how did the buffalo bills get their name

The Buffalo Bills got their name from a reference to the famous American frontiersman William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody. The name originally came from a Buffalo football franchise in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in the 1940s, which held a public contest to rename the team from the "Bisons" to the "Bills" after Buffalo Bill Cody, the legendary Wild West showman and bison hunter. When Ralph Wilson founded the current Buffalo Bills team in 1960 as a member of the American Football League (AFL), he adopted this existing name to honor the frontier heritage associated with "Buffalo Bill" Cody. The nickname symbolizes the American Old West and the city of Buffalo's frontier spirit rather than directly referencing the animal buffalo (bison) itself.