What year you became a Bills fan and Two Bills Drive camaraderie

[JohnNord]

6 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

~1965.  Watching games as a small child with my grandfather.

 

 

Winning 1965 AFL Championship

 

 

"The Comeback"

 

 

Darryl Talley, Micah Hyde

 

 

I think it is self-explanatory expressing the nature of being a Bills fan through the late '60s early '70s, mid-'80s, and then through the drought.

 

But, as many here know, I used to be "Hopeful".  Changed Sept 11 2016 (Season opener Rex Ryan 2nd season)

 

Hopeful!?!?!?!?!?!?

[InTheBuffAllTheTime]

Ok. Fine. I'll go. Why? Because I've got a secret I need to let go of.

Grew up and live in Canada so I was raised on the CFL and 3 down football which is obviously superior than allowing an extra down to get the same yardage. I was born in Edmonton and was around 10 through the Gretzky and Warren Moon heydays - what a run! Then Gretzky left for LA and Moon to the Oilers so then I'm a Houston and NFL fan (too much punting in the CFL and what the heck is a rouge, right?)

I love rooting for the underdog so I hate the Cowboys and SF with Montana (previous to Brady this was my most memorable player retirement) which brings me around to my secret....Bills/Giants SB. I liked Buffalo but was also happy for LT. Being such a fanatic now, I actually feel guilty for not being all-in at the time of Wide Right. Like all Bills fans I share the weight of that disappointment for the pain of future years but for that year...I wasn't yet all-in. There it is. All that to say ...fan since 1991.

That year I started dating a girl in St.Catherines. She introduced me to crazy Bills tailgating and I knew I had found my peeps. Was in Buffalo the next 3 years for SB waiting to celebrate in the streets. Girl long gone but the treasure remains!

Bruce and Kelly both on my walls. Soon to frame Josh but need signature first.

PRoeBill is first initial, last name, middle name and obvious declaration of allegiance...see? It was meant to be

Edited February 22, 2022 by InTheBuffAllTheTime

[Jay_Fixit]

1989.

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

8 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Every once in a while I call up the replay of Mcgee's miracle kickoff return against the Saints.  May be the greatest play in Bills history.

Same. Just a brilliant return. He was such a smooth kick returner. I fully supported his focus on being a CB1— but there were few pure KR’s like him. 
 

[InTheBuffAllTheTime]

3 minutes ago, InTheBuffAllTheTime said:

Ok. Fine. I'll go. Why? Because I've got a secret I need to let go of.

Grew up and live in Canada so I was raised on the CFL and 3 down football which is obviously superior than allowing an extra down to get the same yardage. I was born in Edmonton and was around 10 through the Gretzky and Warren Moon heydays - what a run! Then Gretzky left for LA and Moon to the Oilers so then I'm a Houston and NFL fan (too much punting in the CFL and what the heck is a rouge, right?)

I love rooting for the underdog so I hate the Cowboys and SF with Montana (previous to Brady this was my most memorable player retirement) which brings me around to my secret....Bills/Giants SB. I liked Buffalo but was also happy for LT. Being such a fanatic now, I actually feel guilty for not being all-in at the time of Wide Right. Like all Bills fans I share the weight of that disappointment for the pain of future years but for that year...I wasn't yet all-in. There it is. All that to say ...fan since 1991.

That year I started dating a girl in St.Catherines. She introduced me to crazy Bills tailgating and I knew I had found my peeps. Was in Buffalo the next 3 years for SB waiting to celebrate in the streets. Girl long gone but the treasure remains!

Bruce and Kelly both on my walls. Soon to frame Josh but need signature first.

PRoeBill is first initial, last name, middle name and obvious declaration of allegiance...see? It was meant to be

Haha. That's funny...just realized that's actually not my handle anymore. Still use it pretty much everywhere else but I forgot my password and no longer had access to that registered email so I had to change it.

[ExWNYer]

1. You've been a fan since:

 

As long as I can remember...I was born into it. My dad was in the Air Force and we were stationed in Tokyo, Japan during the AFL Championship era when I was a toddler so the only thing I know about those teams is what my late father told me and what I have seen and read over the years. 

 

2. Your first Bills memory:

 

Off the field - My younger brother & I running around with a football on the grass area in front of our apartment building in Orchard Park in 1971 pretending to be our beloved Bills. We wore old white t-shirts from my dad with names and numbers written in black magic marker. My brother wore 'Simpson' '32' (RB OJ) and I wore 'Shaw' '16' (QB Dennis).

 

On the field - Watching every Bills away game on TV and listening to every home game on AM radio (no TV due to the then blackout rule) in the early '70s. I don't have any specific memories from the 1970-1972 seasons, probably because they were a very bad team and I was a very young kid. First vivid memories were the opening of Rich Stadium against Washington in 1973 (I didn't attend that preseason game but a neighbor gave me the commemorative coin he had gotten & I still have it) and the last game of the 1973 season at Shea Stadium against the Jets when OJ set the NFL single-season rushing record of 2,003 yards.

 

3. One of your favorite Bills memories:

 

Too many to list...the aforementioned 1973 season, the 1974 season (their only playoff appearance of the decade), the 1980 season (1st AFC East title in 16 years & 1st I experienced...one of my favorite seasons ever which also included the win over Miami to end 20 straight losses to them the previous decade), 51-3, 'The Comeback Game', and the Super Bowl years are just some.

 

4. Your favorite player of all time and your favorite player currently...

 

As a kid it was OJ and Bob Chandler. Currently, Josh Allen.

 

5. Some of you guys have some awesome forum names. What does your forum name say about you?

 

Dad was born and raised in Dunkirk so I spent my formative years (Kindergarten thru 8th Grade) in Western New York after he got out of the military...Silver Creek, then Orchard Park, and then mostly Grand Island. We moved to Virginia just before I started high school, hence 'ExWNYer'.

 

Posted a little under a different name on the old Rochester Democrat & Chronicle boards but mostly lurked. Lurked here for years and finally joined in February 2003 during the free agency excitement when the Bills were on the verge of signing LB Takeo Spikes.

Edited February 22, 2022 by ExWNYer

[Chandler#81]

I argued with God about creating this mudball.
 

I argued with Buster that Richie was a Bust.

 

stealing Kemp off Chargers waiver wire
 

Bobby Chandler#81

 

I argue with morons.

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by Chandler#81

[transient]

8 hours ago, BillsFan619 said:

 

1. You've been a fan since

2. Your first Bills memory

3. One of your favorite Bills memories

4. Your favorite player of all time and your favorite player currently

5. Some of you guys have some awesome forum names. What does your forum name say about you?

- 1981 season

- 8 years old, sitting in the kitchen watching the Bills-Jets WC game with my dad on a portable television and letting out my first real Bills fan celebratory shout at Bill Simpson’s game saving interception after the Bills had squandered a 24-0 lead.

- So many; Sam Adams picking off Brady and rumbling for a TD/Nate Clements human missile obliteration of  Brady/the 51-3 AFCC destruction of the Raidas/Kyle Williams INT of Cutler against the Bears and the “the fat guy got a pick” comment by Martellus Bennett/FJax run in OT to seal the win/Allen’s growing portfolio of legendary leaps over defenders and watching him ascend to the player he’s become while recognizing his ceiling is nowhere in sight…

- Kyle Williams/Allen and White

- Joined TBD in 2009 after intermittently lurking for years; I had moved around a lot prior to joining, which has continued since joining, but I also have intermittent stretches of activity on the board followed by stretches of relative hibernation; the screen name is a reflection of a state of impermanence in many facets of my life. 

[Augie]

Sliced bread and paragraphs are neck and neck, IMO. 

[billybrew1]

9 hours ago, Greg S said:

My fandom started in the 70's. OJ was my favorite player growing up and that is how I got hooked on the Bills.

Me too, OJ all the way and I know he blew everything but I really watched running backs a lot and OJ was easily the best, imho. He could do everything close to what Jim Brown could do but he was much faster, had insane moves and wiggle and balance. He was quicker. There has only been one like him, imho, Bo Jackson but Bo didn’t have quickness or wiggle like OJ did. But he did have the power and speed like OJ. Probably a little more power. But make no mistake, OJ was extremely powerful for a guy known for moves, wiggle, balance,speed, etc.

Favorite player was Bruce but Allen is truly on that level and they both nice guys, etc.  Allen is already the closest thing we have had to Bruce. Bruce was the perfect DE. Allen is the perfect QB. Allen is going to be a bigger player because he plays 5he number one position.

I still an feel the excitement everyone felt when Joe Ferguson and those Bills beat Miami to end the streak. It was truly a phenomenal experience. Everyone was so happy. They were dancing in the streets. You’d think we won a Super Bowl. I hope I last to see us win one. I’d like to be in Buffalo for that or 5he parade or something. It will be special.

I didn’t give my name much thought, just to positive and get it over. I guess it’s all been beer and Bills every Sunday in the fall for forever. 
Ted Washington would be my third fav. I loved Shane Conlan, Jerry Butler but they couldn’t stay on the field. I despised losing Pat Williams but especially Antonio Winfield who may be my fourth fav. Player but I still remember Chuck Knox’s whole team. They were loaded and very close to a Super Bowl despite the little they are talked about. Probably it was injuries that kept that team away, maybe the QB wasn’t good enough?

People don’t talk much about Jim Kelly’s missing players but we lost LOT Will Wolford to a trick contract. As I’ve said Shane Conlan who hit closest to Ray Lewis, could never stay on the field. We lost an ascending blue-chip CB to injury in Derrick Burroughs, three guys that if they stayed on the Bills field we would have definitely won at least one Super Bowl as all three were blue chip talent.

And this year we might have won it all had Tre White never got injured. I love how McBeane radically changed our injury minutes overall for a team in the NFL. I think we’re the best over the last three years and that’s not luck at all. That’s very hard work, training and taking care of everything. Kudos to McBeane, they don’t get enough credit for this.

I want to draft three defenders with the first four picks this year: DE, DT and CB. Get Tre White back. Really do everything possibly to get our young DL much better at everything by this fall.

Well….LOL….I guess my rant is almost over…. You know though….For some reason I think I gotta be about the oldest here but not only is that wrong but there are tons of us old timers here and Buffalo Rumblings…. I sure hope we get that Lombardi trophy this year….for the old guys and the young…

 

Go Bills!

 

PS - maybe you should have asked for the Bills favorite non Josh Allen player? Then you’d get some variety….

Allen is just so freakin’ good and not a dork off the field… If I had to pick my second favorite player????

I dunno? White, Poyer, Hyde, Diggs, Dawkins? I really owe an apology to Singletary as I gave up on him midseason….that’s not like me…😃.   Probably white or Diggs…..

Diggs.

My unsung hero for 2021 is Mario Addison. With Mitch Morse getting a tip of the hat.

I always liked Jerry Hughes and he is the last link to the past but he is done, imho…

 

LOL, what else do you want to know?

 

[Utah John]

Fan since 1963, age 7, when the Bills battled Boston, and my cousins had moved from WNY to the Boston suburbs so the arguments had started already.  That's when I figured out how the playoffs worked:  Whichever team, Buffalo or Boston, won more games, got to play San Diego for the championship.  Not whoever the western division champ was, just San Diego.  That made sense to me and in those years I was right.

 

We listened to Bills games on the radio, and Jack Kemp and his high-pitched voice was the sound of the Bills.  Now and then we could get them on television.  After the games all the boys in the neighborhood would pile out of their houses and we'd play football in the back yards, arguing over who was going to be Jack Kemp. I clearly remember the Kemp-Lamonica debates. Eventually my uncle got a color TV and we'd watch the games at his house.  I remember watching the first game of the 1967 season, and the Bills beat the Jets, but my dad and uncle both shook their heads and said it was going to be a long year.  

 

Favorite Bills football memory: First game of the 1974 season, Monday Night Football vs the Raiders.  The Bills took the lead late in the 4th quarter and had the ball to run out the clock.  Then Braxton fumbled and the Raiders ran it back for a TD and the lead.  Ferguson brought the Bills back and hit Ahmad Rashad in the left half of the west end zone.  All this with OJ out, hurt as I recall.  The first two or three years Rich Stadium was open, I was a vendor in the stands, selling pop in 73 because I wasn't drinking age yet (only 17) but after I turned 18 I could sell beer.  Great job, but lousy beer.  Got to watch a lot of OJ runs for free, and made some money besides.

 

Favorite Bills non-football memory:  In 1972 or 73, our HS band (West Seneca East) did an exchange with a band from a HS in Maryland.  They came to Buffalo to see the Falls, and we had a free day in DC.  Seven or eight of us boys found Rep. Kemp's office and asked to see him.  And we got in!  The other guys just looked at the football photos on the walls, but Kemp and I got into a long argument about development in China.  I thought the people in China were really benefiting from the improved standard of living, and he thought the people in China deserved better human rights.  Turns out we were both right.

 

Favorite Bills player.  OK, so many obvious choices, but I'll give Freddy Jackson some love.  No one played with as much heart.  A good back, not a great back, but always trying.  Beat out Marshawn Lynch for the starting RB slot.  I was so sad he couldn't last another couple of years so he could taste the playoffs.  

 

Favorite current player.  Josh, of course.  

 

I started on The Stadium Wall in the mid to late 90s.  (The Dean and I were pretty active posters.  Is he still around?  I haven't seen his posts for a long time.)  I was living in California then and posted as John in CA.  Moved to Virginia in 2000, and posted as John in VA.  Moved to Utah in 2008 and became Utah John.  Moved to Alaska in 2018 and kept the Utah John name.  

[BobbyC81]

14 hours ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

~1965.  Watching games as a small child with my grandfather.

 

 

Winning 1965 AFL Championship

 

 

"The Comeback"

 

 

Darryl Talley, Micah Hyde

 

 

I think it is self-explanatory expressing the nature of being a Bills fan through the late '60s early '70s, mid-'80s, and then through the drought.

 

But, as many here know, I used to be "Hopeful".  Changed Sept 11 2016 (Season opener Rex Ryan 2nd season)

 

Question: when the Bills won the AFL title in 1965, was there a parade after?

[BigdaddyinOrlando]

Bills fan since birth in 1969

Bills memory is Ferguson to Hooks hail merry winner in 1981 at first game attended 

TBD since 2004

[Punching Bag]

First game I went to was in War Memorial Stadium in November

I collected and cashed in bottles to pay for game,

I walked / hitched (someone who knew me gave me ride part of way) to stadium (10.8 miles)

Did not have enough money but guy at gate said wait and he would find me someone with ticket.

Friend of his sold me one for what I had and a box of wooden matches I used to keep hands warm (he want cigarettes but had none).

Got my ass paddled for being away so long.

I was 8 I think.

 

Grandmother lived off California Road and was on site of Rich Stadium while they were building it.

Could see game from her property.

 

Favorite Classic Player: Steve Tasker (old website of mine with tribute to him)

Favorite Current Player: Jordan Poyer

 

Favorite memory: Watching preseason game with my family and two of our friends' kids. They never had been to a game before and we watching game from first row of section 219.  Thanks Harvey and Petrino.

 

I was Lemonaid and changed name to Limeaid when Coach McD decided to just dump all of the coaches/scouts and just sign some he had connections to.  Dumping baby with the bath water.

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by Limeaid
Added link

[Donuts and Doritos]

1988

 

'88 AFC Championship loss to Bungles

 

Taking my wife & kids to their 1st game this year. Going crazy the moment the drought was broken. My kids hugging me when Allen-Davis scored w/ 13 ticks to go.

 

Bruce Smith (drought: Freddy Jackson). Current: got to be Josh Allen

 

Junk food is king on game day!

[mabden]

1)   I found out that Buffalo had a football team in 1969 when they drafted OJ Simpson.  (Was a Packers fan after watching the "Ice Bowl" as my very first game on TV.)

I started following the team for real during the 1973 season.  Joined TBD at the beginning of the 2009 season.

 

2) Watching the Van Miller Saturday afternoon Bills show recapping the previous game.  OJ to the left for 4 yards.  OJ to the right for 4 yards, OJ up the middle for 2 yards, first down.

 

3) The 1988 Season.

 

4) Darryl Talley, all time.  Josh Allen, current.

 

5) Mabden = Man (from the Eternal Champion series of books)

Edited February 22, 2022 by mabden

[dwight in philly]

Been a Bills fan since 1960,  was 8 when my father took me to the Bills /Broncos game at WMS.. Loved it all, the sights, smells, all of it. First favorite player was Richie Lucas, a big hotshot QB , who never really lived up to his rep coming out of college. The memories are many, my loyalty, love has been there since. I grew up in South Buffalo and used to ride my bike to  the REGENCY in Blasdell to watch them practice in the late 60's. OJ  actually was there,  but they moved it shortly after. I , like many on here , have seen it all, the highs, lows, but i must say , the loss to KC  tore my heart out worse than any..I left the area in 2008 to be closer to my grandchildren and joined  this site, which i have found to be most enjoyable to say the least.. I am more of an onlooker, than an active participant . 

[muppy]

17 hours ago, BillsFan619 said:

Hey Bills Mafia!

 

Besides staying up to date on all things Bills, one of the reasons I like coming to this site is for the Bills camaraderie. I figured the best time to get to know you a little more is to do this in the long abyss of the offseason. I'm sure there will be some that don't like this post and will flame it (ie- "Man, it's going to be a long off season", "🤦‍♂️" or worse) because it's not a Bills news post. That's fine, either move on from it or say why you hate the post and then move on from it. That said, if you'd like to participate, here's some things to answer.

 

1. You've been a fan since

2. Your first Bills memory

3. One of your favorite Bills memories

4. Your favorite player of all time and your favorite player currently

5. Some of you guys have some awesome forum names. What does your forum name say about you?

 

My answers:

1. 1988

2. Bills at Bears in 1988. We lost 24-3 in Soldier Field. I should've known then 😜😂

3. Breaking the drought and experiencing it with my kids/Going to the Bills vs Cowboys Thanksgiving game with my kids/Experiencing the 2020 season with my kids (While I have fond memories as a child, yes, the best experiences are with my kids because they're huge Bills fans as well) 

4. Jim Kelly/Josh Allen

5. The first part of my forum name is obvious. Bills fan through and through! 619 stands for the area code I live in, which is San Diego

 

Okay, Bills Mafia, share (or flame) away.

Greetings 🙂

 

I vaguely remember being aware of the rockpile era Bills (cookie Gilchrist, Butch Byrd) but my first game was the first ever Monday night football game in then Rich stadium 1973.

My fav Bills memory was also in a home Monday night game, this time against the Raiders. Ahmad Rashad put on a show right in our batavia party zone and won in so exciting fashion the stadium was Shaking with people going NUTS

Fav Bill dang thats tough.  I will go with #12 Jim Kelly. A guy who played on several super bowl teams and wore a tall fabric Dr Seuss hat on the sidelines, CB and special teams guy out of Oregon Clifford Hicks is a guy who works with a guy I went to high school with and we are friends on Facebook. Super nice guy and NFL chat does happen even these many years later. He's a local here in san diego

 

forum name is based on my irl name and my bestie in high schools names combined. 

nice thread appreciate you :-)-m

[GunnerBill]

17 hours ago, BillsFan619 said:

1. You've been a fan since

2. Your first Bills memory

3. One of your favorite Bills memories

4. Your favorite player of all time and your favorite player currently

5. Some of you guys have some awesome forum names. What does your forum name say about you?

 

 

1. Fan since 2002; Member of TBD since 2013.

2. Losing a pre-season game to Detroit. 

3. I am tempted to say the Andy Dalton pass, given I had been a Bills fan for 15 years without seeing us make the post-season I just wanted to get in at that point. But I want to say a moment that was the Bills doing something rather than just another team scoring.... the three that stand out are beating Dallas on Thanksgiving because it just felt like a moment where forever the Bills came up small and then that night they didn't; the wildcard victory over New England just weeks ago which was the final slaying of the dragon; beating the Packers at home in 2014... that team was the first team I had watched each and every week (because we couldn't watch every Bills game live back in 2004) that went into December not just in the hunt but with a real shot - they should have made the playoffs. 

4. Fred Jackson. We have had better players than Fred Jackson in my time as a fan but nobody matches him even now for sheer effort and determination. That stiff arm on the Bears safety the opening weekend in 2014 to get them in range for the win when we had just found out the Pegulas had bought the team and were keeping it in Buffalo... it just epitomised who he was. Favourite current player? Stefon Diggs. He was already my favourite player in the league before the Bills traded for him. Love the way he plays. 

5. It says I support The Arsenal and the Buffalo Bills. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 hours ago, BobbyC81 said:

Question: when the Bills won the AFL title in 1965, was there a parade after?

 

Can't tell ya

We didn't go

 

9 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

Bobby Chandler#81

 

the Slut!