Marv's Neighbor Posted December 28, 2016 Posted December 28, 2016 Born & raised in BUF. Have not lived in WNY since 1970. Have lived in a string of NFL cities including; Washington, Chicago, Huston & Seattle. Lived in Seattle the longest 86-03. Being a "fan" of any other team is just not the same. I look at it as one of the crosses that I must bear, and it seemed a little heavier this year.
AtlantaStampede Posted December 28, 2016 Posted December 28, 2016 I love being angry and screaming, especially on Sundays, so for me it's just a perfect fit being a Bills fan. I grew up in the area. Saw all the great teams of the late 80's and early 90's play. Moved to Atlanta in 97, but still love the team. Now my sons are huge Bills fans too.
dwight in philly Posted December 28, 2016 Posted December 28, 2016 Born and raised in south buffalo, attended my first bills game in 1960 with my father.. im old and lived thru it all.. part of my DNA.
KollegeStudnet Posted December 28, 2016 Posted December 28, 2016 Grew up in the area. Had season tickets from 3 to 21 years old. Live in Utah since I was 22 raising my daughter. Spend several thousand a year to watch away games on the West coast and try to hit up as many Bills bars on this side. Wish there was a Bills Backers bar in Utah. Sadly, it folded a decade ago.
BuffaloHokie13 Posted December 28, 2016 Posted December 28, 2016 Being a Bills fan has made me incredibly patient and it has taught me to always temper my expectations. I truly appreciate the life lessons my fandom has given me.
DC Greg Posted December 28, 2016 Posted December 28, 2016 Obviously it's something you're born into and those who remain are true loyalists. It's just who we are. No one would choose this existence.
ndirish1978 Posted December 28, 2016 Posted December 28, 2016 (edited) Obviously it's something you're born into and those who remain are true loyalists. It's just who we are. No one would choose this existence. True. I think this is worth everyone remembering. We may not agree on a lot of things, but we are all tied together by this common experience. There are really no fair-weather Bills fans, we should probably try and be nicer to each other. I guess I'll try and do that myself. Edited December 28, 2016 by ndirish1978
tuckan Posted December 28, 2016 Posted December 28, 2016 The Bills are not a football team. They are a member of the family. Simple as that.
texasjute Posted December 28, 2016 Posted December 28, 2016 Born and raised in the southern Adirondacks. A genuine mix of Bills/Giants/Jets/Pats fans -- each stadium is about an equal distance from where I grew up (NYC slightly closer, but not much). Got into football in elementary school and started digging the bills with Joe Cribbs, Joe Ferguson, Frank Lewis, Jerry Butler, etc.. Was really into football cards and had a couple of sweet "Action" shot cards of Cribbs and Lewis that I loved. Went to a Bills/Pats game in Foxboro early in Kelly's career where he led a comeback and you could see that this could be something special. My dad always rooted for the Bills, and he and I got into it together. Watched them get better in the late 80's and will never forget the euphoria of 51-3. College in Rochester during the SB years. Went to a bunch of games in Buffalo, including a Monday nighter against Washington and the playoff game against the LA Raiders that was the coldest game in Bills history. Will never forget either of those. Have been back a couple of times with my kids, parked in Hammer's, and gone to away games in various places (Houston, Dallas, Jacksonville) Couldn't ever let them go, even if (heaven help us) they go 34 years with no playoffs. They are the team, and I root as much for the city, the area, and its people. When you remove the really obnoxious drunk twentysomethings, I truly believe Bills fans to be among the best people anywhere.
Samwell Tarly Posted December 30, 2016 Posted December 30, 2016 Grew up in western NY, got interested in football in about 86, which lined up perfectly with the Bills' rise to power. Lived and died every year with the super bowl run, then again during the Flutie run. Since then it's been hard to maintain the same enthusiasm as they have defied the odds finding new ways to miss the playoffs, but have never given up on them. Humor helps, I just don't let their failure ruin my Sunday. I'll still watch, remember that at the end of the day it's entertainment, not life and death. There are greater tragedies in the world. That being said, I enjoy discussing the Bills with everyone here and hope that it turns around at some point. It will happen, even if by blind luck. Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
The Wiz Posted December 30, 2016 Posted December 30, 2016 (edited) Went to my grandparents house every sunday for family dinner. Started at noon with the pregame/dinner prep and watched the game until it was over. Didn't matter if the food was done or not by the end of the game. No one ate until the game was over. Family with about 20ish people there every week. Edited December 30, 2016 by The Wiz
mead107 Posted December 30, 2016 Posted December 30, 2016 I am from the Saratoga area. Most of my friends followed the Giants and a few the jets in middle school. I wanted to be different I picked the Bills. Love it when they win Don't like it when they don't. Makes for a long ride home. I will love them till I die. GO BILLS
KD in CA Posted December 30, 2016 Posted December 30, 2016 Same as everyone else: to distract me from the drudgery of my empty and meaningless life.
hondo in seattle Posted December 30, 2016 Posted December 30, 2016 Personally, for me it's all about self loathing. I don't deserve to be a fan of a winning organization. So I picked the most god-forsaken football team I could find. Actually, I grew up in Cheektowaga. I was a fan since I was 10 just because all the kids I grew up with were all Bills fans. My fandom actually increased when I left WNY - maybe because it was a way to stay connected with my hometown. I've lived in/near a lot of cities with better teams but have never considered jumping ship. It's really not possible. It's not in my DNA to be disloyal. As I type this, I'm wearing a blue sweatshirt with red and white lettering saying "Just One Before I Die." My Seattle friends don't get it but any Bills fan would understand & empathize immediately.
The Crowing Rooster Posted December 30, 2016 Posted December 30, 2016 I sometimes wonder why because I can remember some very bad teams from 70s and mid 80s. Watching O.J. is when I became a fan I was around 5 or 6 at the time and have been a fan ever since. I guess you have to take the bad with good.
Chandler#81 Posted December 30, 2016 Posted December 30, 2016 I go ALL THE WAY BACK to the teams' inception and the advent of the American Football League. Try to catch the History of the AFL - a 5 part series from NFL Films. It was thrilling to watch another brand of football than the staid, mud drenched slugfests from the NFL. The AFL players were fantastic! Dawson, Bambi, Namath, Blanda, Branch, Hadl, The Bills had the League's best team for a 3 year stretch and featured great players as well with Sestak, McDole, Cookie, Gogolak, Kemp & Lamonica. Being raised in WNY, it was woven into the fabric of the community and games at the Rockpile remain some of my favorite memories. Unfortunately, I passed down my love of them and now my grown children are life long fans -as is my granddaughter. They HATE me because of it...
TakeYouToTasker Posted December 30, 2016 Posted December 30, 2016 Were all secretly masochistic? Worst kept secret ever.
xsoldier54 Posted December 30, 2016 Posted December 30, 2016 So I have been reading TwoBilsDrive for the better part of the last four years or so and finally decided to join the community myself. I am glad I can share my love for this team with so many others. For my first post I thought it would be fun to see what is everyones reasoning behind following the Buffalo Bills? Personally, I grew up following the Bills because my father was a lifelong fan from NY. I grew up hearing stories about the great 90s teams as well as the greatest comeback of all time against the Oilers. Today, I consider myself a die hard fan of the team. Unfortunately, I was 6 years old the last time the Bills were in the playoffs so I don't really remember it. Most of my Buffalo Bills memories include Drew Bledsoe holding the ball for 10 seconds every play before getting sacked, or thinking that JP Losman was going to be the next great thing after throwing a couple of opening day bombs to Lee Evans. The first Bills game I attended was opening day in 2004 against the Jags. I left the stadium in tears because Ernest Wilford caught a game winning TD against our beloved Bills. The only other game I have been to was the 2007 Sean Taylor game against the Redskins. Joe Gibbs infamously called two timeouts in a row allowing Rian Lindell to kick the game winner for us that day. I have since followed the Bills obsessively each year, hoping that one day I will get to see them in the playoffs and potentially a Super Bowl. FINGERS CROSSED!! How about everyone else? I have been a fan since day one. I remember having a poster of that first team. I remember the AFL championship years, the down years in the '70's and the Super Bowl years. They will always be my team. Very disappointed in them right now, but I will never give up my allegiance to this team.
chris heff Posted December 30, 2016 Posted December 30, 2016 My father had season tickets from the start. He and my brother went to first game at the Old Rockpile. Don't think I really became a fan until 1963. I remember going to an after game buffet at the Lord Amherst. It was invitation only and attended by players. I had a white football ball (old AFL) got a lot of autographs from now legendary Bills. Played with it so much I wore off the autographs. One of mr brother's friends was Pat McGroder Jr. They went to St. Joe's together. McGroder Sr. had a Lincoln with Bills logo on the door. The Bills have always been such a small town team. When someone says it is more like a college team than NFL it isn't just lip service, it is true. It is part of the charm. Can't wait until next year, go Bills.
Jkgobills Posted December 30, 2016 Posted December 30, 2016 Born into it, dad was from West Seneca, mom from Cheektowaga, and raised in Rochester in the 1970's, 80's and 90's where I lived until finishing graduate school in 1997. Left the area, but the Bills never left me. When the rumor mill was turning regarding the Bills leaving Buffalo a few years ago, I came to the conclusion that if the franchise left WNY, I could end my time as a fan. They stayed, and I stayed a fan.
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