Did anyone become a Bills fan later on in life or convert from another team?

[Another Fan]

Reading through posts on the couple years I’ve been a member here it seems most were Bills fans since childhood.  They were born into it.

 

Im curious if anybody became a Bills fan later on in life or any converts from other teams.  I mean my opinion on people for one thing has changed over the years.   Same with TV, music, movies, cars, etc....

 

Reasons per say can just be as simple as say I never liked football as a kid.  Or I went to a Bills game and really loved the atmosphere.  
 

Wouldn’t make someone any lesser a fan imo.  

 

 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

I was born and raised in the NYC area and was a Jet and Giant fan.  Moved to western NY in the mid 70's, still was a fan of Jets in fact rooted for the Jets to beat the Bills in the 1980 playoff game which Buffalo won.  Then both teams went down the drain, hard to follow losing teams particular when not local. Got caught up in all the hype starting around 1986, ever since have been a Bills fan root for them to beat the Jet's whenever they play. 

 

Last 12 years moved to NC, but still follow and root for the Bills.  Think it's much easier to be a fan of a long distance team now with the internet.  Back when I moved from NY as I said without internet and they start losing, hard to follow and/or keep up with.

[Rc2catch]

In my younger years I was an Atlanta Falcons fan. Loved Jeff George and Andre Rison and Jamal Anderson and the “dirty bird” 

I later converted to a Tennessee Titans fan with McNair and Jevon Kearse. I always followed the Bills but I’m one of the few who didn’t actually like the Super Bowl teams. 
I was never a big fan of Thurman or Kelly although I did like some of the other players. 
After the Super Bowl runs ended and the team blew up I became a much more dedicated fan. 

[Chris from Rochester]

I was born into a Bills house but after playing Tecmo Super Bowl as a kid started to love the Eagles because of QB Eagles (Randall Cunningham). While still rooting for the Bills I was a full blown Eagles fan, then as i got into Jr High/HS went back to the Bills. So while I guess I wouldn't say I'm a converted fan, I did stray off the path for a few years

[wppete]

Born and Raised a Buffalo Bills fan from Toronto! My whole family are hardcore Bills fans.

[TigerJ]

I was a Cleveland Browns fan in high school.  Anybody remember Leroy Kelly?  He was the successor to Jim Brown as the Browns running back.  I became a Bills fan when they drafted OJ Simpson.  That was a while ago.

[row_33]

started watching when Juice began to tear up the NFL, no other choice

 

[Stanley Lombardi]

I lived in the area for over 7 years before I  even watched a Bills game.

 

Then one Sunday afternoon in 1960, my Dad turned on our 12-inch black & white TV...

 

 

[BarleyNY]

1 hour ago, TigerJ said:

I was a Cleveland Browns fan in high school.  Anybody remember Leroy Kelly?  He was the successor to Jim Brown as the Browns running back.  I became a Bills fan when they drafted OJ Simpson.  That was a while ago.

Born and raised in Cleveland a Browns fan.  Adopted Bills shortly after I moved here about 8 years ago.  I root for both now. 
 

Funny story.  There used to be a college bar in Berea called The Rampant Lion.  I was in a beer chugging contest with another Browns RB, Leroy Hoard.  We cleared the field on the first chug. Tied again the second.  They gave him the nod on beer three (which neither of us wanted).  Friends told me he was faster, but spilled a little.  One of my friends also informed me of who he was.  (You don’t know who that is, do you?  Nope.  It’s Leroy Hoard.  Ah, that makes sense.)  Hoard was really nice and came over and told me I could have the prize for 1st place.  I was so drunk I forgot to pick it up and went back the next weekend and won the contest then.  You could only win once a month so no big deal.  During that summer I was good for that one win every month.  That dude’s arms might be the biggest I’ve ever seen.  He was huge and all muscle. 

Edited February 27, 2020 by BarleyNY

[BuffaloBills1998]

Started with Tampa Bay, But I was born and raised my first 5 years in Buffalo before moving to LA. I had the privilege of watching the Levy/Kelly Teams and became a huge fan. Became more of a fan when Flutie came to town and so on, stopped being a Tampa fan cause they were so horrible but I loved their original orange creamsicle uniforms with the pirate on the helmet

Edited February 27, 2020 by BuffaloBills1998

[Smitty75]

New fan here, i’m from France so It’s complicated to find a attachement with a specific team.

I started following the NFL in 2011, i watched a ton of different teams but i never found the one who made me want to stick with them.

I’m a Raptors fan in the NBA, the fact that the Bills is the most popular team in Toronto, the Bills Mafia, and the snow bowl are the 3 reasons who made me decided to be a fan. ?

[hondo in seattle]

2 hours ago, TigerJ said:

I was a Cleveland Browns fan in high school.  Anybody remember Leroy Kelly?  He was the successor to Jim Brown as the Browns running back.  I became a Bills fan when they drafted OJ Simpson.  That was a while ago.

 

Similar history...

 

Although I grew up in Cheektowaga, my family were not BIlls fans when I was a kid.  The first NFL game I ever watched on TV was the Cleveland Browns versus the Dallas Cowboys - back when the Browns were in the old Century Division.  The Browns, led by Bill Nelson (QB), Leroy Kelly (RB) and Paul Warfield (WR), were losing badly so of course, being 10, I started rooting for them.  When they came back to win, I was hooked.   I was a bigger Browns fan than Bills fan in my childhood though OJ became my favorite player.  

 

It was only when I went out of state for college that the Bills surpassed the Browns in my heart because they were the hometown team and a way of connecting with my friends and family back in Buffalo.  When the Browns moved to Baltimore, my Brownie fandom ended forever.  

 

Edited February 27, 2020 by hondo in seattle

[hondo in seattle]

5 minutes ago, Smitty75 said:

New fan here, i’m from France so It’s complicated to find a attachement with a specific team.

I started following the NFL in 2011, i watched a ton of different teams but i never found the one who made me want to stick with them.

I’m a Raptors fan in the NBA, the fact that the Bills is the most popular team in Toronto, the Bills Mafia, and the snow bowl are the 3 reasons who made me decided to be a fan. ?

 

My mom was from the Paris area - the suburb of Drancy to be precise.  She met my dad at the conclusion of WWII and moved to Buffalo.  And while she adopted a lot of local customs, I could never convince her to become a Bills fan.  She thought American football was barbaric and only grudgingly let me play.  

The Bills Mafia is a great reason to be a fan!

[H2o]

My first football memory is that of watching the Raiders beat the Redskins in SB XVIII with my grandfather. I was 7. I liked the Raiders after that point. In 1989 they started showing the Bills on TV more around my area. I loved the uniforms and many of the players on the team quickly after watching them a few times. I learned a bit more about the team. I found out Bruce Smith was from VA and played at VT. That was it for me then. I switched teams at 12 and have been a Bills fan ever since. 

[947]

I became a Bills fan during the 1988 playoffs, when I was a young teen. I've lived in the Chicago area my whole life & grew up with the Bears, while that was fun in 85' a few years after, the Bills grew on me & became my team. I've been a Buffalo die-hard since then.  I used to have to order my Bills gear from catalogs back in the day.

 

Ironically, my wife is from Buffalo. I wish I could say that's why I married her, but it's really just a bonus.

Edited February 27, 2020 by 947

[TPS]

Grew up in SoCal a Rams fan. Moved to Buffalo in 1990 (for a job), the start of their Super Bowl run. Easy to become a fan, then Rams moved to St. Louis, so I never looked back. Love the city, the team, and the people. 

[row_33]

1 hour ago, Blue on Blue said:

I lived in the area for over 7 years before I  even watched a Bills game.

 

Then one Sunday afternoon in 1960, my Dad turned on our 12-inch black & white TV...

 

 

 

weren't the Browns on every week?

 

[Don Otreply]

When I was a kid, my Dad was a Cleveland fan James Brown and all, so I was a fan by default, rooted for them when Leroy Kelly was their star RB, with the Bills as the #2 team at our house. Then football faded a bit, then Returned to the Bills, the rest is history...

[Seoulofstone]

The Bills were one of my least favorite teams growing up. As a teenager I followed the teams whose logos i liked which were the Vikings and Seahawks. After I came to America i followed my local team, the Panthers. I still do, though some of the cronyism drives me nuts. I followed McDermott when he left, and learned about the drought and I'm a sucker for an underdog story. When i saw the celebration that New Year it became impossible for me not to want them to do well. Now i follow the goings on in WNY with far more interest than Carolina.

 

I guess as a non-American, i don't carry guilt for my lack of loyalty to one franchise, but I'm not just a glory hunter.

[hondo in seattle]

Weird how many Bills fans are/were Browns fans.