The Buffalo Bills are always there when history is being made

The NFL is the world of the Buffalo Bills and we all live in it.

The Kansas City Chiefs, Joe Brrrr.. Bengals and the Philadelphia Eagles dominate the discourse, but Buffalo is the Forrest Gump of NFL franchises. Not in the sense that one day a generic leading man will portray Josh Allen in a biopic of the same name. No, the Bills are the Forrest Gump whose fictional exploits lead him to influence crucial events the 1960s, 70s and 80s.

There are 32 teams, but the Bills are unintentionally the most influential team of the modern era. From the passenger seat, they changed the arc of recent history without actually doing anything extraordinary. A selection for your viewing pleasure:

Run, Aaron, run!

As of Monday, for example, it will have been a week since Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon on “Monday Night Football,” and the aftermath has not yet been fully fleshed out. However, few people outside of New York state will remember Leonard Floyd as the Bills outside linebacker who sacked Aaron Rodgers on the Jets’ fateful fourth play from scrimmage. At so many junctures in recent NFL history, Buffalo has been on the edge of the field. It’s still too early to predict how quickly Rodgers’ injury will create a butterfly effect, but based on Sunday’s result, it’s painfully obvious that the Jets will ultimately be desperate for an above-average quarterback placeholder to help them this season can give a fighting chance, and more importantly in the postseason.

Overtime is like a box of chocolates

In January 2022, the Bills took part in one of the most electrifying events Offensive back and forth in the fourth quarter in NFL playoff annals during the final seconds of their divisional round matchup against Kansas City. Ultimately, Travis Kelce’s touchdown catch in overtime led to a revision of playoff overtime rules in favor of rules that would have given the Bills a chance to match Kansas City’s offensive production.

Tuas Concussions changed the game – That’s all I have to say about it

In Week 3 of the 2022 season, Tua Tagovailloa’s head bounced off the turf, causing him to fall off the field. Tagovailoa attributed his stumble to being on his back on the sideline. Days later, on Thursday Night Football, Tagovailoa’s head dripped off the turf a second time, causing him to involuntarily tense into a fencing response, which resulted in it improved concussion protocols. It’s not quite as glamorous as teaching Elvis to dancebut the chain reaction of events that Buffalo has set in motion is significant enough.

Some people don’t believe that miracles happen. WWell, they do

It doesn’t take six degrees to appreciate the role Buffalo’s coaches played in saving Bill’s safety. Damar Hamlin’s life as he lay motionless on the field. Hamlin’s collapse and the 15 minutes in which medics performed life-saving medical procedures to revive him was the most traumatic NFL experience on national television since Lawrence Taylor accidentally broke Joe Theismann’s tibia and fibula on November 18, 1985.

The last time the entire NFL world watched with bated breath as someone’s mortality hung in the balance was 16 years earlier, when Bills tight end ended Kevin Everett’s life was saved on the field. After Hamlin was released from an extended hospital stay, his health became a concern going forward some of the most chaotic corners of the internet–aka the app formerly known as Twitter.

YYou have to put the past behind you before you can move on

In a more trivial development, the Minnesota Vikings broke Buffalo’s nearly 30-year-old record for greatest comeback in NFL history in Week 15 against Indianapolis. But that pales in comparison to the impact of sick selling on the world stage.

I’m not a smart man, but I know what a cheater is

About a year before his presidential campaign began, Donald Trump’s attempt to buy the Buffalo Bills failed because of his falsified financial records. Had Trump been approved to buy the Bills, it’s entirely possible that his corruption would have been limited to the NFL. The NFL’s decision to sell the franchise to Terry Pegula instead of a high-profile criminal billionaire may have changed the axis of the world. If we had access to a time machine, this would be the simplest trolley problem that poses such a risky dilemma this side of the 21st century. It would be an easy decision to sacrifice the bills to serve the greater good. The arc of the universe is long and bends towards jokes.

WWe all just float around randomly – like in the wind

When the Buffalo Bills make a football game or a football personnel decision, a hurricane forms in the Atlantic. Even a text message from Bill Belichick directed to Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll is changing the way the entire league does business.

Three days before Brian Flores’ interview for the head coaching job of the New York Giants, Bill Belichick congratulated him on his impending announcement as the next head coach of the Big Blues in a text that read, “Heard from Buffalo & NYG that you are the one.” ” Moments later, Belichick realized the households had been texting the wrong Brian, and he awkwardly replied, “Sorry, I messed that up. I checked the text again and misunderstood it. I think they say Brian Daboll. I’m sorry for that. BB.”

It doesn’t matter if Belichick was Machiavellian by pressuring the Giants and inadvertently trapping the Miami Dolphins. Belichick’s accidental text to Flores instead of the Bills’ Daboll is the first paragraph in the former Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit against the NFL. The Dolphins even lost a first-round pick because of the investigation that emanated from Flores and accused Dolphins owner Stephen Ross of asking him to recruit Tom Brady while he was still under contract with Tampa Bay.

Anyone who does stupid things is stupid

Former NFL Network reporter Jim Trotter’s lawsuit contains excerpts of damning comments allegedly made by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Pegula.

For better or worse, the Buffalo Bills are movers and shakers. They may not start with it, but Buffalo is always in the thick of things.

Follow DJ Dunson on X:@Brain sportsex