| Buffalo Bills |
 2009 season |
Established 1959
Play in Orchard Park, New York |
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| League/conference affiliations |
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American Football League (1960-1969)
- Eastern Division (1960-1969)
National Football League (1970–present)
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| Current uniform |
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| Team colors |
Dark Navy, Red, Royal Blue, Nickel, White
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| Mascot |
Billy Buffalo |
| Personnel |
| Owner(s) |
Ralph Wilson |
| General manager |
Russ Brandon[1] |
| Head coach |
Dick Jauron |
| Team history |
- Buffalo Bills (1960–present)
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| Championships |
| League championships (2)
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Conference championships (4)
- AFC: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993
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Division championships (10)
- AFL East: 1964, 1965, 1966
- AFC East: 1980, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1995
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| Playoff appearances (17) |
- AFL: 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966
- NFL: 1974, 1980, 1981, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999
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| Home fields |
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The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the metropolitan area of Buffalo, New York. They sold out every game in 2008. They play their home games in the suburb of Orchard Park, and beginning in 2008, one home game is played in Toronto. They are members of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The Bills began competitive play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League and joined the NFL as part of the AFL-NFL merger.
The Bills won two consecutive American Football League titles in 1964 and 1965, but the club has not won a league championship since the merger. Buffalo is also the only team to win four consecutive American Football Conference Championships, and lost all four Super Bowls.
The Bills were named as the result of the winning entry in a local contest, which named the team after the AAFC Buffalo Bills, a previous football franchise from the All-America Football Conference that merged with the Cleveland Browns in 1950. That team, in turn, was named after William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody. The Bills' cheerleaders are known as the Buffalo Jills. The official mascot is Billy Buffalo.
The Bills conduct summer training camp at Saint John Fisher College in Pittsford, NY, a suburb of Rochester.
They are the only NFL team to play their home games within New York State. Both the New York Jets and the New York Giants play in the suburb of East Rutherford, New Jersey outside of New York City. On October 2, 2005, the Bills played the New Orleans Saints in the first NFL regular season game held in San Antonio, Texas. With the inception of the Bills Toronto Series in 2008, they are also the only team to play home games in Canada.
History
Logos and uniforms
Buffalo Bills uniform combination
Buffalo Bills uniform: 1975-1983
*solid red socks were worn from '82-'83
Buffalo Bills uniform: 1987-2001
The Bills logo from 1962 to 1973; still used as an alternate logo today.
When the Bills began playing in 1960, the team's colors were royal blue, white, and silver, very similar to that of the Detroit Lions. The team wore blue jerseys with gray numbers and white jerseys with blue numbers. The helmets were all silver with blue numbers on the side.
In 1962, the standing red bison was designated as the logo and took its place on a white helmet.[2] In 1962, the team's colors also changed to red, white, and blue. The team switched to blue jerseys with red and white stripes on the shoulders. the helmets were white with a red center stripe.[3] By 1965, red and blue center stripes were put on the helmets.[4]
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. Buffalo sporadically wore white at home in the 1980s, but has not since 1986.
In 1974, the standing bison logo was replaced by a blue charging one with a red slanting stripe streaming from its horn. In 1984, the helmet's background color was changed from white to red, reportedly in part to distinguish them more readily from three of their division rivals at that time, the Indianapolis Colts, the Miami Dolphins, and the New England Patriots, who all also wore white helmets at that point. (The Patriots now use a silver helmet while the Colts have since been realigned to the AFC South, though the New York Jets--who wore white helmets until 1978--have since switched back to white helmets.) Then in 2002, a darker shade of blue and nickel were introduced, along with red and white pipe trimming on the jerseys and pants. The original shades of red and blue, however, were contained as striping colors. They are also still used on their logos.
In the same year in 2002, the Bills white uniforms went through a radical change. The white uniforms include a red stripe on the sides and are dark blue along the shoulders of the uniforms. The current white uniforms are worn for most Bills road games. The current helmet is scarlet with one navy blue, two nickel, two royal blue, two white stripes, and white face mask. The current helmet bison logo is royal blue, with scarlet streak, white horn and eyeball with a royal blue pupil.
In 2005, the Bills revived the standing buffalo helmet and uniform of the mid-1960s as an alternate uniform.
Under coach Dick Jauron, the Bills have usually worn the all-blue combination at home and the all-white combination on the road when not wearing the throwback kit. They have not worn blue on white since 2006, while the white on blue has not been worn since 2007.
Players of note
Current players
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| Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
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Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Special Teams
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Reserve Lists
Unsigned Draft Picks
Rookies in italics
Roster updated 2009-07-12
Depth Chart • Transactions
77 Active, 0 Inactive, 6 Unsigned
→ More rosters
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Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame
Pro Football Hall Of Fame
Retired numbers
- 12 Jim Kelly, QB, 1986–96
[5]
Unofficially retired
- 32 O.J. Simpson, RB, 1969–77
- 34 Thurman Thomas, RB, 1988–99
- 78 Bruce Smith, DE, 1985–99 (although guard Ruben Brown used 78 as his practice jersey; he wore 79 on the field)
Since the earliest days of the team, the number 31 was not supposed to be issued to any 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.' The tradition was broken in 1969 when reserve running back Preston Ridlehuber was issued number 31 for one game while his normal number 36 jersey was repaired by equipment manager Tony Marchitte. 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. The number has since been released for use by any player and was most recently worn by backup running back Dwayne Wright.
Active in NFL
Players
Players currently on NFL active rosters, listed in alphabetical order by current team.
49ers: Nate Clements, Takeo Spikes; Bears: None; Bengals: Shayne Graham; Broncos: Mario Haggan; Browns: Robert Royal; Buccaneers: Angelo Crowell; Cardinals: Mike Gandy; Chargers: None; Chiefs: Ron Edwards; Colts: Christian Gaddis*; Cowboys: None; Dolphins: None; Eagles: Rashad Baker, Jon Dorenbos; Falcons: Mike Schneck, Coy Wire; Giants: Dwayne Wright; Jaguars: Kennard Cox*; Jets: Jim Leonhard; Lions: Michael Gaines, Eric King; Packers: Nevin McCaskill*, Duke Preston; Panthers: None; Patriots: Sam Aiken, Sammy Morris; Raiders: Luke Lawton*; Rams: C. J. Ah You*, Eric Bassey*; Ravens: Justin Bannan, Willis McGahee, Evan Oglesby*; Redskins: Ethan Albright, Todd Collins, Derrick Dockery, London Fletcher; Saints: Darian Barnes, Jabari Greer, Pierson Prioleau; Seahawks: None; Steelers: Martin Nance*; Texans: Courtney Anderson*, André Davis; Titans: Josh Stamer; Vikings: Pat Williams, Antoine Winfield
*Offseason and/or practice squad member of the Bills only
All-time first round draft picks
1960s[6]
1970s[6]
1980s[6]
1990s[6]
2000s
1 In addition to their own pick (11th overall), the Bills received the 28th overall pick, as well as a fourth-round pick (121st overall) in the 2009 NFL Draft and a conditional sixth-round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, from the Philadelphia Eagles in a trade for OT Jason Peters
Recent Pro Bowl selections
- 2008 Season - Jason Peters (Starting Offensive Tackle), Marshawn Lynch (Running Back - Injury Replacement)[7]
- 2007 Season - Jason Peters (Offensive Tackle), Aaron Schobel (Defensive End - Injury Replacement)[8]
- 2006 Season - Aaron Schobel (Defensive End), Brian Moorman (Punter)[9]
- 2005 Season - Brian Moorman (Punter)[10]
- 2004 Season - Brian Moorman (Punter), Mike Schneck (Need Player)[11]
- 2003 Season - Takeo Spikes (Line Backer), Ruben Brown (Offensive Guard)[12]
- 2002 Season - Drew Bledsoe (Quarterback), Ruben Brown (Offensive Guard), Eric Moulds (Wide Receiver), Travis Henry (Running Back - Injury Replacement)[13]
Coaches of note
Head coaches
Current staff
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Front Office
- President – Ralph Wilson
- COO/General Manager – Russ Brandon
- Senior Vice President of Football Administration – Jim Overdorf
- Vice President of Pro Personnel – John Guy
- Vice President of College Scouting – Tom Modrak
Head Coaches
- Head Coach – Dick Jauron
- Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams – Bobby April
- Assistant to the Head Coach/Special Projects – Chuck Lester
Offensive Coaches
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Defensive Coaches
Strength and Conditioning
→ Coaching Staff
→ Management
→ More NFL staffs
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Radio and television
The Buffalo Bills Radio Network is currently flagshipped at WGRF 96.9FM, with games also available on WEDG 103.3FM. John Murphy is the team's current play-by-play announcer; he was a color commentator alongside and eventually succeeded longtime voice Van Miller after Miller's retirement at the end of the 2003 NFL season. Mark Kelso serves as the color analyst. The Bills radio network has over twenty affiliates in upstate New York and one affiliate, CJCL 590AM (The Fan) in Toronto.
During preseason, most games are televised on Buffalo's ABC affiliate, WKBW-TV channel 7, with several other affiliates in western New York. These games are simulcast on sister stations WTVH in Syracuse, WICU in Erie, WHAM-TV in Rochester, and beginning in 2008, CITY-TV in Toronto. Ray Bentley, a former Bills linebacker and current AFL on ESPN analyst, does play by play, while CBS analyst and former Bills special teams player Steve Tasker does color commentary on these games. WHAM-TV sports anchor Mike Catalana is the sideline reporter. Since 2008, preseason games have been broadcast in high definition.
In the event that regular season (or preseason) games are broadcast by a cable outlet (ESPN or NFL Network), WKBW-TV carries the ESPN or NFL Network feed.
Notes and references
See also
External links
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Buffalo Bills |
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| Founded in 1959 • Based in Orchard Park, New York |
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| The Franchise |
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| Stadiums |
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| Culture |
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| Lore |
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| Head Coaches |
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| Division Championships (10) |
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| Super Bowl Appearances (4) |
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| League Championships (2) |
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| Wall of Fame |
Simpson, Kemp, McGroder, Sestak, Shaw, Wilson, The 12th Man, Dubenion, Stratton, Ferguson, Levy, Delamielleure, James, Abramoski, Kalsu, Saimes, Kelly, Smerlas, Hull, Talley, Ritcher, Thomas, Reed, Tasker, Smith
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| Seasons |
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| Media |
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| Current League Affiliations |
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