He was born to play for the Buffalo Bills

Bills on bills. 😂 pic.twitter.com/NJgsIDsOt1

-Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) May 10, 2024

The Buffalo Bills now have their most important Bills player: Keaton Bills, an offensive lineman who was recently signed as an undrafted free agent.

In case you’re wondering: according to Pro Football Reference, no NFL player has ever been nicknamed “Bears.” Or “Cowboys”. Or “Steelers.” Or “49ers.” Or, as far as I know, any other NFL team name.

As many as 257 players have been named “Brown” (24 of whom played for the Browns), but no one has been “Brown”s.” Surprisingly – at least to me – there has only been one NFL player named “Packer” (unfortunately, he didn’t play for Green Bay), and no one named “Packer” .s.”

In other words, Keaton Bills are pretty unique. Even better, as ESPN’s Adam Schefter says points out, the Bills issued Bill No. 60, which is the year of the team’s debut season. What could be more fundamental than that?

The Bills also have their team name on the chest of the jersey, so Bills (the player) will join the select group of athletes who have worn the same name on the front and back of their jersey. NBA great Jerry West did this, for example, while playing for the Western Conference All-Star team:

Also, although I can’t find a photo at the moment, baseball player Curtis Pride at one time played for the Triple-A Nashua Pride.

Are there other examples that I am overlooking or forgetting?

(My thanks to Jason Faulkenber for letting me know about this one.)