 After the war, when the All-America Football Conference formed, Buffalo was again selected for a team; originally known as the "Buffalo Bisons," the same name as a baseball team and (at the time) a hockey team in the area, the team sought a new identity and named itself the "Buffalo Bills" in 1947.When the AAFC merged with the NFL in 1950, the AAFC Bills were merged into the Cleveland Browns.Though there was no connection between the AAFC team and the current team, the Bills name proved popular enough that it was used as the namesake for the future American Football League team that would form in 1959.