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WFT and the somewhat oddly named Buffalo Bills

This Sunday the Bills are playing the ‘Washington Football Team’.

The fact that one of the 32 NFL Football Teams is named ‘Football Team’ is odd, and while I was thinking about that, I thought "Well - our name is somewhat odd too".

If the Bills were to be moved to Austin by the Pegulas, that team probably would not be able to retain the name ‘Bills’ because the argument would inevitably be made that the team namesake "Buffalo Bill" Cody, a complicated figure in American history, was Anti Indian. But in this alternative universe, what would the Pegulas name their Austin team? Picking new names seems very difficult in our times. Perhaps with SpaceX having its new HQ in Austin, the name could be the "Austin Spacers".

I am not arguing that WFT should or should not have changed it’s name - that argument is for their fan base to wrestle with. My argument is that some day there may be a demand that the Bills change their name, and moreover the very process of picking a new NFL Team name is fraught with peril.

NOTE: For those who want to know the history of our team name, here is a quote from a SportsCasting article by William Pitts:

"The original Bills were part of the All-America Football Conference, a short-lived competitor to the NFL which formed in 1946. This team went by the name "Buffalo Bisons" for its first year of existence in 1946. However, there were already three teams called the Bisons in Buffalo — a minor-league baseball team, a pro basketball team, and an American Hockey League team. Seeking a unique identity, team owner James Breuil held a "name-the-team" contest before the 1947 season.

According to the team’s official website, the winner was James F. Dyson, who submitted an essay comparing the team to a band of "Buffalo Bills". Dyson won $500 for his contribution to football history.

The All-American Football Conference ceased to exist after its fourth season in 1949. Only three teams made the jump to the National Football League, and the original Bills were not one of them. 11 years later, Buffalo received a team in the new American Football League. The owner of that new franchise, Ralph C. Wilson, revived the Bills name, which stands to this day."



Just another great fan opinion shared on the pages of BuffaloRumblings.com.