RIP Mark Pike! :(

[John from Riverside]

Oh wow

[Lofton80]

Incredible special teamer ! RIP

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Sad news. I was unaware of his ST tackle total.  

[par73]

So sad--I know he was at a game earlier this year; didn't know he was sick. Great player from those Super Bowl teams. RIP.

[Nextmanup]

1 hour ago, Freddie's Dead said:

Devastating news.  While Steve Tasker was the star, Mark Pike was the heart and soul of the Bills special teams in the Super Bowl years.  The play I will always remember is the onside kick in the Comeback Game.  Kenny Davis had just scored to make it 35-10 Oilers.  Christie dribbles the ball right up the middle.  As Houston LB Rick Graf goes down to cover the ball, Mark Pike just abso*****in'lutely DESTROYS him, the ball bounces to Christie, who recovers, and the Comeback is ON!!  Houston recovers that onsides kick, likely game over.  RIP Mark Pike, you were an outstanding Buffalo Bill.

Great memory of Mark.

 

You can watch the onside kick at 3:53 of this video...

 

 

[dhg]

Loved that guy. Way too young. 

 

RIP Mark. Condolences to the Pike family.

[Buftex]

37 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

 

 

I happen to be a bit of a card collector.  That middle picture (with the text) is Pikes' "rookie card".  Don't know if you all remember this, but his rookie cards weren't issued until 1995, ten years after he had been in the league.  He (and I believe Steve Tasker, if memory serves) started a campaign for him to get a football card issued, as he wanted one for his kids, who collected.  Of course, this was before the days of the internet, so even then, Bills fans mass-pestered the card manufacturers to include him in their sets. 

Edited December 8, 2021 by Buftex

[Nextmanup]

3 minutes ago, Buftex said:

I happen to be a bit of a card collector.  That middle picture (with the text) is Pikes' "rookie card".  Don't know if you all remember this, but his rookie cards weren't issued until 1995, ten years after he had been in the league.  He (and I believe Steve Tasker, if memory serves) started a campaign for him to get a football card issued, as he wanted one for his kids, who collected.  Of course, this was before the days of the internet, so even then, Bills fans mass-pestered the card manufacturers to include him in their sets. 

Interesting info.  Didn't know any of that!

 

 

[freddyjj]

Way too young so very sad.  Cancer and Covid suck!  Many prayers to him and his family

[Freddie's Dead]

Found this video on YouTube, which is Boomer doing the ESPN highlights.  The onside kick is at 4:04 and you get a good end zone shot with 94 coming right into your living room.

 

 

[Bad Things]

Very sad news indeed.

 

Rest in Peace.

[CSBill]

Great ST Player, and better Person. Congratulations on a life well-lived Mark Pike, RIP!

[LabattBlue]

Wow!  Way to young.  May his wife and kids find a way to move forward. 
 

I hate you cancer.  😡

[Fan in Chicago]

4 hours ago, Buftex said:

Bills special teams stalwart Mark Pike passes away (buffalobills.com)

https://www.buffalobills.com/news/bills-special-teams-stalwart-mark-pike-passes-away?fbclid=IwAR1hEM42lhrgkRgfIhqRV12s0XgVASaPAqajizhfQA3QTVg6bCeeUXx64_I

RIP 

 

 

[Bob in STL]

RIP Mark Pike. 
 

A great Buffalo Bill.  He blew people up on ST.    That Suoer Bowl era team had so many great players.  Mark did his job better than anyone else for a long time. 

[holla83]

2 hours ago, Ethan in Portland said:

Sad news. I was unaware of his ST tackle total.  

There were seasons he had more ST tackles than Tasker

[Tiberius]

Damn, cancer just sucks. Too young to go. 

[BillsPride12]

The Greatest Comeback Game in NFL History probably doesn't go down in history the way it did without his contribution.  He will forever have his place in Buffalo Bills and even further NFL history.

 

More importantly...from everything I have read about him he sounded like a first class, standup kind of dude.  Very proud to have him associated with the Buffalo Bills.  This is very sad news today

 

RIP #94

[Reks Ryan]

Sad news.   Such a good guy and terrific Buffalo Bill.  He was a constant through the best years of the franchise. 

[Flipnmi]

7 hours ago, Buftex said:

Crazy.  Just saw him back in early October, when the Bills played the Texans. 

 

It was really funny.  I went to the game with a friend of mine, and his young son, Jake, who had never been to a game before. 

 

The kid  was excited about maybe  getting some autographs. As we were walking through the lot, I saw Mark Pike standing on one of those podiums to sign photos.  There was no line at all (it was a miserable rainy morning as you may recall)...I said to Jake, "Hey, you want to get Mark Pike's autograph?"  Pike looks at Jake and smiles, and the kid, who is very shy says "Umm..no thanks"!    Mark smiled and kind of chuckled, then looked at me and said "well, at least he is polite"

 

Of course, Jake is 10 years old, and has no earthly idea who Mark was.  Pike handled it with humor.  I had met him back in his playing days too...seemed like a really good guy. That was just about two months ago...I didn't realize he was sick.  He looked great.

The Bills held a short minicamp at Gates Chili High School in 1986, when Mark was rookie. A 250 lb linebacker was unheard of in 1986, so I was very intrigued by this 7th rd draft pick.  I went up to met him at the end of practice and since the uniforms didn't have names, I asked him if he was Mark Pike and his his answer was "Yes Sir, I am".  I was only 31 at the time and not really used to being called "Sir", so this really took me back at bit. However this also told me all I needed to know about him and from that point on he was "my guy".  It was very clear that he was a high character guy who was raised to understand the value of being polite and respectful, so his comment to this dad is not surprising.