1980 Bills season highlights. Our 1st ever AFC Eastern Division title

[Chandler#81]

Lest we become complacent, we had endured our 1st entire decade plus of futility 45 years ago while making the playoffs only once in 14

years. 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 16 by Chandler#81

[Kaenon]

We Bills fans like pain. 

[SoTier]

Bills fans who didn't live through all or some of the Zero-for-the-Seventies cannot grasp the joy that season opening win over the Fish engendered in Buffalo -- and not just among Bills fans.  There's been a book written about the season: Talking Proud: Rediscovering the Magical Season of the 1980 Buffalo Bills by Rich Blake (2005).  The author experienced the 1980 season as a twelve-year-old.   If you can find it, it's a good read.

 

 

 

 

[US Egg]

Jim Haslett worked over Isiah Robertson pretty good at the place I worked that year.

…..unfortunately I was off that night.

[I'm Spartacus]

I can't help it, but that Talking Proud commercial makes me cringe when I see it. I know they wanted to boost buffalo's image but man that commercial was really bush league!

[PonyBoy]

4 hours ago, Chandler#81 said:

Lest we become complacent, we had endured our 1st entire decade plus of futility 45 years ago while making the playoffs only once in 14

years. 

 

 

 

 

 

I was at that Bills v Rams game with my dad as a kid. One of the few times I ever stayed after the game was over. Watching Smerlas dancing like a Rockette was awesome!

 

@I'm Spartacus

The Whammy Weenie is probably the low point of lame in Buffalo history.

Who knew the Whammy would make a comeback during the Patriots run 😀 & WNBA games...

 

P.S. look at the Erie County tax charge on that ticket stub..😳

 

[Stranded in Boston]

53 minutes ago, I'm Spartacus said:

I can't help it, but that Talking Proud commercial makes me cringe when I see it. I know they wanted to boost buffalo's image but man that commercial was really bush league!

LMAO, I hear you, Spartacus. My brothers and I literally covered our ears and turned our heads when they played that commercial; it still makes me cringe 45(!) years later. The worst part was that smarmy little elbow-high strut they would do. 

I remember when the Shout song came around (late 80s?), my first thought was, "Thank god we're done with the Talkin' Proud song"! 

Edited August 16 by Stranded in Boston

[mushypeaches]

I was only 6 years old during that season so this was the first time I've seen the game highlights.

 

Good stuff, but I had no idea until now that Nick Mike-Mayer's name was pronounced "Mickamyer"

[Sierra Foothills]

2 hours ago, I'm Spartacus said:

I can't help it, but that Talking Proud commercial makes me cringe when I see it. I know they wanted to boost buffalo's image but man that commercial was really bush league!

 

1 hour ago, Stranded in Boston said:

LMAO, I hear you, Spartacus. My brothers and I literally covered our ears and turned our heads when they played that commercial; it still makes me cringe 45(!) years later. The worst part was that smarmy little elbow-high strut they would do. 

I remember when the Shout song came around (late 80s?), my first thought was, "Thank god we're done with the Talkin' Proud song"! 

 

I attended parties as a high schooler where that song was played ad nauseam. As many people who had an aversion to it, there were an equal number of people who were completely bought in.

 

55 minutes ago, mushypeaches said:

I was only 6 years old during that season so this was the first time I've seen the game highlights.

 

Good stuff, but I had no idea until now that Nick Mike-Mayer's name was pronounced "Mickamyer"

 

My similar moment was when the Sabres traded Eddie Shack for Rene Robert.

 

Apparently I wasn't yet familiar with French pronunciations.

 

[Sargent Hulka]

That 1980 squad was a great team.

[BillsPride12]

This year was before my time but it is one I wish I could have experienced.  I might have to check out that book the poster above mentioned earlier.

 

I would imagine for the old school fans after the Super Bowl years and the current run this season would have to rank pretty highly on people's lists of favorite Bills seasons

[Thrivefourfive]

Thanks for this! I’m trying to educate myself on pre 1988 Bills history. Didn’t realize Ferguson was The Man for So Long. Stats back then were crazy, but man, four TD passes total in the 73 Simpson season as a rookie QB with an 9-5 record. Leads the league in pass attempts in ‘77, 12 tds 24 ints. Wild. Always heard that Knox was special to franchise. YouTube is a gold mine for me right now 🙌

[SoMAn]

3 hours ago, PonyBoy said:

 

I was at that Bills v Rams game with my dad as a kid. One of the few times I ever stayed after the game was over. Watching Smerlas dancing like a Rockette was awesome!

 

@I'm Spartacus

The Whammy Weenie is probably the low point of lame in Buffalo history.

Who knew the Whammy would make a comeback during the Patriots run 😀 & WNBA games...

 

P.S. look at the Erie County tax charge on that ticket stub..😳

 

I was at that game as well as the season opener when they beat the Dolphins for the first time since the 60s. 
The excitement of the Bills victory over the Rams and playoff hopes was dampened the next night. Watching MNF, Cosell gave us the shocking news about John Lennon.

$12.00 for a ticket. Wow!
For perspective, the average teen or early 20s working for minimum wage at an entry-level job could enjoy a Bills game for four hours at work. Very affordable for families and young people to attend several games. 
   It was surprising to see the empty seats in the upper deck in some of the 1980 footage.  Of course, Buffalo was in terrible economic shape at that time (largely why I moved to Atlanta).

The 1980 team holds special memories for me, partially as the guys being drafted that year were about the same age as me.  The Chuck Knox era marked a resurgence and renewed hope for the elusive Super Bowl appearance. 
But, the pattern of Ralph Wilson ownership that always seemed to sabotage every ascending team reared its ugly head once more.
A similar scenario witnessed in the 70s with the exodus of Saban, Ahmad Rashad, et al. 
Ralph and his bean counters tried to save a few dollars at the expense of a competing team. 
By 1982, Chuck Knox was fed up with Wilson and moved on to Seattle. 
We had a couple of good years and high hopes with the Knox teams, then it was back to the cellar. 
1980 was a lot of fun.
For all you McDermott haters who think he needs to be fired if the Bills don’t reach the Super Bowl- be careful what you wish for. You could end up with another Hank Bullough, Harvey Johnson, or Jim Ringo.

These are the days in Bills history you'll have the fondest memories of, even if they don't make it to the dance/ 

Edited August 16 by SoMAn

[eball]

An 11-year-old at the time, I now look back at the 1980 season as one of my favorites of all time.  Ending the Fish streak, winning the division, and being a hair's breadth from beating SD and going to the AFCCG.

 

It should have been the start of a mini-dynasty, but cheap Ralph wouldn't pay the coaching staff what they deserved and we had to wait for Polian to come along and fix it.

 

[SoTier]

2 hours ago, SoMAn said:

I was at that game as well as the season opener when they beat the Dolphins for the first time since the 60s. 
The excitement of the Bills victory over the Rams and playoff hopes was dampened the next night. Watching MNF, Cosell gave us the shocking news about John Lennon.

$12.00 for a ticket. Wow!
For perspective, the average teen or early 20s working for minimum wage at an entry-level job could enjoy a Bills game for four hours at work. Very affordable for families and young people to attend several games. 
   It was surprising to see the empty seats in the upper deck in some of the 1980 footage.  Of course, Buffalo was in terrible economic shape at that time (largely why I moved to Atlanta).

The 1980 team holds special memories for me, partially as the guys being drafted that year were about the same age as me.  The Chuck Knox era marked a resurgence and renewed hope for the elusive Super Bowl appearance. 
But, the pattern of Ralph Wilson ownership that always seemed to sabotage every ascending team reared its ugly head once more.
A similar scenario witnessed in the 70s with the exodus of Saban, Ahmad Rashad, et al. 
Ralph and his bean counters tried to save a few dollars at the expense of a competing team. 
By 1982, Chuck Knox was fed up with Wilson and moved on to Seattle. 
We had a couple of good years and high hopes with the Knox teams, then it was back to the cellar. 
1980 was a lot of fun.
For all you McDermott haters who think he needs to be fired if the Bills don’t reach the Super Bowl- be careful what you wish for. You could end up with another Hank Bullough, Harvey Johnson, or Jim Ringo.

These are the days in Bills history you'll have the fondest memories of, even if they don't make it to the dance/ 

 

I second everything you've written.  The best thing about the current Bills team is that the owner is as committed as the GM and HC to winning football games.  Whatever one has to say about Terry Pegula, he's not going to sabotage the team in order to make a few extra dollars.