Joe Ferguson Joseph Carlton Ferguson , Jr . ( born April 23 , 1950 in Alvin , Texas ) is a former American football quarterback in the NFL . He played high school football in Shreveport , Louisiana for Woodlawn High School , guiding the Knights to the Louisiana High School Athletic Association Class AAA ( the top classification at the time ) state championship in 1968 . Ferguson succeeded Terry Bradshaw as Woodlawn ' s starting quarterback . Ferguson played college football at the University of Arkansas , where he held the school ' s single game record for most completions ( 31 against Texas A & M in 1971 ) and in that same season was named the Southwest Conference ' s Offensive Player of the Year . The Buffalo Bills selected Ferguson in the third round of the 1973 NFL Draft . Although he is most famous for playing with the Bills from 1973 to 1984 , Ferguson also played three seasons for the Detroit Lions and two seasons for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and one final season with the Indianapolis Colts . Ferguson placed in the top 10 in pass attempts five times , completions and passing yards four times , passing touchdown s six times , and yard s per pass three times . At one time he shared , with Ron Jaworski , the NFL record for consecutive starts by a quarterback with 107 , until he was replaced by Joe Dufek on September 30 , 1984 . He has a 1 - 3 record in the NFL postseason , winning against the New York Jets in 1981 . His three losses came from the Cincinnati Bengals in those same playoffs , the San Diego Chargers the year before in 1980 ( a game in which he played the entire contest with a sprained ankle ) , and in 1974 to the Pittsburgh Steelers . He retired after the 1990 season after playing only one game with the Colts . Ferguson ' s best season came in the 1975 campaign , when he tied Fran Tarkenton for the NFL lead with 25 touchdown passes and compiled a passer rating of 81 . 3 . Ferguson also surpassed 20 touchdown passes on three other occasions ( 1980 , 1981 & 1983 ) . Ferguson is one of few quarterbacks who started immediately as a rookie , and his team won four of his first six starts . He is one of only two rookie quarterbacks to accomplish this feat , being joined by the Atlanta Falcons ' Matt Ryan in 2008 . In 1993 , Ferguson was inducted into the Bills ' Wall of Fame . Seven years earlier , he had been inducted in the National Federation of State High Schools Association ' s Hall of Fame in 1986 for his outstanding play at the high school level . The number 12 has been retired by the Bills in honor of both Ferguson and Jim Kelly . He is also in the Arkansas and Louisiana halls of fame . He returned to football in 1995 when , at the age of 45 , he signed a contract with the San Antonio Texans of the Canadian Football League . He retired at the end of the year to become the quarterbacks coach at the University of Arkansas . He later coached at Louisiana Tech University , Ruston High School , and Captain Shreve High School in Shreveport , Louisiana , as head coach . He has since returned to Arkansas and is in the commercial / residential real estate business . In May 2005 , Ferguson was diagnosed with Burkitt ' s lymphoma cancer and underwent treatment at The University of Texas M . D . Anderson Cancer Center in Houston , Texas . In January 2008 , Ferguson was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia . In February 2008 , he was treated at M . D . Anderson in the intensive care unit for pneumonia . In July 2009 , it was reported that Ferguson had recovered from his battles with cancer . Ferguson is a brother - in - law of Joe Raymond Peace , former Louisiana Tech University head football coach , who is married to Ferguson ' s sister , Carolyn . He is an uncle of former University of Tennessee Volunteers player Robert Joseph Peace , a son of Joe and Carolyn Peace . Ferguson is an honorary board member for S . A . V . E . ( Student Against Violence Education ) . References .