Chance encounters with current/former Bill players. Did it change your opinion of them?

[JohnNord]

39 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

What fun is that?  We need details.

 

 

Why details when it’s more fun to be extremely vague?!?!?!?!?!?

[somnus00]

1 hour ago, NewEra said:

Yes.  I used to run the front door @ the Ghostbar at The Palms in LV.  Our boy JP came into the club a few times.  Nicest guy ever.  Well, maybe not ever, but he seemed genuine and always offered me tickets to games, in which I never took advantage of.  I’d go up and have a beer with him and Mike Gandy-  both drank Bud Light.  No wonder they sucked.  Both nice guys and made it hard for me to hate JPs play on the field.  
 

Working @ the Wynn Cabanas, Donte Whitner came in with his friends.  Smoking blunts and smuggling in bottles of Hennessy. Meanwhile, in the cabana next to him, Larry Fitzgerald and his friends.  Sipping on watermelon juice eating fruit.  Donte was a prick.  Didn’t surprise me.
 

Eric Wood and Andy Levitre came to the Wynn pool every offseason.  Both great guys.  Didn’t change my opinion of them.  
 

Nate Clements had a cabana with us the year after he joined the Niners- he and his wife and baby were both super nice. 
 

I seem to remember reading a lot of stories about JP being a good dude and really wanting to embrace the city of Buffalo.

[JohnNord]

29 minutes ago, Shake_My_Head said:

I once saw Bruce Smith in our local Tops during his peak years.    I've never seen another person quite like him. 

 

His build made me think of a praying mantis--huge upper body, tiny little waist and great big thighs.    It was pretty cool.

I waited for Bruce’s autograph at the mall - probably back in 1992.  The line spanned the entire length of the mall - from one end to another.  It was incredible.  
 

Unfortunately, Bruce was hired to sign from like 6-8 PM or something and it was going to be impossible to accommodate everyone.  At one point probably right at 8:00, Bruce simply got up and walked away with his entourage.
 

But unlike the parents who took to Twitter complaining about autographs at Training camp, we weren’t that disappointed and thought it was cool we got a chance to see Bruce up close as he walked away

Edited October 6, 2022 by JohnNord

[gonzo1105]

I mean I had an interaction with Marv at the old Fredonia Training camps back in the day where a thin piece of rope separated fans and the players. My brother and I were inside the rope and asked Marv for the autograph. He gave it to us but also lectured us that we shouldn't be in this area. I mean this area was empty there was really no one else around. 

 

My only other real interaction with a football player was when I was young as well. I met Walter Payton. I mean I was like 6 but it was at the Canton Hall of Fame and he came up and talked with my grandparents and shook my hand and told me it was a pleasure to meet me. Obviously being a young kid he took the time, but to talk to my grandparents as well and smiling ear to ear the whole time. I can understand why the NFL named their man of the year after him. Its a shame a guy like that was taken way too soon. 

Edited October 6, 2022 by gonzo1105

[Toledo Bill]

Aging myself, met Harry Jacobs at a church event in the 60’s. Hell of a nice guy. Stuck with me all these years that he talked about how all the Bills worked second jobs. Boy, have times changed.

[JohnNord]

8 minutes ago, Shake_My_Head said:

My brother's the Forest Gump of our family.    He's met dozens and dozens of former Bills over the years, just by happenstance.   He's actually become friends with a number of them, including Thurman, Tally, Christie, Metzelaars and probably half a dozen others I can't think of right now.   

 

He retired from Disneyworld a few years ago.  One of his best stories was of Terrence McGee, who he was getting in the park for free.   

 

In those days, you had to pay for parking and then get free admission with the employee pass.    My brother drove through the parking gate ahead of McGee, who just stopped at the booth and didn't move.    My brother went back to see what was wrong.    Turns out McGee didn't have enough money to pay for parking--apparently his agent only gave him a small monthly "allowance" and he'd burned through it all (even before entering the park!).   It always brought home the reality that some of these guys really needed help with managing life off the field.

Even back in McGee’s playing days, I’d be curious to see how much he considers “a small monthly allowance” 😂

[mrags]

Brian Moorman

Jim Kelly

Andre Reed

 

all absolute @$$holes. I wouldn’t piss on them if they were on fire. 

[TheFunPolice]

We ran into Losman once at the art gallery on one of the free Friday night events they did (maybe they still do, not sure). 

 

He actually held the door for us going in and we saw him inside later and chatted for a few minutes about the art, never mentioned football. Mostly we didn't want to bother him but he started the conversation by mentioning something about the exhibit we were all looking at. 

 

He was a super nice guy and seemed very intelligent too. I knew a few people who were friends with him and all said he was a really cool dude. 

 

 

 

 

[JohnNord]

9 minutes ago, Joe in Winslow said:

 

Arrogance.

 

What made him come off as arrogant?  Did he deny you an autograph?

[LabattBlue]

I wonder if anyone wants to share recent starstruck encounters with OJ? 😈

Edited October 6, 2022 by LabattBlue

[BillsFanNC]

Grew up in Hamburg/OP area so I had numerous encounters with 80's/90's era Bills.  Even as a kid I never did anything more than maybe say something to them in passing, never asked for autographs.  A few off the top of my head...

 

A friend of mine growing up in Hamburg had a rental house next door that Bills fringe players would often rent.  One tenant was Ulysses Norris a TE I'm guessing sometime in the mid 80's.  He'd toss the football with us every once in awhile.

 

Will Grant 1987.  I was playing a round of golf at the old Hamburg public course with my dad.  Those who remember the layout when it was only 9 holes, it was easy to finish on 9 and then walk over to the 7th tee and play 7-9 again.  So my dad and I are on the 7th tee and two guys walk over from the 9th and ask if they can play with us.  One of them was Will Grant.  When we got back up the fairway on 9 he said that he had to play ahead and get going.  So he's on the green with me about 100 yards out and he motions for me to hit on.  I stuck a shot about 5 feet from the pin.  He yells great shot kid and walks to the parking lot.  A few days later I hear on the news he got busted for weed and the Bills cut him.  I still wonder if he was in a hurry from the course to meet his dealer.

 

Many encounters with Jim Kelly.  Two were at church.  Once he was making a beeline to his car after mass on Sunday since the Bills were playing on Monday night the next day.  My dad said good luck tomorrow Jim and as he passed us he just said thank you sir.  Another time I turned around in my pew to offer the sign of peace and there is Jim Kelly with his hand stretched out.  Peace be with you Jim!  When I lived in OP I was heading into work downtown for a shift that began at 10 am.  So I'm driving down a deserted California road and I see in my rearview a SUV coming up like gangbusters behind me.  As he swerved around me to pass I looked and it's Jim Kelly in his Bronco.  Doing 80-90 mph easily.

 

I encountered Bruce a few times.  My favorite was walking out of the Tops on McKinley and there's Bruce walking out just behind me in his muscle shirt with arms as thick as my thighs, carrying nothing but two cases of Genny pounders.  If only there were smart phones then that would have been a great picture.

 

I'd often see Phil Hansen at the Hamburg public library with financial periodicals spread out on the table in front of him.  Never bothered him.

 

Met Tasker the night of the 95 playoff loss to the Steelers in Jim Kelly's old club downtown. He must have went there straight off the plane. Just congratulated him on the season and he said thanks.  Biscuit was there as well and he just stood like a statue out in the open with multiple people coming up to him and he pretended like they weren't even there.  Weird.

 

Met Jim Ritcher at a Canes-Sabres game in Raleigh a few years ago.  We shot the ***** about the 90's Bills for most of the intermission. Really nice guy. I'm 6'1" 210 and he looked smaller than me.  

 

About 10-12 years ago my friends and I walked into the Buffalo airport the Monday after the home opener and as I look to my left just inside the door and there's Marv standing there alone with a bunch of suitcases.  As we walk by I say hey Marv.  Marv looks over, smiles and enthusiastically says "How ya doing fellas!"  Great stuff.

 

[damj]

The T.O. season, we were at the 6-3 Browns game where Derek Anderson completed 2 of 17 passes for 23 yards ... and won.

 

We left in the 3rd quarter and Jim Kelly was on the aisle a few rows behind me. We looked each other ... didn't say anything ... just the looks on our faces spoke volumes.

 

Another time, we had a football watching party for the EJ Manual London game and Ken Jones was there. Nice guy.

Edited October 6, 2022 by damj

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

4 minutes ago, JohnNord said:

What made him come off as arrogant?  Did he deny you an autograph?

 

No, nothing like that. Have you ever been around a person who behaved like he was better than everyone around him

 

[BigAl2526]

I had dinner with Steve Tasker at a church conference once.  He's smart and congenial.  I enjoyed it tremendously.

[HereComesTheReignAgain]

I once ran into a guy that I was pretty sure played for the Bills but I couldn't quite place him.  I asked him if he was a Buffalo Bill and he simply stated "I’m Ko Simpson with the Buffalo Bills. I am worth millions!” over and over again.

Edited October 6, 2022 by HereComesTheReignAgain

[Your Brown Eye]

I saw CJ Spiller at Cheesecake Factory after a practice eating at the bar, I was at a table next to him. A few (2 or 3) Pittsford floozies were up in his business and he was looking annoyed, they me asked if that was a football player, I shook my head no out of respect for his privacy and they walked away. I went up to him to shake his hand and wish him well on the upcoming season and he rejected the handshake as I stood there with my hand out to shake his. He just said thanks and turned around. So I went back to my table, paid for my meal, found those floozies, told them he was CJ Spiller the starting RB for the Bills, and they ran back up to him at the bar and I walked out. Suck it, Spiller.

[transient]

Used to live down the street from Joe Devlin growing up. He coached my then girlfriend's brother's tee ball team. He couldn't have been a more unlikeable person if he tried. He used to intimidate umpires and parents and was generally an insufferable jerk. He coached a childhood baseball team like a psychopathic meathead.

 

Used to work at a country club that Pete Metzelaars was a member at. He had to duck to miss a support beam walking in the front entrance to the restaurant. He played a fair bit of golf in the offseason. Seemed like a nice guy, but I didn't talk to him a ton. If it wasn't for the fact he was 6'8" with bright red hair you'd never know he was there. He was was very quiet and unassuming.

 

I ran into Antowain Smith at a mall once. I remember being surprised at how big he was in person for a running back.

 

I used to run into Sabres players all the time in my 20's during my bar hopping days. I ran into Jason Dawe and talked to him so many times that he'd say hi to me if he saw me first. The craziest was running into Danny Gare at either Mother's or Fat Bob's one cold winter post-game evening. He was drunk and telling stories to me and my roommate of his time with the Oilers and how he told off Glen Sather. I can still hear him in my head saying "F*** you, Glenn!" as he recounted the story. He then signed a bar napkin and gave it to my roommate for an autograph unrequested. It was a bit surreal.

[TheBrownBear]

Got to meet Bruce, Talley, Jim and Andre on the set of a United Way shoot back in the day.  Tossed the ball around with Andre.  All seemed like nice enough guys to the 11 or 12 year old me. 

 

Saw Bruce grabbing two buckets of KFC the night before a game.  I think this may have been when he was either injured or on his substance abuse suspension.  We said hello and he returned the greeting with a smile.

 

Went fishing with House Ballard on Lake Erie as a kid.  He was a real mild mannered, nice, and kind of quiet dude.

 

Chance encounter with Glenn Parker while golfing in San Diego a couple years back.  Said hello and thanked him for the good Bills memories from the 90s.  Really friendly and outgoing guy.

[US Egg]

52 minutes ago, TheWei44 said:

Just had a chance encounter with Scott Chandler this past Saturday!  Randomly met him at the Aspen airport with his wife and four kids!  Extremely nice guy (wife was super nice too) who indulged me in a selfie (see attached).  I let his son use the bathroom ahead of me on the plane and assisted him with the door and his dad (I didn't know who it was) thanked me on the plane.  Then at baggage claim, he thanked me, saw my Bills hat and said he used to play for the Bills.  He said he was at KC playoff game and I told him how hard it was for me not to be with my 11 yr old son for that game.  Again, super cool guy!

Is Chandler the one on the left?

Edited October 6, 2022 by I am the egg man

[Process]

2 minutes ago, Your Brown Eye said:

I saw CJ Spiller at Cheesecake Factory after a practice eating at the bar, I was at a table next to him. A few (2 or 3) Pittsford floozies were up in his business and he was looking annoyed, they me asked if that was a football player, I shook my head no out of respect for his privacy and they walked away. I went up to him to shake his hand and wish him well on the upcoming season and he rejected the handshake as I stood there with my hand out to shake his. He just said thanks and turned around. So I went back to my table, paid for my meal, found those floozies, told them he was CJ Spiller the starting RB for the Bills, and they ran back up to him at the bar and I walked out. Suck it, Spiller.

You went up to him while he was in the middle of eating and wanted a handshake? You should be happy to even get a "thanks"