Former Buffalo Bills Center Kent Hull 1961-2011

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Kent Hull, one of the best players in the Buffalo Bills' Super Bowl era and one of the strongest leaders the team ever has seen, has died at age 50.

Hull apparently suffered a heart attack in his hometown of Greenwood, Miss. A family friend at his home could not confirm that this evening.

Hull is the greatest center who ever played for the Bills. He anchored the Bills' offensive line from 1986 to 1996 and was one of the most important members of the Bills' no-huddle offense, making all of the line's blocking adjustments for quarterback Jim Kelly.

A three-time Pro Bowler, Hull was inducted onto the Bills' Wall of Fame in 2002. He was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame in 1997.

"Of all 47 years of my coaching career, this was one of the most memorable guys I ever had the honor to coach," said Bills Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy. "I'm so sad to hear it. He was a great leader, certainly. He was as likable a guy as you could meet, family-oriented, a great citizen. I'm stunned."

"He was bigger than life, and I don't think he really got his just due, even though he went to some Pro Bowls," said Bills great receiver Andre Reed. "He was one of the best."

"Kent was a soft-spoken guy, and he was one of the smartest guys I ever met, too," Reed said. "I'm sad for his family, and all the people who knew him. He's going to be missed as a friend."

"Everybody genuflected to Kent Hull," former Bills General Manager Bill Polian told The News in 2002. "People don't realize what a leader he was on that team. When Kent spoke and took a stand, the debate was over. Everybody shut up and followed Kent."

Hull played college football at Mississippi State and began his pro career in 1983 with the New Jersey Generals of the upstart United States Football League. When the USFL folded, Polian signed him to a Bills contract, and he arrived in Buffalo the same day as Kelly — Aug. 18, 1986.

By coincidence, Hull's plane arrived in Buffalo 45 minutes ahead of Kelly's. Kelly rode in a limousine from the airport to a downtown news conference. Hull rode right behind in an equipment van.

"The way I like to describe it is, Jim rode in on a limo and I rode in on a load of pumpkins," Hull once said.

That was probably the last time he took a back seat with the Bills. He played 189 games over the next 11 seasons, including four Super Bowls. He missed only two games in his Bills career.

Hull, at 6-foot-5 and 285 pounds, brought great athleticism, long arms and natural strength to the center position. But his greatest asset was his sharp mind and knowledge of the game.

"Even Dermontti Dawson said to me Kent was a great, great football player, and Dermontti is going to be in the Hall of Fame soon," said Reed, referring to Pittsburgh's dominant center of the 1990s.

"Jim Kelly was the master," former Bills offensive coordinator and line coach Tom Bresnahan told The News in 2002. "But if he hadn't had Hull, he couldn't have run the no-huddle as well. The reason is, we went so fast, especially in the early days when the defenses didn't understand us. Only a man of football genius, like Kent, could have responded to the calls Jim was making and made his own calls in the limited time available."

Hull made the Pro Bowl in 1989, 1990 and 1991. The Bills' offense ranked in the top six in the NFL in yards gained for five straight years, from 1989 to 1993. The Bills were the top-scoring team in the league in 1990 and the top-rushing team in the league in 1991 and 1992.

In his retirement, Hull ran a family farm in Greenwood, Miss, that spanned about 2,500 acres and included about 700 head of cattle.

He is survived by his wife, Kay, and two children, Drew and Ellen.

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Kent Hull