My dad moved from Buffalo to NE Ohio and married my mom. When the Bills started to get good in the late 1980s and be on TV he started watching them regularly.
I really fell in love with the team and all the personalities leading up to that first Super Bowl. That was the first of four January nights that I snuck off to the bathroom as a kid when the clock hit zeros to cover my face with a hand towel and shed some bitter tears.
The Bills used to hold joint scrimmage with the Pittsburgh Steelers towards the end of training camp. We went a few times and I got to meet all the greats (Levy, Kelly, Thomas, Reed, BRUUUCE!!! etc)
The last time we went was after the 4th Super Bowl loss. We went on the field afterwards and my dad went up to Ralph Wilson and said, “Hey Mr. Wilson, we gonna win a Super Bowl this year?” In Ralph’s perfect whiny old man voice he started to lecture my dad: “Do you have any idea what the odds are of going to a Super Bowl once? How about two, three, and four times?!” Haha… My dad was embarrassed and pissed but now it’s just funny to think about: my father got scolded by Ralph Wilson for wanting a Super Bowl win! Let that sink in!