This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2012)

Buffalo Bills
Current season
Established 1959 Play in and headquartered in Ralph Wilson Stadium Orchard Park, New York
Buffalo Bills logo Logo
League/conference affiliations
American Football League (1960–1969) Eastern Division (1960–1969) National Football League (1970–present) American Football Conference (1970–present) AFC East (1970–present)
Current uniform
275px
Team colors	Royal Blue, Red, White
Mascot	Billy Buffalo
Personnel
Owner(s)	Ralph Wilson
CEO	Russ Brandon
President	Ralph Wilson
General manager	Buddy Nix
Head coach	Chan Gailey
Team history
Buffalo Bills (1960–present)
Championships
League championships (2) 0 AFL Championships (2) 1964, 1965
Conference championships (4) AFC: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993
Division championships (10) AFL East: 1964, 1965, 1966 AFC East: 1980, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995
Playoff appearances (17)
AFL: 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966 NFL: 1974, 1980, 1981, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999
Home fields
War Memorial Stadium (1960–1972) Ralph Wilson Stadium (1973–present) also known as Rich Stadium (1973–1998) also known as Bills Stadium (1998) Rogers Centre (2008–2012) (1 game/year)

The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the East Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). They play their home games in the suburb of Orchard Park, and since the 2008 NFL season, play one home game per season and three pre-season games in Toronto as part of the 5-year Bills Toronto Series. The Bills began competitive play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League and joined the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.^[1]

The Bills won two consecutive American Football League titles in 1964 and 1965, but the club has not won a league championship since then. Buffalo is also the only team to win four consecutive American Football Conference Championships, the only team in either conference to play in four consecutive Super Bowl games, and the only team ever to lose those four consecutive Super Bowls, consequently to the NFC East.

The Bills were named as the result of the winning entry in a local contest by Michael Doucas, which named the team after the AAFC Buffalo Bills, a previous football franchise from the All-America Football Conference that merged with the Cleveland Browns in 1950. That team was named after the historic "Buffalo Bill" Cody. The Bills' cheerleaders are known as the Buffalo Jills. The official mascot is Billy Buffalo; Cody is not used in the team's iconography at all.

They are the only New York NFL team to play their home games within New York state proper. Both the New York Giants and the New York Jets play in East Rutherford, New Jersey, nine miles from their headquarters in New York City. With the inception of the 5-year Bills Toronto Series deal in 2008, that is good through 2012, they are the only NFL team to play a home game in Canada and one of only two (the St. Louis Rams, with their regular hosting of the NFL International Series in London, being the other) to play home games outside the United States. The Bills conduct summer training camp at St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, New York, an eastern suburb of Rochester.^[2]

History[link]

Logos and uniforms[link]

In 1962, the standing red bison was designated as the logo and took its place on a white helmet.^[3] In 1962, the team's colors also changed to red, white, and blue. The team switched to blue jerseys with red and white stripes on the shoulders. the helmets were white with a red center stripe.^[4] By 1965, red and blue center stripes were put on the helmets.^[5]

The Bills introduced blue pants worn with the white jerseys in 1973, the last year of the standing buffalo helmet. The blue pants remained through 1985. The face mask on the helmet was blue from 1974 through 1986 before changing to white.

In 1974, the standing bison logo was replaced by a blue charging one with a red slanting stripe streaming from its horn. In 1984, the helmet's background color was changed from white to red, primarily to help Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson distinguish them more readily from three of their division rivals at that time, the Indianapolis Colts, the Miami Dolphins, and the New England Patriots, who all also wore white helmets at that point. Ferguson said that "Everyone we played had white helmets at that time. Our new head coach Kay Stephenson just wanted to get more of a contrast on the field that may help spot a receiver down the field."^[6] (The Patriots now use a silver helmet, the Colts have since been realigned to the AFC South, and the New York Jets, who switched to green helmets after the 1978 season, have since switched back to white helmets.)

In 2002, under the direction of general manager Tom Donahoe, the Bills' uniforms went through radical changes. A darker shade of blue was introduced as the main jersey color, and nickel gray was introduced as an accent color. Both the blue and white jerseys featured red side panels. The white jerseys included a dark blue shoulder yoke and royal blue numbers. The helmet remained primarily red with one navy blue, two nickel, two royal blue, two white stripes, and white face mask. A new logo, a stylized "B" consisting of two bullets and a more detailed buffalo head on top, was proposed and had been released (it can be seen on a few baseball caps that were released for sale), but fan backlash led to the team retaining the running bison logo. The helmet logo adopted in 1974 -- a charging royal blue bison, with a red streak, white horn and eyeball -- remained unchanged.

In 2005, the Bills revived the standing bison helmet and uniform of the mid-1960s as a throwback uniform.

The Bills usually wore the all-blue combination at home and the all-white combination on the road when not wearing the throwback uniforms. They stopped wearing blue-on-white after 2006, while the white-on-blue was not worn after 2007.

For the 2011 season, the Bills unveiled a new uniform design, an updated rendition of the 1975–83 design. This change includes a return to the white helmets with "charging buffalo" logo, and a return to royal blue instead of navy.

Buffalo sporadically wore white at home in the 1980s, but stopped doing so before their Super Bowl years. On November 6, 2011 against the New York Jets, the Bills wore white at home for the first time since 1986.

Playoffs[link]

• 1963 AFL Eastern Division Play off: Boston Patriots 26, Buffalo Bills 8
• 1964 AFL Championship: Buffalo Bills 20, San Diego Chargers 7
• 1965 AFL Championship: Buffalo Bills 23, San Diego Chargers 0
• 1966 AFL Championship: Kansas City Chiefs 31, Buffalo Bills 7
• 1974 Divisional Playoffs: Pittsburgh Steelers 32, Buffalo Bills 14
• 1980 Divisional Playoffs: San Diego Chargers 20, Buffalo Bills 14
• 1981 Wild Card Game: Buffalo Bills 31, New York Jets 27
• 1981 Divisional Playoffs: Cincinnati Bengals 28, Buffalo Bills 21
• 1988 Divisional Playoffs: Buffalo Bills 17, Houston Oilers 10
• 1988 AFC Championship: Cincinnati Bengals 21, Buffalo Bills 10
• 1989 Divisional Playoffs: Cleveland Browns 34, Buffalo Bills 30
• 1990 Divisional Playoffs: Buffalo Bills 44, Miami Dolphins 34
• 1990 AFC Championship: Buffalo Bills 51, Los Angeles Raiders 3
• Super Bowl XXV: New York Giants 20, Buffalo Bills 19
• 1991 Divisional Playoffs: Buffalo Bills 37, Kansas City Chiefs 14
• AFC Championship: Buffalo Bills 10, Denver Broncos 7
• Super Bowl XXVI: Washington Redskins 37, Buffalo Bills 24
• 1992 AFC Wild Card Game: Buffalo Bills 41, Houston Oilers 38 OT
• 1992 AFC Championship: Buffalo Bills 29, Miami Dolphins 10
• Super Bowl XXVII: Dallas Cowboys 52, Buffalo Bills 17
• 1993 Divisional Playoffs: Buffalo Bills 29, Los Angeles Raiders 23
• AFC Championship: Buffalo Bills 30, Kansas City Chiefs 13
• Super Bowl XXVIII: Dallas Cowboys 30, Buffalo Bills 13
• 1995 Divisional Playoffs: Pittsburgh Steelers 40, Buffalo Bills 21
• 1996 Wild Card Game: Jacksonville Jaguars 30, Buffalo Bills 27
• 1998 Wild Card Game: Miami Dolphins 24, Buffalo Bills 17
• 1999 Wild Card Game: Tennessee Titans 22, Buffalo Bills 16

• Playoff record 10 wins, 16 losses ^[7]

Players of note[link]

O.J. Simpson, Jack Kemp, Joe Ferguson, Joe DeLamielleure, Jim Kelly, Fred Smerlas, Kent Hull, Darryl Talley, Jim Ritcher, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Steve Tasker, Bruce Smith, Booker Edgerson, Phil Hansen, Cookie Gilchrist, Elbert Dubenion, Cornelius Bennett.

Current players[link]

Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Distinguished Service Award Recipients[link]

Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame[link]

[edit] Pro Football Hall Of Fame^[12]

• O.J. Simpson (1985)
• Billy Shaw (1999)
• Marv Levy (2001)
• Jim Kelly (2002)
• James Lofton (2003)
• Joe DeLamielleure (2003)
• Thurman Thomas (2007)
• Bruce Smith (2009)
• Ralph Wilson (2009)

Retired numbers[link]

• 12 Jim Kelly, QB, 1986–96^[13]; previously worn by Joe Ferguson, QB, 1973–84

Unofficially retired

• 32 O.J. Simpson, RB, 1969–77
• 34 Thurman Thomas, RB, 1988–99; Cookie Gilchrist, RB, 1962–64
• 78 Bruce Smith, DE, 1985–99 (although guard Ruben Brown used 78 as his practice jersey; he wore 79 on the field)

Reduced circulation^[14]

• 15 Jack Kemp, QB, 1962–69
• 44 Elbert Dubenion, WR, 1960–68
• 66 Billy Shaw, OG, 1961–69
• 83 Andre Reed, WR, 1985–99 (Lee Evans III wore 83 by special permission)
• 94, see below

Since the earliest days of the team, the number 31 was not supposed to be issued to any other player. The Bills had stationery and various other team merchandise showing a running player wearing that number, and it was not supposed to represent any specific person, but the 'spirit of the team.' The tradition was broken in 1969 when reserve running back Preston Ridlehuber was issued number 31 for one game while his normal number 36 jersey was repaired by equipment manager Tony Marchitte. The number 31 was not issued again until 1990 when first round draft choice James (J.D.) Williams wore it for his first two seasons. The number has since been released for use by any player and is currently being worn by starting free safety Jairus Byrd. Byrd had used number 32 in college, but switched to 31 because the team does not issue Simpson's former number 32.^[14]

Number 94 is also in reduced circulation, and for reasons unknown went unissued until the 1987 season, when two replacement players wore the number during the players' strike that year. It has traditionally been reserved for quality defensive players; among those that have worn it include special teams standout Mark Pike, defensive end Bryce Fisher, defensive end Aaron Schobel, and current user, defensive tackle Mario Williams.^[15]

All-time first round draft picks[link]

Recent Pro Bowl selections[link]

• 2011 Season - No selections
• 2010 Season - Kyle Williams (Defensive Tackle - Injury Replacement) ^[16]
• 2009 Season - Jairus Byrd (Safety)
• 2008 Season - Jason Peters (Starting Offensive Tackle), Marshawn Lynch (Running Back - Injury Replacement)^[17]
• 2007 Season - Jason Peters (Offensive Tackle), Aaron Schobel (Defensive End - Injury Replacement)^[18]
• 2006 Season - Aaron Schobel (Defensive End), Brian Moorman (Punter)^[19]
• 2005 Season - Brian Moorman (Punter), Mike Schneck (Need Player)^[20]
• 2004 Season - Takeo Spikes (Linebacker), Ruben Brown (Offensive Guard)^[21]
• 2002 Season - Drew Bledsoe (Quarterback), Ruben Brown (Offensive Guard), Eric Moulds (Wide Receiver), Travis Henry (Running Back - Injury Replacement)^[22]

Coaches of note[link]

Head coaches[link]

Current staff[link]

Radio and television[link]

The Buffalo Bills Radio Network is currently flagshipped at WGR, AM 550 in Buffalo. John Murphy is the team's current play-by-play announcer; he was a color commentator alongside, and eventually succeeded, longtime voice Van Miller after Miller's retirement at the end of the 2003 NFL season. Mark Kelso serves as the color analyst. The Bills radio network has approximately seventeen affiliates in upstate New York and one affiliate, CJCL 590AM (The Fan) in Toronto. As of early 2012, it is composed mostly of WGR, Entercom's sister stations WCMF (96.5 FM) and WROC-AM 950 in Rochester, and a fleet of independent AM and FM stations across upstate New York from Jamestown east to Albany. Previous flagship Citadel Broadcasting was purchased by Cumulus Media, who in turn ceased carrying Bills games at the end of the 2011 season, leaving the network without affiliates in Syracuse, Binghamton, and Erie.

Buffalo is one of ten teams that is contracted with Compass Media Networks to syndicate selected games nationwide.

During the preseason, most games are televised on Buffalo's ABC affiliate, WKBW-TV channel 7, with several other affiliates in western New York. These games are simulcast on sister stations WTVH in Syracuse, WICU in Erie, WHAM-TV in Rochester, and beginning in 2008, CITY-TV in Toronto. Ray Bentley, a former Bills linebacker and current AFL on ESPN analyst, does play by play, while CBS analyst and former Bills special teams player Steve Tasker does color commentary on these games. WHAM-TV sports anchor Mike Catalana is the sideline reporter. Since 2008, preseason games have been broadcast in high definition.

In the event that regular season (or preseason) games are broadcast by a cable outlet (ESPN or NFL Network), WKBW-TV carries the ESPN or NFL Network feed.

Training camp sites[link]

• 1960-1962 Roycroft Inn, East Aurora, New York
• 1963-1967 Camelot Hotel, Blasdell, New York
• 1968-1980 Niagara University, Niagara Falls, New York
• 1981-1999 State University at Fredonia, Fredonia, New York
• 2000–Present, St. John Fisher College, Pittsford, New York

^[23]

Mascots, cheerleaders and marching band[link]

The Bills' official mascot is Billy Buffalo, an eight-foot tall, anthropomorphic blue American bison who wears the jersey "number" BB.

The Bills' cheerleaders are known as the Buffalo Jills. The Jills are not owned by the Bills, but instead are a separate organization funded primarily by the Buffalo Bills Radio Network, a subsidiary of Entercom.

The Attica High School Marching Band is the official marching band of the Buffalo Bills. Along with the Baltimore Ravens and the Washington Redskins, the Bills are one of only three teams in the NFL to designate an official marching band. The Marching Band performs yearly pregame.

In the bone-chilling winter, it is not uncommon to see shirtless fans painted with Bills decals, especially the "B-I-L-L-S" lettering.

In popular culture[link]

Howard University's mascot, the Bison, is designed identically to the Buffalo Bills' "charging buffalo" logo.

In the 1996 X-Files episode "Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man", the titular character, a member of a shadowy government cabal, states that the Buffalo Bills will not win a Super Bowl while he lives.

The Buffalo Bills were featured on the direct-to-TV movie, Second String and in the Vincent Gallo drama Buffalo 66. The Buffalo Bills are mentioned in the 1995 movie Heavyweights. The character Josh (Shaun Weiss) says, "Perkis caved like the Buffalo Bills in the Super Bowl", referring to their string of four straight Super Bowl losses in the early 1990s.

In the 1996 Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episode S04E01, "Lord of the Flies", Clark picks up a blue Buffalo Bills hat with the Charging Buffalo emblem in the center and uses it to help disguise himself. Dean Cain, who played Clark Kent/Superman, had previously tried out for the Bills. In a later episode, he lets it be known that the Metropolis Mammoths were playing the Bills.

The Bills are one of the favorite teams of ESPN announcer Chris Berman, who picked the Bills to reach the Super Bowl nearly every year in the 1990s. Berman often uses the catchphrase "no one circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills!" Berman gave the induction speech for Bills owner Ralph Wilson when Wilson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009. The Bills were also a favorite of late NBC political commentator Tim Russert, a South Buffalo native, who often referred to the Bills on his Sunday morning talk show, Meet the Press. Actor Nick Bakay, a Buffalo native, is also a well-known Bills fan; he has discussed the team in segments of NFL Top 10.

1n an April 2011 episode of the television series 30 Rock, Alec Baldwin's character Jack Donaghy discovers that, in an alternate future, he would not only be wealthier and more successful, but he would also be the owner of a "New York football team." He later is disappointed to learn that the team is not the New York Giants or New York Jets, but the Buffalo Bills.

See also[link]

	New York portal
	National Football League portal

• List of American Football League players
• List of Buffalo Bills seasons
• Major North American professional sports teams

External links[link]

• Official website
• Years of Glory, Years of Pain: 25 Years of Buffalo Bills football, 1960-1984 (video)

Notes and references[link]