Copyright syracuse.com
If the Buffalo Bills win it all this year, the fan base can thank Peyton Manning, Josh Allen, Steve Tasker and a few members of the Bills Mafia. In the fifth-season premiere episode of “Peyton’s Places,” Manning heads to Buffalo in an attempt to help the team end a curse that has been on them since 1901. The episode, titled “The Bills Mafia,” premieres on ESPN+ on Sunday and looks at a possible curse on the city after President McKinley, the 25th President of the United States, was assassinated in Buffalo in 1901 while visiting for the U.S. Pan-American Exposition. Many moments of sports heartbreak are featured in the episode to show Manning just how cursed Buffalo franchises have been since 1901. As Manning notes in the episode, the Bills and other sports franchises have had a “suspicious amount of bad luck.” After hearing about the Buffalo sports curse from Tasker, The Chefs, Bills Elvis, Pinto Ron and Bills Mafia founder Del Reid, Manning gets to work to end the curse. Enter Josh Allen. Allen is featured in the second half of the episode as Manning meets the Bills quarterback at the site of McKinley’s assassination. That’s when Manning shares his plan with Allen. Submerge an object in water and it purges the evil spirits out. The premise came from an old episode of “Peyton’s Places” when Michigan native Jeff Daniels teams up with Manning to end “The Curse of Bobby Layne.” In that episode, the duo dunk Layne’s helmet into a tub of whiskey. Since that point, the Lions have found much success in the regular season, a step in the right direction for Detroit. Manning and Allen go even bigger by filling a barrel with multiple momentos of Buffalo heartbreak and sending it over Niagara Falls. Manning told Syracuse.com that he hopes their efforts change the fate of Buffalo sports. “This is our most exciting and ambitious season of Peyton’s Places yet, and Buffalo was the perfect place to kick things off,” Peyton Manning told Syracuse.com. “I had a lot of fun hanging out with the Bills Mafia, teaming up with Josh Allen to help reverse the team’s curse, and even getting kidnapped by Steve Tasker and his goons. Here’s to hoping our efforts help change the fate of Buffalo’s pro sports teams — the city and its faithful fans deserve it!” Fans can tune into the episode on Sunday before the team hosts the Kansas City Chiefs in the nationally televised matchup on CBS.
