Kirby Jackson Posted March 26, 2014 Posted March 26, 2014 In lieu of all of the depressing topics on here right now let's have a place to share something positive. Obviously this team is important to all of us or we wouldn't be here. I thought that it may be cool for everyone to tell a brief story on how they became the fans that they are today. When I was a kid (maybe 7ish) my dad and some friends had a group of 8 tickets in section H-2. 3 of the tickets belonged to my dad. We would go each week at about 9:30AM and park at the Twin Oaks Motel on Southwestern. We would grill out right under the sign and my brother (5ish) and I would throw the football around for hours while the pregame show played through the open trunk. At about 12:15 we would begin the journey into the stadium; my brother and I would be loaded with beers to sneak in because they stopped serving them at halftime. The adults would have them as well but as time went on they learned that we were probably the best transport method. The 9 of us (8 tickets) would form a single file line and the first guy in line would point to the 9th guy and say "the guy in the back has the tickets." While the 9th guy waved my brother and I would make it through the turnstile on 1 turn and head right to H-2. We would unload the beers under the seats and retreat to the seat that we shared -seat 6. This went on every game for about 5 years until we were too big to share. I shared that seat for a couple of AFC championships and had my own for the comeback and the KC championship game. These moments were not only some of the greatest in Bills history but some of the best that I have had with my brother and dad. We still attend games together to this day and cherish it every time.
Johnny Hammersticks Posted March 26, 2014 Posted March 26, 2014 Back when my family still had season tickets, my Father and Uncle started letting me go to games when I was about 10 years old. My first game was a loss versus the Saints. It was a cold, snowy December game in 89. I remember walking out and seeing the field for the first time and thinking that Rich Stadium is the coolest place on earth. I followed the Bills religiously since I was like 5 or 6, but that was the day I truly became a die hard Bills fan.
Chandler#81 Posted March 27, 2014 Posted March 27, 2014 I'm older than the team -by a few years, but my 1st real memories were in '63 when my Dad and other men in the neighborhood were at the house and they were excited about how the Bills had just stolen Jackie Kemp from San Diego. I recall they were convinced he was the missing piece, now that Saban was coach and the defense and run offense with Carlton and Cookie was very good. We made the playoffs that year -sort of, as we tied with Boston in the East. Boston rolled us, though I dont recall much about that as the nation and this 8 year old grew up quick with the events from Dallas on November 22nd.. But by the start of the '64 Season, I was full out GO for the Bills and recall many of the games and QB shuffle with Daryl and Jack. That was an incredible year, starting in February with the Beatles on Sullivan, Clay beating the Big Bear for the Heavyweight title, then topped off with our Championship Season! I can still name every player on that team and most from '65. Was a Season ticket holder from '87 (yes, Todd Scholpy) through '94 before leaving WNY. Still haven't missed watching a game. #lifelong
thebandit27 Posted March 27, 2014 Posted March 27, 2014 It was September of 1985, and I was two months shy of my 5th birthday. My mother (God rest her soul) took my sister and I to my grandmother's house to watch the Bills opener against the NYJ. My father attended the game, and before he left out house that morning, I asked him if he thought we (I had no idea who "we" even meant at that point) would win. He picked me up and said, with all the promise a new era could bring: "Of course we're going to win, we've got Jim Kelly now...we're going to be winners for a long time!" I went to my grandmother's house, and I remember being glued to the TV to see this Jim Kelly that was going to make everything all right. And make it all right he did... It was his 2nd TD pass of the day--the one on which he fell during his drop back, recovered to his feet, an lofted a perfect touch pass to Pete Metzelaars in the back of the end zone--that made me explode from my seat and yell: "Wow...was that THE Jim Kelly that dad told me about?!?!" From that point on, I was unapologetically hooked on Bills football. I got my season ticket at the age of 7, and have never looked back.
swnybillsfan Posted March 27, 2014 Posted March 27, 2014 the reason i am a bills fan has a lot to do with location. i had other favorite teams growing up, through the stages of my life that i thought that anywhere would be better than here. but as i grew older i took a bit of pride in where i come from. and as i saw more of the world, i grew to understand how great this western new york area truly is, as well as what it means to me. in a way, the buffalo bills represent where i am from and why i am who i am. being at the stadium and talking with strangers but being treated like famiy, tailgaiting with people you have just met but feel like you grew up with. in a way i love the buffalo bills because i love western new york. and there is a certain amount of pride that i get from having to deal with three feet of snow for six months, constant road construction, people who work for a living and appreciate the simple things in life. and i appreciate the many bills fans around that really feel like part of the family.don't know if that's quite the way i wanted to word that, but i think the general point is in there somewhere.
mac4095 Posted March 27, 2014 Posted March 27, 2014 Perched upon the shoulders of my father as we passed the fresh roasted peanut vendor walking into War Memorial Stadium for the first time...
Chump Change Posted March 27, 2014 Posted March 27, 2014 I am a Bills fan because of my father as well. I'm 46 and have a vivid memory of attending a game at War Memorial Stadium with my dad, which would make me 5 at the time (since the Ralph opened in 1973). Some of my best memories with my father were of attending games and watching games with him. I'll also never forget the night game when we finally broke the Miami jinx. My dad allowed me to storm the field with the rest of the fans and tear the goal posts down. My brother and I still have a piece of the turf and FG netting from that game. There are so many times in my life that I wished I could get this team out of my system and begin to root for another team, but I just can't do it. As an ex-pat living in San Diego I just can not pull for any other team than the Bills. I also have a great memory of just before I joined the Marine Corps in 1985 when Bruce Smith was a rookie. I was working at McDonalds on Mckinley Pkwy and Bruce would regularly come through the drive in window in his new corvette. That was a miserable year, but I told him that breakfast would be on me if they won a game. Sadly I left for bootcamp before they won, LOL and never had to pay for his food. Days like these last few really sadden me. I'll always love this team though they have probably taken a few years off of my life.
OhIDunno Posted March 27, 2014 Posted March 27, 2014 Oddly enough, I was 16 when I really got into football on tv. My family wasn't big into sports so it wasn't till I played high school football that I started paying attention. I had just started dating a girl and went to her uncles house for the first time on a sunday. While there, we were in a room with no tv so i wasn't paying attention to what was going on in the other room until I heard screaming. I went in there and found 3 uncles and an aunt watching a Bills-Cowboys Game and really getting into it So I stayed In The room and Watched the rest of the game. I thought it was awesome the way they got into it, having never seen a game before. I was amazed to find out that the game I witnessed was the first win of the Bills season..... it was 1984 and they ended the season 2-14, but I was hooked on the fun they had just yelling and rooting for their team. That girl became my wife and I was able to watch games at that house for years after that, I went to games with her season ticket holding aunt and uncle. When I turned 20 I bought my first season tickets.... But things happen and the wife became an ex and I couldn't afford tickets anymore. To this day, I'm grateful to my ex for 4 things.... my 3 kids and the Bills... after all, her relatives made me a Bills fan for life.
White Linen Posted March 27, 2014 Posted March 27, 2014 My brother was/is a casual Bills fan and my father was a Dolphins fan for the sole purpose of aggravating everyone. So I really became the first to take to the Bills in my immediate family with the help of a dear friend of my parents. He and his sons were staunch fans and they would tote me around with them cruising through Canada to find the game when we had black outs. I remember it feeling like a frantic adventure. We lost that friend of our family in 2013 whom I grew up to love and the Bills were a big part of my childhood because of him. I love you George and thank you for some great memories.
daytonajay Posted March 27, 2014 Posted March 27, 2014 Grew up in west seneca right off abbott rd. Dad had season tix and went to all the games. Uncle owned Rettigs inn right across the street. Used to hang out in there when the players would come in for lunch. Moved to fla in 1992 and haved missed a game since. Go to mia every yesr and jax the last couple seasons. Bills fan for life!!!!
3rdnlng Posted March 27, 2014 Posted March 27, 2014 Got hooked in 1972? in a Monday night football game between the Bills and Raiders. Wasn't on TV and I listened to it on the radio. Go Joe Ferguson.
Campy Posted March 27, 2014 Posted March 27, 2014 Those are great stories, thanks for sharing them. I can recall a lot of memories with my family that revolved around the Bills teams starting in the early 70s, but I don't recall ever having an epiphany that made me realize the Bills would be my team. They just always were. Among my favorite memories are watching OJ run up and down the turf at Rich, Fergy hitting Bobby Chandler along the sidelines, the Bermuda Triangle, sitting in a mostly empty stadium watching a terrible Bills team play an equally bad Bengals team in the freezing rain and sleet, Kelly's first game, breaking the Miami streak, and the 51-3 AFC Championship thrashing of the Raiders. Who am I kidding? There are too many favorite moments to choose just one. I just couldn't imagine growing up in WNY and not being a Bills fan.
BillsFan-4-Ever Posted March 27, 2014 Posted March 27, 2014 simply put ... growing up there was only 2 games on local TV (5 channels). The Bills and the Giants. I grew to love the Bills.
VirginiaMike Posted March 27, 2014 Posted March 27, 2014 Back in the Rockpile days, my father had two season tickets. My sister and I got to pick one game each to go to with my dad. My mother or a friend of the family would go to the others. This is back when it was a 14 game season so 7 home games. My dad worked at Roswell Park and we would park there and walk to stadium. My sister would always pick the Jets game because she was sure Joe Namath would marry her. I picked a different team each year to see so I could see players from around the league. The Bills were good back in the mid 60's and it was a great experience not only because got to see the Bill live, but because I spent it with my dad
MarkAF43 Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 Had to chime in on this, I was always a Bills fan growing up, never super huge (more of a hockey fan), In 2007 I was deployed to Kuwait, and while there paid off debt, and said hey I want to buy something, so I bought Bills Season Tickets. Best move I've ever made, love my seats, the atmosphere, the passion and excitement of the crowd, the anticipation while tailgating, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm getting married in June, and hopefully in the future the seats will be something to share with our kids if we're lucky enough. I now live for Bills football and I'm like a little kid on Christmas for the home opener, my tradition is the Saturday before the home opener we always make sure to drive by the Ralph.
CountryCletus Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 Great story... I was around 10 during the Super Bowl era. I remember making signs to hang around the house... I recall vividly listening to "The Comeback" and my mom jumping around the living room with an iron in her hand (that's how I got the huge dent in my head). My wife and I attended the Dallas MNF game in 2007, first NFL game for us both. WE WERE HOOKED!!! I ended up going to 2 other games that year and we started getting season tickets the next year... It is probably the highlight of my year... I really enjoy most ppl on here, and REALLY enjoy time with the wife at the Ralph!!!
Rubes Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 My wife and I attended the Dallas MNF game in 2007, first NFL game for us both. WE WERE HOOKED!!! I ended up going to 2 other games that year and we started getting season tickets the next year... It is probably the highlight of my year... I really enjoy most ppl on here, and REALLY enjoy time with the wife at the Ralph!!! Hell of a first game to attend! The atmosphere at that game was beyond electric.
The Wiz Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 I was always a casual fan when I was younger. I never really tried to follow the team but every sunday we would be at my grandparents house and watch the Bills/Yankees/sabres (Anytime we were there one of them had a game). Never really cared to much for any of the teams until I was in my teens and started playing more organized sports. I would say the sabres really got me hooked in Buffalo teams after I went to my first sabres game. The intensity of everything going on was just too good to not want to be a part of all of it. That and riding the amtrak to the Aud was one of the coolest things.
CountryCletus Posted April 25, 2014 Posted April 25, 2014 It was electric!!! Julie wouldn't know bc she got BOMBED...
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