Flash to July 25, 2011, and the end of the NFL player lockout. Football drought is annulled for millions. Deprived of a full training camp experience, tweets are flying between rabid fans the world over in anticipation of the impending football season. On July 28, linebacker Nick Barnett is picked up by the Bills via free agency. On a whim, Harris tweets Barnett and invites him to join the Bills Mafia. To his amazement, Barnett responds that he likes the sound of that, and retweets Harris’ invitation.

Awestruck that Barnett responded, Harris immediately contacted Reid. Knowing they had a unique moment to seize or let pass by, Reid came up with an idea to print T-shirts he figured would unite and identify members of the Bills Mafia. His concept was the Twitter bird symbol with a red stripe through it.

Reid thought his idea of a blue bird with a red streak through it was creative. Two corporate giants didn’t see it that way.

“I’ve learned a lot about intellectual property since then and neither the Bills nor Twitter were very happy,” Reid admitted. “Everything I did back then was in complete ignorance. I’ve learned a lot and am very mindful of the laws and rights of others.