The Buffalo Bills have played in Buffalo, New York since they were founded in 1959. The Bills are the only team to play in the state of New York as both other “New York” teams, the Jets and Giants, play in New Jersey. The team plays in the American Football Conference (AFC) East Division.
The name “Bills” was chosen as a result of a fan contest. The team was previously known as the Bisons but other teams in the area were also called the Bisons. Although Nickels, Blue Devils and Bullets were considered yet a local boy won the contest with the Bills. The word “Bill” refers to Buffalo Bill Cody and his gang and is meant to symbolize the wild frontier. Fittingly, there sponsor at the time was Frontier Oil.
The Buffalo Bills hold several records: they are the only NFL team to win four back-to-back conference championships, which they accomplished between 1990 and 1993. Unfortunately, they lost in the Super Bowl each year, becoming the only team to lose more than two consecutive Super Bowls and the second team to lose four Super Bowls without winning one (The Minnesota Vikings have also lost four). Before the advent of the Super Bowl, however, The Buffalo Bills won league titles in 1964 and 1965.
The Buffalo Bills have had many Hall-of-Fame calibre players. O.J. Simpson spent most of his career with the Bills and was once the league’s all time leading rusher. Thurman Thomas was the team’s star running back during its Super Bowl years and Jim Kelly was its quarterback. Bruce Smith, considered one of the best defensive tackles in the history of the NFL, played most of his career with the Bills as well. Smith holds the career record for most sacks in by an NFL player (200) and was enshrined in the Hall-of-Fame in 2009.
Answer the following questions
1 Why did the Bills change their name from “Bisons”?
a Other teams in the area were also named “Bisons.”
b They didn’t think “bisons” represented their team well.
c The passage doesn’t say.
d They wanted to name their team after a famous president.
2 The Buffalo Bills are one of _ teams to lose __ Super Bowls without having won any.
a four; four
b three; four
c three; two
d two; four
3 How many teams currently play in the state of New York?
a 0
b 2
c 3
d 1
4 The Buffalo Bills are the only team to…
a win two league titles
b lose four Super Bowls
c lose two Super Bowls
d lose more than two Super Bowls in a row
5 Which is not true about Bruce Smith?
a He is considered one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history
b He holds the NFL career record for most sacks.
c He played most of his career with the Buffalo Bills.
d He has 200 career sacks.
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