WNY Vibe: 1990/1991 vs 2022 Bills

[BuffaloBaumer]

My memory of the 1st Super Bowl run was that NOBODY was getting in the Bills way of winning the Super Bowl (until Belicheck as DC stumped them in the bowl). This year is different as there is still the hurdle of the Chiefs (no pun intended). If the Chiefs were not around, I would have had the same feeling. 

[TheBrownBear]

I think it's pretty similar actually, though I can't say that with complete certainty since I only visit Buffalo a couple of times/year, whereas I was living in Buffalo (and our family had season tix) during the great 80's/90's run (I'm 43).  I think it's ultimately about the city itself and how it partially prides and defines itself by its connection to its professional football team.  I mean, I still feel this way about the Bills and Buffalo and I've lived in Southern California for over 20 years.  And I know many WNY transplants here that feel exactly the same.

[corta765]

So I will comment on what I can and with insight of what my parents and family saw as I am 34.

 

I remember or started focusing on the Bills mid 90s as a kid and the 1998-99 teams really stick out to me as the entire area is wild about the QB controversy. You really couldn't go anywhere with that being a thing and the 99 team everybody said had SB potential with the defense if the offense could do enough. I remember that Bills stuff was everywhere and when the game was on everything shutdown there was no streaming the game. Additionally because blackouts were a big deal and we had a pretty large stadium it was actually semi normal to listen to the game regularly as some of the games which were dogs def were not on TV. 

 

My dad has said the excitement and energy now or going back to 2020 on is equivalent if not more wild in many ways. The big difference is Josh Allen is essentially the face of the league and Kelly / no one else back them could make quiet that claim. One thing he has said is the games in terms of apparel are much more commercialized. People would wear Bills hats or beanies, some had clothing, but todays stadium virtually everyone is head to toes bills stuff, that wasn't the case in the 90s. My family also said in the 90s Buffalo was a city in harsh transition as the steel industry and a lot of manufacturing had collapsed years prior and things had not stabilized. Additionally Buffalo became a punch line because of the blizzard of 77 so there was a real chip on peoples shoulder nationally because of this and the Bills being good was in a sense an identity thing that we are good in something and you can't do anything about it. Take a look at the 1980 season and the "talking proud" campaign the Bills embraced with the city (the song is atrocious but whatever it was the 80s). The city of Buffalo by no means is perfect now, but the population and area has stabilized with small growth and the city has some things going for it. People still use the Bills as a big part of the identity but I would attest it is different compared to the areas feelings back then. 

 

Concluding my thesis (haha) I think the ability now to consume the Bills in so many ways and how it is broadcast as a sport with the NFL is magnified to make things much bigger and because of Josh especially it is bigger. Josh Allen is a legitimate person in the scope of the US media and popularity and how the league markets him allows him a greater window then before. With blackouts gone and the ability to watch games in replay or real time people can do things for the team you couldn't in the past. In 2021 my wife and I did our Bills party we host yearly in August due to my son being born in Sept. We replayed the Bills Dallas game in crystal clear 1080 outside in the back yard. My brother in law to test for opening night against the Rams had us over and we rewatched Bills games outdoors Labor day weekend. Outside of VHS recording and a heck of an electronics setup you just couldn't do many of these things. The social media piece is also wild in how we connect to players and some of the best things as a fanbase we have done for charity root in social media allowing a mass message to go quickly. The NFL has went from a August - January league to a year wide thing and even out of season the advertising and events never stop. With the Bills being so good right now and having Josh you get to be part of everything in a higher bigger way then before. It is legitimately awesome and something I never thought I would see during the drought. 

Edited October 27, 2022 by corta765

[Billsforumsucks]

This is going to sound crazy, but do any of you feel the connection to WNY? I left to join the military in 1988. I have lived all across the US and currently live in central VA for 20 years. I do not fit in anywhere but WNY. My folks are still there and I go visit every year, it is the only time I think that I can have a normal conversation with a human. When I retire , I am coming back, to my people. The bills are my home away from home and when I watch a home game it is more then football, it is that knowing of what we been through and what life is like in that dreary, cold, barren but the most beautiful place on earth. GO BILLS! THAT is why JA is better then the 90's teams, I think he actually gets it!

[Ray Stonada]

As awesome as we were in the Super Bowl years, we were NEVER widely considered the best team in the NFL, the way we are right now. Back then the AFC had a long losing streak in the Super Bowl and the NFC was considered the heavyweight conference. 

 

I am LOVING this experience of being number one in most every power ranking and just being considered the elite of the elite (with KC). We NEVER had that before.

 

However, I think back then people were just even more obsessed with football especially in Buffalo, or maybe that was just me.

 

PS Kelly wasn't considered the best QB, either, though he was in the top tier with Marina, Montana, Elway, etc.  

 

PPS Thurman was clearly the best dual threat (and won MVP in 91, of course), but a lot of people considered Emmitt Smith or Barry Sanders the best pure running back.