What year you became a Bills fan and Two Bills Drive camaraderie

[SoMAn]

You've been a fan since

1.  1972 with OJ is when I was old enough to have an attention span that allowed me to understand the strategy and sit thought entire games. I'd been to games as early as 67 or 68, but the 'fan' part really kicked in when OJ was a superstar.

2. First memory: Babysitter trying to pull in Rochester station broadcast (when only away games were shown locally) on old B&W with rabbit ears. Around 64 or 65?

3. Too many.....First Monday Night Bills game 1973 when OJ went over 1000 yds in game 7, Monday night opener against Raiders, 1974 (much like Chiefs loss in recent playoffs with several lead changes in final couple of minutes, though Bills won that one).  Beating Dolphins in 1980 opener.  (Revised) Also need to include Dec7 1980 win against Rams, when fans would not leave and Smerlas, Haslett, Ritcher et al coming back out of tunnel for an encore, complete with chorus line kicks. Was at all those games. The elation from the Rams game carried into the next evening as I watched the beginning of the Monday night game between Dolphins and Pats before heading out to a local rock bar in Clarence where a new band called U2 was playing.  The joy lingering from that fun weekend ended abruptly when Bono gave us the shocking news that John Lennon was just assassinated.  

4. Favorite player of all time. Hard to say.  Maybe Tasker or Talley. Favorite now? (revised) Probably 3-way tie between Tre White, Gabe, and Diggs. 

5. Southern Man abbreviation. 

 

Man, it's going to be a long off season

 

 

Edited February 23, 2022 by SoMAn

[26TrapDraw]

1. 1986

2.Cornelius Bennett trade when I already was like OK we could have something here. I was 14 and playing freshman ball.

3.watching Jamie Mueller fullback running a counter Tre at giant stadium for 50 yards before he got caught by the jets defense who bit on the play worse than I’ve ever seen from an nfl defense.

4. Thermal and now Jordan Poyer

5. my screen name means I’m seriously disturbed and should get some help.

[Ned Flanders]

19 hours ago, BillsFan619 said:

1. You've been a fan since: Late 60s.

2. Your first Bills memory: Drafting OJ and him wearing #36 during his first preseason.

3. One Two of your favorite Bills memories: Being at the first regular season game at Rich and being at 51-3.

4. Your favorite player of all time and your favorite player currently: Bob Chandler/Micah Hyde

5. Some of you guys have some awesome forum names. What does your forum name say about you? Just picked it out of my head during the D&C HyperBills daze.

 

[BillsFan619]

1 hour ago, muppy said:

Greetings 🙂

 

I vaguely remember being aware of the rockpile era Bills (cookie Gilchrist, Butch Byrd) but my first game was the first ever Monday night football game in then Rich stadium 1973.

My fav Bills memory was also in a home Monday night game, this time against the Raiders. Ahmad Rashad put on a show right in our batavia party zone and won in so exciting fashion the stadium was Shaking with people going NUTS

Fav Bill dang thats tough.  I will go with #12 Jim Kelly. A guy who played on several super bowl teams and wore a tall fabric Dr Seuss hat on the sidelines, CB and special teams guy out of Oregon Clifford Hicks is a guy who works with a guy I went to high school with and we are friends on Facebook. Super nice guy and NFL chat does happen even these many years later. He's a local here in san diego

 

forum name is based on my irl name and my bestie in high schools names combined. 

nice thread appreciate you :-)-m

Muppy, I thought for sure that Dawson Knox would be in your post somewhere. 😜🤣

[muppy]

3 minutes ago, BillsFan619 said:

Muppy, I thought for sure that Dawson Knox would be in your post somewhere. 😜🤣

I will never EVER live that fangirl crush down will I....lol NOPE 

 

OH DAWSON!~!~!!!!! **swoons***

 

haha-m

[ddaryl]

1.) Early 70's my Dad, Uncle and cousins all had seasons and I got to go to a few games a year.  I started 2BillsDr. on Sept 5th 2001

2.) My earliest Bills memory is being at a Game at Rich stadium and hearing the announcement of congratulations to OJ Simpson for crossing the 2000 yards rushing mark. I believe he did it the week before but this was a home game congratulatory announcement.

3.) My favorite memory was being at the 51-3 shellacking of the Raiders.... 
4.) Squirmin Thurman Thomas... The man was always making plays, always falling forward for that needed yard. Today Josh Allen by a wide margin... The man ooozes Buffalo Bills, and looks damn good doing it
5.) Just my real name with an extra d

Edited February 22, 2022 by ddaryl

[Bob in STL]

1. You've been a fan since

2. Your first Bills memory

3. One of your favorite Bills memories

4. Your favorite player of all time and your favorite player currently

5. Some of you guys have some awesome forum names. What does your forum name say about you?

 

answers:

 

1.  1963-64

2.  Early memories are watching Bills win AFL championships with Dad and Uncles, collecting AFL football cards, building a Bills scrap book mostly from Courier Express and Buffalo Evening News photos.  
3.  Watching OJ get 1000 yards in game 7 at MNF game in the brand new Rich Stadium.  Watching the Bills destroy the Raiders 51-3 in AFCCG.   The Comeback.  
4.  Tom Sestak, Billy Shaw, Jim Kelly, Bruce, Thurman, and Josh Allen 

5.  I loved the AFL teams and players/coaches and that entire era.  

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

IIRC

 

Doc, WEO and I go back to the D&C Forums before this place existed in the 80’s.

 

Prior to that the ESPN Chat boards 

 

talk about the Wild West 

[LewPort71]

Bills fan since 1962.  Dad shared season tickets with co-workers So I attended some games at the Rockpile.

Earliest memory was the '64 championship game in Buffalo.  It was Blacked out, so dad and friend took a 

TV to the NY..Penn border and we watched the game telecast on the Erie PA station using the car battery . 

Favorite memories.  Meeting Jack Kemp at my fiance's college graduation.  He was the commencement speaker

 AND hearing the news that Kevin Everett was going to be OK.  The Ralph was silent when Kevin got hurt in the home opener.

Favorite player?  Too many to list.  We should cherish this time with Josh as he is a once in a lifetime player.

TBD..Joined in 1999 and remember the board crash after the MCM playoff game.

Name. I graduated from Lewiston Porter in 1971, as did my much better half.

 

[NewEra]

I’ve been a Bills fan since:  Hard to say.  Born in 74, I remember Joe Cribbs being a rookie.  

First Bills memory:  @Fredonia training camp, Cribbs’ 2nd season. After practice, Joe was walking from the facility to the dorms with a big mob of autograph seekers mobbing him.  He picked me up, put me on his shoulders was my chauffeur for the walk to his building. 

 

One of my favorite Bills memories:  while memories are in the past, I’m looking to the future for my memory. Watching Josh take over the 4th qtr vs the chiefs just a few weeks ago was the happiest I’ve been as a Bills fan.  Ever.  Knowing that this is the guy that will control our football fate gave me an unbelievable feeling of security and promise.  We’ll get ours.  Just stay alive long enough to witness it. 

 

My all time favorite player:   My first fav was Joe Cribbs.  Transitioned to Bruce.  From Bruce to Fred.  From Fred to Josh  Tough to gauge who wears the crown but I have a feeling it’ll be our QB.

 

My current favorite player: 17.  55 and 21 are my guys on D.  

 

[blacklabel]

I was a wee lad in the late 80s right when the Bills started getting good. I can remember Ronnie Harmon dropping a game winning (or tying, I can’t recall for sure) TD pass in the divisional round against the Browns. I also think that was the game where Don Beebe got dropped on his head. Those are definitely some of my earliest Bills memories.

But back in those days I picked a favorite team based on uniform colors lol. One year it was the Bengals because I dug the orange and black but then Joe Montana and John Taylor made me sad on Super Bowl Sunday. The next year I picked the Raiders because well, silver and black. And then Jim Kelly and the Bills decimated them in the AFC Championship game and I got tired of the family teasing me so at halftime of that game I took off my Raiders shirt and said OK, I’m a Bills fan now, and have been ever since. 
 

I’m sure I have plenty of favorite moments over the years but right now my favorite thing is just the progression of Josh Allen. After watching this team struggle to adequately fill the QB spot for 20 some years I can’t even describe how awesome it is that they’ve finally found their guy. I know coming out of Wyoming there were questions and concerns but during his rookie season you could just see there was something about the kid. I kept coming back to the term “gamer” and the sense that if this kid is always gonna give you a chance to win. And just his ability and skills are nearly unrivaled right now. His arm is ridiculous, he can kill you with his running ability, he’s nearly unstoppable when the play breaks down and he starts creating on his own, he’s improved every single year and the craziest part is he maybe hasn’t quite reached his ceiling yet. So yeah, seeing him come along and turn into the All Pro he is has been my favorite thing. 
 

 My favorite player from the past has always been Jimbo. I’ve still got a handful of signed cards from him when my dad would take my brother and I to camp when it was still in Fredonia. I also loved Thurm and Bruce. Over the years some other favorites have been Fitz, Stevie, Lee Evans, Fred Jackson, Kyle Williams. I really loved the Sammy Watkins pick, really thought that dude was gonna be a star. Wrong on that one haha. I thought Karlos “Pudge” Williams was gonna be a good one too. And I wanted so badly for JP Losman to become the guy but meh, stuff happens. 
 

Right now I could list the whole team as my favorites. They just seem like a really tight knit group and you just wanna root for them. Obviously love 17 but also 13, 14, 21, 23, 24, 26, 27, 49, 50, 55, 58, 60, 71, 73, 88, 91, 99.
 

As for TBD, I wasn’t real active on it until the Bills website shut down their forums in lieu of their social media. I’d been poking around in the old Bills forums since like 2002. It was a bummer they shut it down. But TBD has become a great alternative. It was pretty flippin’ rough following the divisional round loss this year, yeesh. But it’s been better over the last week or two as we now have free agency and the draft to blabber about. 
 

Go Bills!

Edited February 22, 2022 by blacklabel

[34-78-83]

1. You've been a fan since 

1978. My first game was Bears at Bills (7-0 Bears) and Walter Payton was my favorite player at the time.

 

2. Your first Bills memory

I recall seeing OJ run on TV in like '77 or '78.

 

3. One of your favorite Bills memories

There have been so many... but 51-3, the Comeback, The beat down of the Patriots this year in the playoffs. Was at all of them!

 

4. Your favorite player of all time and your favorite player currently

Favorite Bills player is probably Bruce Smith but Josh Allen is right there too!. Thurman and Andre honorable mention.

 

5. Some of you guys have some awesome forum names. What does your forum name say about you?

Mine is joked about as someone's measurements, lol! But its just my 3 favorite guys from the super bowl Bills 90's era. It says about me that I had no better idea at the time

 

[SoMAn]

17 hours ago, CorkScrewHill said:

Public service announcement which maybe a little over the top but i would hate to see anyone (well except for a few  ) get taken advantage of. I hope in your answers you are not using those things as passwords on other accounts. As an IT guy I can say that people will use things like there favorite player and number or the like as passwords. People can search through chats like this and then try to hack accounts .. sounds silly probably to some of you .. but this stuff happens. If you do .. might be time for a change.

Good advice. I wouldn't be stupid enough to use screen name. All my passwords are Password123

[SlimShady'sSpaceForce]

8 minutes ago, SoMAn said:

Good advice. I wouldn't be stupid enough to use screen name. All my passwords are Password123

Lol.
 

I’ve had accounts so long where the Password is still only 3 letters 

 

[Ga boy]

1. 1985.  I became a Bills fan primarily because of the Smerlas and Haslet Monday night radio show that I listened to while going to UB grad school.  Oh man, they were hilarious.

2.  Monday night game with Marino killing us.  Fights all around me in upper deck.

3.  Crowd yelling "Elway" for Biscuit's first home game.  We had seats about 20 rows up on the 40 yard line.  

4.  Reed/Knox

5.  Where I'm from yall.  BTW, much easier wearing Bills gear in Georgia these days.

 

 

[BBills88]

1988- Bills vs Dolphins 

Snuck downstairs to watch the game. Was a fan every since. I lived in Philly so it was tough to watch Bills games that were not on CBS, NBC or Monday night at the time. But I read the Monday paper to see if the Bills won or not. 

 

Came here when the other message board closed down. Some years back.

[Bad Things]

• I've been a Bills fan since the mid/late 80's, when the pieces started coming together.
• My first Bills memory?  No clue, but it was probably something with OJ.
• Favourite Bills memory was when we broke the drought.  Simply amazing.
• Bruce Smith has always been my favourite player, until Josh Allen rolled into town.  He quickly became my favourite NFL player of all time.
• I joined this forum way back in the mid/late 90's when it was part of the local Rochester newspaper website.  One of the originals!

[SoCal Deek]

19 hours ago, BillsFan619 said:

Awesome, bro. Where in SoCal?

The Inland Empire

[H2o]

1. You've been a fan since

During the 1989 season I was 12/13 years old. I kind of liked the Raiders up until that point because my first football memory in general was watching the Raiders beat the Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII. I remember watching Marcus Allen run through their defense on his way to MVP. I also kind of liked the Eagles somewhat because of Randall Cunningham, Reggie White, Jerome Brown, Chris Carter, and Keith Jackson. Randall Cunningham was probably my favorite player at the time. In '89 I saw a couple of the Bills games on TV and was really into the uniforms. I also started to like some of the players such as Jim Kelly, Andre Reed, Bruce Smith, and Thurman Thomas from seeing them in the highlights on NFL Primetime. I truly became a fan on January 6, 1990 watching the Playoff game against Cleveland which coincides with #2 on this list. 

 

2. Your first Bills memory 

My first actual Bills memory is of the January 6, 1990 Playoff game against Cleveland. I could just feel it watching the Bills on the field that this was the team that I would claim as my own. I had never rooted for a single team like that before, I always just liked individual players really. That day is when I became a fan. I remember the excitement of watching Thurman and Kelly lead the charge, getting us into position to win with 14 seconds left. I remember raising my arms when Kelly threw that ball to Harmon in the corner of the endzone because there was no one around him. I remember falling face first on my bed when he dropped it. The very next play Clay Matthews makes the INT. Even still, I knew I was a Bills fan from that point on. This is where I actually became a fan. 

 

3. One of your favorite Bills memories

Anyone who watched the game against Houston in the Playoffs, the greatest comeback of all time, can pick that one. I watched the entire game and it was still one of the coolest things I ever watched. To me though, seeing all of our guys huddled up in the locker room watching the Ravens vs the Bengals with our Playoff hopes on the line was probably my favorite. Seeing all of the reactions in the locker room at the end (especially Kyle), all of the reactions across social media from Bills fans everywhere, and knowing what my own reaction was watching it live at the house was awesome. Just knowing the drought was over, FINALLY, and we were going back to the Playoffs again for the first time in 17 years was something special. 

 

4. Your favorite player of all time and your favorite player currently

Without a doubt, favorite of all time is Bruce Smith. Currently, and possibly may supplant Bruce on that list someday, is JA17. 

 

5. Some of you guys have some awesome forum names. What does your forum name say about you?

Stumbled across this board in January of 2006. At the time I found the board had been working on some things, music wise, and a friend of mine started calling me H2o. It just kind of stuck so I used it as my member name. 

 

 

 

[DD4Bills]

1. You've been a fan since - 1970 when I moved to the Buffalo area as a young 6 year old

2. Your first Bills memory - First Bills game in person. 1972 vs the 49ers at the Rockpile. I recall having endzone seats, that it was raining, and that the Bills won

3. One of your favorite Bills memories - Two, actually. The Comeback Game - I actually missed the first half for some BS family lunch nonsense, was driving home listening on the radio when the Oilers scored on the pick 6 early in the 3rd quarter, then got home and turned on the TV to watch to comeback. Second was this season - first game seeing them live in Orchard Park since 1974 (the year before we moved away), and enjoyed it with my daughter.

4. Your favorite player of all time and your favorite player currently - All time - Andre Reed, Current - Josh Allen (ask me again in a few years and he may be my all time favorite too)

5. Some of you guys have some awesome forum names. What does your forum name say about you? - My forum name is an unimaginative bore, chosen in a hurry when creating my login. So I guess it says that I too am an unimaginative bore.