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Important dates in Bills history: How the Bills got their name

Important dates in Bills history presented by M&T bank helps fans understand what’s important. Team names are important, and the Buffalo Bills nick name was certainly a big decision at the franchise’s beginning.

After buying the team, President Ralph C. Wilson selected the name “Buffalo Bills” for his new AFL team, but the name originated long before Wilson chose it on November 30, 1959.

The Bills are not the first football team to represent the city of Buffalo (they are not even the first NFL team, for that matter. The Buffalo All-Americans were a charter organization of the NFL, but folded in 1929).