Bills host historic game in Toronto
The Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers faced each other in a preseason game played in Toronto’s Rogers Centre on Thursday night. While Canada is no stranger to hosting NFL preseason games, the Bills' 24-21 win over the Steelers marked new territory. The game is the first of an eight-game series that the Bills will play in Toronto over the next five seasons.
NFL.com Game Center: BUF 24, PIT 21
To honor the occassion, the Pro Football Hall of Fame was on hand in Toronto for a special Kickoff celebration to the Bills' Toronto series. The Hall's curatorial staff created a special exhibit that was set up at the celebration held in Dundas Square in downtown Toronto.
PHOTO (right): Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly was the subject of one of the cases in the Hall's special exhibit in Toronto.
Later this year, on December 7, the Bills host the Miami Dolphins at Rogers Centre in the first-ever regular season game played on Canadian soil.
NFL in Canada Results
Here is a look at all of the NFL games played in Canada since the New York Giants faced the Canadian Football League’s Ottawa Rough Riders on Aug. 12, 1950.
August 12, 1950
(Ottawa) - New York Giants 27, Ottawa Rough Riders 6
August 11, 1951
(Ottawa) - New York Giants 41, Ottawa Rough Riders 18
August 5, 1959
(Toronto) - Chicago Cardinals 55, Toronto Argonauts 26
August 3, 1960
(Toronto) - Pittsburgh Steelers 43, Toronto Argonauts 16
August 15, 1960
(Toronto) - Chicago Bears 16, New York Giants 7
August 2, 1961
(Toronto) - St. Louis Cardinals 36, Toronto Argonauts 7
August 5, 1961
(Montreal) - Chicago Bears 34, Montreal Allouettes 16
August 8, 1961
(Hamilton) - Hamilton Tiger-Cats 38, Buffalo Bills 21
August 25, 1969
(Montreal) - Detroit Lions 22, Boston Patriots 9
September 11, 1969
(Montreal) - Pittsburgh Steelers 17, New York Giants 13
August 18, 1988
(Montreal) – New York Jets 11, Cleveland Browns 7
August 9, 1990
(Montreal) – Pittsburgh Steelers 30, New England Patriots 14
August 14, 1993
(Toronto) – Cleveland Browns 12, New England Patriots 9
August 12, 1995
(Toronto) – Buffalo Bills 9, Dallas Cowboys 7
August 16, 1997
(Toronto) – Green Bay Packers 35, Buffalo Bills 3
August 15, 1998
(Vancouver) – San Francisco 49ers 24, Seattle Seahawks 21
August 14, 2008
(Toronto) – Buffalo Bills 24, Pittsburgh Steelers 21
Green donates mementos
Darrell Green donated mementos from his career with the Washington Redskins.
A true Hall of Famer
John Bankert worked his way from the Hall of Fame's film library in 1964 to serving as the Executive Director of the Pro Football Hall of Fame until his retirement in 2005. His hometown weekly newspaper recently looked into the career and life of the Hall's former director.