After a 4-5 strike-shortened season in 1982, Knox failed to come to terms on a new contract with team owner Ralph Wilson, and left to accept the head coaching position with the Seahawks on January 26, 1983.
Ralph Wilson briefly considered putting his American Football League (AFL) franchise in Miami, but city officials turned him down.
Bills owner Ralph Wilson cooperated and, for the good of the league, traded Abruzzese to the Jets, who under Namath's leadership went on to defeat the NFL's overrated Baltimore Colts in the third AFL-NFL World Championship game.
As CEO, Brandon increased his influence on the team and handled most of its day-to-day operations while owner Ralph Wilson's health began to decline.
However, he was passed over in his first year in a class that included Bruce Smith, Ralph Wilson, Derrick Thomas and Rod Woodson.
Woodrow Wilson | Ralph Waldo Emerson | Ralph Lauren | Ralph Nader | Ralph Vaughan Williams | Harold Wilson | Pete Wilson | Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars | Brian Wilson | Ralph Fiennes | Wilson | Ralph Steadman | Edmund Wilson | Ralph Macchio | Ralph Bunche | Ralph Bakshi | Owen Wilson | Ralph Richardson | James Wilson | Ralph Stanley | Ralph McTell | Ralph Ellison | Wilson Pickett | Teddy Wilson | Richard Wilson | William Julius Wilson | Paul Wilson | John Marius Wilson | Jackie Wilson | Cassandra Wilson |
He was the only candidate put forward for the job by a six-owner search committee (Wellington Mara, Lamar Hunt, Art Modell, Robert Parins, Dan Rooney, and Ralph Wilson), however, a group of eleven newer owners who wanted more of a voice in the selection process abstained from voting, preventing Finks from receiving the nineteen votes necessary to become Commissioner.
He was born in Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France, the only child of Major Murray S. Davis (Commander, 8th Calvalry, Troop A, Camp Winfield Scott, Nevada, 1867) and Julia Edith Kirkham Davis, daughter of Gen. Ralph Wilson Kirkham, Union Army general, who adopted Kirkham and brought him to the United States.