Facts and information about the Buffalo Bills

• The Buffalo Bills were a founding member of the American Football League (AFL) that was formed in 1960 and would merge with the NFL in 1970.

• The Buffalo Bills cheerleaders are known as the Buffalo Jills.

• With the Giants and the Jets both playing their home games in New Jersey, the Bills are the only team to play home games in the state of New York.

• Team owner Ralph Wilson was a minority owner in the Detroit Lions when he decided to pursue an AFL team.

• There was an earlier incarnation of the Buffalo Bills in the old All-American Football Conference that played from 1946 to 1949, the current Bills have no relation to that earlier team.

• Over the course of the 1964 and 1965 seasons, the Buffalo Bills had a streak of 17 consecutive games without allowing a rushing touchdown.

• In 1973, O.J. Simpson would set the league record for rushing yards in a season (later broken by Eric Dickerson) when he rushed for over 2,000 yards.

• When Jim Kelly was elected to the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame after a stellar career with the Buffalo Bills, he became the first former USFL player to be inducted.

• Former Quarterback Jim Kelly is the all-time career Touchdown record holder in the USFL with 83 Touchdowns in three years of play.

• Though drafted in the 1983 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills, Quarterback Jim Kelly would not play for the Bill until 1986 because of his time in the USFL.

• The famously successful “K-Gun” offense run by Buffalo Bills Quarterback Jim Kelly was not named for Kelly, but was named for Tight End Keith McKeller.

• In a 1992 Wild Card game against the Houston Oilers, the Bills would be down 35-3 early in the third quarter, backup Quarterback Frank Reich would then lead the Bills to the greatest comeback in NFL history, beating the Oilers 41-38 in overtime.

• The first visiting team to ever win a playoff game in Buffalo was the 1996 Jacksonville Jaguars.

• In the year 2000, all-time great Buffalo Bills players Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, and Andre Reed were all cut by the team.

• When founded, the Buffalo Bills team colors were light blue, white, and silver.

• It was the 1962 season in which the Buffalo Bills changed their team colors to red, white, and blue.

• During the time of the USFL, the Birmingham Stallions had on their roster at the same time former Bills Running Back Joe Cribbs and future Bills Kicker Scott Norwood.

• In the 1980’s the Buffalo Bills used their first round draft pick on a Running Back three different times; Booker Moore in 1981, Greg Bell in 1984, and Ronnie Harmon in 1986. In 1988, the year the Bills had no first round selection, they drafted future Hall-of-Famer Thurman Thomas in the second round.

• In 1984, the Bills changed their helmets from white to red.

• Famous Buffalo Bills Head Coach Marv Levy was at one time the Head Coach of the Chicago Blitz of the USFL.

• Ralph Wilson, longtime owner of the Buffalo Bills, first tried to get his AFL franchise located in Miami; when the city of Miami turned him down he placed it in Buffalo, New York.

• The Buffalo Bills were the only original AFL team to play all of their home games in the same stadium during their entire time in the AFL, from 1960 through 1969 all Bills home games were in War Memorial Stadium.

• In 1961, with the Oakland Raiders in danger of folding due to financial difficulties, Bills owner Ralph Wilson loaned the Raiders $400,000 to help them continue operations.

• The first player inducted into the Buffalo Bills wall of fame was Running Back O.J. Simpson in 1980; there wouldn’t be a second player inducted for five years when former Quarterback Jack Kemp joined Simpson in 1984.

• During the 1990s, the Buffalo Bills used 5 first round draft picks on Defensive Backs (James Williams, Henry Jones, Thomas Smith, Jeff Burris, and Antoine Winfield).

• Lou Saban had two separate stints as Head Coach of the Buffalo Bills, from 1962 to 1965 and then again from 1972 to 1976.

• As of 2007, former Bills Offensive Guard Billy Shaw is the only member of the Pro Football Hall-of-Fame to have never played in the NFL. Shaw played his entire career in the American Football League and had retired before the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.

• The first officially retired Buffalo Bills jersey was #12 for Jim Kelly. Although not retired, no one has worn the numbers of Thurman Thomas (#34), Andre Reed (#83), or Bruce Smith (#78) since they left the team.

• In no relation to the current team, there was a Buffalo Bills team that played as part of the All-American Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946-1949.

• Hall-of-Fame Offensive Lineman Joe DeLamielleure began and ended his career with the Buffalo Bills, in the middle he played a few seasons with the Cleveland Browns.