Do you remember the first football game you went too?

[26CornerBlitz]

Does the thread title mean you went to the game with someone? 

Edited December 7, 2017 by 26CornerBlitz

[K-9]

1 hour ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

The 1st game attended that I remember really well was the 1968 home game against the NYJ where Namath threw 5 picks.

Tom Janik says hi. I was a gopher in the press box at the time. All of nine years old and lovin life.

[JohnC]

39 minutes ago, Gugny said:

Note:  There are some old ass mother!@#$ers up in hurr.

They are not old. They are just extremely mature. 

[Stenbar]

I grew up in Dallas Texas so my first game was in the season of 1977.  The Cowboys vs The Eagles. We sat on the 45 yardline 10 rows behind the Eagles bench.  I still remember every second of that day.  Tony Dorsett scored his first touchdown, an 84 yard run down the sideline to secure the win.  Harold Carmichael threw his helmet on the sideline in disgust.  My first Bills game was against the Raiders in 1983. We sat in the tunnel endzone and Marc Wilson was the qb.  I remember thinking to myself, man this crowd is a thousand times louder than any Cowboys game I had ever been too.  I instantly fell in love and not soon after that I became a Bills fan for life.  I took a lot of heat from my Cowboy friends during our Super Bowl losses for being a traitor..LOL

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

October 1976, Bills lost to the Colts, 31-13. I was 9. It was Jim Ringo's first game as coach, since Lou Saban had quit a few days earlier. OJ caught a TD pass. Bills went into that game 2-3, but ended the season 2-12. Ah, memories...

[Fadingpain]

Honestly I can't pin it down to a specific game! 

Would have been in the 1980s during the Joe Ferguson era, almost for sure.

 

I do have a lasting memory in my head, though, of going through the "tunnel" out to the seats and the full size of the stadium emerging before me for the first time.  My immediate reaction was "It's much smaller than it looks on TV" and I remember thinking things like an extra point or short field goals were a total joke for a professional, as an extra point (back then) was so freaking close; how could you miss?

 

Another memory I have from long ago is being down in the front row and noticing the massive crown in the field.  The field in that stadium is (or at least was) much, much higher in the middle than out toward the sidelines, for water drainage.  When you are down there the curve of the field is very noticeable.  That is totally lost on TV.

 

 

 

 

 

[707BillsFan]

My first NFL game? I know it was in the 70's...always a 49er / Rams contest. My mother used to work for State Farm and they got free tix to the 49er / Rams games each / every year. They had to give 49ers tix away pre-Montana. My first Bills game was also in SF,  last game of the season in '80. Bills needed a win to FINALLY get into the playoffs. They beat SF and Montana w/ a gimpy Fergy. Don't recall a huge celebration though. I just remember it raining and my dad was miserable and kept wanting to leave before the final tick of the clock. We toughed it out though...

[Bob in STL]

I was a kid.  It was 1964 in the Old Rockpile in Buffalo, NY.   I went with my Dad and my Uncle.  Crazy fans everywhere.

 

It was October and we beat the Jets. We were undefeated, like 7-0 or something.   We won on a 4th quarter comeback by our backup QB, Daryl Lamonica.  Jack Kemp went down and fullback Cookie Gilcrest was held in check for the first time all year.   We got a big game from rookie half-back bobby Smith.  Our flanker Elbert "Golden Wheels" Dubenion had over 200 yards. 

 

Lou Saban was our coach.   We won the AFL Championship over the favored San Diego Chargers.  Back then we really could beat the crap out of teams.   We had the best defense in the AFL and they were even better the next season. 

 

10 AFL Pro Bowlers out of 22 were Bills that year.   We could have had a few more.  

 

It was a different game and different time but yeah, I was hooked. 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2017 by Bob in STL

[eball]

Yes, I also remember my first football game.

[26CornerBlitz]

27 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Tom Janik says hi. I was a gopher in the press box at the time. All of nine years old and lovin life.

 

Nice!  100 yard INT return.

[SoCal Deek]

48 minutes ago, Dunkirk Don said:

Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills -Last game at War Memorial  17-17 tie

I was at that game!  I remember it was freezing....but as a kid I still loved every second of it.

[corta765]

My first game was like a Bills Pats game early mid 90s when Kelly, Thomas, Reed, & Smith were still on the roster. I think he took me so I at least attended the good days and my only real memory is being in the 300s opponent sideline in like early Nov.

 

BUT my first true memory would be the Bills Bears in 2000 I was 11 we sat 300s. Flutie started the game, for some reason in the 3rd quarter Johnson was put in though. He proceeded to get injured which the crowd cheer as he went off and Flutie back on (Not our finest day Bills fans). Any way Bills were up only by a few and then we got a defensive TD to ice the game. It was really fun and I still have the gloves my dad got me from a vendor on Abbott.

Edited December 7, 2017 by corta765

[Curt]

I'm from Canada so my first football games were the CFL Montreal Alouettes at Olympic Stadium in the early 80's. First live NFL game was Green Bay at Chicago in October 1990.

[corta765]

4 hours ago, TheBrownBear said:

1983 Monday Night Football against the Jets.  Broke the record for most arrests and ejections in Rich Stadium history.

 

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/10/04/Thirty-nine-people-were-arrested-and-another-375-fans-were/4885434088000/

 

My Dad was supposed to babysit me that night (it was shortly before my 5th birthday) while my Mom was at work.  He got a call around dinnertime from my uncle saying he had two extra tickets.  He knew my Mom would be furious that he took a 4 year old to a 9:00pm game, but he couldn't pass it up.  Left a note on the kitchen table and off we went.  I remember walking through the tunnel and seeing the bright green turf for the first time and it was almost sparkling from the lights.  Stadium was absolutely packed and very rowdy.  The Bills got destroyed from the start, but I fell in love with Bills football that day because of the experience.

 

My uncle's friend was smashed before we entered the stadium.  Sometime during the first half he left to use the bathroom and never came back.  After the game we wandered around the stadium looking for him and we finally found him asleep on a toilet...lol.

 

Oh yeah, Mom was pissed when we got home!!!!

 

 

Haha this story is awesome and the ending is a 100% predictable. Only difference is if it was me with my kid my wife would've been pissed she didn't get to go which is a plus I think.

[ticketssince61]

6 hours ago, SoCal Deek said:

It was 1969. Len Dawson, Mike Garrett and the Chiefs at the Rockpile. I can still hear the sound of glass beer bottles rolling down the concrete stands. Good times! 

 

 That was my 2nd game. Lost 29 to 7

In 1968 I was 6 years old.

 

I still vividly remember my father RIP saying "I think it's time you go to a Bills game. How about Joe Namath and the Jets"

 

Won 37-35. Bills had 3 pick sixes against Joe Willie - including one over 100 yards by Tom Janik.

 

That was the only game we won that year

Edited December 7, 2017 by ticketssince61

[corta765]

1 hour ago, Dunkirk Don said:

Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills -Last game at War Memorial  17-17 tie

 

It's fitting the last game there would be a tie between these two teams

[Dablitzkrieg]

My first game was the season finale in 1989 against the Jets.  The Bills needed a win to get into the playoffs.  They blew them out like 33-0

[corta765]

42 minutes ago, Fadingpain said:

Honestly I can't pin it down to a specific game! 

Would have been in the 1980s during the Joe Ferguson era, almost for sure.

 

I do have a lasting memory in my head, though, of going through the "tunnel" out to the seats and the full size of the stadium emerging before me for the first time.  My immediate reaction was "It's much smaller than it looks on TV" and I remember thinking things like an extra point or short field goals were a total joke for a professional, as an extra point (back then) was so freaking close; how could you miss?

 

Another memory I have from long ago is being down in the front row and noticing the massive crown in the field.  The field in that stadium is (or at least was) much, much higher in the middle than out toward the sidelines, for water drainage.  When you are down there the curve of the field is very noticeable.  That is totally lost on TV.

 

 

 

 

 

I remember the crown as a kid. My dad made a big point of that and how it really was a factor throwing the ball. Not sure it is anymore with the field turf and stuff

[Original Byrd Man]

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

Tom Janik says hi. I was a gopher in the press box at the time. All of nine years old and lovin life.

I remember someone offering me $20 for my $4 ticket on my way into the game.  No way was I selling.  In hind sight should probably have grabbed the cash.  I believe it was the only win of the season. lol

[theAteam]

I think it was a Dolphins/Pats game at the old Foxboro Stadium about 20 years ago. I remember when I was leaving the half-finished Gillette Stadium was in the background.