A Brief History Of The Bills

When the AFL, or American Football League, was formed, Ralph Wilson who was then a minority owner of the Detroit Lions wanted to start a team in the new league. He approached Miami initially but was turned down. He then turned to Buffalo and succeeded to form his club in 1959. There was a public contest to name the team and the winning entry was Buffalo Bill Cody. The team therefore adopted the name the Bills. It’s interesting to note that their cheerleaders are called Buffalo Jills and their official mascot is Billy Buffalo. They are known to be one of only three teams to have played in an AFL championship game three years in a row.

The original home stadium of the Bills was the War Memorial Stadium from 1960 to 1972. It was demolished soon after and the team found its current home stadium, the Ralph Wilson Stadium. This stadium is in Orchard Park, New York. In fact, the Bills are the only NFL team which plays its home games within the state of New York. Not even the New York Jets or New York Giants have that distinction.

The Bills – 1970’s To The 1990’s

In the 1970’s, OJ Simpson was the face of the team as their running back. In 1973, Simpson recorded a 2000 yard season and was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player. In 1974, the team made it to the NFL playoffs for the first time but lost to Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round itself. The team reached the playoffs again in 1980 where they beat the Miami Dolphins in the first round. The Bills went on to win the AFC East Championship that year.

In 1986 Jim Kelly joined as their quarterback and after that they had their most successful years in NFL history. From 1988 till 1991, they were the AFC East champions. They regained it in 1993 and 1995.

The Bills officially retired Jim Kelly’s jersey number 12. They have also unofficially retired the numbers of OJ Simpson 32, Thurman Thomas 34 and Bruce Smith 78. An interesting fact is that number 31 was not supposed to be used for any player since the Bills began but was meant to signify the spirit of the team. In 1969 though, it was used for reserve running back Preston Ridlehuber because his regular jersey number 36 was being repaired.