Buffalo Bills Team History
 The
Buffalo Bills began their pro football life as the seventh team
to be admitted to the new American Football League. The franchise
was awarded to Ralph C. Wilson on October 28, 1959. During their
more than three decades in the AFL and, beginning in 1970, the
merged National Football League, the Bills have experienced
extended periods of both championship dominance and second-division
frustration.
The Bills' first brush with success came in their fourth season
in 1963 when they tied for the AFL Eastern division crown but
lost to the Boston Patriots in a playoff. But in 1964 and 1965,
they not only won their division but defeated the San Diego
Chargers each year for the AFL championship. Head Coach Lou
Saban, who was named AFL Coach of the Year each year, departed
after the 1965 season.
Buffalo lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1966 AFL title
game and, in so doing, just missed playing in the first Super
Bowl. Then the Bills sank to the depths, winning only 13 games
while losing 55 and tying two in the next five seasons. Saban
returned in 1972, utilized the Bills' superstar running back,
O. J. Simpson, to the fullest extent and made the Bills competitive
once again. That period was highlighted by the 2,003-yard rushing
record set by Simpson in 1973.
But Saban departed in mid-season 1976 and the Bills again sank
into the second division until a new coach, Chuck Knox, brought
them an AFC Eastern division title in 1980. In 1981, Buffalo
advanced to the playoffs again but lost to Cincinnati. The roller
coaster ride for Buffalo fans then took another downturn with
six straight non-winning seasons in the mid-1980s.
However, Marv Levy, who took over the coaching reins in 1986,
quickly fashioned the Bills into one of pro football's truly
dominant teams. Starting in 1988, the Bills won five AFC Eastern
titles in six years and became the only team ever to play in
four straight Super Bowls. Levy was inducted into the Pro Football
Hall of Fame in 2001.
While three coaches -- Saban, Knox and Levy -- have been primarily
responsible for the Buffalo's winning years, so too have a handful
of superstar players been key factors in the Bills' successes.
While Simpson was the key man in the winning years in the early
1970s, such stars as quarterback Jack Kemp, who later became
a United States Congressman, fullback Cookie Gilchrist, defensive
tackle Tom Sestak and Hall of Fame guard Billy Shaw played dominant
roles in the 1960s. Levy's teams in the late 1980s and 1990s
were powered by such perennial all-stars as quarterback Jim
Kelly, running back Thurman Thomas and defensive end Bruce Smith.
Through it all, Buffalo fan support has been magnificent. Attendance
demands forced the expansion of the Bills' first inner-city
home, War Memorial Stadium, from 26,000 to 45,748 during the
13 seasons the Bills played there. In 1973, the Bills moved
to Rich Stadium in suburban Orchard Park, NY. Buffalo fans set
an NFL single-season attendance record of 635,889 in 1991. Through
it all, Wilson has remained as one of the oldest owners, in
terms of longevity, in the entire pro football world. In 1998,
civic leaders decided to honor the owner and renamed the home
of the Bills, "Ralph Wilson Stadium." |
