Buffalo Bills

The **Buffalo Bills** are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York. Founded in 1960 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, the Bills are the only NFL team that plays home games in that state. The franchise is owned by Terry and Kim Pegula, who purchased the Bills after the death of 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 became perennial postseason contenders during the late 1980s and 1990s. Their greatest success occurred between 1990 and 1993 when they appeared in a record four consecutive Super Bowls; an accomplishment often overshadowed by them losing each game. From 2000 to 2016, the Bills endured the longest playoff drought of the four major North American professional sports, making them the last NFL franchise and the last 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 conference championships are the most among NFL franchises that have not won the Super Bowl.

## History

The Bills began competitive play in 1960 as 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. 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.
Running back 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
Once 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 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 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, 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 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. On October 8, 2014, Buffalo Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula received unanimous approval to acquire the Bills during the NFL owners' meetings, becoming the second ownership group of the team after team founder Ralph Wilson. Under head coach Sean McDermott, the Bills broke the playoff drought, appearing in the playoffs for three of the next four seasons. 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 a core of talent including Josh Allen, Stefon Diggs, and Tre'Davious White.

## Logos and uniforms

For their first two seasons, the Bills wore uniforms based on those of 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, 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 those worn by 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 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 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, which is still the primary one used by the franchise, was designed by aerospace designer Stevens Wright in 1974.
Quarterback Jim Kelly's 1994 jersey displayed at the Pro Football Hall of Fame
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, 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 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 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, 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 a home game 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 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.

A notable use of 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.

On April 1, 2021, the team announced they will wear white face masks during the upcoming season and beyond.

## Rivalries

The Bills have rivalries with their three AFC East opponents, and also have had historical rivalries with other teams such as the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts (a former divisional rival), Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Dallas Cowboys. They also play an annual preseason game against 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.

### Divisional rivalries

#### Miami Dolphins

Main article: Bills–Dolphins rivalry
Bills placekicker Dan Carpenter attempts a kick against the Dolphins in 2014.
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 the Bills were one of the original eight 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 matchup of the 1980s). Fortunes changed in the following decades with the rise of Jim Kelly as Buffalo's franchise quarterback, and though Kelly and Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino shared 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 the overall series 61–54–1 as of 2021, but Buffalo has the advantage in the playoffs at 3–1, including a win in the 1992 AFC Championship Game.

#### New England Patriots

Main article: Bills–Patriots rivalry
Bills RB C. J. Spiller rushing against the Patriots in 2013
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 traction until the start of New England's Brady–Belichick era in 2001. The teams were generally competitive prior to the 2000s, with the Patriots holding a 41–38–1 lead. However, the arrival of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady led to New England dominating the AFC East, including the Bills, for two decades. The Patriots went 35–5 against the Bills during the 2000s and 2010s, including 15 series sweeps. As a result, the Patriots replaced the Dolphins as Buffalo's most hated rival. The Bills have taken a 4–1 edge since Brady's departure in 2020, which included consecutive AFC East titles from 2020 to 2021 and a series sweep of the Patriots in the former. During the latter season, the Bills also obtained a 47–17 victory against the Patriots in the wild card round, which saw them score a touchdown on every offensive drive. Overall, the Patriots lead the series 77–47–1.

The rivalry is also noted for several players being a member of both teams during their careers, including Drew Bledsoe, Doug Flutie, Lawyer Milloy, Brandon Spikes, Scott Chandler, Chris Hogan, Mike Gillislee, and Stephon Gilmore.

#### New York Jets

Main article: Bills–Jets rivalry
Bills' running back Joe Cribbs (*middle*) rushes the ball against the Jets in the 1981 AFC Wild Card.

The Bills and Jets were both original AFL teams, and both represent the state of New York, though the Jets (since 1984) actually play their games in East Rutherford, New Jersey. While the rivalry represents the differences between New York City and Western New York, it has historically not been as intense as the Bills' rivalries with the Dolphins and Patriots, and the teams' fanbases either have grudging respect or low-key annoyance (stemming more from the broader upstate-downstate tensions than the teams or sport) for each other when the teams are not playing one another. Oftentimes the Bills-Jets rivalry has become characterized by ugly games and shared mediocrity, but it has had 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 67–56 as of 2021, including a playoff win in 1981.

### Other rivalries

#### Tennessee Titans

Main article: Bills–Titans rivalry

The Tennessee Titans (formerly the Houston Oilers) share an extended history with the Bills, both teams being original AFL clubs in 1960 and rivals in that league's East Division before the AFL-NFL merger. Matchups were intense in the 1990s with quarterback Warren Moon leading the Oilers against Jim Kelly's Bills. Memorable playoff moments between the teams include The Comeback, in which 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 30–19.

#### Jacksonville Jaguars

A brief rivalry emerged between the Bills and the Jacksonville Jaguars after former Bills head coach Doug Marrone, who had quit on the team after the 2014 season, was hired as a coaching assistant for Jacksonville and eventually rose to become the Jaguars' head coach. Since then, the series has featured a Bills loss to the Jaguars in London, an ugly, low-scoring playoff game in 2017, trash talk from former Jaguars players such as Jalen Ramsey, and a brawl between the teams in Buffalo in 2018. Prior to this, Jacksonville had handed Buffalo its first playoff loss in Bills Stadium in 1996 before years of concurrent bottom feeding in the late 2000s and early 2010s.

#### Kansas City Chiefs

The Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs were also original teams in the AFL and have had a long history against each other, despite never being in the same division. This rivalry gained attention as the Bills and Chiefs met in nine of ten years from 2008 to 2017. Despite a 2-year hiatus in the series, two high-profile matchups occurred between the Bills and Chiefs in 2020, including the AFC Championship game, which Kansas City won 38–24 to advance to its second straight Super Bowl appearance. Buffalo currently leads the series 27–23–1, which has included four playoff meetings, three of which were AFL/AFC championship games. Prior to the 2020 game, Kansas City won the 1966 AFL Championship game that determined the AFL's (later AFC) representative in the first Super Bowl, going on to face the Green Bay Packers, while Buffalo defeated Kansas City in the 1993 AFC championship game to advance to its fourth straight Super Bowl appearance.

## Playoffs

* 1963 AFL Eastern Division Playoff: 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
* 1991 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 38OT
* 1992 AFC Divisional Playoffs: Buffalo Bills 24, Pittsburgh Steelers 3
* 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
* 1993 AFC Championship: Buffalo Bills 30, Kansas City Chiefs 13
* Super Bowl XXVIII: Dallas Cowboys 30, Buffalo Bills 13
* 1995 Wild Card Game: Buffalo Bills 37, Miami Dolphins 22
* 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
* 2017 Wild Card Game: Jacksonville Jaguars 10, Buffalo Bills 3
* 2019 Wild Card Game: Houston Texans 22, Buffalo Bills 19OT
* 2020 Wild Card Game: Buffalo Bills 27, Indianapolis Colts 24
* 2020 Divisional Playoffs: Buffalo Bills 17, Baltimore Ravens 3
* 2020 AFC Championship: Kansas City Chiefs 38, Buffalo Bills 24
* 2021 Wild Card Game: Buffalo Bills 47, New England Patriots 17

*Playoff record: 17 wins, 18 losses.*

## Notable players

### Retired numbers

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. Despite the fact that the Bills have retired only three jersey numbers, the team has other numbers no longer issued to any player or in reduced circulation.

 **12** | Jim Kelly
 **34** | Thurman Thomas
 **78** | Bruce Smith

**Reduced circulation:**
* 44 Elbert Dubenion, WR, 1960–1968
* 66 Billy Shaw, OL, 1961–1969
* 83 Andre Reed, WR, 1985–1999 *(Lee Evans III wore No. 83 by special permission)*

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.' In 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 issued again until 1990 when first round draft choice James (J.D.) Williams wore it for his first two seasons; it has since been returned to general circulation, with safety Damar Hamlin wearing the number in 2021.

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; as of 2021, it is worn by practice squad cornerback Rachad Wildgoose.

Number 15 was historically only issued sparingly after the retirement of Jack Kemp, but was later returned to general circulation. Receiver Jake Kumerow wears the number as of 2021.

Number 1 has also only rarely been used, for reasons never 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. Hugitt was reported to wear number 1 during this time. Wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders currently wears the number; prior to his arrival in 2021, it had been 19 years since it had been worn in the regular season, when kicker Mike Hollis wore it in 2002.

## Current roster

**Buffalo Bills roster**
* 10 Mitchell Trubisky

**Running backs**
* 22 Matt Breida
* 41 Reggie Gilliam FB
* 25 Taiwan Jones
* 20 Zack Moss
* 26 Devin Singletary

**Wide receivers**
* 11 Cole Beasley
* 13 Gabriel Davis
* 14 Stefon Diggs
* 15 Jake Kumerow
* 19 Isaiah McKenzie
* 1 Emmanuel Sanders
* 5 *Marquez Stevenson*

**Tight ends**
* 88 Dawson Knox
* 89 Tommy Sweeney
* 79 *Spencer Brown* T
* 73 Dion Dawkins T
* 72 *Tommy Doyle* T
* 76 Jon Feliciano G
* 74 Cody Ford G
* 68 Bobby Hart T
* 60 Mitch Morse C
* 75 Daryl Williams T

**Defensive linemen**
* 97 Mario Addison DE
* 96 *Carlos Basham Jr.* DE
* 94 Vernon Butler DT
* 57 A. J. Epenesa DE
* 55 Jerry Hughes DE
* 98 Star Lotulelei DT
* 93 Efe Obada DE
* 91 Ed Oliver DT
* 99 Harrison Phillips DT
* 50 *Gregory Rousseau* DE
* 49 Tremaine Edmunds MLB
* 54 A. J. Klein OLB
* 44 Tyler Matakevich MLB
* 58 Matt Milano OLB
* 9 Andre Smith OLB

**Defensive backs**
* 31 *Damar Hamlin* FS
* 23 Micah Hyde SS
* 30 Dane Jackson CB
* 46 Jaquan Johnson SS
* 24 Taron Johnson CB
* 47 Cam Lewis CB
* 33 Siran Neal CB
* 21 Jordan Poyer FS
* 39 Levi Wallace CB

**Special teams**
* 2 Tyler Bass K
* 69 Reid Ferguson LS
* 3 Matt Haack P
* 51 Bryan Cox Jr. DE (IR)
* 27 Tre'Davious White CB (IR)
* 61 Justin Zimmer DT (IR)

**Practice squad**
* 51 Eli Ankou DT
* 90 Brandin Bryant DT
* 66 *Jacob Capra* G
* 87 Tanner Gentry WR
* 42 Joe Giles-Harris OLB
* 6 Jamie Gillan P
* 37 *Olaijah Griffin* CB
* 29 Tim Harris CB
* 16 Isaiah Hodgins WR
* 67 Evin Ksiezarczyk T
* 56 Mike Love DE
* 38 *Nick McCloud* CB
* 85 *Quintin Morris* TE
* 36 Josh Thomas FS
* 7 Davis Webb QB
* 28 Antonio Williams RB