The year was 1993 and it was a friday night. Living in Fort Lauderdale, a buddy of mine worked at the Weston Hotel and told me he got late word that the Bills would be staying there for the playoff game against the fins (the game where Miami could not stop the screen to Thurman and got us to the superbowl). Anyhow, I lived about five minutes from the hotel and arrived there and sat in the lobby hoping to get a glimpse of the players.
While there, there was a knock-out babe seated by herself that I started to chat with. She was so pleasant and told me she lived in florida. I told her I was a Bills fan and she told me she was dating one of the players. She didn't want to tell me but finally confessed the player was none other than Jim Kelly. My next line was "Boy, how awesome to fly into a city and have a beautiful woman waiting for you." She was so flattered she took my name and address. About two months later I got an autographed picture from Kelly which I still have this day. I don't know if this became Kelly's wife but she was a real catch.
Anyhow, the players arrived on the team bus and it was a thrill for me to stand right next to them. I remember seeing Andre Reed, Henry Jones, Carwell Gardner, Bruce Smith, James Lofton, and Nate Odomes. The best part was that there was hardly anyone else in the lobby. The players were very focused and I just knew they would beat the crap out of the Dolphins which they did. I never made it to Buffalo to see a game during the glory years but watched all that were televiseds in Ft. Lauderdale. It was really cool to see these guys up close and in person. And the autograph that I didn't really expect arrived which was icing on the cake.