DENVER — What does a Denver area gravesite have in connection with a New York state NFL franchise? And why do they call sub sandwiches “heroes” over there? I mean, c’mon?!?
As the Denver Broncos prepare to face the Buffalo Bills Sunday, Denver7 looked the origin of the New York team’s name. But unfortunately, we still don’t know why “sub sandwiches” are mispronounced by millions of people living in the Empire State.
It might come as no surprise to many that the Bills are named after William Frederick Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill. But why name an East Coast team after a Western figure? Especially one with strong ties to Colorado, and who is even buried atop Lookout Mountain?
- FROM THE VAULT | Take a tour of the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave atop Lookout Mountain in this Mile High Musts episode from 2019:
The Bills are not the first professional football team to play in Buffalo. The Buffalo Bisons of the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) preceded the current team. However, the club shared the Bisons moniker with other sports teams in the city, according to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, and owner James Breuil decided to rename the team through a fan contest in the 1940s.
James F. Dyson won the contest – and a $500 prize – by submitting the Buffalo Bills name. In his entry essay, he wrote that the team reminded him of “a band of Buffalo Bills,” according to the team website.
The AAFC folded in 1949, but the current franchise took on the same name when it was founded in 1960 as a member of the American Football League. The AFL would merge with the NFL in 1970.
Aside from inspiring an NFL team’s name, Buffalo Bill was a colorful character who became an international celebrity by way of his portrayal and romanticizing of the American Old West.
He was an Army scout and fought for the Union in the Civil War. He went on to establish the town of Cody, Wyoming, and toured the world with his Wild West show.
Buffalo Bill claimed to be part of the 1859 gold rush that eventually led to the creation of the Colorado Territory in 1861.
He would spend a lot of time in Colorado, but he never lived in the state, visiting on business or through his Wild West show. He would also come to Denver to see his sister, who lived in the northern part of the city and was a special guest at the 1913 National Western Stock Show in Denver.
His ties to the northeast, and particularly Buffalo, seem to be scarce.
Buffalo Bill died in Denver on January 10, 1917. His gravesite is on Lookout Mountain, a place his family claims was the site he always wanted to be buried at. But that didn’t make residents of Cody, Wyoming, happy, who insisted that he should have been laid to rest in the town he founded.
The Broncos (10-7) will face the Buffalo Bills (13-4) Sunday in the wild-card round.
