The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the metropolitan area of Buffalo, New York. 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 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.

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History

Logos and uniforms

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. ^[1] 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. ^[2] By 1965, red and blue center stripes were put on the helmets. ^[3]

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 bison 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.

On July 30, 2009 the Bills released the second American Football League Legacy Uniform, which included the standing red bison logo.

Players of note

Current players

Quarterbacks  5 Trent Edwards 10 Gibran Hamdan  7 J. P. Losman Running Backs 22 Fred Jackson 23 Marshawn Lynch 38 Corey McIntyre FB 25 Xavier Omon Wide Receivers 83 Lee Evans 81 James Hardy 17 Justin Jenkins 13 Steve Johnson 11 Roscoe Parrish PR 82 Josh Reed Tight Ends 86 Derek Fine 84 Robert Royal 80 Derek Schouman 87 Jonathan Stupar		Offensive Linemen 77 Demetrius Bell T 60 Brad Butler G 73 Kirk Chambers T/G 66 Derrick Dockery G 67 Melvin Fowler C 71 Jason Peters T 75 Duke Preston C/G 79 Jonathan Scott T 68 Langston Walker T 65 Jason Whittle G Defensive Linemen 96 Copeland Bryan DE 92 Ryan Denney DE 91 Spencer Johnson DT 90 Chris Kelsay DE 74 Corey Mace DE/DT 99 Marcus Stroud DT 95 Kyle Williams DT		Linebackers 57 Jon Corto OLB 54 Blake Costanzo OLB 56 Keith Ellison OLB 58 Teddy Lehman ILB 59 Kawika Mitchell OLB 51 Paul Posluszny ILB Defensive Backs 27 Reggie Corner CB 35 Dustin Fox CB 33 Jabari Greer CB 24 Terrence McGee CB 28 Leodis McKelvin CB/KR 43 Bryan Scott S 30 Ko Simpson FS 29 John Wendling S 37 George Wilson S 20 Donte Whitner SS Special Teams  9 Rian Lindell K  8 Brian Moorman P 72 Ryan Neill LS		Reserve Lists 16 Matt Baker QB (IR) 50 Alvin Bowen OLB (IR) 53 Marcus Buggs OLB (IR) 55 Angelo Crowell OLB (IR) 52 John DiGiorgio ILB (IR) 93 Chris Ellis DE (IR) 97 John McCargo DT (IR) 94 Aaron Schobel DE (IR) 26 Ashton Youboty CB (IR) Practice Squad 76 Chris Denman G/T 42 Bruce Hall RB -- Vince Hall ILB 18 C. J. Hawthorne WR 14 Felton Huggins WR -- Mike Jefferson WR 62 Brandon Rodd G/T 98 Marcus Smith DE/DT Rookies in italics updated 2008-12-17 • 53 Active, 9 Inactive, 8 PS ? More rosters

Buffalo Bills Wall of Fame

1980 - O.J. Simpson 1984 - Jack Kemp 1985 - Patrick J. McGroder 1987 - Tom Sestak 1988 - Billy Shaw 1989 - Ralph C. Wilson Jr. 1992 - The 12th Man 1993 - Elbert Dubenion 1994 - Mike Stratton 1995 - Joe Ferguson 1996 - Marv Levy 1997 - Joe DeLamielleure 1998 - Robert James

1999 - Edward Abramoski 2000 - Bob Kalsu 2000 - George Saimes 2001 - Jim Kelly 2001 - Fred Smerlas 2002 - Kent Hull 2003 - Darryl Talley 2004 - Jim Ritcher 2005 - Thurman Thomas 2006 - Andre Reed 2007 - Steve Tasker 2008 - Bruce Smith

Pro Football Hall Of Fame

• O.J. Simpson (1985)
• Billy Shaw (1999)
• Marv Levy (2001)
• Jim Kelly (2002)
• James Lofton (2003)
• Joe Delamielleure (2003)
• Thurman Thomas (2007)
• Bruce Smith (2009)
• Ralph Wilson (2009)

Retired numbers

• 12 Jim Kelly, QB, 1986–96

^[4] 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.

All-time first round draft picks

1960s ^[5]

Year	Player	College	Position
1960	Richie Lucas	Penn State	Quarterback
1961	Ken Rice, 1st Overall	Auburn	Tackle
1963	Dave Behrman	Michigan State	Center
1964	Carl Eller	Minnesota	Defensive End
1965	Jim Davidson	Ohio State	Tackle
1966	Mike Dennis	Mississippi	Running Back
1967	John Pitts	Arizona State	Safety
1968	Haven Moses	San Diego State	Wide Receiver
1969	O.J. Simpson, 1st Overall	Southern California	Running Back

1970s

Year	Player	College	Position
1970	Al Cowlings	Southern California	Defensive Tackle
1971	J.D. Hill	Arizona State	Wide Receiver
1972	Walt Patulski, 1st Overall	Notre Dame	Defensive End
1973	Paul Seymour	Michigan	Tight End
1973	Joe DeLamielleure	Michigan State	Guard
1974	Reuben Gant	Oklahoma State	Tight End
1975	Tom Ruud	Nebraska	Linebacker
1976	Mario Clark	Oregon	Defensive Back
1977	Phil Dokes	Oklahoma State	Defensive Tackle
1978	Terry Miller	Oklahoma State	Running Back
1979	Tom Cousineau, 1st Overall	Ohio State	Linebacker
1979	Jerry Butler	Clemson	Wide Receiver

1980s

Year	Player	College	Position
1980	Jim Ritcher	North Carolina State	Center
1981	Booker Moore	Penn State	Running Back
1982	Perry Tuttle	Clemson	Wide Receiver
1983	Tony Hunter	Notre Dame	Tight End
1983	Jim Kelly	Miami (FL)	Quarterback
1984	Greg Bell	Notre Dame	Running Back
1985	Bruce Smith, 1st Overall	Virginia Tech	Defensive End
1985	Derrick Burroughs	Memphis State	Defensive Back
1986	Ronnie Harmon	Iowa	Running Back
1986	Will Wolford	Vanderbilt	Tackle
1987	Shane Conlan	Penn State	Linebacker
1988	No 1st Rd Pick, Thurman Thomas (2nd Round)	Oklahoma State	Running Back
1989	No 1st Rd Pick, Don Beebe (3rd Round)	Chadron State	Wide Receiver

1990s

Year	Player	College	Position
1990	James Williams	Fresno State	Defensive Back
1991	Henry Jones	Illinois	Defensive Back
1992	John Fina	Arizona	Tackle
1993	Thomas Smith	North Carolina	Defensive Back
1994	Jeff Burris	Notre Dame	Defensive Back
1995	Ruben Brown	Pittsburgh	Guard
1996	Eric Moulds	Mississippi State	Wide Receiver
1997	Antowain Smith	Houston	Running Back
1998	No 1st Rd Pick, Sam Cowart (2nd Round)	Florida State	Linebacker
1999	Antoine Winfield	Ohio State	Defensive Back

2000s

Year	Player	College	Position
2000	Erik Flowers	Arizona State	Defensive End
2001	Nate Clements	Ohio State	Defensive Back
2002	Mike Williams	Texas	Tackle
2003	Willis McGahee	Miami (FL)	Running Back
2004	Lee Evans	Wisconsin	Wide Receiver
2004	J.P. Losman	Tulane	Quarterback
2005	No 1st Round Pick, Roscoe Parrish (2nd Round)	Miami (FL)	Wide Receiver
2006	Donte Whitner	Ohio State	Safety
2006	John McCargo	North Carolina State	Defensive Tackle
2007	Marshawn Lynch	California	Running Back
2008	Leodis McKelvin	Troy	Defensive Back
20091	Aaron Maybin (11th Overall)	Penn State	Defensive End/Outside Linebacker
20091	Eric Wood (28th Overall)	Louisville	Center

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) ^[6]
• 2007 Season - Jason Peters (Offensive Tackle), Aaron Schobel (Defensive End - Injury Replacement) ^[7]
• 2006 Season - Aaron Schobel (Defensive End), Brian Moorman (Punter) ^[8]
• 2005 Season - Brian Moorman (Punter) ^[9]
• 2004 Season - Brian Moorman (Punter), Mike Schneck (Need Player) ^[10]
• 2003 Season - Takeo Spikes (Line Backer), Ruben Brown (Offensive Guard) ^[11]
• 2002 Season - Drew Bledsoe (Quarterback), Ruben Brown (Offensive Guard), Eric Moulds (Wide Receiver), Travis Henry (Running Back - Injury Replacement) ^[12]

Coaches of note

Head coaches

Current staff

	Front Office Owner/President - Ralph Wilson Senior Vice President of Football Administration - Jim Overdorf Vice President of Pro Personnel - John Guy Vice President of College Scouting - Tom Modrak Vice President/Assistant Director of College Scouting - Linda Bogdan Head Coaches Head Coach - Dick Jauron Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams - Bobby April Assistant to the Head Coach/Special Projects - Chuck Lester Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator - Turk Schonert Quarterbacks - Alex Van Pelt Running Game Coordinator/Running Backs - Eric Studesville Wide Receivers - Tyke Tolbert Tight Ends - Charlie Coiner Offensive Line - Sean Kugler Assistant Offensive Line - Ray Brown Offensive Quality Control - Nathaniel Hackett			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator - Perry Fewell Defensive Line - Bill Kollar Linebackers - Matt Sheldon Assistant Linebackers/Special Teams - DeMontie Cross Defensive Backs - George Catavolos Defensive Quality Control - Adrian White Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning - John Allaire ? ? More NFL staffs

Radio and television

The Buffalo Bills Radio Network is currently flagshipped at WGR 550AM, 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.

Buffalo is also one of eight teams that is contracted with Compass Media Networks to syndicate selected games nationwide.

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

1. Elbert Dubenion - 1960
2. Cookie Gilchrist - 1962
3. Billy Shaw & Tom Sestak - 1965
4. http://www.nflteamhistory.com/nfl_teams/buffalo_bills/retired_numbers.html
5. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Edited by Randall Liu, pp. 393, Workman Publishing, 2001, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2
6. Lynch headed to Pro Bowl
7. 2008 Pro Bowl rosters
8. 2007 Pro Bowl rosters - NFL - MSNBC.com
9. 2006 Pro Bowl Rosters
10. ESPN - 2005 AFC Pro Bowl roster - NFL
11. 2004 Pro Bowl Roster - AFC
12. ESPN.com: NFL - AFC Pro Bowl squad

See also

• List of American Football League players
• Buffalo Bills seasons
• Major North American professional sports teams