BUFFALO (AFP) ― Ralph Wilson, sole owner of the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills since founding them in 1960, has died at the age of 95, team president Russ Brandon announced Tuesday.
Wilson purchased the club in 1959 for $25,000 as part of the American Football League, which began play in 1960 and later merged with the NFL.
The Bills, which were valued by Forbes magazine last year at $870 million, play in a home stadium that bears Wilson’s name. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009.
“I speak for everyone within the Bills organization when I say that we are all suffering a deep and profound sadness with the passing of our Hall of Fame owner,” Brandon said in a statement released on the team’s website.
“We have lost our founder, our mentor, our friend and this is a very difficult time for us all.”
Wilson’s greatest impact might have been in bringing together the flashy upstart AFL and the NFL to create the Super Bowl and usher in the modern gridiron era, helping guide the league’s rise into America’s most popular sports league and one with global awareness and aspirations.
“He was a pioneer in the American Football League. He was instrumental in forging the merger between the AFL and the NFL,” Brandon said.
The Bills reached the Super Bowl four years in a row, a feat unmatched before or since, but lost each time, frustrating Wilson’s grandest dream of a championship for a devoted fan following that often endures the snowiest and coldest weather of any spectators in the league.
“More than anything, he wanted to bring a Super Bowl Championship to Western New York,” Brandon said. “He wanted it for the players, the coaches and the franchise. But mostly he wanted it for the fans.
“No owner has wanted a title more for these reasons than Mr. Wilson. In the end, he was extremely proud that his Bills are the only team to have played in four consecutive Super Bowls.”
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
