Misplaced Pages

#953046

143-511: Second String is a direct-to-TV film from 2002 about the Buffalo Bills football team who find its first string (led by real-life Bills quarterback Doug Flutie , who had left the team by the time the film was released) out for a month after a food poisoning incident, leading the team's head coach, " Chuck Dichter " (portrayed by Jon Voight ), to hire an insurance salesman and former college quarterback named Dan Heller (played by Gil Bellows ) as

286-562: A pro football team of its own as well); given five other choices, Wilson negotiated with McGroder and brought the team that became the Bills to Buffalo. Buffalo was officially awarded its franchise on October 28. During a league meeting on November 22, a 10-man ownership group from Boston (led by Billy Sullivan ) was awarded the AFL's eighth team. On November 30, 1959, Joe Foss , a World War II Marine fighter ace and former governor of South Dakota ,

429-610: A 12-game schedule since 1947, changed to a 14-game schedule in 1961, a year after the American Football League instituted it. The AFL also introduced the two-point conversion to professional football 34 years before the NFL instituted it in 1994 (college football had adopted the two-point conversion in the late 1950s). All of these innovations pioneered by the AFL, including its more exciting style of play and colorful uniforms, have essentially made today's professional football more like

572-456: A brawl between the teams. The second time was in week 9 of the 2021 season. By now, the "point" of the rivalry, Marrone's feud with the Bills organization, and the personal drama between Bills and Jaguars players no longer applied as Marrone had been fired and replaced by Urban Meyer and all the players from the 2017 Jaguars team have since moved on to other teams or retired. Regardless, this game

715-532: A charter member of the American Football League led by head coach Buster Ramsey and joined the NFL as part of the AFL–NFL merger in 1970. In the first two seasons, the Bills went 5–8–1 and 6–8 under Ramsey. The Bills won two consecutive American Football League titles in 1964 and 1965 with quarterback Jack Kemp and coach Lou Saban , but the club has yet to win a league championship since. Once

858-552: A city where a previous NFL franchise had failed in 1952 . While Hunt negotiated with the Bidwills, similar offers were made by Bud Adams , Bob Howsam , and Max Winter . When Hunt, Adams, and Howsam were unable to secure a controlling interest in the Cardinals, they approached NFL commissioner Bert Bell and proposed the addition of expansion teams . Bell, wary of expanding the 12-team league and risking its newfound success, rejected

1001-471: A competitive rivalry in the 1980s and 1990s, the Bills became dominant in the 1990s. Things have since cooled down after the retirements of Kelly and Marino and the rise of the New England Patriots , but Miami remains a fierce rival of the Bills, coming in second place in a recent poll of Buffalo's primary rival, and the two teams have typically been close to each other in win–loss records. Miami leads

1144-690: A core of talent including Allen, Stefon Diggs , Matt Milano , and Tre'Davious White . In the 2020 season, the Bills reached the AFC Championship for the first time since the 1993 season. However, their run ended with a 38–24 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bills won the AFC East with a 11–6 record in the 2021 season. The Bills defeated the Patriots 47–17 in the Wild Card Round before falling to

1287-414: 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 a 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

1430-408: A distinctive stripe pattern on the sleeves consisting of four stripes, two thicker inner stripes and two thinner outer stripes all bordered by red piping. By 1965 , red and blue center stripes were put on the helmets. 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

1573-521: A flashier style of play (just like the ABA in basketball), compared to the more conservative game of the NFL. Long passes ("bombs") were commonplace in AFL offenses, led by such talented quarterbacks as John Hadl , Daryle Lamonica and Len Dawson . Despite having a national television contract, the AFL often found itself trying to gain a foothold, only to come up against roadblocks. For example, CBS, which broadcast NFL games, ignored and did not report scores from

SECTION 10

#1732884775954

1716-469: A handful of competitive moments. The series heated up recently when former Jets head coach Rex Ryan became the Bills' head coach for two seasons and had become notable again as Bills quarterback Josh Allen and former Jets quarterback Sam Darnold , both drafted in the same year, maintained a friendly rivalry with one another. Buffalo leads the series 69–58 as of 2023, including a playoff win in 1981. The Kansas City Chiefs , another original franchise in

1859-521: A little better on the field but had their own financial troubles. Attendance was so low for home games that team owner Harry Wismer had fans move to seats closer to the field to give the illusion of a fuller stadium on television. Eventually Wismer could no longer afford to meet his payroll, and on November 8, 1962, the AFL took over operations of the team. The Titans were sold to a five-person ownership group headed by Sonny Werblin on March 28, 1963, and in April

2002-469: A lucrative $ 36 million television contract with NBC (beginning in the 1965 season), which gave the league money it needed to compete with the NFL for players. Pittsburgh Steelers owner Art Rooney was quoted as saying to NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle after receiving the news of the AFL's new TV deal that, "They don't have to call us 'Mister' anymore". A single-game attendance record was set on November 8, 1964, when 61,929 fans packed Shea Stadium to watch

2145-454: A mix of AFL and CFL rules. While the Oilers found instant success in the AFL, other teams did not fare as well. The Oakland Raiders and New York Titans struggled on and off the field during their first few seasons in the league. Oakland's eight-man ownership group was reduced to just three in 1961, after heavy financial losses in their first season. Attendance for home games was poor, partly due to

2288-403: A new professional football league to California and New York , but introduced the sport to Colorado , restored it to Texas and later to fast-growing Florida , as well as bringing it to Greater Boston for the first time in 12 years. Buffalo, having lost its original NFL franchise in 1929 and turned down by the NFL at least twice (1940 and 1950 ) for a replacement, returned to the NFL with

2431-690: A professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area . The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York and are building a new stadium which will be completed in 2026. The Bills are the only NFL team to play their home games within

2574-564: A regional rivalry would be critical for the success of the new league, convinced Adams to join and found his team in Houston . Hunt next secured an agreement from Howsam to bring a team to Denver . After Winter and Boyer agreed to start a team in Minneapolis-Saint Paul , the new league had its first four teams. Hunt then approached Willard Rhodes, who hoped to bring pro football to Seattle . However, not wanting to undermine its own brand,

2717-576: A series of highly drafted players such as Jim Kelly (who initially played for the USFL instead of the Bills), Thurman Thomas , Bruce Smith and Darryl Talley allowed the Bills to rebuild into a perennial contender in the late 1980s through the mid-1990s under head coach Marv Levy, a period in which the team won four consecutive AFC Championships ; the team nevertheless lost all four subsequent Super Bowls , records in both categories that still stand. The rise of

2860-527: A similar result. The Oakland Raiders—who had easily beaten the Houston Oilers to win their first AFL championship—were overmatched by the Packers, 33–14. The more experienced Packers capitalized on a number of Raiders miscues and never trailed. Green Bay defensive tackle Henry Jordan offered a compliment to Oakland and the AFL, when he said, "... the AFL is becoming much more sophisticated on offense. I think

3003-503: A team to Miami. League expansion was approved at a meeting held on June 7, and on August 16 the AFL's ninth franchise was officially awarded to Robbie and entertainer Danny Thomas . The Miami Dolphins joined the league for a fee of $ 7.5 million and started play in the AFL's Eastern Division in 1966 . The AFL also planned to add two more teams by 1967. In 1966, the rivalry between the AFL and NFL reached an all-time peak. On April 7, Joe Foss resigned as AFL commissioner. His successor

SECTION 20

#1732884775954

3146-533: Is also noted for several players being a members of both teams during their careers, including Drew Bledsoe , Doug Flutie , Lawyer Milloy , Brandon Spikes , Scott Chandler , Chris Hogan , Mike Gillislee , and Stephon Gilmore . The Bills and Jets were both original AFL teams, and both represent the state of New York , though the Jets have played their home games in East Rutherford, New Jersey since 1984. While

3289-501: Is notable as it was the first Bills playoff appearance in 17 seasons. Prior to this, Jacksonville had handed Buffalo its first playoff loss in Bills Stadium in 1996. Following the 2017 wild card game the Bills and Jaguars have met three additional times. The first was a "rematch" game in week 12 of the 2018 season, which saw the Bills win 24–21. During this game, trash talk from former Jaguars players such as Jalen Ramsey resulted in

3432-491: The 1968 NFL season with a 13–1 record, and won the NFL title with a convincing 34–0 win over the Cleveland Browns. Led by their stalwart defense—which allowed a record-low 144 points—the 1968 Colts were considered one of the best-ever NFL teams. By contrast, the Jets had allowed 280 points, the highest total for any division winner in the two leagues. They had also only narrowly beaten the favored Oakland Raiders 27–23 in

3575-568: The AFC South , and in 2019 the New York Jets have since switched back to green-colored helmets, after playing 20 years with white ones.) 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 primary 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

3718-568: The AFL–NFL merger took effect, the Bills became the second NFL team to represent the city; they followed the Buffalo All-Americans , a charter member of the league. Buffalo had been left out of the league since the All-Americans (by that point renamed the Bisons) folded in 1929; the Bills were no less than the third professional non-NFL team to compete in the city before the merger, following

3861-636: The Baltimore Colts , the Miami Dolphins , and the New England Patriots , who all also wore white helmets at that point. Ferguson said, "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." (The Patriots have worn silver helmets since 1993, the Colts have since been realigned to

4004-554: The Detroit Lions at the time. Ralph Wilson had been a minority owner of the Lions before founding the Bills, and the Bills' predecessors in the AAFC had also worn blue and silver uniforms. The team's original colors were Honolulu blue, silver, and white, and the helmets were silver with no striping. There was no logo on the helmet, which displayed the players' numbers on each side. In 1962 ,

4147-589: The Detroit Lions . The Cleveland Browns once shared a rivalry with the Bills' predecessors in the All-America Football Conference . The current teams have a more friendly relationship and have played sporadically since the AFL–NFL merger . This is often considered Buffalo's most famous rivalry. Though the Bills and Dolphins both originated in the American Football League , the Dolphins did not start playing until 1966 as an expansion team, while

4290-672: The Frank Reich -led Bills overcame a 35–3 deficit to stun the Oilers 41–38 in 1992, and the Music City Miracle , in which the now-Titans scored on a near-last-minute kickoff return with a controversial lateral pass ruling to beat the Bills 22–16 in 1999. The Music City Miracle was notable for being Buffalo's last playoff appearance until 2017. The Titans currently lead the series 30–20. The Buffalo Bills have retired three numbers in franchise history: No. 12 for Jim Kelly , No. 34 for Thurman Thomas , and No. 78 for Bruce Smith . Although

4433-643: The Indians/Tigers of the early 1940s and an earlier team named the Bills , originally the Bisons, in the late 1940s in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). Following the AFL–NFL merger, the Bills were generally mediocre in the 1970s but featured All-Pro running back O. J. Simpson . After being pushed to the brink of failure in the mid-1980s, the collapse of the United States Football League and

Second String - Misplaced Pages Continue

4576-622: The New York Titans , Boston Patriots , Buffalo Bills , and the Houston Oilers , and a Western division of the Los Angeles Chargers , Denver Broncos , Oakland Raiders , and Dallas Texans . The league first gained attention by signing 75% of the NFL's first-round draft choices in 1960 , including Houston's successful signing of college star and Heisman Trophy winner Billy Cannon . While

4719-613: The University of Washington was unwilling to let the fledgling league use Husky Stadium , and Rhodes' effort came to nothing (Seattle would later get a pro football team of its own in 1974 some time after the AFL-NFL merger during the construction of the Kingdome and began play in 1976). Hunt also sought franchises in Los Angeles, Buffalo and New York City. During the summer of 1959, he sought

4862-607: The World Hockey Association (1972–79) managed to have four of its six remaining teams merged into the National Hockey League , which actually caused the older league to contract a franchise, but WHA teams were forced to disperse the majority of their rosters and restart as expansion teams. The merged WHA teams were also not financially sound (in large part from the hefty expansion fees the NHL imposed on them), and three of

5005-458: The 1953–1983 Baltimore Colts or to the current Indianapolis Colts franchise), played only one year in the NFL, disbanding at the end of the 1950 season. The league resulting from the merger was a 26-team juggernaut (since expanded to 32) with television rights covering all of the Big Three television networks (and since the 1990s, the newer Fox network ) and teams in close proximity to almost all of

5148-450: The 1970s before becoming perennial postseason contenders from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. Their greatest success occurred between 1990 and 1993 when they appeared in a record four consecutive Super Bowls , an accomplishment often overshadowed by the fact they lost all four. From the early 2000s to the mid-2010s, the Bills endured the longest playoff drought of 17 years in the four major North American professional sports , making them

5291-494: The 1980s, including all eight home games in 1984 , but stopped doing so beginning in 1987. On November 6, 2011, against the New York Jets, the Bills wore white at home for the first time since 1986 . Since 2011, the Bills have worn white for home games, either with their primary uniform or a throwback set. The Bills' uniform received minor alterations as part of the league's new uniform contract with Nike . The new Nike uniform

5434-416: The 2000s. However, Brady's arrival in the early 2000s led to the Patriots dominating the AFC East, including the Bills, for two decades. As a result, New England replaced the Dolphins as Buffalo's most hated rival. The Bills have taken a 7–2 edge since Brady's departure in 2020, which included consecutive AFC East titles from 2020 to 2022 and a season sweep of the Patriots in two of the three years. In 2021,

5577-689: The 2002 expansion team restored professional football in Houston after the original charter AFL member Oilers relocated to become the Tennessee Titans . Kevin Sherrington of The Dallas Morning News has argued that the presence of AFL and the subsequent merger radically altered the fortunes of the Pittsburgh Steelers , saving the team "from stinking". Before the merger, the Steelers had long been one of

5720-515: The 2004 and 2005 seasons. He went 9–7 but missed the postseason in 2004 and 5–11 in 2005. He resigned from the team following the 2005 season. From 2006 to 2009, the Bills were coached by Dick Jauron. Following three consecutive 7–9 seasons, Jauron was dismissed after a 3–6 start to his fourth season. Perry Fewell finished out the season as interim with a 3–4 mark. From 2010 to 2012, the Bills were coached by Chan Gailey. The team had Ryan Fitzpatrick as their quarterback in those seasons. Gailey

5863-518: The 2020 AFC Championship Game that saw the team advance to its second straight Super Bowl appearance, while Buffalo defeated Kansas City in the 1993 AFC Championship Game to advance to its fourth straight Super Bowl appearance. However, after each victory in the AFC Championship Game, the Chiefs or the Bills went on to lose the ensuing Super Bowl. Despite a lull in the series in the 2000s and 2010s,

Second String - Misplaced Pages Continue

6006-452: The 31 since he joined the Bills in 2023. Number 32 had been withdrawn from circulation but not retired after O. J. Simpson . Former owner Ralph Wilson insisted on not reissuing the number, even after Simpson's highly publicized murder case and later robbery conviction . The number was placed back into circulation in 2019 with Senorise Perry wearing the number that year; it is currently worn by linebacker Nicholas Morrow . Number 15

6149-462: The AFC with the rest of the former AFL teams after the merger helped them rebuild into a contender, drafting eventual- Pro Football Hall of Famers like Terry Bradshaw and Joe Greene , and ultimately winning four Super Bowls in the 1970s. Since the 1970 merger, the Steelers have the NFL's highest winning percentage, the most total victories, the most trips to either conference championship game, are tied for

6292-524: The AFL adopted the first-ever cooperative television plan for professional football, in which the proceeds were divided equally among member clubs. It featured many outstanding games, such as the classic 1962 double-overtime American Football League championship game between the Dallas Texans and the defending champion Houston Oilers . At the time it was the longest professional football championship game ever played. The AFL also appealed to fans by offering

6435-567: The AFL championship game. Jets quarterback Joe Namath recalled that in the days leading up to the game, he grew increasingly angry when told New York had no chance to beat Baltimore. Three days before the game, a frustrated Namath responded to a heckler at the Touchdown Club in Miami by declaring, "We're going to win Sunday, I guarantee it!" Namath and the Jets made good on his guarantee as they held

6578-583: The AFL than like the old-line NFL. The AFL's challenge to the NFL also laid the groundwork for the Super Bowl , which has become the standard for championship contests in the United States of America. The NFL also adapted how the AFL used the growing power of televised football games, which were bolstered with the help of major network contracts (first with ABC , later with NBC after the latter network lost NFL rights to CBS ). With that first contract with ABC,

6721-416: The AFL, have a long history against the Bills, despite the two teams never being in the same division. Buffalo currently leads the series 29–24–1, which has included five playoff meetings, three of which were AFL/AFC Championship Games; Kansas City won the 1966 AFL Championship Game that determined the AFL's representative in the first Super Bowl against the NFL champion Green Bay Packers , in addition to

6864-411: The AFL-NFL merger. Match-ups were intense in the 1990s, with quarterback Warren Moon leading the Oilers against Jim Kelly's Bills. After both teams failed to meet the same success in the late 2000s to early 2010s, they have returned to consistent playoff contention since 2017, resulting in several high-profile games as of late. Memorable playoff moments between the teams include The Comeback , in which

7007-587: The AFL; concerns over having to split the New York metro area with the still-uncertain Jets were a factor in the Bears' bid being rejected. In 1965, Milwaukee officials tried to lure an expansion team to play at Milwaukee County Stadium where the Green Bay Packers had played parts of their home schedule after an unsuccessful attempt to lure the Packers there full-time, but Packers head coach Vince Lombardi invoked

7150-429: The Bidwills began entertaining offers from would-be investors, and one of the men who approached the Bidwills was Lamar Hunt , son and heir of millionaire oilman H. L. Hunt . Hunt offered to buy the Cardinals and move them to Dallas , where he had grown up. However, these negotiations came to nothing, since the Bidwills insisted on retaining a controlling interest in the franchise and were unwilling to move their team to

7293-425: The Bills are the only NFL team that plays home games in the state of New York. The franchise is owned by Terry and Kim Pegula , who purchased the Bills after the death of the original owner Ralph Wilson in 2014. The Bills won consecutive AFL Championships in 1964 and 1965 , the only major professional sports championships from a team representing Buffalo. After joining the NFL, they struggled heavily during

SECTION 50

#1732884775954

7436-427: The Bills broke the playoff drought, appearing in the playoffs for six of the next seven seasons. The team drafted Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. The team earned its first division championship and playoff wins since 1995 during the 2020 season, aided by Brady's departure to Tampa Bay and out of the AFC East, as well as the Bills' own development of

7579-414: The Bills dominated in a 47–17 victory against the Patriots in the two teams' first playoff match-up in 59 years, which saw the Bills score a touchdown on every offensive drive throughout the entire game and, as such, is the only "perfect offensive game" in NFL history. Overall, the Patriots lead the series 78–50–1 as of 2023, but trail the Bills by a 47–46–1 margin without Brady on the field. The rivalry

7722-443: The Bills during the NFL owners' meetings, becoming the second ownership group of the team after team founder Ralph Wilson . Prior to the 2015 season, the team hired former Jets' head coach Rex Ryan to become the next head coach of the Bills. The team went 8–8 in 2015 and 7–9 in 2016. Ryan was dismissed with one game remaining in the 2016 season, with Anthony Lynn finishing the season as interim. Under head coach Sean McDermott,

7865-412: The Bills have retired only three jersey numbers, other numbers are no longer issued or are in reduced circulation. Since the team's earliest days, 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.' In

8008-455: The Bills were one of the original eight AFL teams. The rivalry first gained prominence when the Dolphins won every match-up against the Bills in the 1970s for an NFL-record 20 straight wins against a single opponent (the Bills defeated the Dolphins in their first match-up of the 1980s). Fortunes changed in the following decades with the rise of Jim Kelly as Buffalo's franchise quarterback. Though Kelly and Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino shared

8151-462: The Bills' uniforms outside of football was in the 2018 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships when the United States men's national junior ice hockey team wore Bills-inspired uniforms in their outdoor game against Team Canada on December 29, 2017. This game was also played at the Bills' home stadium, Highmark Stadium. On April 1, 2021, the team announced they would wear white face masks during

8294-630: The Browns' archrivals ) and Baltimore Colts (who shared the Baltimore -Washington market with the Washington Redskins ) to follow suit, and each team received US$ 3 million to make the switch. The remaining 13 NFL teams became part of the National Football Conference . Pro Football Hall of Fame receiver Charlie Joiner , who started his career with the Houston Oilers ( 1969 ), was

8437-645: The Chargers, 24–16, in the AFL Championship on January 1, 1961. Attendance for the 1960 season was respectable for a new league, but not nearly that of the NFL. In 1960, the NFL averaged attendance of more than 40,000 fans per game and more popular NFL teams in 1960 regularly saw attendance figures in excess of 50,000 per game, while CFL attendances averaged approximately 20,000 per game. By comparison, AFL attendance averaged about 16,500 per game and generally hovered between 10,000 and 20,000 per game. Professional football

8580-523: The Colts scoreless until late in the fourth quarter. The Jets won, 16–7, in what is considered one of the greatest upsets in American sports history. With the win, the AFL finally achieved parity with the NFL and legitimized the merger of the two leagues. That notion was reinforced one year later in Super Bowl IV , when the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs upset the NFL champion Minnesota Vikings , 23–7, in

8723-662: The Cowboys and became the Kansas City Chiefs. As part of the merger agreement, additional expansion teams would be awarded by 1970 or soon thereafter to bring the league to 28 franchises; this requirement was fulfilled when the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers began play in 1976. In addition, had it not been for the existence of the Oilers from 1960 to 1996, the Houston Texans also would likely not exist today;

SECTION 60

#1732884775954

8866-553: The Divisional Round. In the 2023 season, the Bills won the AFC East for the fourth consecutive season. In the Wild Card Round, they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27–17 before falling to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round 27–24. The Buffalo Bills have also announced the plans to build a new stadium to replace Highmark Stadium in 2026. For their first two seasons, the Bills wore uniforms based on those of

9009-505: The Houston contract, and with Cannon the Oilers appeared in the AFL's first three championship games (winning two). On June 9, 1960, the league signed a five-year television contract with ABC , which brought in revenues of approximately $ 2.125 million per year for the entire league. On June 17, the AFL filed an antitrust lawsuit against the NFL, which was dismissed in 1962 after a two-month trial. The AFL began regular-season play (a night game on Friday, September 9, 1960) with eight teams in

9152-589: The Kansas City Chiefs 42–36 in overtime . In the 2022 season, the Bills won the AFC East with a 13–3 record. The season saw a cancelled game against the Bengals due to a near-fatal medical episode with Damar Hamlin, who eventually recovered and returned to football activities the following season. The team defeated the Miami Dolphins in the Wild Card Round 34–31 before falling to the Cincinnati Bengals 27–10 in

9295-439: The Minnesota group joined the NFL in 1961 as the Minnesota Vikings . The older league also announced on August 29 that it had conveniently reversed its position against expansion, and planned to bring new NFL teams to Houston and Dallas, to start play in 1961. (The NFL did not expand to Houston at that time; the promised Dallas team – the Dallas Cowboys – actually started play in 1960, and the Vikings began play in 1961.) Finally,

9438-403: The NFL as the Minnesota Vikings . Los Angeles Chargers owner Barron Hilton demanded that a replacement for Minnesota be placed in California, to reduce his team's operating costs and to create a rivalry. After a brief search, Oakland was chosen and an ownership group led by F. Wayne Valley and local real estate developer Chet Soda was formed. After initially being called the Oakland Señors,

9581-421: The NFL before the AFL–NFL merger had folded completely: the three previous leagues named "American Football League" and the All-America Football Conference . From an earlier AFL (1936–1937), only the Cleveland Rams (now the Los Angeles Rams ) joined the NFL and are currently operating, as are the Cleveland Browns and the San Francisco 49ers from the AAFC. A third AAFC team, the Baltimore Colts (not related to

9724-418: The NFL by the mid-1960s, as well as successful franchise shifts of the Chargers from L.A. south to San Diego and the Texans north to Kansas City (becoming the Kansas City Chiefs ), the AFL established a dedicated following. The transformation of the struggling Titans into the New York Jets under new ownership, including the signing of University of Alabama star quarterback Joe Namath , further solidified

9867-414: The NFL for college talent, the AFL under Davis began to also recruit players already on NFL squads. Davis's strategy focused on quarterbacks in particular, and in two months he persuaded seven NFL quarterbacks to sign with the AFL. Although Davis's intention was to help the AFL win the bidding war, some AFL and NFL owners saw the escalation as detrimental to both leagues. Alarmed with the rate of spending in

10010-420: The NFL once the merger was completed. The league's last expansion team, the Cincinnati Bengals began play in the 1968 season, finishing last in the Western Division. While many AFL players and observers believed their league was the equal of the NFL, their first two Super Bowl performances did nothing to prove it. However, on November 17, 1968, when NBC cut away from a game between the Jets and Raiders to air

10153-462: The NFL over 20 years. In protest, Davis resigned as AFL commissioner on July 25 rather than remain until the completion of the merger, and Milt Woodard was named president of the AFL, with the "commissioner" title vacated because of Rozelle's expanded role. On January 15, 1967, the first-ever championship game between the two separate professional football leagues, the "AFL-NFL World Championship Game" (retroactively referred to as Super Bowl I ),

10296-511: The NFL quickly came to terms with the Bidwills and allowed them to relocate the struggling Cardinals to St. Louis, eliminating that city as a potential AFL market. Ralph Wilson , who owned a minority interest in the NFL's Detroit Lions at the time, initially announced he was placing a team in Miami , but like the Seattle situation, was also rebuffed by local ownership (like Seattle, Miami would later get

10439-401: The NFL was still emerging from thirty years of segregation influenced by Washington Redskins' owner George Preston Marshall , the AFL actively recruited from small and predominantly black colleges. The AFL's color-blindness led not only to the explosion of black talent on the field, but to the eventual entry of blacks into scouting, coordinating, and ultimately head coaching positions, long after

10582-475: The NFL's worst teams. Constantly lacking the money to build a quality team, the Steelers had only posted eight winning seasons, and just one playoff appearance, since their first year of existence in 1933 until the end of the 1969 season. They also finished with a 1–13 record in 1969 , tied with the Chicago Bears for the worst record in the NFL. The $ 3 million indemnity that the Steelers received for joining

10725-545: The New York Jets and Buffalo Bills. The bidding war for players between the AFL and NFL escalated in 1965. The Chiefs drafted University of Kansas star Gale Sayers in the first round of the 1965 AFL draft (held November 28, 1964), while the Chicago Bears did the same in the NFL draft. Sayers eventually signed with the Bears. A similar situation occurred when the New York Jets and the NFL's St. Louis Cardinals both drafted University of Alabama quarterback Joe Namath . In what

10868-595: The Silver Anniversary team to commemorate its 25th anniversary. The Bills have had twenty coaches serve as head coach in franchise history. → Coaching staff → Front office → More NFL staffs Running backs (RB) Wide receivers (WR) American Football League This fourth version of the AFL was the most successful, created by a number of owners who had been refused NFL expansion franchises or had minor shares of NFL franchises. The AFL's original lineup consisted of an Eastern division of

11011-569: The Texans became the second AFL team to relocate. Lamar Hunt felt that despite winning the league championship in 1962, the Texans could not sufficiently profit in the same market as the Dallas Cowboys , which entered the NFL as an expansion franchise in 1960. After meetings with New Orleans , Atlanta , and Miami , Hunt announced on May 22 that the Texans' new home would be Kansas City, Missouri . Kansas City mayor Harold Roe Bartle (nicknamed "Chief")

11154-509: The United States. One franchise that did not share in this newfound success of the league was the Chicago Cardinals – owned by the Bidwill family – who had become overshadowed by the more popular Chicago Bears . The Bidwills hoped to move their franchise, preferably to St. Louis , but could not come to terms with the league, which demanded money before it would approve the move. Needing cash,

11297-406: The ball for the last play in AFL history. Hadl was named the game's Most Valuable Player . The AFL ceased to exist as an unincorporated organization on February 1, 1970, when the NFL granted 10 new franchises and issued a new constitution. Prior to the start of the 1970 NFL season , the merged league was organized into two conferences of three divisions each. All ten AFL teams made up the bulk of

11440-496: The blessings of the NFL for his nascent league, as he did not seek a potentially costly rivalry. Within weeks of the July 1959 announcement of the league's formation, Hunt received commitments from Barron Hilton and Harry Wismer to bring teams to Los Angeles and New York, respectively. His initial efforts for Buffalo, however, were rebuffed, when Hunt's first choice of owner, Pat McGroder , declined to take part; McGroder had hoped that

11583-433: The champions of the respective leagues. The two leagues would be fully merged by 1970, NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle would remain as commissioner of the merged league, which would be named the NFL. Additional expansion teams would eventually be awarded by 1970 or soon thereafter to bring it to a 28-team league. (The additional expansion would not happen until 1976.) The AFL also agreed to pay indemnities of $ 18 million to

11726-550: The championship game. NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle also became chief executive of the AFL from July 26, 1966, through the completion of the merger. During this time the AFL expanded, adding the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals . After losses by the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders in the first two AFL-NFL World Championship Games to the Green Bay Packers (1966–67), the New York Jets and Chiefs won Super Bowls III and IV (1968–69) respectively, cementing

11869-527: The children's movie Heidi , the ensuing uproar helped disprove the notion that fans still considered the AFL an inferior product. The perception of AFL inferiority forever changed on January 12, 1969, when the AFL Champion New York Jets shocked the heavily favored NFL Champion Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III . The Colts, who entered the contest favored by as many as 18 points, had completed

12012-418: The concerns of both leagues over rapidly increasing player salaries, as well as the practice of player poaching. Hunt and Schramm completed the basic groundwork for a merger of the two leagues by the end of May, and on June 8, 1966, the merger was officially announced. Under the terms of the agreement, the two leagues would hold a common player draft. The agreement also called for a title game to be played between

12155-411: The division rival New England Patriots under Bill Belichick and Tom Brady , along with numerous failed attempts at rebuilding in the 2000s and 2010s, helped prevent the Bills from reaching the playoffs in seventeen consecutive seasons between 2000 and 2016, a 17-year drought that was the longest active playoff drought in all major professional sports at the time. Mike Mularkey coached the Bills in

12298-478: The earlier All-America Football Conference (AAFC), as Bell had even given his public approval; but he died suddenly in October 1959, and individual NFL owners soon began a campaign to undermine the new league. AFL owners were approached with promises of new NFL franchises or ownership stakes in existing ones. Only the party from Minneapolis-Saint Paul accepted, and with the addition of Ole Haugsrud and Bernie Ridder

12441-504: The first three decades of the team's existence, the number 31 was only seen once. In 1969, when reserve running back Preston Ridlehuber damaged his number 36 jersey during a game, equipment manager Tony Marchitte gave him the number 31 jersey to wear while repairing the number 36. The number 31 was not reissued until 1990 when first-round draft choice James Williams wore it for his first two seasons; it has since been returned to general circulation. Cornerback Rasul Douglas currently wears

12584-489: The first years of the AFL saw uneven competition and low attendance, the league was buttressed by a generous television contract with the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), followed by a contract with the competing National Broadcasting Company (NBC) for games starting with the 1965 season, that broadcast the more offense-oriented football league nationwide. Continuing to attract top talent from colleges and

12727-427: The fledgling league badly needed credibility. Rounding out this mix of potential talent were the true "free agents", the walk-ons and the "wanna-be's", who tried out in droves for the chance to play professional American football. After the AFL–NFL merger agreement in 1966, and after the AFL's Jets defeated an extremely strong Baltimore Colts team, a popular misconception fostered by the NFL and spread by media reports

12870-555: The four were forced to relocate within 20 years. Like the WHA, The American Basketball Association (1967–76) also managed to have only four of its teams merged into the National Basketball Association, and the rest of the league was forced to fold. Both the WHA and ABA lost several teams to financial insolvency over the course of their existences. The Continental League , a proposed third league for Major League Baseball that

13013-530: The initial AFL drafts, they inherited Minnesota's selections. A special allocation draft was held in January 1960, to allow the Raiders to stock their team, as some of the other AFL teams had already signed some of Minneapolis' original draft choices. In November 1959, Minneapolis-Saint Paul owner Max Winter announced his intent to leave the AFL to accept a franchise offer from the NFL. In 1961, his team began play in

13156-433: The innovations introduced by the AFL immediately and a few others in the years following the merger. One was including the names on player jerseys. The older league also adopted the practice of using the stadium scoreboard clocks to keep track of the official game time, instead of just having a stopwatch used by the referee. The AFL played a 14-game schedule for its entire existence, starting in 1960. The NFL, which had played

13299-417: The innovative AFL. While it has been alleged this snub was on orders from the NFL, it is more likely the arrangement was mutual due to the equally bitter rivalry between CBS and NBC. After the merger agreement was announced, CBS agreed to report AFL scores. The AFL took advantage of the burgeoning popularity of football by locating teams in major cities that lacked NFL franchises. Hunt's vision not only brought

13442-496: The last AFL player active in professional football, retiring after the 1986 season, when he played for the San Diego Chargers . The American Football League stands as the only professional traditional outdoor football league to successfully compete against the NFL. When the two leagues merged in 1970, all ten AFL franchises and their statistics became part of the new NFL. Every other professional league that had competed against

13585-521: The last championship game to be played between the two leagues. The Vikings, favored by 12½ points, were held to just 67 rushing yards. The last game in AFL history was the AFL All-Star Game , held in Houston's Astrodome on January 17, 1970. The Western All-Stars, led by Chargers quarterback John Hadl , defeated the Eastern All-Stars, 26–3. Buffalo rookie running back O. J. Simpson carried

13728-514: The last franchise in the four leagues to qualify for the postseason in the 21st century. They returned to consistent postseason contention by the late 2010s, although the Bills have not returned to the Super Bowl. Alongside the Minnesota Vikings , their four Super Bowl appearances are the most among NFL franchises that have not won the Super Bowl. The Bills began competitive play in 1960 as

13871-427: The league has always had good personnel, but the blocks were subtler and better conceived in this game." The AFL added its tenth and final team on May 24, 1967, when it awarded the league's second expansion franchise to an ownership group from Cincinnati , Ohio , headed by NFL legend Paul Brown . Although Brown had intended to join the NFL, he agreed to join the AFL when he learned that his team would be included in

14014-476: The league merged itself out of existence. The AFL's free agents came from several sources. Some were players who could not find success playing in the NFL, while another source was the then newly-formed Canadian Football League . In the late 1950s, many players released by the NFL, or un-drafted and unsigned out of college by the NFL, went North to try their luck with the CFL (which formed in 1958), and later returned to

14157-458: The league – the Boston Patriots , Buffalo Bills , Dallas Texans , Denver Broncos , Houston Oilers , Los Angeles Chargers , New York Titans , and Oakland Raiders . Raiders' co-owner Wayne Valley dubbed the AFL ownership " The Foolish Club ", a term Lamar Hunt subsequently used on team photographs he sent as Christmas gifts. The Oilers became the first-ever league champions by defeating

14300-497: The league's claim to being an equal to the NFL. In 1970, the AFL was absorbed into the NFL. The ten AFL franchises joined three existing NFL teams- the Baltimore Colts , the Cleveland Browns , and the Pittsburgh Steelers -to form the merged league's American Football Conference . During the 1950s, the National Football League had grown to rival Major League Baseball as one of the most popular professional sports leagues in

14443-509: The league's reputation among the major media. As fierce competition made player salaries skyrocket in both leagues, especially after a series of "raids", the leagues agreed to a merger in 1966 . Among the conditions were a common draft and a championship game played between the two league champions first played in early 1967, which would eventually become known as the Super Bowl . The AFL and NFL operated as separate leagues until 1970, with separate regular season and playoff schedules except for

14586-490: The league, Hilton Hotels forced Barron Hilton to relinquish his stake in the Chargers as a condition of maintaining his leadership role with the hotel chain. The same month Davis was named commissioner, several NFL owners, headed by Dallas Cowboys general manager Tex Schramm, secretly approached Lamar Hunt and other AFL owners and started negotiations with the AFL to merge. A series of secret meetings commenced in Dallas to discuss

14729-472: The merger. The return of football to Kansas City was the first time that city had seen professional football since the NFL's Kansas City Blues of the 1920s; the arrival of the Chiefs, and the contemporary arrival of the St. Louis Football Cardinals , brought professional football back to Missouri for the first time since the temporary St. Louis Gunners of 1934. St. Louis would later regain an NFL franchise in 1995 with

14872-415: The new American Football Conference . To avoid having an inequitable number of teams in each conference, the leagues voted to move three NFL teams to the AFC. Motivated by the prospect of an intrastate rivalry with the Bengals as well as by personal animosity toward Paul Brown , Cleveland Browns owner Art Modell quickly offered to include his team in the AFC. He helped persuade the Pittsburgh Steelers (

15015-429: The new owners changed the team's name to the New York Jets . The Raiders and Titans both finished last in their divisions in the 1962 season. The Texans and Oilers, winners of their divisions, faced each other for the 1962 AFL Championship on December 23. The Texans dethroned the two-time champion Oilers, 20–17, in a double- overtime contest that was, at the time, professional football's longest-ever game. In 1963,

15158-452: The offer. On his return flight to Dallas, Hunt conceived the idea of an entirely new league and decided to contact the others who had shown interest in purchasing the Cardinals. In addition to Adams, Howsam, and Winter, Hunt reached out to Bill Boyer , Winter's business partner, to gauge their interest in starting a new league. Hunt's first meeting with Adams was held in March 1959. Hunt, who felt

15301-497: The overall series 62–58–1 as of 2023, but Buffalo has the advantage in the playoffs at 4–1, including a win in the 1992 AFC Championship Game . The rivalry with the New England Patriots began when both teams were original franchises in the American Football League (AFL) prior to the NFL–AFL merger , but did not gain notability until the emergence of New England quarterback Tom Brady in 2001. The teams were very competitive prior to

15444-400: The phrase "World Champions"), Gillman approached NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle and proposed a final championship game between the two teams. Rozelle declined the offer; however, the game would be instituted three seasons later. A series of events throughout the next few years demonstrated the AFL's ability to achieve a greater level of equality with the NFL. On January 29, 1964, the AFL signed

15587-549: The rechristened Oakland Raiders officially joined the AFL on January 30, 1960. The AFL's first major success came when the Houston Oilers signed Billy Cannon , the All-American and 1959 Heisman Trophy winner from LSU . Cannon signed a $ 100,000 contract to play for the Oilers, despite having already signed a $ 50,000 contract with the NFL's Los Angeles Rams . The Oilers filed suit and claimed that Rams general manager Pete Rozelle had unduly manipulated Cannon. The court upheld

15730-641: The relocation of the LA Rams to the city. The Rams moved back in 2016. In the case of the Dallas Cowboys, the NFL had long sought to return to the Dallas area after the Dallas Texans folded in 1952, but was originally met with strong opposition by Washington Redskins owner George Preston Marshall , who had enjoyed a monopoly as the only NFL team to represent the American South. Marshall later changed his position after future-Cowboys owner Clint Murchison bought

15873-468: The rights to Washington's fight song " Hail to the Redskins " and threatened to prevent Marshall from playing it at games. By then, the NFL wanted to quickly award the new Dallas franchise to Murchison so the team could immediately begin play and compete with the AFL's Texans. As a result, the Cowboys played its inaugural season in 1960 without the benefit of the NFL draft . The Texans eventually ceded Dallas to

16016-400: The rivalry gained attention as the Bills and Chiefs met in nine of ten years from 2008 to 2017. After a two-year hiatus in the series, four high-profile match-ups occurred between the Bills and Chiefs in 2020 and 2021, including the aforementioned 2020 Championship Game and the 2021 Divisional round game , the latter of which is now considered one of the greatest playoff games of all time, but

16159-490: The rivalry represents the differences between New York City and Western New York , it has historically not been as intense as Buffalo's rivalries with the Dolphins and Patriots. When not playing one another, the teams' fan bases either have grudging respect or low-key annoyance for each other (stemming more from the broader upstate-downstate tensions than the teams or sport). The Bills-Jets rivalry has often become characterized by ugly games and shared mediocrity, but it has had

16302-452: 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

16445-416: The second most trips to the Super Bowl (tied with the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos , trailing only the New England Patriots ), and have won six Super Bowl championships, tied with the Patriots for the most in NFL history. Perhaps the greatest social legacy of the AFL was the domino effect of its policy of being more liberal than the entrenched NFL in offering opportunity for black players . While

16588-482: The standing red bison was designated as the logo and took its place on a white helmet. In 1962, the team's colors also changed to red, white, and blue. The team switched to blue jerseys with red and white shoulder stripes, similar to the Buffalo Bisons AHL hockey team of the same era. The helmets were white with a red center stripe. The jerseys again saw a change in 1964 when the shoulder stripes were replaced by

16731-411: The state of New York. Founded in 1959 as a charter member of the American Football League (AFL), they joined the NFL in 1970 following the AFL–NFL merger . The Bills' name is derived from an All-America Football Conference (AAFC) franchise from Buffalo that was in turn named after western frontiersman Buffalo Bill . Drawing much of its fanbase from Western New York and Southern Ontario ,

16874-669: The states to play in the AFL. In the league's first years, players such as Oilers' George Blanda , Chargers/Bills' Jack Kemp , Texans' Len Dawson , the NY Titans' Don Maynard , Raiders/Patriots/Jets' Babe Parilli , Pats' Bob Dee proved to be AFL standouts. Other players such as the Broncos' Frank Tripucka , the Pats' Gino Cappelletti , the Bills' Cookie Gilchrist and the Chargers' Tobin Rote , Sam DeLuca and Dave Kocourek also made their mark to give

17017-514: The team after the 2014 season, was hired as a coaching assistant for Jacksonville and eventually rose to become the Jaguars' head coach. The first game between the Marrone-led Jaguars was a London game in week 7 of the 2015 season, which saw the Jaguars' win 34–31. The most important game of this series was an ugly, low-scoring Wild Card game in 2017 that saw the Jaguars win 10–3. This game

17160-588: The team playing in the San Francisco Bay Area —which already had an established NFL team (the San Francisco 49ers )—but the product on the field was also to blame. After winning six games in their debut season, the Raiders won a total of three times in the 1961 and 1962 seasons. Oakland took part in a 1961 supplemental draft meant to boost the weaker teams in the league, but it did little good. They participated in another such draft in 1962. The Titans fared

17303-459: The team's backup quarterback. Teri Polo also appeared as Heller's wife; Flutie, Mike Ditka , Chris Berman , Van Miller , Bills cornerback Donovan Greer and Ken "Pinto Ron" Johnson appear as themselves. The film originally aired on TNT . This article related to an American TV movie is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Buffalo Bills National Football League ( 1970 –present) The Buffalo Bills are

17446-737: The team's exclusive lease, and additionally, signed an extension to keep some home games in Milwaukee until 1976. In June 1965, the AFL awarded its first expansion team to Cox Broadcasting of Atlanta . The NFL quickly counteroffered insurance executive Rankin Smith a franchise, which he accepted; the Atlanta Falcons began play as an NFL franchise for the 1966 season. In March 1965, Joe Robbie had met with Commissioner Foss to inquire about an expansion franchise for Miami . On May 6, Robbie secured an agreement with Miami mayor Robert King High to bring

17589-528: The team's regular season roster. Number 1 has also rarely been used for reasons yet to be explained. While there is no proper explanation, Tommy Hughitt was a player-coach for the early Buffalo teams in the New York Pro Football League and NFL from 1918 to 1924 and was both a major on-field success and a fixture in Buffalo culture after his retirement as a politician and auto salesman. Hughitt

17732-483: The threat of the AFL would be enough to prompt the NFL to expand to Buffalo. On August 14, 1959, the first league meeting was held in Chicago, and charter memberships were given to Dallas, New York, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis-Saint Paul. On August 22, the league officially was named the American Football League at a meeting in Dallas. The NFL's initial reaction was not as openly hostile as it had been with

17875-741: The top 40 metropolitan areas, a fact that has precluded any other competing league from gaining traction since the merger; failed attempts to mimic the AFL's success included the World Football League (1974–75), United States Football League (1983–85), the United Football League (2009–2012) and the AAF (2019), and two iterations of the XFL ( 2001 and 2020 ), in addition to the NFL-backed and created World League of American Football (1991–92). The AFL

18018-485: The upcoming season and beyond. The Bills have rivalries with their three AFC East opponents (the Miami Dolphins , New England Patriots , and New York Jets ) and also have rivalries with the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts (a former divisional opponent), Kansas City Chiefs , Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans , Jacksonville Jaguars , and Dallas Cowboys . They also play an annual preseason game against

18161-509: 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 . The set initially featured striped socks, but by 2021, the Bills gradually reduced its usage and began wearing either all-white or all-blue hosiery without stripes in most games. Buffalo sporadically wore white at home in

18304-485: Was Oakland Raiders head coach and general manager Al Davis , who had been instrumental in turning around the fortunes of that franchise. That following May, Wellington Mara , owner of the NFL's New York Giants , broke a "gentleman's agreement" against signing another league's players and lured kicker Pete Gogolak away from the AFL's Buffalo Bills. In response to the Gogolak signing and no longer content with trying to outbid

18447-487: Was also controversial due to the league's overtime rules. A rivalry between Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has also developed, drawing comparisons to Jim Kelly's rivalry with Dan Marino as well as the rivalry between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning . A new rivalry emerged between the Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars after former Bills head coach Doug Marrone , who had quit

18590-413: Was also the most successful of numerous upstart leagues of the 1960s and 1970s that attempted to challenge a major professional league's dominance. All nine teams that were in the AFL at the time the merger was agreed upon were accepted into the league intact (as was the tenth team added between the time of the merger's agreement and finalization), and none of the AFL's teams have ever folded. For comparison,

18733-499: Was blue from 1974 through 1986 before changing to white. The standing bison logo was replaced by a blue charging one with a red slanting stripe streaming from its horn. The newer emblem, still the primary one used by the franchise, was designed by aerospace designer Stevens Wright in 1974. In 1984 , the helmet's shell 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,

18876-402: Was fired after three consecutive last place finishes in the AFC East. Doug Marrone was hired to be the Bills' head coach prior to the 2013 season. The Bills went 6–10 in the 2013 season and improved to 9–7 in the 2014 season. Marrone decided to step down as head coach following the season. On October 8, 2014, Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula received unanimous approval to acquire

19019-486: Was historically only issued sparingly after the retirement of Jack Kemp . It was last worn by wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling in 2024, before he was released on October 15, 2024. Other numbers that have been historically issued only on rare circumstances included the 44 of Elbert Dubenion (worn as of 2024 by Joe Andreessen ) and the 66 of Billy Shaw (worn since 2023 by Connor J. McGovern ), each of which were typically only issued to players not expected to make

19162-487: Was instrumental in his city's success in attracting the team. Partly to honor Bartle, the franchise officially became the Kansas City Chiefs on May 26. The San Diego Chargers, under head coach Sid Gillman , won a decisive 51–10 victory over the Boston Patriots for the 1963 AFL Championship. Confident that his team was capable of beating that season's NFL champion Chicago Bears (he had the Chargers' rings inscribed with

19305-468: Was named the AFL's first commissioner. Foss commissioned a friend of Harry Wismer's to develop the AFL's eagle-on-football logo. Hunt was elected President of the AFL on January 26, 1960. The AFL's first draft took place the same day Boston was awarded its franchise, and lasted 33 rounds. The league held a second draft on December 2, which lasted for 20 rounds. Because the Oakland Raiders joined after

19448-493: Was played in Los Angeles. After a close first half, the NFL champion Green Bay Packers overwhelmed the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs, 35–10. The loss reinforced for many the notion that the AFL was an inferior league. Packers head coach Vince Lombardi stated after the game, "I do not think they are as good as the top teams in the National Football League." The second AFL-NFL Championship ( Super Bowl II ) yielded

19591-405: Was reported to wear number 1 during this time. Wide receiver Curtis Samuel currently wears the number; prior to Emmanuel Sanders 's one-year stint with the Bills in 2021, it had been 19 years since it had been worn in the regular season when kicker Mike Hollis wore it in 2002. Number 95 has not been reissued since the retirement of Kyle Williams in 2019. On April 27, 1984, Bills announced

19734-413: Was still primarily a gate-driven business in 1960, so low attendance meant financial losses. The Raiders, with a league-worst average attendance of just 9,612, lost $ 500,000 in their first year and only survived after receiving a $ 400,000 loan from Bills owner Ralph Wilson. In an early sign of stability, however, the AFL did not lose any teams after its first year of operation. In fact, the only major change

19877-639: Was the Chargers' move from Los Angeles to nearby San Diego (they would return to Los Angeles in 2017). On August 8, 1961, the AFL challenged the Canadian Football League to an exhibition game that would feature the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the Buffalo Bills , which was attended by 24,376 spectators. Playing at Civic Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario , the Tiger-Cats defeated the Bills 38–21 playing

20020-456: Was the seventh largest upset at the time in NFL history, which saw the 15.5-point favorite Bills lose 9–6. The next time the teams would play would be a monday-night game in 2024 where the bills "annihilated" the Jaguars 47-10. The series is currently tied at 10–10. The Tennessee Titans (formerly the Houston Oilers ) share an extended history with the Bills, both teams being original AFL clubs and rivals in that league's East Division before

20163-489: Was to begin play in 1961, never played a single game, largely because MLB responded to the proposal by expanding to four of that league's proposed cities. Historically, the only other professional sports league in the United States to exhibit a comparable level of franchise stability from its inception was the American League of Major League Baseball , which made its debut in the early 20th century. The NFL adopted some of

20306-424: Was unveiled on April 3, 2012. On November 12, 2015, the Bills and the New York Jets became the first two teams to participate in the NFL's Color Rush uniform initiative, with Buffalo wearing an all-red combination for the first time in team history. Like the primary uniforms, the set initially had red socks with white and blue stripes, but in 2020, it was replaced with red socks without stripes. A notable use of

20449-555: Was viewed as a key victory for the AFL, Namath signed a $ 427,000 contract with the Jets on January 2, 1965 (the deal included a new car). It was the highest amount of money ever paid to a collegiate football player, and is cited as the strongest contributing factor to the eventual merger between the two leagues. After the 1963 season, the Newark Bears of the Atlantic Coast Football League expressed interest in joining

#953046