The Buffalo Bills are one win away from the Super Bowl for the fourth year in a row. This year could finally be different because a curse against them has been lifted by X-Files actor William Davis.
They are finally permitted to win an NFL championship for the first time since 1996.
X-Files, for those who don’t know, is a science-fiction horror thriller series that originally aired 202 episodes over nine seasons. The 20th Century Fox production first aired on September 10, 1993 and ran its series finale on May 19, 2002. A 16-episode reboot ran from 2016 to 2018.
The show revolves around FBI special agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, played by David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson. They investigate the eponymous ‘X-Files,’ which are unsolved cases that have to do with paranormal activity.
So what does this have to do with the Buffalo Bills? It dates back to an episode that aired November 17, 1996.
The Buffalo Bills’ X-Files curse is lifted!
In the episode, titled ‘Musings of a Cigarette Smoking Man,’ an actor by the name of William B. Davis plays the aforementioned cigarette smoking man. He is a high-ranking member of a secret organization that works to cover up government conspiracies and potential alien activity— opposite to the X-Files.
The cigarette smoking man declares in the episode that for as long as he is alive, the Buffalo Bills will never win the Super Bowl. They had just lost four consecutive Super Bowls from 1990 to 1993.
I was rooting for the Buffalo Bills yesterday for selfish reasons: I figured the Baltimore Ravens might have an easier time beating them to get into the Super Bowl.
— Slice of SciFi (@sliceofscifi) January 22, 2024
Then a friend reminded me of an unofficial Bills boogeyman: The X-Files' Cigarette Smoking Man.
Too soon? 🤣 pic.twitter.com/sUzk2kMruk
Davis is still alive today in real life. He is 87 years old.
That would mean, according to his curse, that the Buffalo Bills still cannot win the Super Bowl. Perhaps that explains their inability to defeat Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in recent years?
This year could be different. Davis officially lifted his curse ahead of the AFC Championship with a post on Facebook earlier this week. They are allowed to win!
I am today officially removing my curse on the Buffalo Bills. If they are able to defeat Kansas City I will permit them to go on and win the Super Bowl. Go Bills Go.
— Cigarette Smoking Man, aka William B. Davis
There you have it!
If the Buffalo Bills can defeat the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, they are no longer cursed. It is a big “if” but if not now, then when? They have the Cigarette Smoking Man on their side when he has been against them for nearly three decades. Maybe this time it will be different. Maybe.