On this date in Bills history 1981 -with the season on the line vs the Pats*

[Chandler#81]

A mere 18 years to the day after JFK was assassinated, a gift from the Gods saved the Bills season in route to a WC playoff berth.

 

Hail Mary full of Grace!

https://x.com/ol_timefootball/status/1727190646333817070?s=61

 

I was helping a buddy who operated a butcher shop with 10 deer awaiting carving up. Where were you?

[BuffaloBill]

What a great play when you end up on the right side of it.  Hail Mary’s hardly ever work but they are a blast when they work out in your favor.

[4th&long]

I remember that play. I was just a kid, 13, I was sitting at the table very upset thinking the bills were going to lose. My mother was here visiting us from California, first time in 5 years I had seen her. She has no idea about football. I remember her laughing because I went from dejected to jumping out of my seat with joy. I think she was happier than me because she was only in town for 24 hours or so and me being upset was ruining her visit. I’ll never forget that play.

[34-78-83]

I was 10. My father and I were at the game but left early because I had a pop-warner football banquet to get to, LOL. So we missed the hail-mary finish

 

The good part is that we vowed never to leave early from a Bills game again, and THAT is what kept us at the stadium for the greatest playoff comeback ever vs the Oilers!

[Beast]

Was at the game.

Fergy threw an interception with less than 2 minutes to go and my Dad said, “let’s go.”

 

Out in the parking lot we heard two huge roars coming from the stadium about a minute apart. Someone started screaming they won.

 

Got back to our car and, yes, we did win.

Edited November 22, 2023 by Beast

[msw2112]

I also remember it well.  At that time, my family did not have season tickets (got them a few years later) and there was the NFL blackout rule for home games that did not sell out.  So I was playing football in the street with my brother and the other neighborhood kids.  We had the Bills radio broadcast going on a radio sitting on the curb.  We stopped our game to listen to the final couple of plays and we went wild when this catch was made!  I think it was the first time I had heard the term "Hail Mary" in connection with football.  In fact, based on my religious upbringing, that was the first time I'd heard the term at all, so there was a time when, as a child, I thought that Christianity had borrowed it from football.

Edited November 22, 2023 by msw2112

[chongli]

Awesome post!

 

I was 12 and at home in the living room. We were listening to Van Miller's call on the radio. Why? Because, as often occurred, the game was blacked out. Lots of great Bills games back then were not aired in the Buffalo area due to this.

 

I had a good feeling before the play because Fergy had also just completed a long pass to Roland Hooks to get us into position. Hooks was on fire.

Edited November 22, 2023 by chongli

[WotAGuy]

Yup. Left after Fergy’s INT. Heard the roar. My buddy never let me live it down. “NEVER SAY DIE!!”  
 

Friggin Bills. They’ve been tripping me and giving me wedgies my entire life. 

Edited November 22, 2023 by WotAGuy

[Fleezoid]

Look at all the empty seats. Weren't lower level seats like 50-60 bucks?

[That's No Moon]

4 hours ago, WotAGuy said:

Yup. Left after Fergy’s INT. Heard the roar. My buddy never let me live it down. “NEVER SAY DIE!!”  
 

Friggin Bills. They’ve been tripping me and giving me wedgies my entire life. 

Only game my Dad ever left early.

[Success]

I was still a kid, but remember watching this.  I believe this was one of the endings featured in the old Alcoa "fantastic finishes" ads. Those were great.

 

I had a couple of friends who left early, and heard the roars from the parking lot.

 

[SoCal Deek]

1 hour ago, Fleezoid said:

Look at all the empty seats. Weren't lower level seats like 50-60 bucks?

I’ve posted this before. I still have the ticket stub from the 1980 game when we broke the streak against Miami. Face value for a sideline lower level seat….$13.00….crazy, right? 

[hondo in seattle]

The long pass to Hooks before the Hail Mary was equally impressive.

 

35 seconds.  73 yards.  No time outs.  

It wasn't one miracle play.  It was a miraculous drive.  

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu4fxr7kxM0&t=10s

 

 

Edited November 22, 2023 by hondo in seattle

[Success]

Cool to see Piccone jumping in on the celebration.  He was a big fan fave back then.

 

[Spiderweb]

One of the games spoke about around here that I actually attended. Bitter cold and windy. My buddy Brad and I were about to leave when the first roar was heard. Made it back to see the TD. 

[Jukester]

On 11/22/2023 at 10:21 AM, 34-78-83 said:

I was 10. My father and I were at the game but left early because I had a pop-warner football banquet to get to, LOL. So we missed the hail-mary finish

 

The good part is that we vowed never to leave early from a Bills game again, and THAT is what kept us at the stadium for the greatest playoff comeback ever vs the Oilers!

I was also at the game as a 10 year old…my first game ever.  We were walking out of our seats and in the aisle, so didn’t really see everything that happened, but the celebration was fun. 

I also remember it was damn cold. 

[Dablitzkrieg]

On 11/22/2023 at 6:23 AM, Chandler#81 said:

A mere 18 years to the day after JFK was assassinated, a gift from the Gods saved the Bills season in route to a WC playoff berth.

 

Hail Mary full of Grace!

https://x.com/ol_timefootball/status/1727190646333817070?s=61

 

I was helping a buddy who operated a butcher shop with 10 deer awaiting carving up. Where were you?

I wast born yet 🤣

[msw2112]

On 11/22/2023 at 4:00 PM, hondo in seattle said:

The long pass to Hooks before the Hail Mary was equally impressive.

 

35 seconds.  73 yards.  No time outs.  

It wasn't one miracle play.  It was a miraculous drive.  

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zu4fxr7kxM0&t=10s

 

 

 

I wonder what a Bills team could do with 20 seconds and a timeout, and a super athletic QB with a cannon, if they only needed to get into FG range?

Edited November 27, 2023 by msw2112