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

[Turk71]

Hard to say when I became a fan, I was born into it. Being the 6th kid and 4th boy the football games were a big deal every Sunday. My dad, my brothers, my grandma and grandpa from both sides and my uncle and cousins who lived a block away would gather in our finished basement in South Buffalo and it would get loud.

I can't say what my first Bills memory was but I remember meeting Elbert Dubenion and Ernie Warlick with my uncle when I was 3 or 4.

I saw my first game in '71 at the Rockpile (hence the 'Turk 71' handle), it was the only game they won that season. ☺

 

[Buffalo Barbarian]

1. 1979

2. Joe cribs getting pushed backwards by two defenders

3. Josh Allen scoring the winning touchdown against KC with 13 seconds to go

4. Mike Alstott/ Josh Allen

5. If i owned the Bills they would be called the Buffalo Barbarians

 

[Helpmenow]

65

[BillsFan619]

Keep them coming, Bills Mafia!

 

These have been awesome to read. Thank you to everyone who has participated so far.

[Simstim]

1. 1991. Preseason game against the Eagles in London - called the American Bowl over here. Watched the game and decided to support the Bills thereafter. I'd been playing as a youthf for a while, watched the sadly very defunct World League of American Football (that became NFL Europe) going to all the London Monarchs home games. Ah the heady days of Stan Gelbaugh and Dedrick Dodge. Anyway, though I watched NFL games, I didn't really have a team to root for, or a reason to pick one. So I picked the Bills as they had come over here and won the game. I was pleased to support a team so obviously on the up and up, thus looking forward to inevitably supporting a Super Bowl winning team.

 

That went well.

 

2. You'd think it would be the above match, but oddly I remember very little of it. IIRC it was mainly backups playing and I think Reich started. The no punt game was amazing and I recall moments from it. Kelly was a bit good that day.

 

3. The Comeback. Watched it in my bedroom. Cried after. Amazing.

    Special mention to something I imagine no one else remembers or probably even saw, and it's such a small thing. During Superbowl XXVI an English presenter was on the sidelines - Gary Imlach - who was about my height - 5'7" - and he got shouldered out of the way by an irritated Biscuit. The size difference was immense and Imlach just avoided being planted on his backside. I still giggle remembering it. Loved Biscuit and always thought he was underrated by the football cognoscente at the time.

 

4. I always had a special affinity with Beebe. I played WR in JR football here in the UK - a team called the London Olympian Jrs - and as previously mentioned I am a       short bloke and was the third WR on my team.

  But my favourite was Andre. Him and Lofton together were a thing of beauty. But Reed's connection with Kelly was at times telepathic. Or so it felt at the time.

  Now, it's kinda hard to say anyone but Allen. He is amazing. In so many ways, not least how he has learned and improved every year.

  Special mention to Diggs though. I'm seriously impressed with him, and well, he's a wideout. Most important position on the team. Obviously.

 

5. Simstim is a reference to Neuromancer by William Gibson, father of cyberfiction. Not much of a relevant reference. I would have called myself SimSpurs to represent both teams I love. But due to the San Antonio Spurs, the reference would be wrong over here, and I have at best a passing interest in basketball. So I went with an old faithful of mine. This might also have put me at odds with Gunnerbill on here, and quite frankly I respect the guy too much for that. One of the best on here and knows far more than me about the game, even though I have been watching for more years. Not sure how long I have been on here. Originally I couldn't sign up with a British IP and lurked for a while just to see what true/ match going Bills fans were all about and what they thought about things, till eventually I could join in.

 

 

[BillsFan619]

2 hours ago, Simstim said:

1. 1991. Preseason game against the Eagles in London - called the American Bowl over here. Watched the game and decided to support the Bills thereafter. I'd been playing as a youthf for a while, watched the sadly very defunct World League of American Football (that became NFL Europe) going to all the London Monarchs home games. Ah the heady days of Stan Gelbaugh and Dedrick Dodge. Anyway, though I watched NFL games, I didn't really have a team to root for, or a reason to pick one. So I picked the Bills as they had come over here and won the game. I was pleased to support a team so obviously on the up and up, thus looking forward to inevitably supporting a Super Bowl winning team.

 

That went well.

 

2. You'd think it would be the above match, but oddly I remember very little of it. IIRC it was mainly backups playing and I think Reich started. The no punt game was amazing and I recall moments from it. Kelly was a bit good that day.

 

3. The Comeback. Watched it in my bedroom. Cried after. Amazing.

    Special mention to something I imagine no one else remembers or probably even saw, and it's such a small thing. During Superbowl XXVI an English presenter was on the sidelines - Gary Imlach - who was about my height - 5'7" - and he got shouldered out of the way by an irritated Biscuit. The size difference was immense and Imlach just avoided being planted on his backside. I still giggle remembering it. Loved Biscuit and always thought he was underrated by the football cognoscente at the time.

 

4. I always had a special affinity with Beebe. I played WR in JR football here in the UK - a team called the London Olympian Jrs - and as previously mentioned I am a       short bloke and was the third WR on my team.

  But my favourite was Andre. Him and Lofton together were a thing of beauty. But Reed's connection with Kelly was at times telepathic. Or so it felt at the time.

  Now, it's kinda hard to say anyone but Allen. He is amazing. In so many ways, not least how he has learned and improved every year.

  Special mention to Diggs though. I'm seriously impressed with him, and well, he's a wideout. Most important position on the team. Obviously.

 

5. Simstim is a reference to Neuromancer by William Gibson, father of cyberfiction. Not much of a relevant reference. I would have called myself SimSpurs to represent both teams I love. But due to the San Antonio Spurs, the reference would be wrong over here, and I have at best a passing interest in basketball. So I went with an old faithful of mine. This might also have put me at odds with Gunnerbill on here, and quite frankly I respect the guy too much for that. One of the best on here and knows far more than me about the game, even though I have been watching for more years. Not sure how long I have been on here. Originally I couldn't sign up with a British IP and lurked for a while just to see what true/ match going Bills fans were all about and what they thought about things, till eventually I could join in.

 

 

Thanks for sharing, bro.

 

This is why this thread has been really cool to read. I never knew about the Biscuit situation. I'm sure they were all frustrated realizing they were in the process of losing their second straight SB. If I'm not mistaken, the Bills were down 24-0 before they even scored. Hopefully others have been able to read things that they didn't know either up until they read it on this thread.

 

@GunnerBill is one of the young ones on here. 😂 Although, we do have another drought fan in this thread as well that rivals his youthfulness in @Strethor.

[Man with No Name]

1.  1990

2.  Ronnie Harmon game. Was 7 years old, with my dad and brother at the mckinley park racquetball club bar. everybody was going apeshit. I didn't really know what was going on. 

3. favorite moment was probably when we went up on the chiefs with 13 to go this year. probably the most excited ive been. The comeback was pretty sweet too. 

4.  bruce, josh

5.  couldn't think of a cool name, so I landed on no name!

[Sweet Lou]

Fan since 1974

 

My best memory:

I was at the Bills / Oilers greatest come back game and instead of getting a t-shirt, I got Laryngitis.     (Go figure)

 

5 days later, I was still in bad shape, but I thought I was good enough to meet up with a beautiful young woman that I was trying to court.  She caught a terrible cold just from being to close to me while we talked.  She wasn’t happy.

25 years later I got another chance to talk to her and I didn’t waste the opportunity.

We got married in December of 2018.

[BillsFan619]

12 hours ago, Sweet Lou said:

Fan since 1974

 

My best memory:

I was at the Bills / Oilers greatest come back game and instead of getting a t-shirt, I got Laryngitis.     (Go figure)

 

5 days later, I was still in bad shape, but I thought I was good enough to meet up with a beautiful young woman that I was trying to court.  She caught a terrible cold just from being to close to me while we talked.  She wasn’t happy.

25 years later I got another chance to talk to her and I didn’t waste the opportunity.

We got married in December of 2018.

Congratulations, bro!

 

Awesome story, thanks for sharing.

[The BLUES Brothers]

Late to the memory Party...

 

1. You've been a fan since.

     My Dad was a fan back in the 70s. My football card collection was sorted by teams and Buffalo players were always the most coveted.

2. Your first Bills memory.

     Watching  Simpson break the 2,000 yard mark on a small TV at my grandparents house.

3. One of your favorite Bills memories.

     Being at the Comeback game,  being at 51-3 game - lost my voice in first half, and watching Taron Johnson run back the playoff TD interception with my family all screaming with elation!

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

     Past: Darryl Talley (because I met him a couple times including about at a Florida golf course bar where we talked for about an hour. Present: Josh Allen.

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

     The Blues Brothers was one of my favorite movies and saw them in a 4 hour concert in Colorado's Red Rocks arena. The Bill's Blue color and the brotherhood of the passionate fan base makes me feel like we are Blues Brothers.

 

Go Bills!

[BillsFan619]

On 2/27/2022 at 7:50 AM, The BLUES Brothers said:

Late to the memory Party...

 

1. You've been a fan since.

     My Dad was a fan back in the 70s. My football card collection was sorted by teams and Buffalo players were always the most coveted.

2. Your first Bills memory.

     Watching  Simpson break the 2,000 yard mark on a small TV at my grandparents house.

3. One of your favorite Bills memories.

     Being at the Comeback game,  being at 51-3 game - lost my voice in first half, and watching Taron Johnson run back the playoff TD interception with my family all screaming with elation!

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

     Past: Darryl Talley (because I met him a couple times including about at a Florida golf course bar where we talked for about an hour. Present: Josh Allen.

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

     The Blues Brothers was one of my favorite movies and saw them in a 4 hour concert in Colorado's Red Rocks arena. The Bill's Blue color and the brotherhood of the passionate fan base makes me feel like we are Blues Brothers.

 

Go Bills!

Cool experience about Darryl Talley. Thanks for sharing.

 

I had a cool experience meeting Jim Kelly. My buddy got me free suite tickets for the Falcons Bills game in Toronto. At some point during the game in walks JK. I believe I’m the only one wearing his jersey so he ends up sitting next to me for a little bit. He signed my jersey and I got a picture with him.

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

1.  I grew up in the NYC area and was actually a Jet's and to a lesser degree Giants fan.  Moved to western NY in late 70's, still followed the Jets for a couple of seasons, then started more following Bills in early 80's and have followed since.  It was much tougher following a team from a distance back then as no internet or Sunday Ticket to watch games, so made it easier to switch to the Bills. Recall use to buy the Daily News on Sundays just to keep up a little bit.  Now live in North Carolina, but still follow and root for Bills as now much easier to follow for reasons stated above, plus this site.

 

2. Recall the Bills playing the Jets in playoffs in 81.  Also recall that song think was done to the tune of 12 Days of Christmas, ....MikerMayer kicking, Frank Lewis catching!.....   First football game I ever went to actually was Bills at Jets back around 1966 or so.

 

3 Probably the Oilers comeback game.  Was blacked out on local TV so watched in a bar called Marshalls in Rochester area.  Just like the stadium the bar cleared out quite a bit in 2nd half too.  Was giving them one more possession and I was going to leave too, but in the end didn't need to.

 

4.  Thomas, Allen

 

5. Use to live in Rochester area

 

 

One thing this site has done for me, and not saying it's a good or bad thing, but just that it has changed me.  There's only a certain number of hours in your day/week/month you can devote to sports in general once you get done with other things like eating, sleeping, working, family, etc. 

 

I think this site has caused me to drastically reduce the amount of time I spend following other sports.  Use to watch a ton of college basketball, now hardly watch any.  SU becoming close to unwatchable hasn't helped much there either.  Don't watch as much baseball either or hockey.  Living in Carolina has helped reduce the hockey exposure too. 

 

On the other hand probably come to this forum close to 365 days a year to see what the latest is and there's always some new story or rumor or something.  My wife will often ask, why are you on TBD, the season is over!