Question about the origins of The Bills Maffia

[Repulsif]

2 hours ago, drummernut74 said:

It started as a result of a dropped pass in the end zone from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Stevie Johnson in a game against Pittsburgh.  Adam Schefter made a controversial remark that prompted an in jest Twitter comment by local Buffalonian (and friend of mine from High School) Del Reid  to the effect of ... that "the Bills Mafia is going to come after you".  Just a total random moment that took on a life of its own 

I clearly remember that pass, that moment and where I was standing, and I remember saying "this team is cursed, we are cursed, there's no escape at this crap"

[Jauronimo]

18 minutes ago, Coldfronts said:

My grandfather was straight off the boat (Ellis Island) as a kid with some of the family coming in a bit latter by way of Brazil first. Never knew why some had to go through Brazil to get here. Had a great uncle who was the black sheep of the family that was in the mob in NYC and did not live very long.  My grandfather was not silcian never had much to say about the Italian mob other then he saw then all as criminals to stay away from.  Back in those days it was hard enough to get a decent job just being an Italian.  Unfortunately, he changed our last name so he could get a good job to feed his family.

In the 1940s, South America was a popular destination for Germans and Italians who were looking for a "clean start".

[Draconator]

3 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

The Buffalo Football Fans is kinda catchy.  

The Washington Football Team is better than The Washington Commanders, so you have a point.

[Herc11]

58 minutes ago, KDIGGZ said:

It affects different people differently. I'm assuming you are of Italian descent and not actually an immigrant yourself so perhaps you can't speak on the racism that people have gone through in the past

When did Italian become a race?

[TheBrownBear]

I'm Italian and don't find the moniker offensive.  It's just sort of lame. Like something an unoriginal 13 year old kid would come up with on the fly. A bit embarrassing I guess, but at this point it's taken on a life of its own, so we're sort of stuck with it. (*shrugs*)

[TheyCallMeAndy]

Former LB Nick Barnett is a founding father

[Marvin]

47 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

The Buffalo Football Fans is kinda catchy.  

 

43 minutes ago, Draconator said:

The Washington Football Team is better than The Washington Commanders, so you have a point.

 

I think having BFF having 2 meanings for us Bills fans would be cool.

 

29 minutes ago, Herc11 said:

When did Italian become a race?

 

Italian, like Irish, Polish, German, Chinese, etc., were treated as specific "races" for decades.  Given what my Italian friends experienced, this was true for Italians until "The Godfather."

[coloradobillsfan]

I think it's pretty cool that we hijacked a word that used to mean something negative and spun it into something positive.  A lot of people think of our amazing charitable responses to adversity when they hear Bills Mafia.  It's also a lot more interesting than the endless "Nation" and "Country" monikers like other fan bases have.  

[Goin Breakdown]

3 hours ago, Wacka said:

I wore a Bills Mafia shirt when I was in the SF Bay Area last February at a get together. People were asking me what it meant. I said "Like the Mafia, once you join, you are in it for life. You cannot leave. " Also told them about Del Reid and his t-shirts.

I made a design for a shirt way back before things really blew up. It was a spiller thing I believe. 

[ChronicAndKnuckles]

2 hours ago, AlfaBill said:

Wrong. Mafia is the Italian organized crime syndicate, technically siciliano. All other ethnic groups are not mafia. Japan for instance has the yakuza. As an Italian myself, I don’t like it much. 

Yes, Sicilian is mafia and southern Italy/Naples is the Camorra. 

[Sierra Foothills]

3 hours ago, jaybills said:

Mafia isn't even an offensive word, right?

 

I don't identify as a member of Bills Mafia. I refer to myself as a "Die-hard Bills Fan."

 

2 hours ago, Robert Paulson said:

Now get out of my yard. it's time to hose down the driveway.

 

Most of the time I like to use a squeegee though sometimes it's better to use a good stiff bristle push broom.

 

2 hours ago, Coldfronts said:

Back in those days it was hard enough to get a decent job just being an Italian.  Unfortunately, he changed our last name so he could get a good job to feed his family.

 

I understand having to change the last name but why did he choose Coldfronts?

 

[Nextmanup]

4 hours ago, Coldfronts said:

Did it start from a tailgating group of people at the stadium or a section of people in the stadium or did it start with an online group of people?  I know it's about the whole fan base now but I suspect it did not start that way

To the best of my ability, it was some random thing that was generated by national media, which is why I never liked it.

It's not OUR term...it's someone else's.

 

Not sure how old you are, but I can assure you back when we were the class of the league (or at least the AFC) in the early '90s, NO ONE was using the term "BILLS MAFIA".

 

 

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

4 hours ago, KDIGGZ said:

Nerds on Twitter. I don't really care myself but my grandpa is Sicilian and finds the name super offensive, as offensive as the Cleveland Indians name was to some people.

I'm from Sicilian decent and your grand papa must be a weak Sicilian if offended. just sayin'

 

super offensive 🤣

Edited January 11, 2023 by DaBillsFanSince1973

[Coldfronts]

2 hours ago, KDIGGZ said:

That's why the mafia existed, it leveled the playing field and looked out for immigrants in this country who were unfairly treated. My grandpa's father needed their help once after he was roughed up by some racist cops and he remembered his father had to disappear for a while and he didn't know why. Would love to know more about that story but the details are surely lost forever now.

 

The word mafia was negatively used in the media and negatively used to single out people of Sicilian origins. Murdering people is bad PR, who knew. It wasn't until The Godfather movies that people started to think it was cool or popular to use that slang. So my Grandpa existed in a world where for 50 years it was definitely not good to be Sicilian and associated with that stuff and his life was very difficult as a result. I have a good life today because of his struggles so I choose to be respectful of his story even if others choose not to be.

Yeah, as a kid when ever I tried to get him to talk about the mob in the city or glorified it in any way, he would give me that look that went right through me.  He would sit me down and tell me that sure they would do things for you to help you out, but they were not doing it out of the goodness of their hearts.  They would eventually cash in that favor and make you do something you would never want to do.  Then he would give me the cautionary tale of his brother and that is the way he got started and that the family never knew what truly happened to him.  So, I guess my grandfather gave me a different perspective on the mob, one that was not helpful to the new immigrants from Italy and one it which these criminals preyed upon them and used them.

Edited January 11, 2023 by Coldfronts

[KDIGGZ]

10 minutes ago, DaBillsFanSince1973 said:

I'm from Sicilian decent and your grand papa must be a weak Sicilian if offended. just sayin'

 

super offensive 🤣

Yea super weak. Lived through the depression, WW2 veteran, worked 2 manual labor jobs his whole life because he wasn't able to get 1 good job despite being overly qualified (worked in a factory then came home for dinner and then worked his maintenance job until midnight just to put food on the table), works out every single day, cancer survivor, is 99 and could beat you in a race guaranteed. Weak would not be a word to use with my grandpa

Edited January 11, 2023 by KDIGGZ

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

5 minutes ago, KDIGGZ said:

Yea super weak. Lived through the depression, WW2 veteran, worked 2 manual labor jobs his whole life because he wasn't able to get 1 good job despite being overly qualified (worked in a factory then came home for dinner and then worked his maintenance job until midnight just to put food on the table), works out every single day, cancer survivor, is 99 and could beat you in a race guaranteed. Weak would not be a word to use with my grandpa

so did my family. yet they would not of been "super offended" as they, as myself, have thicker skin than that...

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

12 minutes ago, KDIGGZ said:

Yea super weak. Lived through the depression, WW2 veteran, worked 2 manual labor jobs his whole life because he wasn't able to get 1 good job despite being overly qualified (worked in a factory then came home for dinner and then worked his maintenance job until midnight just to put food on the table), works out every single day, cancer survivor, is 99 and could beat you in a race guaranteed. Weak would not be a word to use with my grandpa

weak was not used in the physical sense. I'm sure, being from italian decent, your papa is tough as nails. I don't know many, if any from that era who were weak. it was tough times for tough people. for some reason though I find it funny that someone who had been through all that an 99 years old would be "super offended" by the bills mafia. if so, as I said, thicker skinned folks don't let that kind of thing bother them. 

[KDIGGZ]

1 minute ago, DaBillsFanSince1973 said:

so did my family. yet they would not of been "super offended" as they, as myself, have thicker skin than that...

He's still kickin it at 99, drives, maintains his own house, so he's tougher than your average human. He's offended by a lot of things, mostly Trump and other politicians these days. He would probably try and fight anyone that called him weak. He tells me about all of the fights he got into growing up. I doubt the people he fought thought he was weak for being offended

[DaBillsFanSince1973]

Just now, KDIGGZ said:

He's still kickin it at 99, drives, maintains his own house, so he's tougher than your average human. He's offended by a lot of things, mostly Trump and other politicians these days. He would probably try and fight anyone that called him weak. He tells me about all of the fights he got into growing up. I doubt the people he fought thought he was weak for being offended

I have a great uncle, full blood Sicilian and at 93 still drives, does his own grocery shopping and hits the club for his glass of vino or two.

[Robert Paulson]

29 minutes ago, Sierra Foothills said:

Most of the time I like to use a squeegee though sometimes it's better to use a good stiff bristle push broom.

I'm a broom guy myself then finish with the squeegee 

[KDIGGZ]

Just now, DaBillsFanSince1973 said:

I have a great uncle, full blood Sicilian and at 93 still drives, does his own grocery shopping and hits the club for his glass of vino or two.

We asked him what he wants to do for his 100th birthday and he said he wants to go out and get drunk 😂

[Bad Things]

It's a cringeworthy name, which I'll never use.

We're fans, or even a "family", but not a "mafia".

[Jauronimo]

31 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

To the best of my ability, it was some random thing that was generated by national media, which is why I never liked it.

It's not OUR term...it's someone else's.

 

Not sure how old you are, but I can assure you back when we were the class of the league (or at least the AFC) in the early '90s, NO ONE was using the term "BILLS MAFIA".

 

 

That is incorrect. See page 1 for the history of the name.

[Coldfronts]

2 hours ago, Jauronimo said:

In the 1940s, South America was a popular destination for Germans and Italians who were looking for a "clean start".

"clean start"  probably why they never elaboration on this...LOL

[Jauronimo]

2 minutes ago, Coldfronts said:

"clean start"  probably why they never elaboration on this...LOL

I like to tease my Brazilian friends who have a very Italian sounding last name about "fleeing war crimes" but the truth is Italians, Germans and other Europeans were immigrating to Argentina and Brazil in large numbers beginning in the late 1800s with the peak well before the second world war.

[MJS]

I don't use the term, don't buy merchandise with it, etc. But I also do not care one bit if others like it and use it. It's not my cup of tea, but I can see why others like it.

[Freddie's Dead]

[Jauronimo]

Just now, MJS said:

I don't use the term, don't buy merchandise with it, etc. But I also do not care one bit if others like it and use it. It's not my cup of tea, but I can see why others like it.

I dont either but one Xmas I got two identical Bills Mafia shirts from my family to my chagrin.  I brought these shirts on a recent vacation and something remarkable happened: its like the seas parted everywhere I went.  Crowds at popular tourist attractions cleared out, the pool at the resort suddenly empty as soon as I roll up, and bars and restaurants emptied. We had beaches and scenic waterfalls all to ourselves for pictures and relaxation free from influencers and jerks. I checked to see if the UN recognizes Bills Mafia as a terrorist organization.  

 

Maybe it was just a string of great luck intervening for a memorable honeymoon?  Maybe it was the shirt and Bills Mafia has a fearsome international reputation?  Maybe its because I was screaming "HEYYY AYYY EYYYY AYYYYY!!!!" in everyones faces and reciting Allen's stats at them??  I don't know and I don't care.

[Playoffs?]

Once upon a time, there was a bildo…

[Bad Things]

1 hour ago, Jauronimo said:

That is incorrect. See page 1 for the history of the name.

How is that incorrect?

He said that no one was using that term in the '90's which is 100% correct.  We called ourselves the "12th Man" or simply, "fans".

[Jauronimo]

3 minutes ago, Bad Things said:

How is that incorrect?

He said that no one was using that term in the '90's which is 100% correct.  We called ourselves the "12th Man" or simply, "fans".

And the stuff he said above the blatantly obvious regarding the origin as being a media generated nickname is completely incorrect.  That is how things that are factually incorrect are factually incorrect.  

Edited January 11, 2023 by Jauronimo

[Bad Things]

1 minute ago, Jauronimo said:

And the stuff he said above the blatantly obvious regarding the origin as being a media generated nickname is completely incorrect.  That is how things that are factually incorrect are factually incorrect.  

Just pointing out that not everything he said was factually incorrect.

 

"Blatantly obvious"... 🙄

[Jauronimo]

35 minutes ago, Bad Things said:

Just pointing out that not everything he said was factually incorrect.

 

"Blatantly obvious"... 🙄

I really didn't think I needed to address whether or not #BillsMafia was popular in the pre-internet, pre-twitter era.  

[Bad Things]

We had a new co-worker start in the office a month or two ago, who just moved here from Italia.

 

I took the opportunity this morning to ask her what she thought of the term “Bills Mafia”.

In short, she just kept asking me why we would call ourselves that.  (I didn’t have an answer.)  She just couldn’t get it around her head why a fanbase would call itself that, and said it was bizarre.  

 

I tend to agree, but it is what it is.

[AlfaBill]

8 hours ago, Motorin' said:

 

No, literally every word. For instance, the word origin of Mafia is Sicilian for "bragging" or "swagger." Like hundreds of years before it was applied to organized crime. 

 

 

 

 

 

Mafia is a slang word anyway. It was to Sicilian organized crime families or clans way back when. It has no italiana meaning whatsoever. It doesn’t mean swagger. Don’t believe everything you read on wiki. BTW I am fluent in Italian and calabrese having lived there for years 

[Xwnyer]

8 hours ago, Draconator said:

Fixed

And you are a fool 

[AlfaBill]

6 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

Yes, Sicilian is mafia and southern Italy/Naples is the Camorra. 

Actually in the Naples region is called the Camorra in Calabria it’s called ‘ndragheta 

[Bob Jones]

10 hours ago, KDIGGZ said:

Nerds on Twitter. I don't really care myself but my grandpa is Sicilian and finds the name super offensive, as offensive as the Cleveland Indians name was to some people.

I agree. How would people feel if the Packers fan base called themselves the Green Bay Gestapo? Exact same concept as Bills Mafia, IMO.

[JohnNord]

10 hours ago, Coldfronts said:

Did it start from a tailgating group of people at the stadium or a section of people in the stadium or did it start with an online group of people?  I know it's about the whole fan base now but I suspect it did not start that way

It all happened organically on Twitter and it’s crazy to think how it caught fire to the point that the name became associated with the team:

 

 

[Einstein's Dog]

11 hours ago, KDIGGZ said:

Nerds on Twitter. I don't really care myself but my grandpa is Sicilian and finds the name super offensive, as offensive as the Cleveland Indians name was to some people.

Are you aware that the people who find offense to the name Cleveland Indians are complete idiots?  Not the best example.