All from the memory of a 67 year old Bills fan. living in British Columbia, Canada... was raised in Amherst (Snyder), New York. I played football at Park School and one year at Cornell. After the Buffalo Bisons went out of business with the old All-American Professional Football Conference (around 1946-1950), Western New York was desperate to have another Pro-team here. I was only 5 when it folded, but my Dad went to some of their games at the old Civic stadium - later War Memorial stadium. Anyways, he took me to a pro exhibition game there in around the late 50's. Bobby Lane played for the Detroit Lions... I remember trying to get an autograph from him on the field and he just brushed me by. I was not a Bobby Lane fan after that incident, even though the Bills uniforms at the beginning in 1960 had the same colors as the Lions had. Silver and Columbia Blue. Ralph Wilson was a Detroit guy and obviously that must have been an influence.
In 1959 - the Bills opened up training camp at the ???? Motor Inn... It was right off the Thruway. I think it might have been called the Blasdell Motor Inn. I would hitchhike there from Amherst whenever I could to see them practice. I think a guy by the name of Buster Ramsay was their coach.
In the first couple - three years of existence, the Bills would hold a sort of MEET YOUR BILLS night. They had all kinds of skills competitions going on between the players. They would see who could kick the longest, run the fastest..(Elbert "Golden Wheels" Dubenion was one of the fastest) and I believe one of the receivers threw the football the longest...it have been RAY RENFREW???
I attended almost every game until 1964. It could be wild there at the open end zone where the auto racing track still remained. Those were the cheap seats... splinter filled bleacher seats. You could bring in your own beer and yes, even in glass bottles. Well around the 2nd or 3rd year, the Bills record was poor and the Bills were being "kicked again"... and Buster was still coaching them. The fans started singing in unison "GOOD BYE BUSTER" .... "WE'RE SORRY TO SEE YOU GO", etc. . Someone threw the first bottle onto the asphalt track and within seconds, there were so many bottles flying that the undermanned City of Buffalo cops were simply over whelmed and couldn't really arrest any one as there were so many "people" throwing bottles.
When the Bills got Kaufman, Gilchrist, Wray Carlton, Joe Sestak, Stratton, Maguire, Ken Rice and Coach Lou Sabin... they turned it around. I was in attendance for their first AFL championship win.
This September, I'll be flying in with my son for the opener against the Patriots. Yes, they used to be called the Boston Patriots. Anyways, we'll be joining 15 other family members who live as far away as Hawaii, California, Texas and DC.
Gary Mols