Is Bills Mafia the best or worst fanbase in the NFL?

Love em’ or hate em’, Buffalo Bills fans make their presence known. From slamming themselves through folding tables to dousing each other in ketchup and mustard, Bills’ tailgates have become the stuff of legend. But, when it comes down to it, does Buffalo have the best fans in the NFL or just the most annoying?

Bills Mafia

The Bills Mafia is a collective fanbase born of shared pain. Try to think of a fanbase in any sport that has suffered through more heartache and letdown. Zero Super Bowl wins and four consecutive losses in the big game from 1990 to 1993. It doesn’t get much more painful than that.

In fact, an argument could be made that it’s less painful to be a fan of one of the four teams that have never played in a Super Bowl (Cleveland, Jacksonville, Detroit and Houston). When’s the last time you heard a Lions or Jaguars fan say they truly believed their team had a realistic chance to win? You can’t get let down in the big game if your team’s never in it.

To get so close to the top of the mountain only to have it ripped away from you at the last moment is excruciating enough, but to suffer the same fate four years in a row is just cruel. Poor Buffalo.

Let’s not forget the nearly two decades of being dominated by Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. You might not like Bills fans, but you have to at least feel a little sorry for them.

The Stevie Johnson Connection

Here’s the answer to the history question you didn’t ask: How did Bills Mafia begin?

It’s rare that a term like “Bills Mafia” can be traced, but the origin of this particular name is actually fairly straightforward.

To put the story concisely, it all began in November 2010 when then-Bills receiver Stevie Johnson dropped what would have been a game-winning touchdown pass in an overtime game against Pittsburgh. A frustrated Johnson went on to blame God for the dropped pass on Twitter (enough of this X garbage) following the game.

Noted NFL analyst Adam Schefter retweeted Johnson, which upset some Bills fans. Schefter then blocked some of those unhappy Bills fans, which prompted the fans to start a Bills Mafia hashtag. The hashtag turned into a fan page (when Johnson reached out to fans on Twitter) and the term caught on in the media. Bills Mafia was officially born.

Verdict

Bills fans are just the worst. But, give them a break, tailgating is all they have. It’s not like anyone in Buffalo can reminisce about past Super Bowl wins.