Old Rockpile photos

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

https://buffalonews.com/2014/10/30/gallery1594/

 

 

[BrotherChazz]

Very cool thanks for sharing! I don't think I'd ever seen any pics of it before!

[msw2112]

I was surprised that there were no photos from the Bisons playing there between the departure of the Bills in the early 70's and the opening of (then-called) Pilot Field in 1988.  That's the era of the stadium that I remember most.  Despite this omission, I enjoyed the photos.  I was too young to see the Bills play there, but my father and grandfather used to go to Bills games there in the 60s and early 70s.

[Tisker A Tasker]

These are fantastic!

[brianthomas]

I was lucky enough to be alive when the Rockpile was still in action. I remember not being able to see part of the field due to the support beams being in the way. Looking back on it I'm glad i was able to go to it. Old time stadium right there lol

[plenzmd1]

11 minutes ago, brianthomas said:

I was lucky enough to be alive when the Rockpile was still in action. I remember not being able to see part of the field due to the support beams being in the way. Looking back on it I'm glad i was able to go to it. Old time stadium right there lol

1

So was I...not so sure I think it so lucky to be as old as I am!!!

 

Said it many of times..my first recollection of Bills games are 3 fold

 

1) Having to pay someone $5 to "watch" your car when you parked in the street

 

2) Seeing a kid about the same age as me get his ticket ripped right out from his hand in front of the stadium...to this day my hard tickets were always kept in front pocket with hand over them.

 

3) Begging pops to let us go into the endzone and fight for the balls ..no nets up back then. Never won that argument.

[Roch_Paul]

My father took me to Bisons games as a kid...One of the Bisons teams was a Mets farm club.. As I recall they has Ed Kranepool, Bud Harrelson, Cleon Jones, Ron Swoboda.. all critical to the Met miracle world series win later on. I saw those guys in Buffalo .. had autographs from all... wish I still had that stuff!

[4_kidd_4]

Love that they saved some of the gate facade in place. Should have done the same with the Aud’s main entrance.

 

 

[Bisonbreath123]

I grew up in the Rockpile. I was around 12-15 years old in the mid 60s and fought (got the crap beat out of me by adults) trying to get XP's and FG's that went into the Dodge street endzone seats. This was in the days before they put nets up to stop the footballs and Genesse beers in bottles! were sold by the case.......Yes, by the CASE !!!  I actually had 6 footballs in my hands but only got out of the stadium with 1 as the cops took back 5 and gave them away to their person of choice. The football I got out of the stadium with was called "The Duke" and it was the ball that was shared the NFL and AFL as it was close to the 2 leagues merging. Like a dumb pre-teen, i played catch and touch football in the streets with neighborhood kids, left it in the yard and <poof> it disappeared. My bad but kids do stupid things.

It was a great time to grow up being a Bills fan in the old Rockpile and 50 years later I cherish the memories.

[Tisker A Tasker]

This one is gold!

https://buffalonews.com/2014/10/30/gallery1594/#image=17

[SoCal Deek]

Went many a game there as a kid, including the final game against the Lions which I think ended in a tie...and I remember freezing my butt off.

 

I love the photos from before they added the sideline grandstand. It was actually a rather handsome looking bowl before that column infested monstrosity was added.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

...looks like The Rockpile Beerman has put on some weight......

[dwight in philly]

i have disclosed before that i was 8 when i saw my first Bills  game in 1960. . that old place always held a place in my heart. i went to AA Bisons  games in 1980 and beyond just to get a chance to go in there again

[BearNorth]

I was lucky enough to see Cookie set the pro football record for Rushing and score 5TD's in a quagmire [aka mosh pit] at the Rockpile.  I also sat through the debacle of the '63 playoff loss to the patriots in a bleacher seat that was formed by pressing a garbage can into the foot of snow that had fallen.  My HS got to play there in the baseball playoffs in 1965.  Toss up as to whether the Rockpile or the LA Coliseum was the worst baseball stadium of all time.  Right field was about 265 with a very high screen.

[Mickey]

How much cooler would it be if the stadium in Orchard Park was called "The Rockpile" instead of "New Era Field"? 

[ColoradoBills]

2 hours ago, Bisonbreath123 said:

I grew up in the Rockpile. I was around 12-15 years old in the mid 60s and fought (got the crap beat out of me by adults) trying to get XP's and FG's that went into the Dodge street endzone seats. This was in the days before they put nets up to stop the footballs and Genesse beers in bottles! were sold by the case.......Yes, by the CASE !!!  I actually had 6 footballs in my hands but only got out of the stadium with 1 as the cops took back 5 and gave them away to their person of choice. The football I got out of the stadium with was called "The Duke" and it was the ball that was shared the NFL and AFL as it was close to the 2 leagues merging. Like a dumb pre-teen, i played catch and touch football in the streets with neighborhood kids, left it in the yard and <poof> it disappeared. My bad but kids do stupid things.

It was a great time to grow up being a Bills fan in the old Rockpile and 50 years later I cherish the memories.

 

A good friend of mine John ("Rocky") got a "Duke" in the rockpile around '69 or so.

That thing was like a "holy relic" for us when we played with it.

 

Thanks for the memory!

[Marv's Neighbor]

Great pics and greater memories.  It had the sole distinction of being a terrible place to watch sports, any and all sports.  Kind of like a miniature LA Coliseum.  Built for track, used for everything else.

[Shaw66]

Thanks for posting this.  Great memories.   I, too, am happy they preserved  pieces of the stadium.   

[RevWarRifleman]

Wow! Thanks for the memories, and thanks for researching & posting.

 

I was at that Sept 11, '67 game.  Just graduated from HS in June, and waiting to go in the Air Force. We (me, my brother & a friend) went to see the Bills play

 

against Namath & the Jets. It was a beautiful late-summer day. 

[Augie]

5 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

So was I...not so sure I think it so lucky to be as old as I am!!!

 

Said it many of times..my first recollection of Bills games are 3 fold

 

1) Having to pay someone $5 to "watch" your car when you parked in the street

 

2) Seeing a kid about the same age as me get his ticket ripped right out from his hand in front of the stadium...to this day my hard tickets were always kept in front pocket with hand over them.

 

3) Begging pops to let us go into the endzone and fight for the balls ..no nets up back then. Never won that argument.

 

You are a mere child. 

 

1) So some guy got your car, PLUS $5? 

 

2) Seeing my 10 year old buddy’s (my “guest”) program get ripped from his hands by some enormous man in the rest room at a Chiefs game. 

 

3) My dad separated me from our “good” seats, so he could sit with his buddy who had end zones. I was with a fellow 10 year old, alone in his buddy’s cheap seats on a rainy day. (Our seasons were under cover.)  They allowed umbrellas back then. No nets, but they allowed umbrellas. We could rarely SEE the game, but we got trampled by drunken adults every time the ball got anywhere near us. YAY! 

 

On a trip back for a game years ago, my buddy drove me back to the hotel and went by the old stadium site. It was actually VERY cool just to see the entry still standing.