why are they the buffalo bills

They’re called the Buffalo Bills partly for the city and partly for “Buffalo Bill” Cody, the Wild West showman whose nickname inspired an earlier Buffalo football team’s name.

Name origin in a nutshell

• In the 1940s, Buffalo’s All-America Football Conference team held a fan contest to rename the franchise, which had been called the Bisons.

• A fan, James F. Dyson, submitted an entry comparing the team to a band of “Buffalo Bills,” referencing frontier legend William “Buffalo Bill” Cody, and that name won.

• When the current NFL franchise was founded in 1959, owner Ralph Wilson revived the “Buffalo Bills” name to connect with that earlier team and the city’s football history.

Who was “Buffalo Bill”?

• William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody was a 19th‑century Army scout, bison hunter, and showman who became famous for his traveling “Wild West” shows.

• His larger‑than‑life frontier image made the name feel rugged, dramatic, and marketable for a football team, even though the modern logo is a charging bison rather than Cody himself.

Why not just “Bisons”?

• Buffalo already had multiple teams called the Bisons, so ownership wanted something more distinctive that still felt tied to the frontier and the city’s name.

• “Buffalo Bills” kept “Buffalo” up front while adding a unique twist, which is why it has stuck through decades of fandom, heartbreak, and playoff storylines.

So, “Buffalo Bills” = Buffalo (the city) + Buffalo Bill Cody (the legend), with the bison logo tying it all together.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.