Did the Bills Super Bowl run in the 1990's really influence your love of the Bills?

[Another Fan]

Yes.  First NFL game I recall was Super Bowl 25.  So the Bills have been in my DNA since love it or curse it.  

 

My teenage years to early 20s though I didn't really pay attention too much.  Probably would have if the team was stronger but that was the Bledsoe/Loesman/Van Pelt days.  A combination of what I was going through at the time as well.  

 

I think once I started working full time I got into Buffalo again.  2007ish.  

[filthymcnasty08]

Born in Buff, raised in NJ

Lifelong season ticket holder of Giants 

Lifelong fan of the Bills

 

The Giants had the magical year in 86 which elevated them as they were a disaster organization prior.

 

In 90, my dream/nightmare came true, my two teams in the SB.  At first, I felt like I couldn't lose.  I watched the game with family in Buffalo. 

 

When the dust settled, wide right happened, and I was immersed in the total heartbreak of the entire city, it changed me forever.

 

Anyone who is a parent of multiple kids know, you often have one kid that you know will be ok no matter what and you have another that you know might struggle more.  That is the kid you secretly pull for.

 

The Giants always had a waiting list for season tix, they went to 3 more SB's and won 2 (FU Brady).  When they achieve...it's cool.

 

The Bills were always a constant threat to get relocated and were always the small market and had a tougher time getting talent to stay.  When they achieve....it's f-cking bananatown for me.

 

Since that moment in 90, I have lived and died with the ups and downs and the heartbreak of having deep emotional ties with this team. 

 

When the Bills have success, it means more to me than anything else in sports...and most things in life.

[AlfaBill]

So as a non buffalonian, yes the success of the team did make me a fan. My older cousin who was like an older brother to me was a giant fan as his family was originally from the Bronx. We always had a rivalry so when the bills met the gmen in 25, I naturally rooted the bills. Plus I loved the helmet and colours. Been a fan since. 

[GreggTX]

No. My favorite Bills teams were the back to back AFL Champions anyway. Nothing I've seen since has swayed me from that position.

[CNY315]

Not at all. I became a fan the year of the Music City Forward Pass. The Bills being a legit Super Bowl contender is a brand new experience for me

[Behindenemylines]

Have been a fan of the Bills since the late 70’s, when I was old enough to get what sports were about.  I remember the local rags would have a Bills season Schedule showing which High School teams they would be playing and how much they would lose by!   Then the Super Bowl teams and all the excitement. So much fun to “welcome people on the bandwagon” especially as we had just moved to central NY where it was mainly Giants fans.  
 

all through the drought years it became a badge of honor to be a Bills fan even as we moved to CT, Mass, Long Island, Westchester then back to Mass where we are now.  
 

it’s been a wild ride and wouldn’t have changed it for all of Brady’s Rings.  We get our First of several this year, and every fan has earned it!

 

Go Bills!

[Moulds_80]

Born in 89, raised in Rochester to non-sports parents so I didnt get into the bills til the late 90's.  I say it all the time, I dont know what I would do to if I had to endure the super bowl years as an adult...im too invested.     

 

So short answer no,  I missed it by about 5 years.

[WyoAZBillfan]

The team, those guys playing together. Bickering Bills, whatever they were amazing to watch! What a collection of souls. Losing hurt but I wouldn’t trade those teams for anything. I see similarities with the team now and smile each and every time they take the field. This time it’s for real and championships will come! Go Bills!

[Wacka]

Time to repeat this again.  Been a fan since the 1964  AFL Championship game (6 years old). My uncle worked at Chevy  and they made the big bucks (relatively speaking) then.  He bought a color TV  and invited everyone over to watch the  AFL Championship. Had seen color TVs  in the department stores, but that was the first time I had seen one in someones house. That's the first game I remember.

[atlbillsfan1975]

I became a Bills fan, like maybe some of you, because it was quality time I spent with my dad, uncle, and cousin. My grandfather worked for the Bills, so as far back as I can recall I was privileged enough to spend time in the locker room and on the field around the players and coaches. Being 46, the Super Bowl teams happened right around my high school years and definitely galvanized my fandom. I have already began teaching my young son about the Bills. He is 2.5 years old and can recognize a Bills logo and he loves to say “D-Knox!” Followed by a fist bump. 

Edited April 1, 2022 by atlbillsfan1975

[Beerball]

On 3/31/2022 at 7:35 PM, Royale with Cheese said:

They don’t even know who Al Bundy is.

[smuvtalker]

On 3/30/2022 at 8:07 AM, Royale with Cheese said:

I think this question is probably best suited for the those in the mid 30's to late 40's age group but certainly anyone can answer.

 

I grew up in the 80's and started really understanding and loving football right as the Bills started their Super Bowl run.  First memories of watching the Bills was Harmon's drop and then Kelly's pick to Clay Matthews.  My friend tells me if the Bills weren't that good, I probably would have followed another team.  Them being so good attached me to them because kids like to cheer for good teams.  

I disagreed.  My whole family is from Buffalo and football was just our household.  I'm positive that I would have been just as diehard if they were bad....like if my childhood was the Mularkey/Williams/Jauron years instead of Levy. 

 

If the Bills had nothing in their history like the Browns and Lions....would your fandom be as strong?  Without those great 90's teams...would your interest be less today?

What was your interest level during the drought?

Holy crap our first memories are identical.  My first real memories of the Bills, at least concrete enough to accurately name players, were also of that playoff game vs the Browns.  In all honesty, I began taking an interest and watching the Bills in 1980, at the age of 6, seeing Joe Ferguson handing it off to Joe Cribbs, tossing passes to Jerry Butler, and seeing big Freddy Smerlas on the d line.  But I specifically remember that playoff game in 1989.  I was 15 years old, and my dad and I had gone to our old house to paint it and get it ready to sell.  So it was just he and I in there, and we had brought a tv with us to watch the game while we painted.  I remember Harmon dropping that pass in the end zone and Kelly throwing a pick a few plays later to seal the defeat.  I remember that was the first time I was actually hurt we lost.  

 

However, the four year super bowl run most definitely strengthened my love of the Bills.  The first super bowl, after the loss I don't think I spoke to anyone for like two weeks.  The 2nd year in the loss to the Redskins, I remember being pissed and frustrated.  The 3rd year, during the colossal beatdown we suffered by the Cowboys, I was 18 years old, and was serving over in Korea.  The beatdown was so bad, I remember going to get a haircut at halftime.  And the last year, I really thought we were going to pull it off.  We were up at halftime.  But that 2nd half, after that Cowboy TD drive where Emmitt Smith basically ran the whole drive himself, scored the TD and ripped his helmet off, I had a sick feeling the Cowboys were about to take over, and they did.  I remember just being kinda numb to the whole thing.  

[Buffalo Barbarian]

No , became a fan as soon as i knew we had a team back in 79

 

 

[Doc Brown]

On 3/30/2022 at 9:47 AM, Rc2catch said:

I actually disliked the Super Bowl Bills teams. I wasn’t a Kelly or Reed fan. I liked the defense but I wasn’t really a bills fan. I cheered for Atlanta back then as a kid. Loved Andre Rison and Jamal Anderson with the dirty bird. I joined the buffalo fan base after. Lol I’m dumb enough to become a fan after everyone jumped off the bandwagon. So this is all really new for me as a fan actually winning divisions and being a favorite. 

What exactly drew you to the Bills?

[BRH]

I became a fan with the Chuck Knox teams, although my first Bills memory is watching OJ relatively late in his career. The 80-81 teams were so much fun to root for.  
 

A lot of people my age, like me, truly solidified their fandom when they went away to college (in my case New Jersey, but at a school with people from all over the country) and had to take ***** about their hometown and team from arrogant/ignorant fans in other areas of the country.  The SB years for me began in the middle of that and made it that much more intense.  

Edited April 3, 2022 by BRH