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

[henry jones]

Steve Tasker at Bar Bills... Nice guy.  Made me feel better about myself.  He's shorter than I am!!  😀

[SectionC3]

5 hours ago, Herc11 said:

Lived in an apartment below George Wilson at a complex near the stadium that many players live at during the season. George was super nice, always said hi in passing. Would hold the door open when we were carrying in groceries, etc... Ran into Jason Peters coming down the stairs, this was around the time he was still relatively unknown outside of Bills fans. Said "Hi" in passing and didn't even acknowledge me. My wife worked in the apartments office. When he first got there he stopped in asking for the owner. Owner wasn't there so she asked him if he wanted to leave a message. He said to let him know Jason came by. She asked Jason who? and he replies, "Just Jason." He was a prick even when he was a fresh undrafted tight end on special teams.

That’s weird.  I lived in that building for a bit, too.  Small world. 

I have a great Brian Daboll story that I’ll share someday here.  It involves my wife excoriating him (thinking he was a creeper) for circling our neighborhood, a chance encounter at Kone King, and him (jokingly) returning the favor the next summer by Mangia in OP. 

Edited October 6, 2022 by SectionC3

[MarkyMannn]

 On a plane flight I was seated next to DC Ted Cottrell.  I talked to him about Bills for a bit, he was OK. Then thought how would I feel if he talked to me incessantly about my stupid job.  I left him alone after like 5 minutes

[Richmond_Bills]

4 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

Having been there, what was your interpretation of Jim's comments?  Having fun?  Being an ass?  Something in between?

 

 

something in between....I think he was having fun, but it seemed a left-handed jab...

[BRH]

I live a block and a half from Fisher and I happened to be walking on campus one morning when I walked by a couple of people putting up a sign advertising a camp for something or other.  One of them turned around, and I stopped and pointed like an idiot and said the first thing that popped into my vacant head:  "You're Don Beebe."  He said, "Yes I am."  Turned out it was his camp, a "speed camp" for young athletes.  We chatted for a bit.  Didn't change my impression of him at all.  Perhaps the thing I'm proudest of is that I didn't go "remember in the Super Bowl, when Leon Lett picked up the ball, and then you ran after it. and made him fumble?  That was awesome."

Edited October 6, 2022 by BRH

[thenorthremembers]

3 hours ago, Big Turk said:

 

Oh that's right! Kelly's camp went from being like a 5 day camp where you stayed the whole time like how it was when I went to just a day camp at some point right?

Yes sir.  Its a 3 day camp.  I think its morning to late afternoon.  My kid did it three years straight but hasn't been since the Pandemic.

 

Absolutely love the camp but will probably move to the UB Camp next year because he will be in high school.  

[The BLUES Brothers]

Met Darryl Talley at an Orlando golf course and as luck would have it - I still text him occasionally (yes he texts back lol). He told me cool stories and it made me respect him even more as a player and person. He really liked Coach Levy which was nice to hear.

 

Saw Darryl again (and his wife) at a Buffalo Bills Alumni event before an opener a few years back. At the same event - a buddy and i sat at a table that Jeff Nixon and his wife asked if they could join...(of course!!) While they were there - over comes Andre Reed and his wife and Andre is right next to me - it was unreal.  Later on at the same event met Jon Fina, Fred Smerlas, Mike Stratton, Lou Piccone and every one of them were very cool and personable.  On the way home i told my buddy that invited me to the event that other than the birth of my children - it was THE greatest day of my life lol

 

Also met Frank Reich and Steve Tasker at a charity golf event - got pictures with both and Tasker signed my Bills cap - the ink faded but not the memory.  Go Bills!

[Bills of Boston]

Met Marv Levy at a restaurant in Harvard square roughly in 2009 or so. I’m not sure he could have been any nicer. Introduced myself, Bills fan etc and he lit up. Brought me over to the table to meet his wife and say a quick hello. Class act would be an understatement. 

[Let's Go Buffalo]

I've had a few encounters with Steve Tasker. He's really down to earth, and always has something nice to say. He's been a good role model on and off the field, and so my interactions with him have been great. 

[RiotAct]

1 hour ago, BBills83 said:

I'll come to Jim Kelly's defense. This past May my wife, sister and I met his daughter Erin, who was a sweetheart, and sat with Jim for about 40 min in his charity's conference room. He talked with us like he'd known us for a long time. We discussed his teams and this one. He loves Josh and has high hopes for this group. We all left feeling great about meeting them.  Definitely not an a$$.

 

agree. I met Jim a few years ago at a volunteer event and he couldn’t have been more gracious.  (Same thing goes for Thurman Thomas and Darryl Talley).

[Tommy81]

Grew up on same street as Talley, Conlan & Ray Bentley.

All 3 were nice and attended block parties. We would have street hockey tournaments and both Talley and Conlan played with us. 

My little brother has one of the 1st copies of the Darby the Dinosaur children's books Bentley authored.

 

JD Williams lived a street over and was nice.

 

Kelly lived a development over. We would go to his house on Halloween but he would never come to the door. His wife was super nice to us though...

[El Guapo]

I’ve met a few players over the years. Usually just a handshake and a hello. I’ve never talked football with them, except for one.

 

I was in the Atlanta airport late one night, traveling home from a work trip. This was back before smart phones and such devices. Early 2000’s. The concourse was pretty empty, and I was sitting in a gate area reading a magazine or newspaper. I was wearing a Bills sweatshirt. 
 

out of nowhere, this older gentleman comes up to me and asks if I am a fan. I told him I was, and I introduced myself. He introduced himself as Billy Shaw. I noticed a ring on his finger and asked if it was one of his AFL championship rings. His face lit up as he held it out, and he said no, this was his most treasured ring. It was his HOF ring.   He took a seat and we talked for ten or fifteen minutes. Super nice guy. He initiated the encounter and seemed to enjoy talking about his playing time and the Bills in general.  His flight was called and we said our goodbyes. 
 

Great memory. 

[muppy]

3 hours ago, Kwai San said:

 

  I always wanted to meet Marv.  That woulda been a hoot.

I never met him myself but I have a  friend who arranged graduation ceremonies for National University here in san diego. Marv Levy was the keynote commencement  speaker for that event. He called my buddy to be picked up from the airport, left a message on his cell phone. So he picked him up. Said he was congenial and polite, very nice guy. My friend knew what a big Bills ran I am. He called me and said "Guess who I just picked up from the airport" and played the message Marv had left on his cell phone. That was so cool. 🙂 He has a very easy to identify voice but he did say "hello this is Marv Levy I'm ready to be picked up"

 

🙂

[Ray Stonada]

In 88, I was a kid who waited an hour in line at Hills for Bruce Smith’s autograph. (Funny how many of us did this.) When I was three people away, they announced it was over and he got up to leave. I followed him to the parking lot, this was about 7pm and it was dark, and as he was getting into his car I yelled out like a moron, “Bruce, I hope you sack Marino on Sunday!” (We we’re playing the Phins.) 

 

He smiled, shrugged, and said “Thanks, kid.”

 

A couple years ago I got to have dinner with Thurman and he was super cool. Also paid for an expensive dinner for all five people, cracked jokes, and even talked about old games a little. You could see he loves the current team and roots hard for them. Just an awesome, warm dude. I had to connect it in my mind that this friendly and kind person was the same human did all those things I watched growing up.

[Big Turk]

1 hour ago, Richmond_Bills said:

something in between....I think he was having fun, but it seemed a left-handed jab...

 

Coming from a guy that grew up in East Brady, PA

[Einstein]

1 hour ago, Bills of Boston said:

Met Marv Levy at a restaurant in Harvard square roughly in 2009 or so. I’m not sure he could have been any nicer. Introduced myself, Bills fan etc and he lit up. Brought me over to the table to meet his wife and say a quick hello. Class act would be an understatement. 

 

Oh I didn’t realize we were doing coaches too.

 

I called Levy at his house once. He was nice enough and took my thoughts into consideration.

[streetkings01]

Met Roscoe Parrish Memorial Weekend down in Miami around 07 or 08……..real nice guy……looked just as small in person as he does on tv.

 

Non Bills player I met that was surprisingly a real nice guy……Mike Vrabel. Met him at the Adams Marks hotel back in 05 back when the away teams used to stay there.

[Einstein]

5 hours ago, Awwufelloff said:

Fred Jackson at a Tim Hortons, nicest guy ever. Still my all time favorite Bill. 

 

Mine too.

 

The way that Whaley and Rex turned on Fred was disgusting.

[EmotionallyUnstable]

I’ve ran into current Bills players on two occasions, like almost literally, ran into them:  

 

1) We were trying to exit the galleria mall while EJ Manuel was trying to come in the same door. He was with a few other guys, none of who I immediately recognized mostly because I was so surprised to look up and see him right there. This was his 2nd or 3rd year in the league. He must have realized we were staring because he gave us the ole head nod, and kept it moving. Guy looked like an average Joe in street clothes.
 

2) At SoHo Burger bar downtown buffalo late one August night, we were heading upstairs to the rooftop bar and as we turned to continue upward, we stop to let a guy go up right before us. My wife says, “isn’t that Ronald Darby?”. I told her absolutely not, there is no way. That dude is tiny. As soon as we get upstairs, we immediately run into an entire entourage highlighted by Sammy Watkins, who was being mobbed by the local woo girls (he looked like he had zero interest). I didn’t interact with any of them at the time, but Sammy’s demeanor was off-putting from a far.
 

BONUS: 

 

My only non-bill I’ve run into was John Randle. He was at a bar in Buffalo, presumably after the Kelly golf tournament circa 2014. He flicked me off using the old crank-up the middle finger trick. Good times. 

 

Also, I’ve also met Thurman Thomas’ daughter. My friend tried to hit on her. No dice. 
 

It was a great party though!

[HappyDays]

A few years ago I was at Bills training camp and I ended up standing near an area where the players walked to the field from the locker room. I was just trying to find the bathroom and all of a sudden I see Kyle Williams walking towards me and a bunch of other fans around me with jerseys held out ready to get signed. I had a Tremaine Edmunds jersey on, it was his rookie season. I hand the jersey to Kyle and I blurt out "Kyle you're my favorite Bill of all time." He looks at me and says deadpan "then why aren't you wearing my jersey?" then chuckled and signed it and handed it back to me. Lorenzo Alexander came right after him and signed it. Then the punter Colton Schmidt walks up like a man on a mission, he was looking for a jersey to sign and I happened to be standing there. So I now have a Tremaine Edmunds jersey signed by Kyle Williams, Lorenzo Alexander, and Colton Schmidt.