BUFFALO, N.Y. -- During his 95 years, Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson went from fan to "Foolish Club" member to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, enjoying every step along the way. The NFL lost the person regarded as the leagues "conscience" on Tuesday, when Wilson died at his home around 1:40 p.m. Bills president Russ Brandon announced Wilsons death at the NFL owners meetings in Orlando, Fla. His death resonated among the owners -- from old to new. Wilson played an integral role in establishing the modern game, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2009. In 1959, Wilson founded the Bills in helping establish the upstart American Football League, whose owners were dubbed "The Foolish Club" for having the chutzpah to challenge the NFL. Some five years later, Wilson played an influential role in the framework for the merger of the leagues. "Ralph Wilson was a driving force in developing pro football into Americas most popular sport," NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said. "Ralph always brought a principled and common-sense approach to issues." Patriots owner Robert Kraft released a statement saying how grateful he was for how Wilson welcomed him to the NFL, adding: "I will miss him." So will Bills Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy, whom Wilson lured out of retirement to serve as the teams general manager from 2005-06. "He wasnt my boss, he was my friend," Levy said. "Deeply saddened to hear about his passing. He meant so much to the game that both of us revered, and to the community of Buffalo and beyond. Its quite a loss, and hes going to be remembered so fondly by everyone who knew him." The last surviving member of the original AFL owners, Wilson died at his home in Grosse Pointe Shores, Mich., said Mary Mazur, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County medical examiners office. He had been receiving home hospice care. Wilson had been in failing health since having hip surgery in 2011. Though he spent much of his time at his home in suburban Detroit, he attended Hall of Fame induction weekends. He was a regular at Bills home games since founding the franchise, but had not been there since going to one game in 2010. Wilson gave up daily oversight of the club on Jan. 1, 2013, when he relinquished the presidents title to Brandon. "No one loves this game more than Ralph Wilson," Brandon said. "Its very tough. What hes meant to the entire organization. Hes our leader, our mentor our friend. How he loves his players and loved our community. Special guy. They just dont make them like Ralph Wilson." Wilson earned a well-established reputation for loyalty to fans and the stands he took against franchise relocation. Though he butted heads several times with late Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis, it did not affect their friendship. As Davis said in 2009: "There were a lot of guys saying (Steelers owner Dan) Rooney was the conscience. But certainly, Mr. Wilson was more of a conscience of the league." Wilson also earned the respect of his players. Bills Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas struggled with his emotions when discussing Wilson. "With Mr. Wilsons passing today, it hurts," Thomas said. "So Im going to miss him, without a doubt. He used to call me his favourite son." Wilsons Bills have never won a Super Bowl. They came close in the early 1990s, when the Levy-coached and Jim Kelly-quarterbacked teams won four consecutive AFC championships, but lost each time. The Bills have not made the playoffs since 1999 and their 14-year post-season drought ranks as the NFLs longest active streak. Running back Fred Jackson said Wilsons death provides the team new focus to end that drought. "We want to continue to cement his legacy," Jackson said. "We want to honour him, and a great way to honour him is going out and winning a lot of football games." Wilson never lost his sense of humour. In 2010, with the Bills 0-5, Wilson began an interview with The Associated Press with an apology. "I want to apologize for this phone system," Wilson said, with a familiar chuckle. "Its almost as bad as my team." The future of the team is now in the hands of Brandon and Wilsons second-in-command, Bills treasurer Jeffrey Littmann. For the meantime, the Bills are expected to be placed in a trust before eventually being sold. Wilson expressed no interest of leaving the team to his family. He is survived by wife Mary, daughters Christy Wilson-Hofmann, who serves as a Bills consultant, and Edith Wilson. Theres also niece Mary Owen, who serves on several NFL committees while working as the teams executive vice-president of strategic planning. Kelly has expressed interest in buying the franchise and has previously said hes assembled a group of investors. Kellys health, however, has become an issue this week. He is expected to have surgery for a second time in a year following the recurrence of cancer that his wife described as aggressive and "starting to spread." Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula is also considered a candidate to purchase the Bills and keep them in Buffalo. That doesnt remove the possibility of outside interests making offers and relocating the team to larger markets such as Los Angeles or nearby Toronto. The Bills future in Orchard Park is secure for the short term. The team negotiated a 10-year lease in December 2012 with the state and county to continue playing at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The agreement includes a provision that essentially locks in the Bills through the first seven seasons. The franchise would have to pay US$400 million if it decides to leave before 2019. The team then has an option of buying out the remaining three years of the lease for $28 million. Under Wilson, the Bills produced 10 Hall of Famers, including himself and Smith. The others were Kelly, Levy, Thomas, O.J. Simpson, offensive linemen Billy Shaw and Joe DeLamielleure, receiver James Lofton and receiver Andre Reed, who will be inducted this year. Born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1918, Wilson moved to Detroit three years later when his father, Ralph Wilson Sr., took a sales job at an auto dealership. The father turned to insurance and in the mid-1930s landed a deal with Chrysler Corp. Among Wilsons first moves upon taking over his fathers insurance business in 1959 was selling his minor share in the Lions and joining up with Lamar Hunt and Bud Adams to help found the AFL. In 1964, Wilson travelled to the Winter Games at Innsbruck, Austria -- where he slept on the floor of a reporters room because all the hotels were booked -- to help broker the AFLs landmark TV deal with NBC. Wilson still carried influence with Goodell, who leaned on the Bills owner for advice, and among current NFL owners. Shahid Khan reached out to Wilson for advice before completing his purchase of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012. "Given his legacy as a builder and visionary, I imagine Ralph was able to relate to my dream to one day join him as a team owner," Khan said. "Ill never forget his kindness and will always treasure the letter he wrote welcoming my family to the NFL." Wilson wore the "Foolish Club" badge with honour. "What a damn fool I was," he told the AP in 2009. "But I didnt care. I just wanted to own a team." In 1998, Wilson received the "Order of the Leather Helmet" from the NFL Alumni Association for his contributions to professional football. Wilson always maintained a healthy perspective in regards to what mattered when it came to football, including his place in the game. When asked about the fragmented state of football in the mid-1990s, Wilson joked: "Its such a great game, itll survive us." Funeral arrangements have not yet been determined. AP Pro Football Writer Barry Wilner in Orlando, Fla., Associated Press writers Mike Householder in Detroit and Carolyn Thompson in Buffalo, AP Sports Writers Mark Long in Jacksonville, Fla., Paul Newberry in Atlanta, Larry Lage in Detroit, Dave Skretta in Kansas City, Tom Withers in Cleveland, Teresa Walker in Nashville and AP freelance writer Mark Ludwiczak contributed to this report. Laurent Koscielny Jersey . Webb birdied the 18th hole to take the outright lead, then watched as Choi, who shot a course-record 62 on Saturday to take a share of the third-round lead, pushed a 10-foot putt wide of the hole at 18 to miss the chance for a playoff. 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The former world No. 1 Djokovic, who is the top seed here despite being ranked No. 2, snuck past 35-year-old Czech showman Radek Stepanek in four high- quality sets, 6-4, 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), on Centre Court. Djokovic appeared relieved when he converted on his first match point by swatting a cross-court forehand winner that just caught the line to end an affair that featured only two service breaks.DENVER - One of the knuckles on the middle finger of Jorge De La Rosas pitching hand was swollen. His sore back was acting up. From the mound, though, there was no hint of pain. De La Rosa carried a no-hitter through six innings and pitched seven scoreless innings, as the Colorado Rockies withstood a late rally to beat the San Diego Padres 3-1 on Friday night. "Its always something with me," said De La Rosa, who missed nearly half the 2010 season because of a pulled finger tendon and came back from Tommy John surgery in late 2012. "Today my finger was bothering me a little bit from the time I was in the bullpen. My back, just when I ran, I felt it a little bit more. It was bothering me but Ive pitched with pain before and I know I can keep pitching with this kind of pain. Ill be good for my next start, too." De La Rosas bid for the first no-hitter by a Rockies pitcher at Coors Field ended in the seventh inning, when Chris Denorfia led off with a triple off the scoreboard in right field, just the second time a Padres batter had gotten the ball out of the infield to that point. But De La Rosa stranded Denorfia by retiring the next three batters, getting Everth Cabrera on an infield grounder, Chase Headley on a liner to second and Carlos Quentin on a pop-up to blank the Padres on one hit through seven innings. "Everything was working really good and I wasnt overthrowing the ball today. I was hitting my spots," De La Rosa said. De La Rosa, who was pitching on eight days rest because of a bout of back spasms, struck out five and walked one in winning his fifth straight since an 0-3 start. "He had command of three pitches. Anytime a pitcher can command three pitches, its going to be tough to get consistent hits off of him, and that was the case today," Padres second baseman Jedd Gyorko said. "He threw the ball well." Adam Ottavino and Boone Logan kept the Padres in check through the eighth and LaTroy Hawkins got his 10th save in as many chances despite giving up three hits in the ninth, including an RBI single by Headley..dddddddddddd. "That was something that we really needed because our offence has been kind of quiet for the past couple days," Colorados Carlos Gonzalez said. "It was nice to see a pitching performance like that. Jorge is the No. 1 pitcher that we have and he really competed. He gave us just what we were looking for and hopefully it can get us going." The only no-hitter at Coors Field was on Sept. 17, 1996, by Hideo Nomo in a 9-0 Los Angeles Dodgers win over the Rockies. Ubaldo Jimenez has the only no-hitter by a Rockies pitcher, at Atlanta in a 4-0 win on April 17, 2010. Padres starter Eric Stults was matching De La Rosa until Drew Stubbs doubled down the third base line with one out in the fourth inning for the games first hit. The Rockies went on top in the bottom of the fifth, taking advantage of a fielding error by Gyorko to score an unearned run. D.J LeMahieus two-out double advanced Jordan Pacheco, aboard on a fielders choice, to third. De La Rosa bounced a grounder to second that Gyorko bobbled, allowing De La Rosa to beat the throw to first and Pacheco to score the first run. Colorado made it 2-0 in the seventh with De La Rosa helping out by sacrificing LeMahieu, who had singled, to second. Charlie Blackmon followed with a two-out RBI single, and Stults was relieved by Nick Vincent. Pacheco added a run-scoring single in the eighth. Stults (2-4) allowed two runs — one earned — and six hits in 6 2-3 innings in losing to the Rockies for the first time in four decisions covering 13 lifetime appearances. NOTES: Rockies C Wilin Rosario, on the 15-day DL because of a viral infection, had a rehab start Friday night at Triple-A Colorado Springs and could be activated as soon as Sunday. ... Stults has allowed three or fewer runs in six of his last seven starts. However, he fell to 0-4 with a 5.18 ERA as a visiting pitcher this season. ... De La Rosa has won eight of his last nine decisions against the Padres. ... Home plate umpire Seth Buckminster tossed the Rockies Nolan Arenado in the eighth for arguing balls and strikes. ' ' '