How Long Have You Been A Bills Fan And When Did You Know?

[seq004]

1970 The rookie year for oj I also met him that year in Little League.

[BuffaloWings]

Born in Jamestown in 1971 and my dad was a big fan. Once I was old enough to understand football, it was during the Steelers' Superbowl runs in the late 70s, so I attached myself more to the Steelers than to the Bills. When I moved to Albany in 1985, I became a mini-Giants fan, but also still liked Buffalo & Pittsburgh.

 

I quit the Giants thing once Kelly, Thurman, & Bruce came in. I was still on the Steelers wagon for a bit, but didn't care about them as I watched the Bills become better. I never looked back since 1988.

 

Now I can't stand either the Steelers or Giants.

 

I'll always be a Buffalo fan.

[Optometric Insight]

11 years; The first game I watched was when the Bills played the Dolphins in 2002 during that snowstorm, its actually one of my earliest memories. I didn't start to track/listen/watch every single game till I was 10 though.

 

You guys always complain that you haven't watched the Bills play in a playoff game for what seems like a lifetime. Well, I've literally never seen the Bills in a playoff game for a lifetime, so you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.

[Marv's Neighbor]

Been a fan since the franchise started. Always enjoyed the team and the players. Remember the practices at the Camelot Motor Inn and later Niagara U, which was handy, because I graduated from there in '69 Moved away in '70, to N Virginia. Tried to like the Redskins but couldn't go to a game because RFK was solid Season Tickets, so no seats available. Eventually noticed that I was missing the Rockpile, and the fellow fans, something that no other place could ever duplicate. Moved on to Seattle, Houston and Chicago but always remained a BILLS Fan. Met a lot of great BILLS Fans in the other cities too I know that there are a lot of us around, who left BUF for a job but it's still always home.

[peterlaw]

1988. The start of the run. Intrigued by a small market team from a place I never knew existed. Passionate fans. Ripping down the goal posts. Listening to games in the UK on the Armed Forces Radio Network. Supporting the underdog has always had an appeal for me. First game for me was the Tampa Superbowl.

 

Proud to say that I have seen the Bills win on the road in Boston, Miami & Seattle. Great times. Alas I have also witnessed the disappointments in Tampa, Minneapolis, Pasadena & Atlanta. It's in the blood now. Hooked for life. Go Bills.

[Nitro]

I come from a family of sports fans. I recall watching the Bills play in the AFL championship in 65. My brother was 4 and I 5 and we had to shuttle beers and chips from the kitchen. I was hooked and have been a fan since. Games at the Rockpile. Watching OJ run wild for 2,000 yards. Sitting in the rain to watch them play in 77 a bad Atlanta team to a 3-0 victory. The thrill of winning a game against NE on a Hail Mary pass when the stadium was almost empty. Celebrating my 20th birthday at Rich Stadium (sorry, still Rich to me) with my mom and watching the Bills beat Miami for the first time in a decade. Hundreds of more memories. I am and always will be a Buffalo Bills fan.

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

The 1988 game vs the jets. 9-6 win in OT, Smearlas FG blocks, everyone spilling their guts to win..... That was the game as a 14 year old, that hooked me for life. I havent stopped bleeding the red and blue ever since... No matter how bad they've been.

[BillnutinHouston]

Born in South Buffalo and it goes back as far as I can recall. Had cousins in Hamburg and as a 5-6 year old I recall being intrigued that they lived in the shadow of the stadium. My first game was Bills-Colts, Fergy vs. Bert Jones in 1977, a freezing November day. Even though they lost, I was permanently hooked.

[Bufcomments]

I went to my first Bills game back in the Rockpile back in 1972. I was 8 yrs old. My father had to work that day and he gave 2 tickets to my Mom and said enjoy the game. I overheard the convo , ran into the room and said Mom what you waiting for lets go.

 

We lived about 3 very long city blocks away from the stadium. So we walked to the Rockpile, it was raining a bit. I was just happy to be going to the game. I could always heard the cheers anytime they scored when they played for about 4 yrs and by this point I was dying to see what the hell these grown ass people was yelling about. Little did I know I was being slowly sucked in by the power of Pro Football.

 

Anyway we had some pretty good seats. 15 rows up on the Bills side on the 20 yrd line. Never will forget. Saw OJ score on a 94 yd TD run. That was it for me, hook ,line and sinker. I mean it was like OJ shot out of a cannon he got up the field so fast. My Mom was talking about the play the whole walk home. We lost but it was a good game to watch. Franco Harris scored 3 times. Bobby Chandler scored 2 twice. I remember really enjoying the game even tho we lost.

 

I think after that game is when my love for the Bills because full blown. That's when I really started to get into not just the Bills, but the Steelers and Raiders as well. Since then I have been watching Bills games with a passion.

[NobesBLO13]

1984 the day I was born when my dad left the hospital to see the Bills play the Seahawks in a preseason game.

[School 62]

Attended the day they played their first game at War Memorial Stadium right after they changed the name from Civic Stadium. Got off the #12 East Utica bus at the Jefferson Ave. stop, walked a few blocks past residences with men with folded newspapers waving drivers to park cars on their front lawns for a couple of bucks. My dad and brothers bought the cheapest tickets and were awed by the improvements to the stadium (last time we were there was for stock car races), the greeness of the field and the size of the players! I was twelve. Even at that age, I knew that with a coach named Buster Ramsey, we were not bound to be good, any too soon. I delivered the Courier-Express from 1959-1962 and read every Bill's article. It amazes me, looking back, that the Bills actually began their long run on the Eastside, my childhood home, but so working class and so not Orchard Park. It has been 48 years since I saw a live Bill's game. My brother and I and our sons have tickets for the Carolina game in September. We will fly in from Portland and Ashland, Oregon, Westchester County, New York and Edgewater, FL. to down a beef on weck with a Jenny and tell lies in Orchard Park. Will we visit Jefferson and Best Sts and lay a wreath for the Old Man? We might.

[jimmyjack88]

1976 When mcdonalds gave those FAKE autograph pictures away. I had Fergy, OJ and Chandler collected. First game was 1980 vs Rams. Nick McMyer Kicked late Field Goal> Bills won 10 -9. I sat with my brother in the very corner seats in the last row. Rams side, Tunnel end.Never have I been so wet and cold at a Bills game,. I was 14

Edited June 28, 2013 by jimmyjack88

[Gasjuggler]

I started in '64 as my name indicates.

 

My first inkling of what being a Bills fan would be like should have come when I saw this game on TV, which is the earliest game I can remember: http://www.pro-footb...96701010buf.htm

 

This was the AFL championship game, and the winner played in Super Bowl I

 

The Bills played the Chiefs 3 times that year, and the visiting team won every game. Interestingly, aside from a tie with San Diego and one 7 point game, every other game that year was a blowout.

 

Super Bowl I was in 1967. 1964 was for the AFL Championship Bills vs Bolts.

[Bills Fan since '64]

I was at the first game at Rich stadium sitting in the upper deck and watching buses roling into the parking lot in the 3rd quarter. Parking, etc. was a disaster for a while for sure! Hope springs eternal though, and I look forward to celebrating our first Superbowl win.

I was at that game too. Anyone remember the first play of that first game (pre-season vs. Washington)? Bills kick off, Washington runs it back for a touchdown. Figures.

 

And by the way, Ralph and Erie County were still fighting over the name of the stadium. He wanted to call it the Home of the Buffalo Bills and offered to match Rich's sponsorship offer. By the time of that first game the stadium still hadn't been named, and the first game souvenir memorabilia all said "Home of the Buffalo Bills."

 

Super Bowl I was in 1967. 1964 was for the AFL Championship Bills vs Bolts.

 

I was a fan since 64. My first inking of what it meant to be a Bills fan was in 67. So I was a slow learner, wanna make something of it?

[mousetrap08]

Ha! black & white TV's! Painted my first football helmet white to be a Bills helmet. Then made Buffaloes out of black electric tape, cuz that's what 'color' they were. 1st time I saw the red buffalo I thought 'that's not the Bills logo!...'

 

 

 

I remember you posted many of his covers when he passed. I have them in my private picture collection. They're classic!

Hey Chandler81 you probably know my dad from working at FW his name is Leland B.

[Bills fan since 87]

In 1987 I was 11 years old and it was the first year I put down the GI Joes and Transformers and really started paying attention to sports.

 

My dad and grandfather were Giants fans but I wanted to be different. Here was this team from what I then thought was a funny sounding city making a push towards the playoffs. Being from the Adirondacks then we got the Syracuse news stations (I only had 3 channels at that time!) And that season was a special year for Cuse football too (11-0-1). I remember looking forward to every weekend to see if the Orange would win again and if that team from Buffalo could win.........It was the next year though I was cemented in. I vaguely recall the regular season games (the home opener vs the Vikings, losing at Chicago, that odd game in Tampa and of course fandamonium!) but vividly remember running up stairs to cry when they lost to Cincinnati and Icky Woods in the AFC championship. I was locked in. Funny how a loss seems to be the defining point of early fanhood for many.

 

So many years have since passed. 4 super bowls, a tattoo, more tears, so many great Sundays and this year for the first time season tickets. Only Syracuse Basketball rivals my passion, commitment and love for Buffalo Bills football. Until the day I die I will proudly say GO BILLS!

[Homey D. Clown]

Monday, October 12th 1981 Bills Vs. Dolphish was the first time I was allowed to stay up late to watch MNF with my Dad, then against the Washington redskins at home was my very first game, my Dad took me, we won 21-14, and from then on the Bills were a part of my life. I started clipping every Bills picture in the paper and taping them to my wall. I did that religiously till the helmet change.

[Chandler#81]

Attended the day they played their first game at War Memorial Stadium right after they changed the name from Civic Stadium. Got off the #12 East Utica bus at the Jefferson Ave. stop, walked a few blocks past residences with men with folded newspapers waving drivers to park cars on their front lawns for a couple of bucks. My dad and brothers bought the cheapest tickets and were awed by the improvements to the stadium (last time we were there was for stock car races), the greeness of the field and the size of the players! I was twelve. Even at that age, I knew that with a coach named Buster Ramsey, we were not bound to be good, any too soon. I delivered the Courier-Express from 1959-1962 and read every Bill's article. It amazes me, looking back, that the Bills actually began their long run on the Eastside, my childhood home, but so working class and so not Orchard Park. It has been 48 years since I saw a live Bill's game. My brother and I and our sons have tickets for the Carolina game in September. We will fly in from Portland and Ashland, Oregon, Westchester County, New York and Edgewater, FL. to down a beef on weck with a Jenny and tell lies in Orchard Park. Will we visit Jefferson and Best Sts and lay a wreath for the Old Man? We might.

 

Great story! Enjoy the game!

 

Hey Chandler81 you probably know my dad from working at FW his name is Leland B.

 

Wow! Yes, I remember Leland. I'm pretty sure I didn't know he was the Bills artist, though. Your Dad was a fine man!

[Helpmenow]

I remember riding a bus from sunnysides on transit and clinton, thinking where is the rockpile. Holy cow this is where it is. I was seven.

[Chandler#81]

I remember riding a bus from sunnysides on transit and clinton, thinking where is the rockpile. Holy cow this is where it is. I was seven.

 

Yep. Local Fire Companies in NT ran excursions back then and as we got downtown, the driver would tell us to put the windows up and be ready to duck! Still, it was great experiences!