page_title: History of the Buffalo Bills
section_title: 1969–1977: The O.J. Simpson-"Electric Company" era
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Buffalo Bills / 1960–1985 / 1969–1977: The O.J. Simpson-"Electric Company" era
caption_attribution_description: English: Buffalo Bills' running back O.J. Simpson rushing the ball against the New York Jets on December 16, 1973, breaking the NFL's single-season rushing record.
context_page_description: The history of the Buffalo Bills began in 1960, when the team began play as a charter member of the American Football League, winning two consecutive AFL titles in 1964 and 1965. The club joined the National Football League as part of the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. The Bills have the distinction of being the only team to advance to four consecutive Super Bowls between 1990 and 1993, but also the dubious distinction of losing all four of them.
  The second NFL team to represent Buffalo, New York, the Bills were founded by Ralph Wilson, who owned the team from its establishment until his death in 2014. The team was then sold to Terrence Pegula and his wife Kim later that year.
context_section_description: Before the 1969 season, the Bills drafted running back O. J. Simpson, who would become the face of the franchise through the 1970s. The NFL-AFL merger placed Buffalo in the AFC East division with the Patriots, Dolphins, Jets, and Colts. Their first season in the NFL saw the team win only three games, lose ten, and tie one. In 1971, not only did the Bills finish in sole possession of the NFL's worst overall record at 1–13, but they also scored the fewest points (184) in the league that year while allowing the most (394); no NFL team has since done all three of those things in the same season in a non-strike year. They thus obtained the #1 draft pick for 1972, which was Notre Dame DE Walt Patulski. Despite good on-field performances, he struggled with injuries before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1976. Lou Saban, who had coached the Bills' AFL championship teams, was re-hired in 1972, in which the team finished 4–9–1.
  Meanwhile, War Memorial Stadium was in severe need of replacement, being in poor condition, located in an increasingly worsening neighborhood, and too small to meet the NFL's post-1969 requirement that all stadiums seat at least 50,000. Construction began on a new stadium in the suburbs after Ralph Wilson threatened to move the team to another city; at one point after the 1970 season Wilson was “prepared to move the team” to Husky Stadium in Seattle and was also fielding offers from Tampa and Memphis. Western New York leaders acquiesced to Wilson's demands and built a new open-air facility that featured a capacity of over 80,000 (at Wilson's request) and, unlike other stadiums, was built into the ground. Rich Stadium (later Ralph Wilson Stadium, now New Era Field) opened in 1973 and continues to house the Bills to this day (both Seattle and Tampa would get NFL teams of their own in 1976, when the Seahawks and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, respectively, were enfranchised).
  1973 was a season of change: Joe Ferguson became their new quarterback, they moved into a new stadium, Simpson recorded a 2,000-yard season and was voted NFL MVP, and the team had its first winning record since 1966 with eight wins. The "Electric Company" of Simpson, Jim Braxton, Paul Seymour, and Joe DeLamielleure as recounted in the locally recorded hit "Turn on the Juice", lead a dramatic turnaround on the field. The "Electric Company" was the offensive line (OG Reggie McKenzie, OT Dave Foley, C Mike Montler, OG Joe DeLamielleure and OT Donnie Green) which provided the electricity for the "Juice". O.J. became the only player to rush for 2,000 yards prior to the institution of the 16-game season in 1978. The team made the NFL playoffs at 9–5 for the first time in history in 1974, but in their divisional playoff, they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
  After an 8–6 1975 season, the Bills had internal troubles in 1976; Ferguson was injured and Gary Marangi proved ineffective in replacement. The team dropped to the bottom of the AFC East at 2–12, where they stayed for the rest of the 1970s. On a high note, the 1976 Thanksgiving Day game saw Simpson set the league record for rushing yards in a game, despite a 27–14 loss to the Detroit Lions. After the 1977 season, Simpson was traded to the San Francisco 49ers.
caption: O. J. Simpson, the face of the Bills franchise for most of the 1970s, pictured breaking the NFL's single-season rushing record in 1973.
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