Treatment of opposing team fans(your experience)

[PromoTheRobot]

13 hours ago, PatsFanNH said:

I just saw the viral video of the Pats fan being harassed all game by the female Raider fan. And well that got me thinking on how opposing team fans are treated.  I don’t go to many home games anymore.. (I can’t afford them.) but I been to a few away games the last 5 years:

 

Miami — fans are fine usually talk a lot trash but all in good fun and have a hell of a tailgate!

 

NY Jets — my worst experience the 1 time I went was yelled at the hole time and some jerk dumped his beer on me.. was literally afraid for my life at that game.

 

Colts — fans were a blast and we talked about the Brady v Payton days… some good natured ribbing when the Pats lost

 

Bills — you guys are crazy fun at the tailgate, also talk a lot of trash but you actually know football. ( or the people

i talked to) Good nature ribbing when the Pats lost w Newton.

 

I have to say on the hole

most we’re fun to go to. So how have your experiences been when you travel?

 

I don't get much smack talk from Pats fans like I used to. Even then it was good natured.

 

Only bad experience I've ever had was drunk Jets fans. @Gugny and I had one dope bug us all game. Security came and we had to move.

[folz]

I lived in Boston during the '90s Super Bowl era and went to a number of games at the old Foxborough stadium. Never had a problem with Pats fans back then---but the Patriots didn't really have that many diehard fans at that time, their team was consistently bad, and they had very little shot of beating the Bills of that era.

 

I have lived in NYC since and go to the Meadowlands pretty much every year for the Bills game. And though I don't love the atmosphere of MetLife stadium (can't hold a candle to Rich/Ralph/NewEra/HighMark), I have never had a problem with Jets fans, despite me always being decked out in Bills gear and cheering for my team. Of course, there is some good-natured ribbing and banter, but never any problems. A lot of Jets fans I know feel more kindred with the Bills than any type of bitter rivalry, I think mostly because of us both being bad for so long (prior to McBeane/Josh) and both being dominated by and hating the Patriots equally.

 

Went to the Cleveland game in 2019. Had an extremely drunk girl in front of me first talking smack and then hitting on me, despite probably being 15-20 years my junior (I did say she was very drunk 😊). And apparently I have a tendency to call out our player's names during the game after good plays: "Yes, Stefon." "Nice tackle Matt." "C'mon Tyler!" etc. Everything seemed fine until the Bills took the lead in the 4th quarter, when the guy next to me said, "If you call out one more player's name, I'm gonna kill you." Then his friend leaned over and said, "How do you even know all of their names, anyhow?" My answer, "I'm a Bills fan!" Cleveland went on to win the game, so even though I didn't stop cheering for our guys, I did avoid being killed by the man next to me.

[folz]

17 minutes ago, Goin Breakdown said:

This is embarrassing. Good

for that Pats fan. Keeping his cool. 

 

Seriously, big props to that Pats fan! 

 

That couple should have been thrown out. She wasn't even sitting next to him, they were across the aisle. But she moved next to him to annoy him, and then got very aggressive and belligerent.

[LVGrown]

31 minutes ago, NewEra said:

 

Nice-  I’ve been going to Moondoggies since 2010-  back in the day was Jenny and  her hubby Jared, love and miss them. J3, aka Jen worked with them and is now the manager.  She’s a rockstar and is the reason we’d never go elsewhere, although the Office Bar kitchen, naked city pizza is owned by buffalo’s own Chris Palmieri.  Their food is the best, but the atmosphere is lacking when compared to Moondoggies.  

I know Megan, we share a really good mutual friend. I know she left this past summer. 

 

Naked City was just down the street from me (sorta, kinda) and while I never caught a game there, doesn't seem like a good spot for that, the food is excellent and often ordered to go. 

[BRH]

Only been to five road Bills games... two at FedEx Field in DC around the turn of the millennium, one at Texas Stadium in the early 2000s, one at the Meadowlands in 1991, and a preseason game at Arrowhead in 1995.

 

Other than getting a beer thrown at me at the Meadowlands (I deserved it and it was worth it - I turned around and raised my arms to the crowd when Thurman scored a last-second TD) and getting the double bird from a very obese woman in the parking lot at Arrowhead pregame (just for wearing a Bills shirt; I didn't say a word), I can't say I had any bad experiences.  Truthfully, I've had worse experiences with poorly-behaved fans (of both teams) at the Ralph.  

 

That said, most of the places I listed (except the Meadowlands) are relatively tame.  There are some places I just wouldn't go.

[Goin Breakdown]

32 minutes ago, folz said:

 

Seriously, big props to that Pats fan! 

 

That couple should have been thrown out. She wasn't even sitting next to him, they were across the aisle. But she moved next to him to annoy him, and then got very aggressive and belligerent.

I don't know how he held

it together lol

[BigAl2526]

Well, I have never been into tailgating, so I can't speak to that.  I have attended only half a dozen games over my adult life.  In the stands, I never saw any overt abuse, verbal or physical of fans wearing jerseys or the colors of other teams.  The lone exception was a Monday night game against the Jets in the early 1980s.  I no longer remember the exact year.  The Bills played poorly, and the beer flowed freely.  There were numerous fights all around my friend and I in the stands.  I assume any Jets fans in the stands bore the brunt of the Bills fans' drunken rage.  That, however, was 40 years ago.

[Albany,n.y.]

3 hours ago, DCbillsfan said:

Saw Bills play Eagles when Cornelius Bennett was a rookie.  We didn't wear anything with Bills on it.  That's a rough crowd.  Bennett was all over the field that game.  Think it was 1987.

I was there for that season finale, 12/27/87.  It was the last Bills game I went to in Philadelphia since I was moving to Albany from Long Island in January 1988.  I had previously gone to the Bills game there in 1985 when they blew a 17-0 lead.  I went alone because it was 2 days after Christmas on an extended weekend & I couldn't get anyone willing to go to Philadelphia with me.  The nice thing was I was able to get Eagles tickets in a mall in Long Island so after I gave up finding someone to go to the game with, I went & got 1 ticket. 

 

Bennett was about the only Bill who showed up that day. It was a run for the bus game for most of the Bills roster.  I didn't have much interaction with Eagles fans although at the end when someone was laughing at me in my Bills gear, I said to them "We'll be in the super Bowl next year, you won't"   Obviously, we didn't make the Super Bowl in 1988, but we were in the AFC Championship game & Philly was nowhere near contending for the NFC title.  

[CA OC Bills Fan]

I'm quite confident that at all (or at least almost all) NFL stadiums the vast majority of people will be civil but there will always be some that will be complete jerks and even some that could be dangerous to be near if you're an opposing fan. I know of people that were harassed in Buffalo at games and even a friend on crutches that's a Dolfish fan that someone took a running start at to knock him down; fortunately my friend's 220 lb son got in the way and knocked the jerk over before he got there. I've been to away games in NJ (Jets), NE, AZ (both old and current stadium), San Diego a few times, LA (old stadium a few years ago and So Fi this year), and San Francisco. I've always worn my Bills gear and never once have had any issues. If you're unlucky enough to be near one of the jerks, the game will suck for you.

 

Probably the closest I've come to being harassed was going to a Broncos / Lambs game in Anaheim the last year before they moved to St. Louis. The only non-Bills game I've ever been to. I wore all Bills gear and the guy taking tickets at the entrance said, "You do realize the Bills aren't playing here today." Obviously, that wasn't really harassing me but it was funny.

[LewPort71]

2 hours ago, BRH said:

Only been to five road Bills games... two at FedEx Field in DC around the turn of the millennium, one at Texas Stadium in the early 2000s, one at the Meadowlands in 1991, and a preseason game at Arrowhead in 1995.

 

Mrs. Lew and I attended that KC PreSeason game.  The only verbal abuse came from a group of teenage girls "Bills Suck"  woohoo

My dau and I went to Cincy in 99 and had a good time there.  The Cincy fans planned a 3rd qtr. walkout to protest their owner.

They ended up walking out due to the score that was highly in favor of the Bills.

 

[DrBob806]

I've been to Buffalo, Cleveland, St. Louis, Indy, Arizona, Tennessee, Cincy, Houston, Dallas & Pittsburgh. All positive experiences for the most part. A few drunks (or many) will ruin anybody's day and they're everywhere. 

 

I happen to think Steelers fans are the dumbest, most-fair weather fans in the league. The NFL didn't begin in 1972 contrary to their beliefs. 

 

Dallas is weird. It's a very quiet place unless the Cowboys are up at least 2 scores. The domes in Indy, St. Louis, Arizona, & Houston make it seem like you're in a theater. 

[Augie]

4 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

I don't get much smack talk from Pats fans like I used to. Even then it was good natured.

 

Only bad experience I've ever had was drunk Jets fans. @Gugny and I had one dope bug us all game. Security came and we had to move.

 

I remember @Gugny telling me that was on you for not keeping better company.  😋

 

I’ve never had a problem, but I know it can be very real. If you are not a jerk, life tends to get easier. Be a jerk, or worse, a drunk jerk, and trouble will find you.

 

On one trip back to OP I was sitting next to a young drunk Jets fan. He was harmless, but loud and obnoxious early when the Jets were doing well. He was getting a bit too much attention. I explained that I was just trying to help and I was all for him enjoying himself. THEN I explained that if he gets beer thrown at him and I get hit I was no longer trying to help him. It was like flipping a light switch. Something flashed in his eyes when he realized I was serious, and he was all alone. It worked, and we both stayed dry and healthy. 

[BRH]

11 hours ago, DrBob806 said:

Dallas is weird. It's a very quiet place unless the Cowboys are up at least 2 scores.

I was surprised at how quiet it was.  Also, the old Texas Stadium was a dump. 

[Rico]

Only time anyone ever talks trash to me is when the Yankees come to town here in Baltimore. Usually it’s some drunk O’s fans who don’t appreciate my Yankees cap, but they are vastly outnumbered, so I just laugh at them.