Bring back the Rochester Rattlers?

A week after the Premier Lacrosse League created a stir by reinstating legacy Major League Lacrosse brands in Boston and Denver, NFL star Stefon Diggs has the lacrosse community reminiscing about an original six franchise thanks to the pregame fit he was seen wearing Sunday before the Buffalo Bills’ game against the New York Jets in Orchard Park, N.Y.

Clocking in.#NYJvsBUF | #BillsMafia pic.twitter.com/J4w9MfsNCh

— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) November 19, 2023

Buffalo Bills WR Stefon Diggs wore a throwback MLL RATTLERS jersey to today’s game vs. the Jets…

BILLS BY A MILLION

(via @stefondiggs, @BuffaloBills) pic.twitter.com/IothyH20lz

— TLN (@LacrosseNetwork) November 19, 2023

A three-time Pro Bowl selection, Diggs, who is from the D.C. area and starred at Maryland, projects more as a Maryland Whipsnakes guy. He entered Highmark Stadium, however, donning an oversized No. 23 Rattlers jersey featuring the iconic snake logo on the right breast plate.

Professional field lacrosse dates to 2001 and the advent of MLL. The Rattlers were one of the inaugural teams, operating in Rochester from 2001-08 and 2011-17, winning the championship in 2008. They moved to Dallas in 2018 and advanced to the MLL final before falling short against the three-time champion Denver Outlaws, who were one of the teams the PLL brought back when it assigned home cities to its eight clubs last week.

Two-time MLL MVP Paul Rabil co-founded the PLL with his brother, Mike, in October 2018.  The rival leagues merged two years later.

USA Lacrosse Magazine could not confirm whose Rattlers jersey Diggs wore, but the last Rochester player to wear No. 23 was former Syracuse star Jovan Miller in 2011. Miller’s classmate, current Jacksonville men’s lacrosse coach John Galloway, starred for the Rattlers and has never been shy about his Buffalo Bills fandom.

“Nobody circles the wagons like the Buffalo Bills,” Galloway posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, “and the Rochester Rattlers.”

Nobody circles the wagon like the @BuffaloBills and Rochester Rattlers. @stefondiggs pic.twitter.com/f5k9no4Mg3

— John Galloway (@JohnGalloway15) November 19, 2023

Ironically, Galloway was among the core of former Rattlers who comprised the Chrome Lacrosse Club when the PLL launched. The Chrome were the team assigned to Denver and rebranded as the Outlaws.