Super Bowl XXV memories

[Jim Gehman]

"There’s no question in my mind, and now that I’m a [high school] head football coach, I truly understand what makes a team successful. Talent doesn’t win. And I’m not taking anything away as far as talent because talent-wise we were extremely loaded. But what wins is just camaraderie. You like your coach; you like the whole atmosphere that you’re in. I’ve got to tell you, we were family then. People still talk about that team! People from other teams talk about that team! I’ve been at a lot of different functions since I retired, and guys will come to me and say, ‘Man, you guys had something special, didn’t you, in Buffalo?’ And I’ll say, ‘Yeah. We did.’ And what made it special was the community – our general managers, John Butler and Bill Polian, and our head coach, Marv Levy.

 

"John Butler, God rest his soul, was one of the great human beings in the NFL. I would put Polian in that category. And without a doubt, my number one guy is Marv Levy. I can’t tell you enough good things about Marv Levy. He is an amazing guy. I wish I could be half the man Marv Levy is."

 

- Don Beebe, wide receiver

 

 

"[The first Super Bowl, XXV, was] probably a little more [than what was expected]. I played for a national championship [at Penn State] before, and that was a pretty big deal. But I would say [the Super Bowl hoopla is] times three. It’s an event! And it’s a hell of a lot more fun for the patrons than it is for the players. But I think we were the best team that first year."

 

- Shane Conlan, linebacker

 

 

"I don’t remember a whole lot about it [super Bowl XXV] because you get caught up in it and you’re like, ‘Hell, I can’t believe we’re in the Super Bowl!’ We knew we were good enough. You’re playing during the Persian Gulf War, and the intensity was just amazing. We were playing in front of the world, and I’m a part of it. And I’m proud to say that was one of the best games that I played in the NFL, going against [New York’s] Lawrence Taylor and some of the other guys. You wish you can remember more, but you can’t. But it was a lot of fun. That’s the hardest one for me to watch on the TV replays because obviously that one hurts more than any of the others because we did have a chance to win it in the end. We just couldn’t come through."

 

- John Davis, guard

 

 

"[The Super Bowl teams were successful] for a lot of different reasons. I think one of the biggest reasons started with Coach Levy. I think that he had us well prepared. Not only did he have us well prepared, but I think he had his coaching staff well prepared. Everyone got along. I think the parties that we had at Jim’s [Kelly] house after the games and the different things we did out in the public together helped generate a lot of that excitement. It was just that time of year, just that aura that everything was coming together. I think that being able to have that type of a vision and being able to have that type of cohesiveness as a team, that’s what made us so good. You’ve got to have cohesiveness as a team! You don’t have to love each other, but you’ve got to be able to get along with each other and you’ve got to be willing to help one another. When another guy’s not picking up his slack, not only do you help him, but you tell him that he’s got to pick it up, too. They just put together a special group of guys."

 

- Kenneth Davis, running back

 

 

"[That first Super Bowl, XXV, was] probably more than I expected. Everything went so fast it was a blur. We win the AFC Championship Game, and the next thing I know I’m in Tampa. With the media and the fans and families, it was just so confusing. You were almost relieved the day of the game. As hard as it is to play the game of football and especially a Super Bowl, it was a relief! I never dreamed that there would be anything like that.

 

"We were fortunate enough to get to four straight Super Bowls in a time before free agency. You had a chance to

groom young players in a need where you had maybe an older guy that was getting to the end of his career. Now you sign him to a three- or four-year contract, and in the fourth year when he really matures, free agency takes him away from you. We didn’t have to worry about that. I don’t think with the way things are structured in the National Football League today, you could keep a core of players together like we had in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s."

 

- Kent Hull, center

 

 

"I tried to remove myself from all of the distractions. As far as the hoopla was concerned, it lived up to expectations. There’s a lot of excitement surrounding the game. There was a lot going on [prior to Super Bowl XXV] because of the war in Kuwait and Desert Storm and all that. But that was kind of a whirlwind year because, if you recall, they didn’t have a two-week delay before the game. They only had one week between the AFC Championship Game and the Super Bowl. Sunday morning, you’re preparing to play for the AFC championship, and Monday morning you’re in a plane on your way to Tampa. It was exhausting, really. And once I got there, I just tried to remove myself, stay in the motel and watch film and get prepared. But there were a lot of distractions, and I think the team that can be more successful is the team that can eliminate the distractions."

 

- Mark Kelso, safety

 

 

"[That first Super Bowl, XXV,] was an incredible experience, the emotion of the whole thing. It was during Desert Storm, and all that stuff was going on. So that was all stacked up on it also. It was a great time, but at the same time that whole week went by it seemed like in about 12 hours. It just flew by! You kept going, ‘Wait! Slow down! I want to enjoy this a little more.’ [Four consecutive AFC championships] I think is something we can hang our hat on. And although we did not win the Super Bowl, which was our goal and continues to be every player’s goal, we can say we went four times in a row. No one’s ever done that, and no one probably ever will do that. It’s something that we’re very proud of. Yeah, we came up short, and that’s all you can say. But we achieved and accomplished a lot, and we’re proud of what we accomplished."

 

- Pete Metzelaars, tight end

 

 

"Never experiencing anything like that, it was all right. I enjoyed it for a lot of different reasons, for my teammates, my coaches. I just wish the outcome could have been a lot better. Even though we didn’t win, all of us wanted to go out and play hard for each other. There’s one thing about the team: we really cared for each other. All of us are still friends. We might not talk a lot, but we’re still friends to the end. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I enjoyed playing for Buffalo and I enjoyed working for Mr. Wilson. He’s one of the better owners in the NFL."

 

- Nate Odomes, cornerback

 

 

"I didn’t get to play a lot [in that first Super Bowl, XXV]. I played in short-yardage and goal-line situations. During the season I played so much, and once the playoffs rolled around, I didn’t get to play as much as I had hoped. And then the Super Bowl, it was a neat experience to be there, but we didn’t have a week off between like they do so often now. So you really just went right from the championship game; we’re on a plane and there we are. It was fun, but I was so caught up in being a rookie in the NFL, the Super Bowl was just one more event.

 

"I don’t think anybody’s going to that [go to four straight Super Bowls] again. Not in this era. And let’s face it, in the pre-salary cap free-agency era, nobody had done it, so I don’t think anybody can get it done again. It’s too hard to keep your nucleus together, too hard to keep players hungry. A lot of credit goes to Marv Levy for doing that. He kept the team on an even keel, yet always hungering for that next step."

 

- Glenn Parker, guard

 

 

"Number one, we were a highly confident team. My last few years were so different in a lot of ways than those Super Bowl years. During the Super Bowl years, we as a team, as a whole from top to bottom, went into every game and honestly in our hearts knew we were going to win. That was the mentality that we had. There are four areas of football. There’s offense, defense, the kicking game, and special teams. The great players we had on offense – Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed – they knew we had that covered there. The same way with the defense. They knew that whatever happens on this kickoff or that punt, we’ve got good players over there. And we did during those years! We had a lot of really high-caliber players: Dwight Drane, Jamie Mueller, Hal Garner, and Carlton Bailey. You can just go down the list. Each area of football, they knew that the other guys have their back."

 

- Mark Pike, special teams

 

 

"There were a lot of keys. I think the main key was that we wanted to stay together. With free agency and everything that’s going on now, a lot of teams aren’t staying together. A lot of players are moving around. We wanted to stay together, and we knew that we had something special if we just worked at it and got to know each other on the field. That was probably a big reason why a lot of the guys did want to stay with the Bills at that time. We had the nucleus of a team that could be very successful, and we were. I played with some Hall of Fame players, and in order to be a Hall of Fame player, you’ve got to have some people around you also.

 

"We had a good quarterback, a good running back, and a good defensive end. And then we had guys that played a certain kind of role for our team that put us over the top. That was the special part about it, that anybody on any given Sunday could play well and could contribute."

 

- Andre Reed, wide receiver

 

 

"The Super Bowl experience is probably third in my life as to what are the best things that ever happened to me. The first two are my two kids being born. To walk out through that tunnel on Super Bowl [XXV] Sunday and we’re in the Gulf War... When those planes flew over your head with the one missing, you got chill bumps on your arms and legs. The hairs on your arms stood up when you walked out on the field. And then you’ve got millions and millions of people looking at you, watching you play that game. And you think about that. ‘Where else would you rather be than right here, right now?’ to quote Marv.

 

"I look back at it as being a member of one of the gutsiest and the most resilient football teams I’ve ever seen or been around. I’ve never seen so many people that refuse to give in or refuse to bow down or be told what they can do or what they can’t. Even when nobody wanted us to come back, we were like Jason! We just showed up."

 

- Darryl Talley, linebacker

 

 

"We didn’t really get a chance to experience the hoopla and the excitement in Buffalo because about 12 to 14 hours after the championship game against the Raiders was over, we were on a plane [to Tampa for Super Bowl XXV]. We never really got a chance to feel the excitement that the city was feeling. So that was kind of a downer that we missed out on all of that. But other than that, when we got down there, the game and everything was great! All except the part where we lost.

 

"The fact that we went to four straight was very cool, and it was very unique and historic, but I also feel like we never got done what we really wanted to get done. That was win. That was the ultimate goal. We never really got that achieved, although in trying to get there, we went four times in a row, and all of a sudden that was kind of special, too."

 

- Steve Tasker, special teams

 

 

"We had guys who were together for a long period of time. We had guys on our team that knew football. I think that was the bottom line. We knew at certain times what we needed to do as a whole team. We did have our scouting department, but I think the guys that I did play with during those four years, they knew a lot of players and they knew their tendencies. They knew things that they struggled at. I think that was the difference for us being the top team in the AFC for four straight years."

 

- Thurman Thomas, running back

 

 

"I think we jelled as a team as far as getting key players in the right positions. Everything just started meshing, and we realized what we had. Everybody just played their position the best they could. It was awesome! When a team comes together like that, it’s a good feeling for everybody. If you would have told me I’d have a chance to win four Super Bowls, almost five if we didn’t lose to Cincinnati in ‘88, I would have never thought that anybody on one team could get to four Super Bowls in a row. That’s a hard one because you just don’t ever think of that. The Super Bowls were a lot more than I expected. Our first one in ‘90 against the Giants was during Desert Storm. There were a lot of other things out there in the air. We didn’t even know if we were going to have a Super Bowl or not have a Super Bowl. People can say, ‘They went to four straight Super Bowls, but they didn’t win any of them.’ But look at our record. I dare you to find anybody that has a better record than ours in those five years."

 

- Jeff Wright, nose tackle

 

 

Excerpts from my book – “Then Levy Said to Kelly…”

[Buffalo Barbarian]

good work, lets just hope we can build a great TEAM again and win four in a row.

[Chef Jim]

good work, lets just hope we can build a great TEAM again and win four in a row.

 

You mean four games right?

[Just Jack]

My memory is being at college. After the game one guy from Rochester was running up and down the hallways of the dorm laughing/screaming because the Bills lost. He wasn't a Giants fan, he just hated the Bills. Thought about tripping him but didn't because that would be stooping down to his level.

[bbb]

The print version of the News today has a great section on this Super Bowl.

[Cereal]

You mean four games right?

 

Coin tosses

[Buffalo Barbarian]

My memory is being at college. After the game one guy from Rochester was running up and down the hallways of the dorm laughing/screaming because the Bills lost. He wasn't a Giants fan, he just hated the Bills. Thought about tripping him but didn't because that would be stooping down to his level.

 

Tripping would be in poor taste, but throwing him into a crucifix as he went by would have been much more appropriate.