Similar story. Same year.
I was 11. My Dad would let me pick out two games a year and then order tickets via mail somehow. We had the Chiefs at home for the first MNF game ever in Buffalo.
So, I had been looking forward to this game for many months. Nothing was bigger in my life. And, now OJ could go over 1000 yards in just 7 games.
But, disaster struck - I was sick! I'm not sure when I got sick, but on game day I was sick as hell. But, I kept insisting I was going. I don't care if my temp is 102. I'm OK!!
I still remember my father making the call to somebody else to go with him. (With me bawling - no!)
Smashcut to 9PM and I'm lying in bed with now a 103 temp and the game was only on radio - and Rick Azar comes on and says "And, what do we do in Buffalo on a cold rainy October night. We sit in the rain and watch football." I said not me! Dammit!
That game was bittersweet. But, I overcame my bitterness because of OJ going over 1000, and our shiny record - and the fact that no !@#$ing way could I have been at that game because I was wayyyyy too sick. My parents were right, as usual.