Your Bills Fanhood

[The Real Buffalo Joe]

With all the bickering going on about McBeane, Peterman, etc, TBD has been quite tense the last few days. More than usual I'd say. So I thought I'd start a thread to cool everybody down. Three questions.

 

1. How did you become a Bills fan?
2. What do you love most about The Bills? 
3. What's your favorite memory as a fan?

Edited October 17, 2018 by The Real Buffalo Joe

[Fadingpain]

1. Being born in Buffalo with a father who was a rabid sports fan.

2. I love watching a game unfold on Sunday for 3 hours.

3. The moment the clock ended and we beat the Raiders 51-3 in the 1990 AFC Championship game.  It was the high water mark of this franchise, IMO, and at that moment we were clearly the best team in the NFL; I was confident we would win the Superbowl, and that was my "perfect moment" in decades of fanhood.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 18, 2018 by Fadingpain

[Gugny]

1. How did you become a Bills fan? - BUF/NYG Super Bowl.  I told my friends I was flipping a coin.  Heads, I root for Buffalo; Tails, I root for NY ... and that I would remain a fan of that team forever.  It landed on Heads.
2. What do you love most about The Bills? - Being a fan has allowed me to meet a lot of nice people and even form some close friendships.
3. What's your favorite memory as a fan? - The day Tyrod Taylor was traded.  And no ... I'm not kidding.

[thurst44]

9 minutes ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

How did you become a Bills fan?'

I grew up in NYC in the 70s & 80s. My whole family was from Buffalo, and I loved sports from an early age, so I grew to love the Bills. I followed them without knowing what was really going on. I remember Joes Cribbs & Ferguson but not much else. My fandom was cemented in the 2-14 seasons. I was at camp, in the Jersey wilderness (it exists!) on a long hike, listening to sports radio on my Walkman when a news flash cut into an interview with the Jets' Nuu Faaola to announce that Kelly was signed, and I was pretty well hooked from there. I went to UB for the four Super Bowl years, the first game I saw live was 51-3, so there was no going back then.

9 minutes ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

1. What do you love most about The Bills? 

The sense of camaraderie among the fans, the resilience, the fact that you can find Bills bars in most cities (I know of at least 5 alone in the NYC metro area). I also love the fact the stars are so connected to the city, and often choose to stay (even if they publicly mocked it before). I'm also a sucker for an underdog story, so the Bills clearly fit that bill.

9 minutes ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

1. What's your favorite memory as a fan?

- Well, 51-3 comes to mind...riding back with my family, hearing Matt Bahr kick the field goal to set up a Super Bowl I was so sure we'd win. 

- Watching the Comeback at my aunt's in NYC after a last-minute decision to not head back to Buffalo before the game, savoring the victory on ESPN for hours of Chris Berman overexuberance.

-  Exiting the NYC Bills Bar to the approach of riot police after the 2011 victory over the Pats -- few other teams, if any, could summon a near riot in another NFL city after a regular season win.

- 

[PearlHowardman]

1.  I'm from Syracuse, New York so the Buffalo Bills are the natural/logical/geographical NFL team to follow.  I know many local Bills fans who travel to Bills home games.  

2.  Their past history - decades ago.

3.  I honestly can't think of a favorite memory.  It's been decades since they did anything.  Too many other things have happened in my life since then.

 

 

[stevestojan]

1) I was Born 

2) keeps me in touch with my Dad 

3) So many, and I know this is current, but I can’t remember feeling such utter joy as NYE when Dalton made that pass. 

[billsfan5121]

1: Bills/Redskins SB.  I am from, and still live in VA. Everyone is Redskins or Cowboys down here.  When we played Washington, everyone was pulling for Washington.  So I took the underdog and it stuck.  Which leads to #2.

 

2: What I love most is probably the underdog mentality of the team and fans.  Sort of an “us against the world” mentality.  We love our team.  We love the city (myself included despite never living in buffalo).  The constant hope and dreaming of what it would be like to win it all.  I often wonder if we win the SB, would my passion diminish a bit, because what else is left?

 

3:  I have a few.  Most of the playoff years of the late 80s and 90s was while I was a child to early teen years.  This was prior to Sunday Ticket and I was too young to have my dad (redskins fan who can watch on local broadcast anyways) to take me to a bar.  So one of my favorite memories was when we went up against the Titans.  That obviously ended poorly.  Second, landing Bledsoe.  I thought we’d have a quality QB for the first part of my adult fan hood.  Third, 31-0 against NE.  I thought I was about to see a great season with a great team, and I was finally able to start watching every game.  Fourth, the 6 game winning streak in 2004.  What a comeback to the season, then that went up in flames.  Finally, making the playoffs last year and the videos that followed.  Never met a single person from the videos and they all felt like family. 

[Buffalo716]

1) everyone in my family is a Bills fan... there is no options. You are born into it

 

2) the sense of camaraderie between fans and the team. The Bills and packers are the only 2 NFL cities with a Real Bond to their team

 

3) The day I bought my first season tickets

[Success]

1.  I grew up in WNY and was basically born a Bills fan

2.  The thing I love most is the fans.  It has been a collective experience like no other, and we all have this weird and pretty amazing bond as a result.  I don’t think many other fan bases can relate - maybe Cubs until a few years ago, or Browns fans.

3. Like the other poster - that win over the Raiders for the 1st trip to the SB. I thought we were invincible.  

[iinii]

My favorite moment was when the big fellas came out to seal the 31-0 against NE in ‘03. Sam Adams had  rumbled, stumbled, bumbled his way to paydirt after a pick also. It was opening day, we were in first in the division and all was right with the world.

[JM57]

34 minutes ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

With all the bickering going on about McBeane, Peterman, etc, TBD has been quite tense the last few days. More than usual I'd say. So I thought I'd start a thread to cool everybody down. Three questions.

 

1. How did you become a Bills fan?
2. What do you love most about The Bills? 
3. What's your favorite memory as a fan?

1. Born and raised here

 

2. The way they hurt me in a new way each and every year, so it always feela new

 

3. I remember they had a good offense with Bledsoe one year. That was nice. Also when I bought my seasons in December 2014. 

 

 

Edited October 17, 2018 by JM57

[Over 29 years of fanhood]

25 minutes ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

With all the bickering going on about McBeane, Peterman, etc, TBD has been quite tense the last few days. More than usual I'd say. So I thought I'd start a thread to cool everybody down. Three questions.

 

1. How did you become a Bills fan?
2. What do you love most about The Bills? 
3. What's your favorite memory as a fan?

1. Buffalo born, started watching in 87 & was hooked.  Became a family event over the next decade

2. Mental toughness. Enduring the pain of rooting for this team has really bolstered my mental fortitude 

3. Seeing Thurman fly like Superman to catch a deep sideline ball, & tailgating with my sons, brother father and grandfather ... 4 generations of bills fans 

[freddyjj]

39 minutes ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

With all the bickering going on about McBeane, Peterman, etc, TBD has been quite tense the last few days. More than usual I'd say. So I thought I'd start a thread to cool everybody down. Three questions.

 

1. How did you become a Bills fan?
2. What do you love most about The Bills? 
3. What's your favorite memory as a fan?

1.  Grew up in a BUF family that went to mass together , then had a late Irish fry breakfast and watched the Bills at 1pm.  

2.  I love how the Bills draw our community together - creed, race, politics or gender do not matter!

3.  Beating the Fins in the 80 opener after 20 straight losses.  Fergie to Roosevelt leaks for the TD!

[LSHMEAB]

My Mom is from Buffalo and I'm from Detroit. I was 10 when we made our first SuperBowl run, so I was hooked. The Lions made that decision an easy one.

 

I love that the Bills are so overlooked and dismissed. I'm proud to remain loyal to a struggling franchise. I actually enjoy the crazy, dismissive looks I get when I say I'm a Bills fan as all the idiots discuss their fierce loyalty to the Patriots or the Eagles which will evaporate as soon as they start to decline.

 

Favorite memory is an odd one. I was a big Rob Johnson fan and when he won that game at KC with a run, I thought we'd found the answer at QB.

[msw2112]

1.  I was born and raised in Buffalo and am a huge sports fan.  My grandfather and father were/are also Bills fans.

 

2.  The bonds created from being a Bills fan are second to none.  It connects me to many family and friends who live all over the country, and it is often the perfect excuse to meet in various cities for road Bills games.  If we are not traveling, we connect on Sundays via text message.  I made numerous friends at the Bills bars in Chicago when I lived there and I have also gone to Bills bars in various cities while traveling and the camaraderie among everyone is amazing.  No matter where in the country you go, you are always welcome.  Most recently, I was at Octoberfest in Germany last week and wore a Bills hat to see what would happen.  Sure enough, I got a shout out.  From out of nowhere, I heard someone yell "Bills Mafia!"

 

3.  I have several.  I was at the "Greatest Comeback" game and decided to stay for the 2nd half.  Enough said.  There was also a home game against the Broncos in 1990 when the Bills were down 14-0 and scored 3 times in less than 2 minutes (blocked kick for TD, pick 6, etc.) - it is the loudest and craziest I have ever seen the stadium.  https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/9/30/1703600/september-30-1990-bills-score-20-points-in-77-seconds  I also have a lasting memory way back in the early 80s, when lots of home games were blacked out.  My brother, friends and I would play touch football in the street and listen to the Van Miller broadcast on a portable radio.  One such Sunday we beat the Pats on a hail mary pass from Joe Ferguson to Roland Hooks.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Hooks .  I have many others, but these are the top ones!  

 

I would be curious to know if anyone else on the board has memories of these last 2 games that I mentioned (the "Greatest Comeback" game goes without saying).

Edited October 17, 2018 by msw2112

[Haslett_Stomp]

1.  My dad took a job with Graphic Controls in 1975 and moved the family to WNY.

 

2.  I can't help it, they're in my blood 

 

3.  Even though we lived a few miles from Rich Stadium, being able to hear the announcer from our backyard in OP if the wind was blowing in the right direction.  As for a specific game, the 1990 AFC Championship game.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Haslett_Stomp

[Success]

12 minutes ago, msw2112 said:

1.  I was born and raised in Buffalo and am a huge sports fan.  My grandfather and father were/are also Bills fans.

 

2.  The bonds created from being a Bills fan are second to none.  It connects me to many family and friends who live all over the country, and it is often the perfect excuse to meet in various cities for road Bills games.  If we are not traveling, we connect on Sundays via text message.  I made numerous friends at the Bills bars in Chicago when I lived there and I have also gone to Bills bars in various cities while traveling and the camaraderie among everyone is amazing.  No matter where in the country you go, you are always welcome.  Most recently, I was at Octoberfest in Germany last week and wore a Bills hat to see what would happen.  Sure enough, I got a shout out.  From out of nowhere, I heard someone yell "Bills Mafia!"

 

3.  I have several.  I was at the "Greatest Comeback" game and decided to stay for the 2nd half.  Enough said.  There was also a home game against the Broncos in 1990 when the Bills were down 14-0 and scored 3 times in less than 2 minutes (blocked kick for TD, pick 6, etc.) - it is the loudest and craziest I have ever seen the stadium.  https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/9/30/1703600/september-30-1990-bills-score-20-points-in-77-seconds  I also have a lasting memory way back in the early 80s, when lots of home games were blacked out.  My brother, friends and I would play touch football in the street and listen to the Van Miller broadcast on a portable radio.  One such Sunday we beat the Pats on a hail mary pass from Joe Ferguson to Roland Hooks.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Hooks .  I have many others, but these are the top ones!  

 

I would be curious to know if anyone else on the board has memories of these last 2 games that I mentioned (the "Greatest Comeback" game goes without saying).

I remember exactly where I was in that Denver game...a bar in Boston, of all places.  That game turned around so fast, and really showed how explosive that team was.  Playmakers everywhere.

[BillsInWilmingtonNC]

1 hour ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

With all the bickering going on about McBeane, Peterman, etc, TBD has been quite tense the last few days. More than usual I'd say. So I thought I'd start a thread to cool everybody down. Three questions.

 

1. How did you become a Bills fan?
2. What do you love most about The Bills? 
3. What's your favorite memory as a fan?

1.  I was born into this

 

2.  I love that they always leave me wanting more from them.... But really, I can't get enough Bills, between the Draft, Free Agency, Preseason, Regular Season, even Playoffs last year, and then Embedded this year I just can't get enough Bills coverage/info, I'm addicted to it.

 

3.  By farrrrrr the best memory I have is the exact moment we made the playoffs last year, it was the first time we have made the playoffs since I can even remember watching the Bills, I didn't get to be part of the Kelly years

[Jukester]

1. My family moved to Cheektowaga in 1980 when i was 9. My dad had started following football and I was hooked. Those were the days of Fergy, Cribbs, Lewis, Smerlas, Haslett, etc...  Been a lifelong Bills fan since, even after moving away as an adult

2. Tough question.  Probably the identity they give to the community. We live and die by every game.

3.  a)  51-3 clincher for the first super bowl - was in college at the time but that feeling of knowing we were going to the show remains priceless

      b)  Comeback game - i was at this game... til the end

      c)  Division clincher in 88 against the Jets where i was on the field postgame as we tore the goal posts down and passed a piece up to RW's box

 

 

25 minutes ago, msw2112 said:

3.  I have several.  I was at the "Greatest Comeback" game and decided to stay for the 2nd half.  Enough said.  There was also a home game against the Broncos in 1990 when the Bills were down 14-0 and scored 3 times in less than 2 minutes (blocked kick for TD, pick 6, etc.) - it is the loudest and craziest I have ever seen the stadium.  https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/9/30/1703600/september-30-1990-bills-score-20-points-in-77-seconds  I also have a lasting memory way back in the early 80s, when lots of home games were blacked out.  My brother, friends and I would play touch football in the street and listen to the Van Miller broadcast on a portable radio.  One such Sunday we beat the Pats on a hail mary pass from Joe Ferguson to Roland Hooks.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_Hooks .  I have many others, but these are the top ones!  

 

I would be curious to know if anyone else on the board has memories of these last 2 games that I mentioned (the "Greatest Comeback" game goes without saying).

 

The Fergy to Hooks game was my first live game ever.  I was little and too many people standing so didn't really see it but the celebration was awesome

I remember the broncos game fondly - Biscuit's first game where he terrorized Elway non-stop.

[chaccof]

1 hour ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

With all the bickering going on about McBeane, Peterman, etc, TBD has been quite tense the last few days. More than usual I'd say. So I thought I'd start a thread to cool everybody down. Three questions.

 

1. How did you become a Bills fan?
2. What do you love most about The Bills? 
3. What's your favorite memory as a fan?

1.  Born in Buffalo to an extended family that got together every Sunday and the men sat around watching the Bills, what choice did I have (this started in the 60's FWIW)?

2.  That they represent my hometown; if they moved I'd stop rooting for them like I did the Buffalo Braves

3.  1) going to a game on my 13th birthday with my dad and cousin and seeing Tom Dempsey miss a chip shot FG saving a Bills victory and 2) the comeback after I had given up on the team and went to play golf and then catching the last five minutes of regulation and OT 

[ColoradoBills]

1 hour ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

With all the bickering going on about McBeane, Peterman, etc, TBD has been quite tense the last few days. More than usual I'd say. So I thought I'd start a thread to cool everybody down. Three questions.

 

1. How did you become a Bills fan?
2. What do you love most about The Bills? 
3. What's your favorite memory as a fan?

 

1.  Genetics.  Born into it.

2.  It's more of a "battered wife syndrome".  I can't quit them.

3.  Walking into the old "Rockpile" for the 1st time with my old man.

[mead107]

1- Friends all Giants  and Jets fans.  I wanted to be different back in high school. ?

2- The friendships that have been made over the years. 

3- I can rembermember on the Jumbotron the Bills showing a sign being lowered over the side of a building downtown that said We’re Back. My daughter was with me. 

 

[row_33]

1 hour ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

With all the bickering going on about McBeane, Peterman, etc, TBD has been quite tense the last few days. More than usual I'd say. So I thought I'd start a thread to cool everybody down. Three questions.

 

1. How did you become a Bills fan?
2. What do you love most about The Bills? 
3. What's your favorite memory as a fan?

 

 

1.  got to stay up late to watch MNF in 1973 with Dad, Juice put the hurt on the Chiefs, no looking back

 

2.  it's an honest franchise, reps the city and it's people well, Jim Kelly fit right in

 

3.  any Sunday driving down on GameDay, even knowing about 80% of the time it wasn't going to be a good game, the Kelly Era was most of the other 20% of the time

 

 

 

 

[ColoradoBills]

6 minutes ago, chaccof said:

1.  Born in Buffalo to an extended family that got together every Sunday and the men sat around watching the Bills, what choice did I have (this started in the 60's FWIW)?

2.  That they represent my hometown; if they moved I'd stop rooting for them like I did the Buffalo Braves

3.  1) going to a game on my 13th birthday with my dad and cousin and seeing Tom Dempsey miss a chip shot FG saving a Bills victory and 2) the comeback after I had given up on the team and went to play golf and then catching the last five minutes of regulation and OT 

 

I was at that game.  Bills had a kickoff return TD that game!

[CLTbills]

1. My mom grew up in a little small town in western Kansas, and went to high school with a guy named Steve Tasker. The same year she moved back to NY with my Dad (who actually grew up a Cowboys fan, but died a DIE-HARD Bills fan) was the same year Steve signed with the Bills. We used to go out to OP on Sundays to watch Steve play. I have pictures of my brother and I in the locker room with Steve when we were little, and with Thurman and all of those early 90's guys, although I don't remember it. So, you could say that I was literally born into it.

2. I love how the Bills are always the epitome of a blue-collar town. Not high profile, hard work.

3. My favorite memory actually ended up a loss... but it was sitting in the stands vs. the Cowboys on MNF in 2007. We had season tickets 3 rows from the field. What an atmosphere the Ralph was that night. It was a hell of a lot of fun for about 59 minutes of football.

[Augie]

1) I was born into it. My family had season tickets going back to the mid-60’s when I was very young. (Despite what @plenzmd1 might tell you.) In third grade I would walk home from school to a friend’s house, Jack Kemps son. Later my sister used to babysit players kids. I remember watching a game from Butch Byrd’s living room on his TV with his son. It goes way back.

 

2) What I love the most is how it is a bond that ties my family together. My father, myself, my sons, even my grandson. Nothing better than that, ever. 

 

3) Best memory is tough, but I can narrow it to 51-3, the Comeback game (at a friends house who foolishly thought he was going to watch Kentucky basketball after halftime) and the Raiders Monday Night game, sitting in the parking lot with a glow warming  my heart trying to believe what I’d just seen. (The Bengals snow game was pretty cool, too.) 

[DuckyBoys]

Moved to Buffalo as age 7 and lived there from 1977 to early 1980 before we moved to St Petersburg Fl after three miserable winters .  Bills were on tv so that is the team I got into.  I can still remember my buddies being jealous because the year we were moving the Bucs had just made the playoffs  Of course in 1980 the Bills made the playoffs and the Bucs returned to being the NFL's doormat til the Glazers bought them many many years later.  40+ years later still watching and hopefull!  Only sport that I have any emotional investment in.  Used to be really into the Celtics but after the Bird/Magic/Jordan era ended I just watch casually  Probably a good thing as the Bills wear me out

[chaccof]

38 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

I was at that game.  Bills had a kickoff return TD that game!

Were you the guy in the Bill's hat and shirt?  I think I remember seeing you.

[BUFFALOKIE]

2 hours ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

With all the bickering going on about McBeane, Peterman, etc, TBD has been quite tense the last few days. More than usual I'd say. So I thought I'd start a thread to cool everybody down. Three questions.

 

1. How did you become a Bills fan?
2. What do you love most about The Bills? 
3. What's your favorite memory as a fan?

1. I inherited my Bill's fandom from my okie father, who lived in Buffalo only for his junior in high school at Kenmore East, who knocked up my Buffalo native mother.

 

2. Bill's fans.

 

3. Our last win???

 

 

[Enemarty]

1.  Born and raised in Buffalo; father was a crazed Bills fan. 

2.  The fellowship.  I left Buffalo years ago and my childhood friends are spread all over the country, but the Bills keep us together.  It used to be phone calls, now it's texting.  This is probably true of every team, but what I find interesting about Bills fans is the common bond that immediately forms between complete strangers when you realize you are both Bills fans.  There is something about having lived through 0 for the 70's, Four consecutive losses, and Ralph Wilson that can allow folks without much else in common to become instant friends.

3.  Too many.  Of course, being at Rich for 51-3 was special.  I was also at the Comeback, and the 22 points, and the first clincher over the Jets with the goal posts carried to Ralph's box, and the home opener earlier that year against Minny when we walked out on a spectacular day thinking this year is the year the Bills will arrive on the national scene, turned the car on and the 10,000 Maniacs came screaming out of the radio confirming for us that destiny was calling.  Even my first live game, against Philly in 73 when Tom Dempsey, holder of the 63 yard field goal record lined up with seconds left to take the 20-something yard field goal for the Eagles - - and shanked it, giving Buffalo the win.  And of course, sharing so many of these and other Bills moments with my dad.

[Dablitzkrieg]

1.  Jim Kelly game winner in '89

2.  Nothing during the drought, fell for them in the '90's and the disease remains with me

3.  51-3

[ctetta]

3 hours ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

With all the bickering going on about McBeane, Peterman, etc, TBD has been quite tense the last few days. More than usual I'd say. So I thought I'd start a thread to cool everybody down. Three questions.

 

1. How did you become a Bills fan?
2. What do you love most about The Bills? 
3. What's your favorite memory as a fan?

 

1. I got a transistor radio for my 11th birthday and became fascinated by radio. The station that I listened to carried the Bills games. End of story.

2. The loyalty of the fan base. We've been through so much and still support the team. That's dedication.

3. The comeback game. - I was working in a record store in the mall and tuned the store sound system to the game right after the Oilers scored to make it 35-3. I kept the game on and by the end, there were multiple people just standing in the store and listening to the game. 

3a. Beating the Raiders to advance to the first Super Bowl.

[H2o]

1. My best friend's family was from NY. They all liked the Jets or the Giants. I decided to go with a different NY team, plus I liked their uniforms. This was '87-'88. 

 

2. I feel that the Bills have helped me to be fan of a team, but also be able to separate that from every day life. Having been a fan I got joked on every year for 4 years because of the SB losses, especially the last 3. At that point I realized I could be a fan who enjoyed the highs, but didn't let the lows effect me. I do admit that I was somewhat relieved when they didn't go to the SB my Senior year. 

 

3. Favorite Bills moment was watching the entire game against the Oilers in 1993. I remember being almost sick watching the game and then the 3rd quarter happened. I remember thinking we would still choke in OT. When Christie made that kick it was probably the happiest I've ever been as a Bills fan.  

[ticketssince61]

1. Grew up in Amherst - Dad had season tix since 61 before I was born (still have them) so always a Bills fan

 

2. Love most about the Bills - that all Bills' fans are one family. Went to the Dodger NLCS game the other night wearing a Bills hat. Guy on the bus to stadium says "Go Bills" (he's from Rochester). Guy sitting behind me says "Go Bills"  (he's from Lackawanna)

 

3. Favorite memory - either flying in from Los Angeles to see the 51-3 championship game  - or - 

                                   - going with my Dad as a 6 year old to my first Bills game in 1968, a 37 to 35 win over Joe Willie and the Jets (our only win).

                                       Still vividly remember walking in and seeing the beautiful green field at the end of the tunnel

[Straight Hucklebuck]

4 hours ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

With all the bickering going on about McBeane, Peterman, etc, TBD has been quite tense the last few days. More than usual I'd say. So I thought I'd start a thread to cool everybody down. Three questions.

 

1. How did you become a Bills fan?
2. What do you love most about The Bills? 
3. What's your favorite memory as a fan?

1. Born in WNY.

2. The Bills represent the nostalgia I have for WNY and are a tie to family.

3. Doug Flutie's naked bootleg against the Jaguars 

[Bring it]

1. When they drafted Bruce Smith 

2. I was a Steeler fan as a kid mostly because I couldn’t stand and still can’t stand the Cowboys. The Bills ARE western NY!! I could relate to them and having an all time great in Bruce Smith and others like Kelly and Thurman was very exciting! 

3. Hard to pick just one. Certainly the Comeback , Raider playoff game and anytime we can beat Brady!

[jimmy10]

17 hours ago, The Real Buffalo Joe said:

With all the bickering going on about McBeane, Peterman, etc, TBD has been quite tense the last few days. More than usual I'd say. So I thought I'd start a thread to cool everybody down. Three questions.

 

1. How did you become a Bills fan?
2. What do you love most about The Bills? 
3. What's your favorite memory as a fan?

 

1. Born and raised in ROC. 

 

2. The resiliency and football IQ of the fan base. 

 

3. I was on a business trip to the west coast when the Pegula’s bid was accepted late at night. Waking up that morning in an LA hotel room, listening to WGR streaming, callers openly weeping with joy that the Bills’ future in Buffalo was secure. Not gonna lie, there was a lot of dust flying around that room when I realized I was ensured being able to raise my small kids as Bills fans, going to games etc. That was a good day. 

[SoCal Deek]

1. They were my hometown team...so I didn’t know I had choice.

 

2. I’ve come to love the underdog role. Being a Patriots fan right now would feel way too entitled.

 

3. Taking my Dad to the Super Bowl in Pasadena after all the years he’d taken me to games in Buffalo.

[Buddy Hix]

1. I was born and raised just across the border, 30 mins from Buffalo, and still live here today. So the Bills are my hometown team, so to speak.

 

2. I really enjoy going to games and meeting other fans at the tailgate, and just having a great time partying. I don’t know if my fandom would be this strong if not for the game day experience.

 

3. My favourite memory is probably the last two games against Green Bay. My buddy, who’s a Pack fan, and I organized a bus trip here in 2014 and we all had a great time. This year the same buddy and I made the trip to Green Bay and sat 7 rows behind the Bills’ bench and despite the loss it was an awesome weekend.

 

A close second would be last year, watching the Bengals pull it out for us while at a holiday party with friends. Seeing the Bills end the drought after so many years was special. I’m 40, and have been a diehard fan for about 28 years, it’s crazy that the drought went on that long.

15 hours ago, Enemarty said:

1.  Born and raised in Buffalo; father was a crazed Bills fan. 

2.  The fellowship.  I left Buffalo years ago and my childhood friends are spread all over the country, but the Bills keep us together.  It used to be phone calls, now it's texting.  This is probably true of every team, but what I find interesting about Bills fans is the common bond that immediately forms between complete strangers when you realize you are both Bills fans.  There is something about having lived through 0 for the 70's, Four consecutive losses, and Ralph Wilson that can allow folks without much else in common to become instant friends.

3.  Too many.  Of course, being at Rich for 51-3 was special.  I was also at the Comeback, and the 22 points, and the first clincher over the Jets with the goal posts carried to Ralph's box, and the home opener earlier that year against Minny when we walked out on a spectacular day thinking this year is the year the Bills will arrive on the national scene, turned the car on and the 10,000 Maniacs came screaming out of the radio confirming for us that destiny was calling.  Even my first live game, against Philly in 73 when Tom Dempsey, holder of the 63 yard field goal record lined up with seconds left to take the 20-something yard field goal for the Eagles - - and shanked it, giving Buffalo the win.  And of course, sharing so many of these and other Bills moments with my dad.

Wow, you’ve seen some great games!

[Chandler#81]

1.) From North Tonawanda. Everyone is a Bills fan.

2.) I’ve lived all over the Country. There are passionate Bills fans EVERYWHERE, all of whom have connections to WNY.

3.) Sure -to all the other responses. Saw many games at WMS and the 1st games at Rich. Season tickets throughout the Kelly era, so I haven’t just enjoyed the highlights, I was present at many of them. 2 stick out. 37-35 Win over the Jets in ‘68 and learning from my Dad and men in the neighborhood that we stole Jack Kemp from San Diego mid ‘63.