Share a story that reveals your Bills dedication

[Buftex]

I am probably not the only one here who can make a similar claim, but I have only missed one Bills game (either in person or on tv... and not including pre-season) since 1980. 

 

The one game I missed was October, of the 1989 season...Bills got trashed by the Colts.  It was the infamous "bickering Bills" game, where Jim Kelly called out House Ballard afterwards for missing the block that got Jimbo knocked out of the game. 

 

I did see the game, well after the season was over.  I purchased the game on VHS from a guy who advertised "classic games" in the back of Sports Collectors Digest.  It was hardly a "classic". Not sure what it says about me that I was willing to pay money, to spend a day in May to watch a game that had been played 8 months earlier, knowing that my team was going to get destroyed 37-14.  But that is the depth of my Bills depravity... in certain company I am embarrassed to admit it. Not here!    

 

If my math is correct, I have missed only 1 of the last 686 regular season/playoff games played by the Buffalo Bills.  Their record in that time is 338-348.  In that time, I have attended about 100 games live.  I realize, I got nothing on Pinto Ron...but it still takes some effort.

 

Of course, I saw plenty of games in the 70's (I was born in 1965), but in those days, it was nearly impossible to see home games, unless you had season tickets.  No satallite...no NFL Ticket...no Reddit streams...it was a lot of work!  I moved to NYC in 1988.  I had a job at a record store...if I had to work on Sunday, it wasn't uncommon for me to take a 3 and half hour "lunch" so I could slip around the corner to watch the Bills game at a bar.

 

Once, I was in Los Angeles for my sisters wedding.  Coincidentally, the Bills were playing the LA Raiders that weekend, in Buffalo at 1pm. That meant they were playing at 10AM Los Angeles time.  As there was a bunch of family flying in for the wedding, and the two families hadn't really met yet, the grooms father arraigned for a Sunday morning brunch/party at his country club.  I disappeared during the brunch, and found a  room down some dark corridor of part of the club that wasn't open....there was a massive tv in there.  I found the remote, jacked around with the tv, and watched the Bills/Raiders game.  There were so many people at the party (two large families) only my immediate family seemed keenly aware that I had disappeared for 3 hours.  I made a brief appearance at half-time, glad handed the newest additions to my family, and lured my brother back to my secret room, for the second half.  He brought some beers with him. Bills won!  Needless to say, my sister was po'd at me...but she got over it.. we laugh about it now.

 

 

Edited April 2, 2021 by Buftex

[BillsFan619]

1 hour ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I was 12 years old when the Bills were playing in Atlanta.  My dad took me to the Hotel the Bills were staying at and hung out in the lobby all day.

 

Andre Reed came down to get his shoes polished.  I ran over there along with literally 20 other kids. 

Reed tells everyone that he's sorry, doesn't have time for autographs and has to leave right away after his shoes are done.

Everyone else leaves, I stand directly in front of him watching him get his shoes shined.  I wasn't going to leave until he signed.

 

He wasn't making eye contact with me and looking away.  After about 2 minutes, he finally looks at me and says "okay quickly before anybody else sees".  I ran over, he signed, I then went to look for another Bill.

 

I did the same thing out in front of Jim Kelly's RV and got invited in.

Wow! You were in Jim Kelly’s RV? How’d that go?

Edited April 2, 2021 by BillsFan619

[BillsFan619]

39 minutes ago, Buftex said:

I am probably not the only one here who can make a similar claim, but I have only missed one Bills game (either in person or on tv... and not including pre-season) since 1980. 

 

The one game I missed was October, of the 1989 season...Bills got trashed by the Colts.  It was the infamous "bickering Bills" game, where Jim Kelly called out House Ballard afterwards for missing the block that got Jimbo knocked out of the game. 

 

I did see the game, well after the season was over.  I purchased the game on VHS from a guy who advertised "classic games" in the back of Sports Collectors Digest.  It was hardly a "classic". Not sure what it says about me that I was willing to pay money, to spend a day in May to watch a game that had been played 8 months earlier, knowing that my team was going to get destroyed 37-14.  But that is the depth of my Bills depravity... in certain company I am embarrassed to admit it. Not here!    

 

If my math is correct, I have missed only 1 of the last 686 regular season/playoff games played by the Buffalo Bills.  Their record in that time is 338-348.  In that time, I have attended about 100 games live.  I realize, I got nothing on Pinto Ron...but it still takes some effort.

 

Of course, I saw plenty of games in the 70's (I was born in 1965), but in those days, it was nearly impossible to see home games, unless you had season tickets.  No satallite...no NFL Ticket...no Reddit streams...it was a lot of work!  I moved to NYC in 1988.  I had a job at a record store...if I had to work on Sunday, it wasn't uncommon for me to take a 3 and half hour "lunch" so I could slip around the corner to watch the Bills game at a bar.

 

Once, I was in Los Angeles for my sisters wedding.  Coincidentally, the Bills were playing the LA Raiders that weekend, in Buffalo at 1pm. That meant they were playing at 10AM Los Angeles time.  As there was a bunch of family flying in for the wedding, and the two families hadn't really met yet, the grooms father arraigned for a Sunday morning brunch/party at his country club.  I disappeared during the brunch, and found a  room down some dark corridor of part of the club that wasn't open....there was a massive tv in there.  I found the remote, jacked around with the tv, and watched the Bills/Raiders game.  There were so many people at the party (two large families) only my immediate family seemed keenly aware that I had disappeared for 3 hours.  I made a brief appearance at half-time, glad handed the newest additions to my family, and lured my brother back to my secret room, for the second half.  He brought some beers with him. Bills won!  Needless to say, my sister was po'd at me...but she got over it.. we laugh about it now.

 

 

Wow! You mind me asking why you had to miss the game?

 

In my opinion, your record begins in 1980. I am in a career where I typically have to work on Sundays so I have to DVR the game and then watch it later that day. What’s the difference between watching it three hours later or watching it eight months later? You still watched it.

[Royale with Cheese]

43 minutes ago, BillsFan619 said:

Wow! You were in Jim Kelly’s RV? How’d that go?

Yep.  Kelly walked out of the stadium and fans started following him....he was walking towards his RV.

 

I handed Jim my card as he was walking.  Since he was so tall, I couldn’t reach after he signed it....he was holding it over his shoulder.  Someone else grabbed the card.

 

Then Jim walked into the RV and everyone left.  I stayed.  
Then one of Kelly’s brothers who was grilling, walks up to me and asked why I was in tears.  I told him what happened.

 

He then invited me in the RV and took off my hat.  He walks to the back to get Jim to sign it.  I just stand in the middle next to Jim’s mom and dad.  The brother puts the hat back on my head and then I walk out.

[killshot]

Early 1990's as a teenager me and my brother owned a small grocery store , we worked long hours, 7 days a week , we never close the shop except onetime a year , not any holiday, only when the Bills in town playing the miami dolphins. We close the shop and go to the game. Those early 1990'  games against miami were so much fun . We live in south florida. 

Edited April 2, 2021 by killshot

[BillsFan619]

23 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

Yep.  Kelly walked out of the stadium and fans started following him....he was walking towards his RV.

 

I handed Jim my card as he was walking.  Since he was so tall, I couldn’t reach after he signed it....he was holding it over his shoulder.  Someone else grabbed the card.

 

Then Jim walked into the RV and everyone left.  I stayed.  
Then one of Kelly’s brothers who was grilling, walks up to me and asked why I was in tears.  I told him what happened.

 

He then invited me in the RV and took off my hat.  He walks to the back to get Jim to sign it.  I just stand in the middle next to Jim’s mom and dad.  The brother puts the hat back on my head and then I walk out.

Great story! He still owed you a card though (or at least someone does). 🤣

3 minutes ago, killshot said:

Early 1990's as a teenager me and my brother owned a small grocery store , we worked long hours, 7 days a week , we never close the shop except onetime a year , not any holiday, only when the Bills in town playing the miami dolphins. We close the shop and go to the game. Those early 1990'  games against miami were so much fun . 

Yes, they were!

 

Congrats on owning something so young. Hopefully you’re not working that many hours anymore though.

[slipkid]

I moved to teach at  a small university in rural Minnesota in September 1991 and met this cool woman who seemed  a little “stalky,” but I just chalked that up to my own awesomeness. We started dating casually. She was decidedly not a sports fan, let alone a Bills fan, so I tested her. When she didn’t really understand why we couldn’t spend Sunday afternoon together, I had recorded and made her watch “wide right.” She didn’t know the outcome nor much at all about football, and I didn’t tell her how it ended. She saw me well up as the kick sailed and hugged me.

 

I also had the Denver crazy comeback recorded, and she agreed to watch that. I told her about the Washington Super Bowl.

 

As we sat together on the sofa in January 1992 and watched Bubba McDowell cruise down the sideline, I clicked over to “Saturday Night Fever.”

 

She didn’t get it that the game was over. “What about the Bronco game?”

 

I clicked back in time for the Bills’ first TD.

 

At the end of the game, my first decision was to get two tickets to the Super Bowl in Pasadena. (My father worked with attorneys who represented the Bills and could get them at face value—$250, I think—Monday morning.)

 

After two excruciating (but not really close) road games in Pittsburgh and Miami, my future best man and I were on a red-eye to LAX. 
 

The first decision didn’t work out as I had hoped. One out of two ain’t bad.

Edited April 3, 2021 by slipkid

[BillsFan619]

Thanks to everyone for sharing!

 

We already knew that we were a dedicated bunch but it was cool to hear your stories.

 

Go Bills! Go Bills Mafia!

[BillsWest]

Living in N. CA in the 1990’s I take out my Buffalo Bills checks to pay at the grocery store.  The cashier says “bandwagoner”?  I give him the look and say “yep, since the 60’s”.

[BillsFan619]

43 minutes ago, BillsWest said:

Living in N. CA in the 1990’s I take out my Buffalo Bills checks to pay at the grocery store.  The cashier says “bandwagoner”?  I give him the look and say “yep, since the 60’s”.

Nice! That’s good!!!

 

People just don’t get it, do they?

Edited April 3, 2021 by BillsFan619

[maddenboy]

On 3/28/2021 at 8:07 PM, Rocket94 said:

Those were bad times! How many QB's did we go through!

Zero

[biggerdaddynj]

December 23, 1989, 5th coldest game in Bills’ history—frozen kegs of beer at Giants stadium—stayed whole game.  https://www.buffalobills.com/news/the-top-10-coldest-games-in-bills-history-5087866

[BigDingus]

Well, as an 11-13 year old kid, I spent more of my time on the old version of the Bills Message board arguing with adults about Doug Flutie being superior to Rob Johnson than hanging out with friends or focused on real life...

That doesn't make me the most dedicated, but it did show where my priorities were in life 

[Buftex]

On 4/2/2021 at 4:07 PM, BillsFan619 said:

Wow! You mind me asking why you had to miss the game?

 

In my opinion, your record begins in 1980. I am in a career where I typically have to work on Sundays so I have to DVR the game and then watch it later that day. What’s the difference between watching it three hours later or watching it eight months later? You still watched it.

I was at work...I had planned on taking a long "lunch" to watch the game, but the bar I would normally go to for that was shut down because it flooded.  I was stil kinda new to the city (NY), so after checking out a few other places in relative walking distance, and striking out, I gave up.  Came to find out a week or two later there was a sports bar I didn't even know about, about 5 short blocks away I could have gone to!

 

BTW- my boss at this particular job (Tower Records) was a huge sports nut... Broncos, NY Rangers and St Louis Cardinals for him...so he understood my addiction.  He was cool with me taking a 3- 3.5 hour lunch, and staying two hours later.  That job was a blast.  The store was massive, we got tons of perks from record lables.  We also happened to have a pair of season tickets for the NY Rangers, NY Knicks, NY Mets and NY Yankees.  So, even though I didn't make a ton of money (especially living in NY), on my days off, I was almost always going to a game of some kind. If not a game, a free concert. I got to see so many sports legends from the late 80's to early 90's..good old days.  

  

Edited April 4, 2021 by Buftex

[buffalo2218]

I had a friend that was an insane Marino homer. He kept talking him up over and over. At this point, I didn’t have a favorite team. But as my friend kept kissing Marino’s ass, the more irritated I became. 
 

I noticed that Marino was quite the crybaby. I also noticed that the Bills were the best at bringing out Marino’s misery. After watching guys like Bruce and Thurman causing all kinds of problems for the Dolphins, I soon started representing the Bills. 
 

He still kept talking up Marino, but I quickly shot down all the accolades. Have stayed a Bills fan ever since

[Beerball]

On 3/27/2021 at 2:21 PM, BillsFan619 said:

The one that sticks out to me was September 1999.

I was in college and lived in Colorado at the time. Me and a couple people started driving to New York on a Thursday night. We got to my family’s house in New York on Friday night. We spent the day with them on Saturday. Then, we went to the Bills game on Sunday. They played the Eagles and won 26-0. Woohoo!

 

Then, we started driving back to Colorado on Sunday night. After all that, so thankful that they won! 🤣

OK Bills fans, your turn. Share a story that reveals your dedication.

Go Bills! Go Bills Mafia!

 

I'm 62.

I follow the Buffalo Bills.

WTF more do you want from me?

[SoCal Deek]

8 hours ago, BigDingus said:

Well, as an 11-13 year old kid, I spent more of my time on the old version of the Bills Message board arguing with adults about Doug Flutie being superior to Rob Johnson than hanging out with friends or focused on real life...

That doesn't make me the most dedicated, but it did show where my priorities were in life 

So..now that that’s cleared up ...let’s get back to the Flutie v Johnson discussion. 😉 

[BillsFan619]

15 hours ago, Beerball said:

I'm 62.

I follow the Buffalo Bills.

WTF more do you want from me?

Well, I guess you get a pass then. 🤣

[BillsFan619]

On 4/3/2021 at 8:26 PM, BigDingus said:

Well, as an 11-13 year old kid, I spent more of my time on the old version of the Bills Message board arguing with adults about Doug Flutie being superior to Rob Johnson than hanging out with friends or focused on real life...

That doesn't make me the most dedicated, but it did show where my priorities were in life 

As you already know, that was a huge debate back then. I would have been one of the adults you would’ve been arguing with. I wanted Rob Johnson to start. Most of the people around me always wanted Flutie so I had to argue for RJ.

 

We can still be friends though, bro. 🤣🤣🤣 Also, props for going toe to toe with adults when you were only 13.

[chaccof]

On 3/27/2021 at 2:27 PM, ColoradoBills said:

I been a non stop fan since '64.

This to me is the ultimate sign of dedication!  Having been born the same year as the Bills and grew up with pretty bad teams (I don't count 64/65 because I barely remember them) mostly and have hung in there as a fan even though I've been away from Buffalo way longer than I lived there (41 years v. 19 years).  Like many on this board I've driven from hours away to see a game, turned around and drove home, or flown in depending on where I lived and my then economic situation.  But mostly, the dedication comes from pride in my home town, pride in the Bills and the "root for the underdog" I have in me.  

 

A recent short story:  As I finally got to the check in line for my first vaccine a couple weeks ago, the guy checking me in saw my Bills mask and said "oh, I bet you're just wearing that because they're good all of a sudden" to which I said "no, wearing it because I was born and raised in Buffalo and have been following them since I was a little kid."  That really ticked me off....