The Buffalo Bills were founded in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League. Named after the legendary western figure Buffalo Bill, they joined the NFL as part of the merger of the two leagues in 1970.
Click Here to Buy Buffalo Bills Football TicketsThe team secured two AFL titles in a row during 1964 and '65. The team was the only to appear in three AFC Championships for three years in a row.
The team's 1964 guard Billy Shaw was the only player to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame without having played in the NFL. O.J. Simpson was drafted to the team in 1969, who would become the face of the team through the '70s. He would be named NFL MVP in 1973 for his 2,000 yard season. They made the NFL playoffs for the first time the next year, but lost in the first round.
The team is the first and only team to have won four consecutive American Football Conference titles in the NFL, however, thought have never progressed to win any Super Bowls. The 1990s gave the team one of the NFL's most successful runs, after switching to a hurry up offense.
Those making up the Buffalo Bills roster had a little moment of truth confronting them as they returned to training last week; a weighing scale. The first day of offseason training begins at the beginning, and conditioning coordinator J. T. Allaire explains the drill. "They'll all weigh in," said Allaire. "We'll get them in the bod pod to get a body composition update on them. That will tell us what their percentage of body fat is and where their lean weight is at."
Muscular structure, equilibrium, functional movement, and other parameters will also be tested in these early stages of the return to the new season.
"That's a seven-step screen that points out any imbalances so we can correct them for the player before the season starts," said Allaire. Bills players are expected to engage in weight training and some running, to build up stamina and begin the long climb towards what is hopefully a Super Bowl season. Buffalo Bills' tickets for the new season will soon be in demand, and Ralph Wilson Stadium is set to come alive. Meanwhile, the regime will continue apace.
"We do interval training," said Allaire. "So the longest they'll run at any one time is two minutes."
As ever, the gameday experience will be enhanced by other events, such as the Pee Wee Football Zone in the neighboring Buffalo Bills' indoor fieldhouse. While Ralph Wilson Stadium is home to where the big boys compete, young football players will play games in the excellent fieldhouse. A miniature football field built for young football players to showcase their budding talents, the Pee Wee Football zone is a great accompaniment to a day at Bills' home games.
So, as the team's scouts go scouting, and the players begin ironing out the wrinkles, Buffalo Bills fans, both old and young, prepare for another exciting NFL schedule.