the drought eventually came to be called "the curse of (doug) flutie." as the bills' slump wore on, rumors circulated around upstate new york that flutie's father richard flutie had become so enraged after learning his son had been benched on ralph wilson's orders that he swore the bills would not make the playoffs again in his lifetime and/or that of the bills' owner. either way, such a "curse" would have held — wilson died on march 25, 2014 while doug flutie's parents both died of natural causes on november 21, 2015.