184 Fun Facts About Buffalo Bills

Ralph Wilson and the seven other original AFL owners became known by what nickname for taking on the NFL?

The Foolish Club lost money for years taking on the NFL, yet none of its eight teams ever folded, and all of them joined the older league in 1970.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen married which actress and singer in May 2025?

Hailee Steinfeld, an Oscar nominee for True Grit, married Allen in California on May 31, 2025; he had proposed the previous November, midway through his MVP season.

The Bills lost the 1966 AFL title game and missed which event?

The first Super Bowl went to Kansas City instead: the Chiefs beat Buffalo, the AFL champions of 1964 and 1965, by 31-7 and met Green Bay two weeks later.

In 1959, Ralph Wilson sent Lamar Hunt a telegram reading what?

'Count me in with Buffalo' was not his first pick: Wilson tried to put his team in Miami, but the Orange Bowl was closed to him and he was turned down.

Ralph Wilson was a minority owner of which NFL team when he decided to join the AFL?

Detroit Lions: Wilson grew up in Detroit and bought a minority share of the team; as Bills owner he later lent the struggling Raiders $400,000 so the AFL kept all eight clubs.

Which Bills star did Lou Saban put on waivers in 1964 for walking off the field, until Jack Kemp intervened?

Cookie Gilchrist took himself out of a game because the plays weren't being called for him; Kemp talked the coach round, and the waivers were cancelled once Gilchrist apologized.

In the snow at Shea Stadium in 1973, O.J. Simpson became the NFL's first 2,000-yard rusher against whom?

New York Jets: Simpson needed 61 yards in the season finale to pass Jim Brown's record of 1,863, ran for 200, and finished a 14-game season with 2,003.

O.J. Simpson won the Heisman Trophy in 1968 playing for which college?

USC's star arrived as the first pick of the 1969 draft, yet coach John Rauch refused to build an offense around one back; Simpson only took off after Rauch left.

Scott Norwood's missed 47-yard field goal at the end of Super Bowl XXV is remembered by which two-word name?

Wide Right was Al Michaels's call on ABC as the kick sailed past the upright; the Giants won 20-19, the first of four straight Super Bowl defeats for Buffalo.

Who was named MVP of Super Bowl XXV for the Giants against the Bills?

Ottis Anderson carried 21 times for 102 yards and a touchdown as the Giants kept the ball for more than 40 minutes, leaving Buffalo's fast offense on the sideline.

Which jersey number did the Bills retire in honor of Jim Kelly?

No. 12 was the first number the Bills ever retired, an honor for a quarterback who had spurned them for two seasons to play in a rival league.

What deficit did the Bills overcome to beat the Oilers 41-38 in 'The Comeback' of January 1993?

Buffalo trailed 35-3 early in the third quarter, then scored 35 unanswered points and won 41-38 in overtime on a Steve Christie field goal, a 32-point rally.

Which backup quarterback led The Comeback after Jim Kelly was hurt?

Frank Reich replaced the injured Jim Kelly and threw four touchdown passes in the second half, including three to Andre Reed, to rally Buffalo past Houston 41-38; he later coached the Colts.

Jim Kelly was drafted by the Bills in 1983 but instead spent two seasons with which USFL team?

Houston Gamblers: Kelly threw 83 touchdown passes in two run-and-shoot seasons there, and joined Buffalo only when the USFL folded, just before the 1986 season.

Which future Hall of Famer went 13 picks after Jim Kelly in the quarterback-rich first round of 1983?

Dan Marino went 27th, the last of six first-round quarterbacks; his Dolphins then met Kelly's Bills in three playoff games between 1990 and 1995 and lost them all.

Before Buffalo, Marv Levy won two Grey Cups as head coach of which CFL team?

Montreal Alouettes: Levy's last title there came in the 1977 'Staples Game', when his players fired staples into their cleats for grip on an icy field and won 41-6.

Thurman Thomas led the NFL four straight years in what?

Yards from scrimmage: Buffalo's no-huddle used Thomas as a receiver as well as a runner, and in his 1991 MVP season he added 631 yards on 62 catches to 1,407 on the ground.

Where did Thurman Thomas normally leave the helmet he could not find at the start of Super Bowl XXVI?

On the 34-yard line, matching his jersey number, was his pre-game spot; the helmet was reportedly moved for the anthem stage, and he missed Buffalo's first two plays.

Whose NFL career sack record did Bruce Smith break in 2003?

Reggie White's 198 fell in December 2003, when Smith, 40 and playing for Washington, threw the Giants' Jesse Palmer for a loss; 171 of his 200 sacks came as a Bill.

Andre Reed, a fourth-round pick in 1985, played college football at which small Pennsylvania school?

Kutztown, a Division II school, later named its stadium after Reed, who left Buffalo with a club-record 941 catches.

Steve Tasker earned seven Pro Bowl selections primarily in what role?

Special teams: Tasker, a 5-foot-9 receiver who caught only 51 passes in his career, covered punts and kickoffs so well that he was voted MVP of the 1993 Pro Bowl.

In the 2000 'Music City Miracle', who threw the cross-field lateral that Kevin Dyson ran 75 yards for a touchdown?

Frank Wycheck took Lorenzo Neal's handoff on the kickoff and threw across the field to Dyson, seconds after Buffalo's go-ahead field goal; the Titans won 22-16.

Which quarterback did Wade Phillips controversially start over Doug Flutie in the Music City Miracle game?

Phillips benched Doug Flutie, 10-5 as the 1999 starter, for Rob Johnson in the wild-card game at Tennessee after Johnson had won the meaningless regular-season finale.

Which Cardinals receiver outjumped three Bills to catch the last-second 'Hail Murray' in November 2020?

DeAndre Hopkins came down with Kyler Murray's 43-yard heave in the final seconds, half a minute after Josh Allen had put Buffalo ahead 30-26; Arizona won 32-30.

Sean McDermott came to Buffalo in 2017 after six seasons as defensive coordinator of which team?

Carolina Panthers: McDermott ran the defense there for six seasons, and four months after hiring him the Bills made Panthers executive Brandon Beane their general manager.

Where did Josh Allen play college football before the Bills drafted him seventh overall in 2018?

Allen started for Wyoming in 2016 and 2017, throwing 44 touchdown passes over those two seasons after transferring from a California junior college; the Bills traded up to take him seventh in 2018.

Who caught the overtime touchdown that beat the Bills in the '13 seconds' playoff game in January 2022?

Travis Kelce's 8-yard catch ended it 42-36 before Josh Allen touched the ball in overtime, and the NFL rewrote its playoff overtime rules that offseason.

Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during a January 2023 Monday Night game against whom?

Cincinnati Bengals receiver Tee Higgins was the man Hamlin tackled before collapsing; medics restored his heartbeat on the field, the game was cancelled, and he later returned to play.

Terry Pegula, who bought the Bills in 2014, made his fortune in what industry?

Natural gas: Pegula's drilling company tapped the Marcellus Shale, and in 2010 he sold most of it to Royal Dutch Shell for $4.7 billion, then bought the Sabres and, in 2014, the Bills.

Which former Toronto Raptors star joined Tracy McGrady and Jozy Altidore in buying a minority stake in the Bills in 2024?

Vince Carter was one of ten limited partners the NFL approved in December 2024, several of them with ties to Toronto, a market the Bills draw on; Terry Pegula kept control.

Which New York governor struck the deal committing $850 million of public money to the new Bills stadium?

Kathy Hochul, a Buffalo native, agreed in March 2022 to $600 million from the state and $250 million from Erie County, then a record public outlay for an NFL stadium; the Bills signed a 30-year lease in return.

When the Bills' longtime suburban home opened in 1973, it was named after which local food company?

Rich Products paid $1.5 million for 25 years of naming rights, an early deal of its kind; the Rich family reportedly first proposed 'Coffee Rich Park', after its coffee creamer.

The Bills switched from white helmets to red in 1984 mainly to help which quarterback pick out his receivers?

Joe Ferguson faced three division rivals in white helmets like Buffalo's, so new coach Kay Stephenson went to red for contrast; it turned out to be Ferguson's last season with the team.

The 'Bills Mafia' name began on Twitter in 2010 after fans teased which ESPN reporter into blocking them?

Adam Schefter had retweeted a day-old Stevie Johnson tweet about a dropped pass; fans mocked him with joke 'breaking news', he blocked them, and they called themselves a mafia.

Lake-effect snowstorms in 2014 and 2022 each forced a Bills home game to be moved to which city?

Detroit's domed Ford Field hosted both games with the Bills' own stadium snowed in, and Buffalo won each time: 38-3 in 2014 and 31-23 in 2022.

Which presidential candidate chose former Bills quarterback Jack Kemp as his running mate in 1996?

Bob Dole chose Kemp, by then a nine-term congressman and former housing secretary; they lost to Bill Clinton and Al Gore.

Ralph Wilson cast one of two votes against which team's 1996 relocation?

Cleveland Browns: the move to Baltimore passed 25-2, with Wilson and Steelers owner Dan Rooney the only owners voting no; Wilson kept his own small-market team in Buffalo for 54 years.

Which expansion team handed the Bills their first home playoff loss at their suburban stadium, in December 1996?

Jacksonville Jaguars, in only their second season, won 30-27; Buffalo had never lost a playoff game in the building, and it proved to be Jim Kelly's last game.

In which town do the Bills play, a suburb of Buffalo?

Orchard Park, south of the city, got the Bills in 1973 after Ralph Wilson explored moving them, possibly to Seattle, unless their run-down city stadium was replaced.

What was the Bills' fast-paced no-huddle offense of the early 1990s called?

The K-Gun is said to take its K not from Jim Kelly but from tight end Keith 'Killer' McKeller, whose blocking and catching let Buffalo keep one group on the field without a huddle.

The Bills' AAFC predecessor was originally called what before a 1947 name-the-team contest?

The AAFC club played its 1946 season as the Buffalo Bisons, a name shared with the city's baseball and hockey teams; owner James Breuil ran a 1947 contest that produced 'Bills', punning on Buffalo Bill Cody.

Which jersey number did the Bills retire for Bruce Smith in 2016?

No. 78 belonged to the first pick of the 1985 draft; Buffalo cut him in a salary-cap purge after the 1999 season, then retired his number in 2016.

What did the Bills' original 1960 silver helmets display instead of a logo?

Player numbers were the only decoration for the Bills' first two seasons; in 1962 the team dropped silver and blue for red, white and blue and put a logo on the helmet for the first time.

Which Bills rookie quarterback threw five first-half interceptions in his first NFL start in 2017?

Nathan Peterman was promoted over a healthy starter, threw five interceptions before half-time against the Chargers and was benched; Buffalo still reached the playoffs that season.

Who became the Bills' head coach in 2026 after Sean McDermott was fired?

Joe Brady, the offensive coordinator during Josh Allen's MVP season, was promoted after McDermott was fired in January 2026 following an overtime playoff loss to Denver.

On November 12, 2015, the Bills and Jets were the first teams to take part in which NFL uniform program?

The NFL's Color Rush program debuted on Thursday, November 12, 2015, with Buffalo in all red and its opponent in all green; the matchup drew complaints from colorblind viewers.

What nickname did the Bills give their all-white 2025 'Rivalries' uniform, which omits red?

The 2025 Nike 'Rivalries' uniform was named Cold Front, an all-white look with blue accents and no red, which designers left off because red signified warmth.

Rex Ryan, Bills head coach in 2015 and 2016, hired which relative as assistant head coach?

Rob Ryan, Rex's twin, joined as assistant head coach in January 2016; the Bills fired both brothers that December with a game still to play.

Which coach wanted Pennsylvania schoolboy Jim Kelly as a linebacker, pushing him to play quarterback at Miami instead?

Joe Paterno recruited Kelly to Penn State as a linebacker; Miami, then coached by former Bills boss Lou Saban, let him throw, and he left as a first-round quarterback.

Which Hall of Fame quarterback left the January 1994 AFC title game with a concussion as the Bills won 30-13?

Joe Montana, in his first season with Kansas City, went out early in the third quarter; Buffalo, already ahead on two Thurman Thomas touchdowns, reached a fourth straight Super Bowl.

Which team traded receiver Stefon Diggs to the Bills in March 2020?

Minnesota Vikings: Buffalo paid a first-round pick and three later ones for Diggs, who led the NFL in catches and yards that season; Minnesota spent the first-rounder on Justin Jefferson.

Which Bills defensive tackle caught a pass in his farewell game in 2018?

Kyle Williams caught a nine-yard pass from Josh Allen late in his last game, the first catch of a 13-season career spent entirely in Buffalo; he made six Pro Bowls.

Which Bills safety wore a padded 'Gazoo' shell over his helmet in the Super Bowl years?

Safety Mark Kelso wore a ProCap padded shell over his helmet for the Super Bowl seasons after repeated concussions; fans nicknamed it the 'Great Gazoo' after the Flintstones character.

Who succeeded John Murphy as the Bills' radio play-by-play voice after Murphy's stroke?

Chris Brown, a team reporter and studio host, filled in after Murphy's stroke at the turn of 2023 and was made the permanent voice in 2024, when Murphy formally stepped down.

Bills radio voice Van Miller was known for which catchphrase after a big Buffalo win?

Fandemonium was Miller's word for the celebrations; the Dunkirk native called Bills games from 1960 to 2003, apart from a spell in the 1970s when a rival station held the rights.

What was the name of the charity cereal launched by Bills quarterback Doug Flutie in 1998?

Flutie Flakes, a frosted corn flake cereal launched in 1998 during Flutie's Bills run, raised money for the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism, named for his son.

Why did the Buffalo Jills cheerleaders stop performing in 2014?

A wage lawsuit by five former Jills, who said they were not paid for hours they worked, led the squad's managers to suspend it two days later; it never took the field again.

The Bills' official drumline, which took over the cheering in 2014, performs under what name?

Stampede is the drumline's name; it has played since the last game of the 2013 season, and with no cheerleaders from 2014 the job of firing up the crowd fell to its drummers.

The Bills' touchdown song is a reworked version of which Isley Brothers hit?

Shout was rewritten for the Bills in 1987 and sung by jingle writer Scott Kemper, who learned only in 2015 that Buffalo crowds were still singing his version after every score.

Marv Levy returned to the Bills in 2006, aged 80, in which role?

General manager: Ralph Wilson brought Levy back eight years after he had retired from coaching, and he ran the football side for two seasons.

Which song do Bills players and fans sing along to in the fourth quarter of home games?

Mr. Brightside, by the Killers, began as the offensive players' hype song; in 2024 the Bills won all eight of their home games with the stadium singing it.

Bills fans are famous for wearing which clothing brand?

Zubaz, the zebra-striped pants, kept such a following among Bills fans that when the revived brand opened its first shop in 2016 it chose western New York.

Jim Kelly's Hunter's Hope foundation fights which disease, which killed his son in 2005?

Hunter Kelly was diagnosed with Krabbe disease, a rare inherited leukodystrophy, as an infant and died in 2005 at eight; Hunter's Hope funds research and newborn screening.

Bills Mafia tailgaters are notorious for jumping off cars and RVs onto what?

Folding tables take the landing because the stunt is copied from professional wrestling, where putting an opponent through a table is a signature move.

What did the Bills do with 'Bills Mafia' in 2020?

Trademark it: the team applied in 2020 so that it could sell hats, T-shirts and other merchandise carrying the name fans had given themselves.

Whose charities did Bills fans flood with donations after a Bengals win ended Buffalo's playoff drought?

Andy Dalton and Tyler Boyd connected for a 49-yard touchdown with 44 seconds left to beat Baltimore; grateful Bills fans gave more than $250,000 to Dalton's foundation alone.

After Josh Allen played the day after his grandmother died in 2020, Bills fans sent $17 gifts to which institution?

Oishei Children's Hospital took in hundreds of thousands of dollars in $17 gifts, matching Allen's jersey number, and named a recovery wing after his grandmother, Patricia.

Which ESPN announcer coined 'No one circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills!'?

Chris Berman's ESPN catchphrase 'No one circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills!' was a staple of his highlight shows during the team's Super Bowl years; he presented Ralph Wilson at the 2009 Hall of Fame induction.

Which Meet the Press host and South Buffalo native was a famous Bills fan?

Tim Russert, born in South Buffalo in 1950, hosted NBC's Meet the Press from 1991 until his death in 2008 and famously signed off with 'Go Bills'; his son Luke shares the fandom.

Which Cheektowaga-raised actor narrated the 30 for 30 film 'Four Falls of Buffalo'?

William Fichtner, raised in Cheektowaga, is a Bills fan who fronted a commercial for the team in 2014, a year before narrating ESPN's film on the four straight Super Bowls.

Superfan 'Pinto Ron' Johnson is doused with what at his Bills tailgates?

Ketchup is squirted from the roof of his red Ford Pinto in a pre-game ceremony that began as a way to sauce his burger; his run of attending every Bills game started in 1994.

Superfan 'Pancho Billa', who wore a sombrero and lucha mask, was invited to do what at the 2018 draft?

Read a Bills pick: Ezra Castro, in a week of chemotherapy, was brought on stage in Dallas by Andre Reed and Fred Jackson to announce third-rounder Harrison Phillips; he died in May 2019.

Jack Kemp's backup Ed Rutkowski went on to hold which political office?

Erie County executive: Rutkowski took over in 1979, won two full terms and served nine years, following his teammate Kemp from the Bills' huddle into Republican politics.

Which star pass rusher signed a six-year deal with the Bills in March 2022?

Von Miller came straight from a Super Bowl win with the Rams and had eight sacks before a torn knee ligament on Thanksgiving Day ended his season.

What was the nickname of War Memorial Stadium, the Bills' first home?

The Rockpile was in disrepair by the time the Bills left in 1972, yet in 1983 it served as the ballpark for the baseball scenes in the film The Natural; it was demolished in 1989.

The Bills' old stadium was known by what name from 2016 to 2019?

New Era Field was named for a Buffalo cap maker that bought the rights in 2016 and asked out of the deal in 2020, leaving it plain Bills Stadium for a season.

The Highmark Stadium that opened in 2026 was designed by which architecture firm?

Populous, the Kansas City stadium specialists, put a canopy over about two-thirds of the seats but left the field open, keeping Buffalo's snow games part of the show.

Where was the Bills' 2026 stadium built?

Beside the old one: ground was broken in June 2023 across the road from the 1973 stadium, years after Outer Harbor and Niagara Falls sites had been studied and ruled out.

Which quarterback went first overall in 2018, six picks before the Bills traded up for Josh Allen?

Baker Mayfield went to Cleveland at the top of a first round with five quarterbacks; by 2026 only two of the five, Allen among them, were still with the teams that drafted them.

The Bills Toronto Series games were played at which venue?

Rogers Centre belongs to Rogers Communications, which paid the Bills C$78 million to bring the games north; the 2008 opener was the first regular-season NFL game played in Canada.

Which future NFL head coach was Sean McDermott's teammate at William & Mary in the 1990s?

Mike Tomlin played receiver for the Tribe while McDermott was a defensive back, so they met in practice long before they first faced each other as head coaches in 2019.

From which team did the Bills claim Jack Kemp off waivers in 1962?

San Diego Chargers coach Sid Gillman put Kemp on waivers while he nursed a broken finger, and Buffalo claimed the two-time division winner for the $100 fee.

Jack Kemp later served as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development under which president?

George H. W. Bush beat Kemp to the 1988 Republican nomination, then put his rival in the cabinet; Kemp had spent nine terms in Congress for a suburban Buffalo district.

A Bills star helped lead a players' boycott that moved the 1965 AFL All-Star Game out of which city?

New Orleans taxi drivers refused rides to the league's Black all-stars, who voted to walk out; the AFL moved the game to Houston, an early victory for athlete protest.

Before joining the Bills, Lou Saban was the first head coach of which AFL team?

Boston Patriots management fired Saban five games into 1961; Buffalo hired him, won two AFL titles under him, and then watched him walk away to coach a college team.

Which Bills backup quarterback, traded to Oakland in 1967, became the Raiders' 'Mad Bomber' and a two-time AFL MVP?

Daryle Lamonica spent four seasons in Buffalo, mostly behind Jack Kemp; traded in 1967, he was the AFL's MVP that same year and took Oakland to the Super Bowl.

Bills linebacker Mike Stratton's 'Hit Heard Round the World' in the 1964 AFL title game flattened which Charger?

Keith Lincoln left midway through the first quarter with a broken rib after Stratton's tackle; Buffalo won 20-7 and shut the Chargers out 23-0 in the rematch a year later.

Which Bills kicker of 1964-65 brought soccer-style placekicking to pro football?

Pete Gogolak, whose family left Hungary after the 1956 revolution, kicked with his instep from an angle; his jump to the NFL's Giants in 1966 set off the bidding war that led to the merger.

Bills receiver Elbert Dubenion was known by which nickname?

Golden Wheels is said to have come from a 1960 teammate's verdict that the rookie from tiny Bluffton College could not catch but had 'golden wheels'; he stayed nine seasons and won two AFL titles.

Bills guard Billy Shaw played college football for which school?

Georgia Tech's two-way lineman was drafted by both leagues and chose Buffalo because Dallas wanted him at linebacker; he is the only Hall of Famer who never played in the NFL.

Bills defensive tackle Tom Sestak, a 17th-round pick in 1962, played at which Louisiana school?

McNeese State's Sestak was drafted by both leagues in 1962; he signed with Buffalo, made four straight AFL All-Star teams and was named to the league's all-time team.

Bills guard Bob Kalsu was killed in action in which war?

Vietnam claimed Kalsu at 25: the Bills' top rookie of 1968 left football to fulfil his ROTC obligation and was killed by mortar fire at Firebase Ripcord in July 1970.

The 1970s Bills offensive line that blocked for O.J. Simpson was nicknamed what?

Simpson's blockers, led by guards Reggie McKenzie and Joe DeLamielleure, were nicknamed the Electric Company because they 'turned on the Juice', Simpson's nickname.

Who broke O.J. Simpson's single-game rushing record a year after he set it in 1976?

Walter Payton ran for 275 yards in November 1977, two more than the 273 Simpson had gained on Thanksgiving 1976 in a game Buffalo still lost 27-14.

The Bills traded O.J. Simpson to which team after the 1977 season?

The San Francisco 49ers, his hometown team, paid five draft picks; one became the first overall choice of 1979, whose rights Buffalo later dealt for the pick that landed Jim Kelly.

Joe DeLamielleure, the Bills' 1973 first-round pick, was an All-American where?

Michigan State made DeLamielleure an All-American guard; he failed his first Bills physical over an irregular heartbeat, was cleared after more tests, and went on to play 185 games.

Ahmad Rashad, traded to the Bills in 1974, was known by what name until 1973?

Bobby Moore, an Oregon star drafted fourth overall by the Cardinals in 1972, converted to Islam and became Ahmad Rashad in 1973, a year before his trade to Buffalo.

Bills nose tackle Fred Smerlas, a five-time Pro Bowler, was a lineman for which school?

Boston College sent Smerlas to Buffalo in the second round in 1979; the Waltham, Massachusetts native made five Pro Bowls there and finished his career back home with the Patriots.

Which Bills linebacker, the 1979 Defensive Rookie of the Year, later coached the Saints to their first playoff win?

Jim Haslett, a second-round pick from tiny IUP, took over a 3-13 Saints team in 2000, won the division and beat the Rams for the franchise's first playoff victory.

Joe Cribbs was UPI AFC Rookie of the Year in 1980 after playing college ball where?

Auburn paired Cribbs with future NFL backs James Brooks and William Andrews; he ran for 1,185 yards as a Bills rookie, then jumped to the USFL's Birmingham Stallions in 1984.

Chuck Knox coached the Bills between stints with which two other NFL teams?

Rams and Seahawks bracketed Knox's Buffalo years; he quit the Bills in January 1983 when contract talks with Ralph Wilson broke down, and was named Coach of the Year with all three clubs.

Whom did the Bills fire midway through 1986 to hire Marv Levy?

Hank Bullough, 4-17 since replacing Kay Stephenson in 1985, was fired after a 2-7 start in November 1986 and Marv Levy took over; Bullough had run the Patriots' early 3-4 defense in the 1970s.

Which team did the 0-11 Bills upset in 1984?

The Dallas Cowboys lost 14-3 in Buffalo after rookie Greg Bell's 85-yard touchdown run in the first quarter; the Bills still finished 2-14, and did so again in 1985.

Marv Levy once called which event a 'must-win'?

World War II was a must-win, Levy once said of a Super Bowl that was not; he had enlisted in the Army Air Forces straight out of high school in 1943.

Before Buffalo, Marv Levy spent five seasons as head coach of which NFL team?

The Kansas City Chiefs had just gone 2-12 when Levy arrived in 1978; he improved their record four years running, then was let go after a 3-6 finish in the strike-shortened 1982 season.

Which GM built the four-straight-Super-Bowl Bills and later the Panthers and Colts?

Bill Polian, Bills GM from 1986 to 1992, signed Jim Kelly out of the USFL and traded for Cornelius Bennett; he later ran the expansion Panthers and the Colts and reached the Hall of Fame in 2015.

Which team traded the seventh pick of the 2018 draft to the Bills, who used it on Josh Allen?

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers dropped back to 12th so Buffalo could jump five places for its quarterback, and took two second-round picks for the favour.

Jim Kelly received which honor at the 2018 ESPYs?

The Jimmy V Award for Perseverance went to Kelly after cancer in his upper jaw, first diagnosed in 2013, came back twice within five years.

Thurman Thomas played college football for which school?

Oklahoma State started Thomas ahead of Barry Sanders; a knee injury scared teams off, and the All-American slid to Buffalo in the second round in 1988.

Thurman Thomas spent his final NFL season with which team?

Thomas played his final season, 2000, for the Miami Dolphins after the Bills released him in a salary-cap purge; he spent 12 of his 13 seasons in Buffalo.

Bruce Smith won which award at Virginia Tech in 1984?

The Outland Trophy, for college football's best interior lineman, went to Smith in 1984; the USFL's Baltimore Stars drafted him too, but he signed with Buffalo, which took him first in the 1985 NFL draft.

Bruce Smith's Super Bowl safety came against which quarterback?

Jeff Hostetler was starting only because Phil Simms had broken his foot against Buffalo six weeks earlier; sacked in his own end zone, he still led the Giants to a 20-19 win.

Bruce Smith grew up in which Virginia port city?

Smith was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1963 and starred at the city's Booker T. Washington High School before staying in-state at Virginia Tech.

In December 2017 the Bills beat which team 13-7 in overtime in a blizzard?

The Indianapolis Colts lost the 'Snow Bowl' when LeSean McCoy, who ran for 156 yards in a lake-effect snowstorm, scored from 21 yards out in overtime.

Andre Reed played his last NFL games in 2000 for which team?

The Washington Redskins signed Reed after a summer with Denver, where he was buried on the depth chart; he played one last season and entered the Hall of Fame in 2014.

The Bills traded which running back, their first-round pick in 2007, to Seattle in 2010?

Marshawn Lynch cost Seattle a fourth-round pick and a conditional one in October 2010; within months came his 'Beast Quake' playoff run, and he later won a Super Bowl there.

Scott Norwood played college football and soccer at which university?

James Madison's Norwood was cut by the Atlanta Falcons, then released by the USFL's Birmingham Stallions after two seasons, before he won Buffalo's kicking job in 1985.

Steve Tasker began his career with which team before joining the Bills?

The Houston Oilers drafted Tasker in the ninth round in 1985 out of Northwestern; Buffalo claimed him off waivers in November 1986 and kept him for 12 seasons.

Frank Reich played college football for which school?

Reich quarterbacked Maryland, where in 1984 he rallied the Terrapins from 31-0 down at halftime to beat Miami 42-40, then the biggest comeback in college history; Buffalo drafted him in the third round in 1985.

Bills center Kent Hull blocked for which record-setting running back in the USFL?

Herschel Walker ran for a pro-record 2,411 yards behind Hull in 1985; when the USFL folded, Hull signed with Buffalo in 1986 and anchored its line for 11 seasons.

Bills guard Jim Ritcher was a 1979 All-American at which school?

NC State played Ritcher at center, where he was an All-American; Buffalo took him 16th overall in 1980, moved him to guard after a season and kept him for 14 years.

Which running back joined the Colts in the 1987 three-team trade that sent Cornelius Bennett to Buffalo?

On October 31, 1987, the Rams sent Eric Dickerson to Indianapolis; the Colts sent the rights to rookie Cornelius Bennett to Buffalo, and the Bills sent Greg Bell and draft picks to the Rams.

Bills linebacker Darryl Talley, who played in all four Super Bowls, was an All-American where?

West Virginia made Talley an All-American in 1982; he played 12 Bills seasons without missing a game and ran an interception back 60 yards for a touchdown in Cleveland, where he grew up.

Which Bills linebacker was named Defensive Player of the Year in 1995?

Bryce Paup signed from Green Bay in March 1995 and led the NFL with 17.5 sacks in his first Buffalo season, winning the award in Wade Phillips's defense.

Doug Flutie fell to the 285th pick of the 1985 NFL draft after signing with which USFL team?

The New Jersey Generals had already signed the Heisman winner, so NFL teams passed on him until the Rams spent an 11th-round pick on his rights.

Which Bills GM moved to San Diego in 2001 and signed Doug Flutie there?

John Butler, Bills general manager from 1993, took over the Chargers in January 2001 and signed two of his old Buffalo players, Doug Flutie and Marcellus Wiley; he died in 2003.

Who sang the national anthem before Super Bowl XXV, the Bills' first Super Bowl?

Whitney Houston's rendition, backed by the Florida Orchestra at Tampa Stadium ten days into the Gulf War, was released as a single and reached the Billboard top 20.

Which Giants defensive coordinator's game plan against the Bills in Super Bowl XXV is displayed in the Hall of Fame?

Bill Belichick convinced the league's best run defense that it would win if Buffalo's lead back topped 100 yards, daring the Bills to run; the Giants won 20-19.

Super Bowl XXVI, a 37-24 Bills loss to Washington, was played in which stadium?

The Metrodome gave Minnesota its first Super Bowl; Buffalo's lead running back missed the opening two plays hunting for his helmet, and Washington led 24-0 before the Bills scored.

Which showboating Cowboy did Don Beebe strip at the goal line in Super Bowl XXVII?

Leon Lett slowed to celebrate at the end of a 64-yard fumble return, and Don Beebe ran him down from behind and knocked the ball through the end zone for a touchback.

Who was named MVP of Super Bowl XXVII, the Cowboys' 52-17 rout of the Bills?

Troy Aikman threw four touchdown passes at the Rose Bowl, while Buffalo lost Jim Kelly to a knee injury in the second quarter and never recovered.

Super Bowl XXVIII, a 30-13 Bills loss to Dallas, was played in which venue?

The Georgia Dome in Atlanta staged the game on January 30, 1994; Buffalo led 13-6 at halftime before Dallas scored 24 unanswered points.

Why was The Comeback kept off local television in Buffalo?

The game hadn't sold out, so the NFL's blackout rule kept it off local TV; fans who had left heard the rally on the radio and climbed fences to get back in.

Which Oilers quarterback threw four first-half touchdown passes in The Comeback?

Warren Moon's four first-half touchdown passes built a 28-3 halftime lead; the day after the collapse, Houston fired its defensive coordinator.

Which controversial star receiver spent the 2009 season with the Bills on a one-year deal?

Terrell Owens signed for a single season after Dallas released him, caught a 98-yard touchdown pass that set a Bills record, then left for Cincinnati.

At which stadium did the Music City Miracle take place?

Adelphia Coliseum had opened in Nashville that August; the win there started a run that took the Titans to the Super Bowl, and the building was later renamed Nissan Stadium.

What did the Titans call the trick kickoff return that became the Music City Miracle?

Home Run Throwback, drawn up by assistant coach Alan Lowry, was called after a Buffalo field goal made it 16-15 with 16 seconds left.

Whose 49-yard field goal as time expired forced overtime in the Bills' '13 Seconds' playoff loss?

Harrison Butker's kick capped a 44-yard drive that used all 13 seconds; Buffalo had kicked off long for a touchback instead of squibbing to run time off the clock.

Which Bills receiver caught a playoff-record four touchdown passes in the '13 Seconds' game?

Gabriel Davis caught four touchdown passes, a playoff first; the last put Buffalo ahead with 13 seconds left, and the Bills still lost in overtime.

Which team did the Bills beat 17-3 in the divisional round of the 2020 season playoffs?

Buffalo beat the Baltimore Ravens 17-3 on January 16, 2021, with Taron Johnson returning a Lamar Jackson interception 101 yards for a touchdown; the Bills then lost the AFC title game in Kansas City.

Who returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in the Bills' first game after Damar Hamlin's collapse?

Nyheim Hines took the opening kickoff 96 yards and a later one 101 yards in a 35-23 win that left Buffalo 13-3 in a season cut to 16 games.

How did Bills fans celebrate the 1980 win that ended Miami's 20-game streak?

Fans stormed the field and tore down a goalpost after the 17-7 win on opening day; Miami had won every meeting of the 1970s.

Which rival did the Bills beat 47-17 in the January 2022 playoffs without punting or kicking a field goal?

The New England Patriots gave up a touchdown on every Buffalo drive that night, the first such 'perfect' offensive game in NFL history.

The Bills-Chiefs rivalry dates to 1960, when Kansas City was known as what?

Kansas City began as Lamar Hunt's Dallas Texans, an AFL charter franchise that won the 1962 AFL title before moving to Kansas City and becoming the Chiefs in 1963.

Which quarterback led the Bills to their drought-ending playoff berth in 2017?

Tyrod Taylor quarterbacked the 2017 Bills, their first playoff team since 1999; Buffalo traded him to Cleveland for a third-round pick in March 2018.

Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bills' quarterback under Chan Gailey, played college football where?

Harvard graduate Fitzpatrick reportedly finished the NFL's Wonderlic test in nine minutes; a seventh-round pick in 2005, he went on to start for nine teams, a league record.

Whom did the Bills draft third overall in 2011 after he was defensive MVP of the BCS title game?

Marcell Dareus knocked Texas quarterback Colt McCoy out of the January 2010 title game and returned an interception 28 yards for a touchdown; Buffalo took him third in 2011.

Sammy Watkins was drafted fourth overall by the Bills in 2014 out of which school?

Watkins, a two-time All-American at Clemson, went fourth overall in 2014 after the Bills traded their 2015 first-round pick to Cleveland to move up; he won Super Bowl LIV with Kansas City.

Bills receiver Lee Evans was the 13th overall pick in 2004 from which school?

Evans caught 1,545 yards' worth of passes for Wisconsin in 2001, missed 2002 with a knee injury, then went 13th overall to Buffalo in 2004; he caught 43 touchdowns in seven Bills seasons.

Which Bills defensive end, a 2001 second-round pick, made Pro Bowls in 2006 and 2007?

Aaron Schobel, a second-round pick from TCU, had 78 sacks in nine Buffalo seasons; released in August 2010, he retired at 32 rather than sign with another team.

Which former Bills linebacker played 219 NFL games without reaching the playoffs?

Takeo Spikes never reached the postseason in 15 seasons, yet three of his five clubs made the playoffs the very year after he left them.

Which Bills receiver set a playoff record with 240 yards at Miami in January 1999?

Eric Moulds caught nine passes, starting with a 65-yard throw from Doug Flutie that he fumbled away at the end of the play; Buffalo lost 24-17.

Kyle Williams was drafted by the Bills in the fifth round of 2006 out of which school?

LSU's Kyle Williams was only the 134th pick of the 2006 draft, a fifth-rounder who went on to make six Pro Bowls.

The Bills traded Stefon Diggs to which team in April 2024?

The Houston Texans gave up a second-round pick for a receiver who had made the Pro Bowl in all four of his Buffalo seasons; the Bills won their division again without him.

Which Bills tight end caught nine touchdown passes in 2021, a then-team record for the position?

Dawson Knox never caught a touchdown pass in college, where he had 39 receptions in all; in 2021 he caught nine for Buffalo.

What did Damar Hamlin first ask doctors after his collapse?

'Did we win?' he wrote on a clipboard, still on a breathing tube; a week after his collapse he was moved to a Buffalo hospital, and he returned to play the next season.

Damar Hamlin played for which school before the Bills drafted him in 2021?

Pittsburgh was home: Hamlin grew up in nearby McKees Rocks, and the toy drive he launched there in 2020 with a $2,500 goal was flooded with donations after his collapse.

The Bills traded the 2017 pick used on which quarterback?

Patrick Mahomes went to Kansas City with that pick; Buffalo dropped to 27th, took cornerback Tre'Davious White and collected the Chiefs' first-round pick for 2018 as well.

Which Bills linebacker was first-team All-Pro in 2022?

Matt Milano lasted until the 163rd pick of the 2017 draft; five years later he was a first-team All-Pro and a Pro Bowler in the same season.

Jordan Poyer formed a top safety tandem in Buffalo alongside whom?

Micah Hyde, a fifth-round pick, and Jordan Poyer, a seventh-rounder, signed with Buffalo on the same day in March 2017; each went on to make a Pro Bowl there.

James Cook, the Bills' second-round pick in 2022, had just won a national title at which school?

Georgia beat Alabama for the title in January 2022, with Cook breaking a 67-yard run; Buffalo took him 63rd overall that April.

Which Hall of Fame receiver joined the Bills in 1989 and had a 1,000-yard season for them at age 35?

James Lofton, traded away by Green Bay and then two seasons a Raider, became in 1991 the oldest player to gain 1,000 receiving yards in a season, a mark Jerry Rice later broke.

Dalton Kincaid walked on at which school before transferring to Utah?

Kincaid walked on at the University of San Diego, an FCS program, after a single season of high school football, then transferred to Utah and became the Bills' first-round pick in 2023.

Greg Rousseau, the Bills' 2021 first-round pick, was born to parents from which country?

Rousseau's parents come from Haiti; he had 15.5 sacks as a Miami redshirt freshman in 2019, opted out of 2020 and still went 30th overall to Buffalo.

Dawson Knox walked on at which college program before the Bills drafted him?

Ole Miss took Knox, a high school quarterback and receiver, as a walk-on in 2015; he earned a scholarship and went to Buffalo in the third round in 2019, 96th overall.

Bills receiver Khalil Shakir played for which school?

Boise State's Shakir caught 77 passes for 1,117 yards in 2021; a fifth-round pick, he led Buffalo in receiving in 2024 after Stefon Diggs was traded away.

Keon Coleman, the Bills' 2024 second-round pick, also played which other sport in college?

Basketball was part of the pitch that took Coleman to Michigan State, where he signed to play both sports; he transferred to Florida State for 2023 and went 33rd overall to Buffalo.

Josh Allen began his college career at which California junior college?

Reedley College, about 65 miles from his family's farm, took Allen in 2014 after no major program offered him a scholarship; a year later he finally had one.

Josh Allen finished second in the 2020 MVP voting to which quarterback?

Aaron Rodgers won his third MVP award with 44 of the 50 votes; Allen, who had no Division I scholarship offers out of high school, took four of the other six.

Josh Allen grew up on his family's farm outside which California town?

Firebaugh is where Allen's Swedish great-grandfather settled during the Great Depression; the family still grows cotton, cantaloupes and wheat there.

Sean McDermott began his NFL coaching career in 2001 as an assistant with which team?

The Philadelphia Eagles hired McDermott in 1999 as a scouting coordinator; Andy Reid moved him onto the coaching staff in 2001 and made him defensive coordinator in 2009.

Which Pro Bowl receiver did the Bills acquire from Cleveland in an October 2024 trade?

Amari Cooper cost Buffalo a third-round pick on October 15, 2024, and caught a touchdown pass in his first game as a Bill five days later.

Bills fans dubbed the pairing of Sean McDermott and GM Brandon Beane what?

'McBeane' fused the names of coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane, both hired in 2017; in their first season together Buffalo ended its long playoff drought.

Founder Ralph Wilson earned his undergraduate degree from which university?

Wilson, born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1918, graduated from the University of Virginia, then left his law studies for wartime service in the Navy.

Ralph Wilson paid what franchise fee to join the AFL in 1959?

Wilson paid the AFL's $25,000 franchise fee in 1959; the team was valued at roughly $1.4 billion when his estate sold it in 2014.

Terry Pegula earned his engineering degree from which university?

Penn State gave Pegula his engineering degree; decades later his $102 million gift built the campus hockey arena that carries his name.

Kim Pegula, former Bills president, was born in which city?

Seoul-born Kim Pegula was brought to the United States and adopted at age five by a family in Fairport, New York; she and her husband Terry bought the Bills in 2014.

Which Bills quarterback of the 2000s had a 21-0 lead collapse into a 24-23 loss to Miami in 2005?

J. P. Losman, the 2004 first-round pick, started the December 2005 game in which Buffalo led 21-0 before Sage Rosenfels rallied Miami to a 24-23 win; he was benched for Trent Edwards in 2007.

Doug Marrone did what on December 31, 2014, ending his Bills tenure?

Marrone opted out of his contract through a clause triggered by the team's sale and kept his $4 million salary for 2015; he spent that season as an assistant in Jacksonville.

Which rock star joined a losing bid for the Bills in 2014?

Jon Bon Jovi's group could not shake the claim that it would move the team to Toronto; Terry and Kim Pegula outbid it and bought the Bills that year.

Bills running back Fred Jackson went undrafted out of which Division III Iowa school?

Coe College also produced Marv Levy, who was back in the Bills' front office when they signed the undrafted Jackson in 2006 after two years of indoor football.

Which quarterback set a Bills record with 463 passing yards in 2002?

Drew Bledsoe, acquired from New England that spring, did it in only his second game as a Bill, winning 45-39 on a 48-yard overtime touchdown pass to Peerless Price.

In March 2012 the Bills gave which defensive end a six-year deal worth up to $100 million?

Mario Williams, the first pick of the 2006 draft, got what was then the richest contract ever given an NFL defender; Buffalo released him in 2016 with two seasons left on it.

Which linebacker did the Bills send to Philadelphia in the 2015 trade for LeSean McCoy?

Kiko Alonso had missed all of 2014 with a torn ACL when Chip Kelly, his coach at Oregon, traded the Eagles' career rushing leader straight up for him.