL season in 2005. He followed with the best year of his career in 2006, leading the NFL with 17 bags. although he missed four games after being suspended for testing positive for steroids. He also finished with four forced fumbles and an interception and was named first-team All-Pro.

Merriman had another double-digit sack season in 2007, finishing with 12.5. He also led the NFL in tackles for loss with 19, leading to his third straight Pro Bowl selection and a second-team All-Pro nod.

During training camp in 2008, Merriman experienced knee pain and discovered just before the season that he had torn ligaments. He tried to play until the end, but after one game he underwent reconstructive surgery and missed the rest of the year. Merriman played two more seasons with the Chargers, but was never the same and was waived after the 2010 season.

In 2011, Merriman signed with the Bills and injured his Achilles tendon during his first practice. He ultimately started six games over two seasons in Buffalo and recorded only two sacks before announcing his retirement in March 2013.

All statistics courtesy of Pro Football Reference unless otherwise noted.