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

[JohnNord]

4 minutes ago, Dablitzkrieg said:

Well, considering I hate people in general, can't blame some celebrities for being annoyed by people constantly staring,  asking for autographs and pics.  At least none of them told you to eff off because I cohld see myself telling all of you to go eff yourselves lmao .

Your constant probing is sooooooooooooooooo annoying dude

Not as annoying as people saying:

 

“I met Jim Kelly once 30 years ago.  Let’s just say it was not good.  I’ll leave it at that.”  

[Augie]

Just now, JohnNord said:

Not as annoying as people saying:

 

“I met Jim Kelly once 30 years ago.  Let’s just say it was not good.  I’ll leave it at that.”  

 

I was a very different person 30 years ago. 

 

I was much younger. 

 

Oh, and I hope I have grown some over that time.    😋

[Royale with Cheese]

7 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

I was a very different person 30 years ago. 

 

I was much younger. 

 

Oh, and I hope I have grown some over that time.    😋

I was too.  I hadn’t hit puberty yet and was a huge fan of Ren and Stimpy.

[AlfaBill]

8 hours ago, mushypeaches said:

Thurman & Andre were at the Bills Backers tailgate in Baltimore this past weekend.  

 

Thurman was super friendly and warm with fans getting pictures, etc.

Andre maybe a little less so, but still cool and smiling

 

I couldn't believe how skinny Andre is these days - I mean he was thin during his playing years, but all the muscle made him look less so

But we pointed out how big and strong his hands still look - I mean those are still HOF WR hands.  I'll bet Lofton's look the same too

You know what they say about guys with big hands right? 

[Neo]

3 hours ago, Solomon Grundy said:

I met OJ Simpson during the Bills SB era at a downtown hotel. Really cool guy. Liked his Bloody Mary's

Champions, Key Bank Center across the street from M&T?  Playoff game with Raiders in Jan 94?

[Just Jack]

I don't consider mine "random" chance encounters.

 

1) Jeff Burris.  Went to the Indy-Bills game in 2001, the first week for games after 9/11, with a group of Bills Backers.  Cindy, a former poster here, was good friends with him and his wife.  She was to meet up with him at the Colts hotel the night before the game and took me along. Well, she either left her cell phone in the hotel, or her battery was dead, because she used my cell to call him and let him know we were in the lobby.  So, I definitely saved that number in my phone, never called it though. Really nice guy probably spent 20 minutes with us just talking. 

 

2) The Bills - Jags game in London in 2015, I bought a ticket package from a London based tour company that included hotel, tickets to the game, and a meet-and-greet the night before the game which was to include "former Bills Alumni".  No mention of who it would be so I'm thinking it's whomever they can get.  Walk in late to the pub where it was being held, and there sits up front taking questions, Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas. My wife, then just my girlfriend, whispers in my ear "is that Troy Aikman?"  Jim and Thurman stuck around for about 30 minutes or more after their Q&A session was done for autographs and pictures.  Both were pleasant to everyone. I really think, based on everyone's stories, Jim got more personable after Hunter was born, and everything that was going on with him. 

 

 

[Motor26]

1 hour ago, HappyDays said:

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.

 

Kyle Williams is the one dude I wish was still around to experience the success they are now. Always seemed like a really solid dude, and a great 3-tech. 

[transient]

1 hour ago, JohnNord said:

People here love creating drama based on events that happened 30 years.  The vagueness and pettiness is annoying.  

People don’t like Jim’s politics so they hold things against him that happened 35 years ago…

Ok so what did you hear them?

Ok what have you heard?  Because everyone who has interacted with recently has had positive things to say about him.  Again, people love to drag him through the mud because of his conservative politics 

I think suggesting this is somehow politically motivated is projecting your own bias.

 

There are quite a few public stories suggesting Kelly was an entitled ass when he was younger. I have a cousin who met him on numerous occasions in the 90s and 2000s, in both professional settings and in more casual settings. My cousin worked in media and one of Kelly's brothers was a neighbor of a friend of his. He met his father and brothers on numerous occasions, as well. He couldn't say enough nice things about his family, but he didn't care for Jim. He never got into specific details, just said he didn't treat people very well. He loved him as a QB... as a person, not so much.

 

Kelly has gone through a lot since his playing days and by many public accounts is a changed man because of it, but it doesn't erase his past. People who were witness to it aren't obliged to give him a pass.

[Moulds_80]

I ran into Lorenzo alexander and his family the day after his daughter sang the national anthem at the new era store. He had also annoinced his retirement that same week, I congatulated and thanked him. I told him his daughter did an amazing job singing, he pointed her out and brought her over and she was so happy.  He was so nice, he was there with his family so I disnt bother him bit he was awesome! Just a down to earth guy

[Buffalo716]

17 minutes ago, Moulds_80 said:

I ran into Lorenzo alexander and his family the day after his daughter sang the national anthem at the new era store. He had also annoinced his retirement that same week, I congatulated and thanked him. I told him his daughter did an amazing job singing, he pointed her out and brought her over and she was so happy.  He was so nice, he was there with his family so I disnt bother him bit he was awesome! Just a down to earth guy

ZO is a man of the people !

[Buffalo Boy]

3 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I was too.  I hadn’t hit puberty yet and was a huge fan of Ren and Stimpy.

“ How do you feel about that Mr.Horse?”

[BillsShredder83]

12 hours 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.

So you got him free kitty? Lol YOU SURE SHOWED HIM!

[LeGOATski]

I met Lionel Dotson in a Walgreens once and he showed me some pass rush moves.

12 hours ago, Bray Wyatt said:

Lionel Dotson taught me some swim moves in an aisle at walgreens

Wow, same!

[Ya Digg?]

My wife and I went to the zoo a couple of years ago and she asked Thurman to take a picture of us. She didn’t know who he was until i told her after. I felt awkward asking for a picture with him after so I just shook his hand and told him I am a big fan. He seemed genuinely entertained that he was asked to take the picture and to not be in it. He was really nice 

[SoMAn]

6 hours ago, transient said:

I think suggesting this is somehow politically motivated is projecting your own bias.

 

There are quite a few public stories suggesting Kelly was an entitled ass when he was younger. I have a cousin who met him on numerous occasions in the 90s and 2000s, in both professional settings and in more casual settings. My cousin worked in media and one of Kelly's brothers was a neighbor of a friend of his. He met his father and brothers on numerous occasions, as well. He couldn't say enough nice things about his family, but he didn't care for Jim. He never got into specific details, just said he didn't treat people very well. He loved him as a QB... as a person, not so much.

 

Kelly has gone through a lot since his playing days and by many public accounts is a changed man because of it, but it doesn't erase his past. People who were witness to it aren't obliged to give him a pass.

A lot of professional athletes have been "big man on campus" since they were teens.

Some can keep their head on straight, and others let their egos get in the way of their humanity. 

Kelly was probably a typical arrogant a-hole, but life events like losing a child, almost losing a wife during a rocky period, being a good example to his young daughters, and fighting the Big C can humble a soul.

I suspect Kelly became more spiritual and gained a lot of perspective about his place in the universe following his playing days.

 

Josh doesn't seem to suffer the same "big head" syndrome, or if he does, he disguises it acts gracious and grateful with fawning fans.

[Teddy KGB]

Nope, was chatting it up with Bruce while waiting for coffees last week 

 

He couldn’t be cooler 

[BillsFanNC]

12 hours ago, MarkyMannn said:

 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

 

I ran into Ted Cottrell at JP Fitzgeralds in Hamburg. He had a few in him and was therefore fairly chatty. It was during the off-season just after we had acquired Ted Washington. He used many colorful adjectives to describe how fired up he was to have him.

[transient]

1 minute ago, DRsGhost said:

 

I ran into Ted Cottrell at JP Fitzgeralds in Hamburg. He had a few in him and was therefore fairly chatty. It was during the off-season just after we had acquired Ted Washington. He used many colorful adjectives to describe how fired up he was to have him.

I would love to know what big Ted was like in person. I remember he had a Monday bit on Shredd and Ragan and I always used to laugh my ass off when he was on. He seemed pretty candid at a time when that wasn’t common. I remember a story he told about how they used to shriek “Riiiiiicky” when tackling Ricky Willams or when he was at the bottom of a pile because it would freak him out. It was funny at the time… maybe not so much in hindsight, knowing that Williams had horrible social anxiety…

[JohnNord]

2 hours ago, SoMAn said:

A lot of professional athletes have been "big man on campus" since they were teens.

Some can keep their head on straight, and others let their egos get in the way of their humanity. 

Kelly was probably a typical arrogant a-hole, but life events like losing a child, almost losing a wife during a rocky period, being a good example to his young daughters, and fighting the Big C can humble a soul.

I suspect Kelly became more spiritual and gained a lot of perspective about his place in the universe following his playing days.

 

Josh doesn't seem to suffer the same "big head" syndrome, or if he does, he disguises it acts gracious and grateful with fawning fans.

I agree…many of us weren’t professional athletes but still were immature in our younger years and would probably struggle with being a professional athlete in our 20’s.  It was likely even harder decades ago before so much training and dialogue was available through sports agency.   
 

I just have an issue with people characterizing and making judgements on Kelly by his actions 30-40 years ago. 
 

I also don’t care for people trying to bash him with discreet statement without providing details or context. 

[wettlaufer]

13 hours ago, The BLUES Brothers said:

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.

 

 

Darryl loves it if you come up to him and say "Aren't you Janine's husband?" Running joke on twitter, where she posts often and is really funny.