September 11, 2023 – THEME WEEK DAY 1

It’s a theme week on the Wiki Corner! In honor of football season starting up, we’re doing a theme week on the origins of NFL team names!
We have to start with the Buffalo Bills, who take on the Jets tonight. The Bills weren’t the first professional football team to play in Buffalo. Professional football has been played in Buffalo and western New York since the beginning of the 20th century. The predecessor of the Bills was founded as part of the All-America Football Conference in 1946. The team was originally called the Bisons, but there was already a baseball team and a hockey team at the time with that name. Looking for something more unique, the owner, James Breuil, held a contest to rename the team for the 1947 season. The winner was James Dyson, who wrote an essay comparing the team to a band of “Buffalo Bills”, referring to William “Buffalo Bill” Cody, one of the most famous figures from the Old West. Breuil also owned the Frontier Oil Company, and chose the name to continue the frontier theme of his businesses.
The real Buffalo Bill was not only a well-known figure of the Old West, but he was also a scout for the Union in the Civil War and fought in the Indian Wars. He received the Medal of Honor in 1872, and in 1883 began performing his own show, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, all over the country. Buffalo Bill had no connection to Buffalo – but he did have a Rochester connection! He actually lived here for a few years, and 3 of his children are buried in Mount Hope Cemetery.
When Ralph Wilson purchased the team, he decided to use “Buffalo Bills” in homage to the city’s earlier football team. For the first 2 seasons, the team’s uniforms strongly resembled those of the Detroit Lions. Wilson had been a minority owner of the Lions, so the team’s original colors were blue, silver, and white. After joining the NFL, the Bills struggled during the 1970s before becoming perennial post-season contenders from the late 80s to late 90s.  The Bills are the only team to advance to four consecutive Super Bowls between 1990 and 1993 – but they also have the unfortunate distinction of losing all four of them. Together with the Minnesota Vikings, their 4 Super Bowl appearances are the most among NFL franchises without a Super Bowl win. Learn more here.