Does anybody remember the anti-Bills kids growing up? Is that no longer a thing?

[Wayne Cubed]

Was in elementary school in late 80s and early 90s, in WNY and this was definitely a thing. I remember the kid in my class who was a Dolphins fan and in my neighborhood friends there were a couple Cowboys and Niners fans. Just easier to root for the teams that were winning it all, I guess.

Weirdly I didn't notice it in high school as much, when the Bills had just lost 4 Super Bowls.

[Dunkirk Donski]

Very vividly remember one of my classmates showing up with a Giants SB 25 champs tshirt the day after the superbowl.  He said he got it before they even played.  I still want to punch him in the face to this very day...

[TBBills Fan]

12 hours ago, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

My best friend was like that growing up. He was a Miami fan and yet never even went there once. He would go out of his way to bash the Bills to try to be different and cool. They definitely still exist, but not nearly as many since the Bills are the “cool” team to root for. 

Me too!  And now he is a huge bills fan

Just now, Dunkirk Donski said:

Very vividly remember one of my classmates showing up with a Giants SB 25 champs tshirt the day after the superbowl.  He said he got it before they even played.  I still want to punch him in the face to this very day...

If you are a real man, you would find that person and do what is needed. 

[Dunkirk Donski]

2 minutes ago, TBBills Fan said:

Me too!  And now he is a huge bills fan

If you are a real man, you would find that person and do what is needed. 

 

[BillsPride12]

28 minutes ago, Breakout Squad said:

I remember it was embarrassing to wear a Bills jacket/coat in the mid 90’s when I was in elementary and middle school FWIW

I think those Super Bowl losses really lost a lot of "street creed" for the Bills with the youth and I'm being dead serious

 

That's why I wonder how the kids of today's era view the Bills playoff losses to the Chiefs every year?  If this was what it was like in the 90s there'd be some huge Chiefs fans kids but I never see any kids sporting Chiefs gear when I'm out and about.  It seems like for today's generation it is cool to be loyal to your hometown team

[PonyBoy]

Yes...I call them my in laws 🤬

[buffaloboyinATL]

13 hours ago, rusty shackleford said:

I’m in the same age bracket as you and remember that well. Lots of kids in 9ers and dolphins starter jackets… everyone at that time was also randomly Charlotte Hornets fans too. Don’t have kids so can’t comment on what they’re doing today.

Ha! That Hornets Starter jacket was quite popular.

[T.E.]

There were tons of bandwagon Dallas fans in the 90s everywhere. A loathsome team cheered by generally loathsome people haha

[folz]

In the '80s (in WNY, Rochester), two of my best High School friends were Dolphins fans...just because they didn't want to root for the same team as everyone else. Assume they became Dolphins fans when they were like 9-10 years old (like 1979-1980ish). Never really understood that mindset. Like they were somehow cooler for not "following the crowd." Yet they chose a big market team that dominated in the '70s (their childhood) and was purposefully the Bills rival. And yes, if you weren't a Bills fan or a Dolphins fan in that era, then you were probably a Cowboys fan. My other best high school friend was a Cowboys fan. Just because of the whole "America's Team" labeling and their success in the '70s. He actually wasn't that big of a football fan, didn't watch a ton of games or know a lot of players, etc....typical of many (non-Texan) Cowboys fans of that era.

 

 

Added note about being a Bills fan in the 70s and 80s: I always hated when the press gave Russ Brandon credit for marketing the Bills regionally...and they would always talk about Rochester first (because he went to St. John Fisher, etc.). Yes, he brought camp to Rochester, but outside of those handful of contrarian Dolphins fans or whatever, everyone in Rochester rooted for the Bills and were going to Bills games in the 70s and 80s (20-30 years prior to Brandon having anything to do with the team). He did not make Rochester a Bills town...it already was. Heck, we used to drive all the way to Fredonia from Rochester just to go to training camp and the I-90 would be packed with cars with Bills stickers in the window or a Bills license plate, or flying a Bills flag.

 

[BillsPride12]

7 minutes ago, folz said:

In the '80s (in WNY, Rochester), two of my best High School friends were Dolphins fans...just because they didn't want to root for the same team as everyone else. Assume they became Dolphins fans when they were like 9-10 years old (like 1979-1980ish). Never really understood that mindset. Like they were somehow cooler for not "following the crowd." Yet they chose a big market team that dominated in the '70s (their childhood) and was purposefully the Bills rival. And yes, if you weren't a Bills fan or a Dolphins fan in that era, then you were probably a Cowboys fan. My other best high school friend was a Cowboys fan. Just because of the whole "America's Team" labeling and their success in the '70s. He actually wasn't that big of a football fan, didn't watch a ton of games or know a lot of players, etc....typical of many (non-Texan) Cowboys fans of that era.

 

 

Added note about being a Bills fan in the 70s and 80s: I always hated when the press gave Russ Brandon credit for marketing the Bills regionally...and they would always talk about Rochester first (because he went to St. John Fisher, etc.). Yes, he brought camp to Rochester, but outside of those handful of contrarian Dolphins fans or whatever, everyone in Rochester rooted for the Bills and were going to Bills games in the 70s and 80s (20-30 years prior to Brandon having anything to do with the team). He did not make Rochester a Bills town...it already was. Heck, we used to drive all the way to Fredonia from Rochester just to go to training camp and the I-90 would be packed with cars with Bills stickers in the window or a Bills license plate, or flying a Bills flag.

 

I agree with you 100% on the Russ Brandon point 

[Man with No Name]

all of those kids from when we were growing up have their own anti-bills kids now. 

 

[SirAndrew]

Rebellion has died so I don’t think the anti-Bills contrarians are as common. People these days go along with every trend. Younger generations seem to all act the same, there aren’t the many different groups/cliques we had growing up. There used to be more ways to be an individual, but influencers have ruined that. With that said, choosing to root against Buffalo is a lame form of rebellion. 

Edited August 20 by SirAndrew

[Dick_Cheney]

Incredible thread. Growing up in Georgia, this was definitely a thing. I remember getting so much ***** being in elementary school during the Super Bowl years. And yeah, it seemed like everyone was a Cowboys fan. 

[That's No Moon]

On 8/18/2025 at 10:05 PM, ChronicAndKnuckles said:

My best friend was like that growing up. He was a Miami fan and yet never even went there once. He would go out of his way to bash the Bills to try to be different and cool. They definitely still exist, but not nearly as many since the Bills are the “cool” team to root for. 

Mine too. He has since come around. He actually apologized. LOL

[The Frankish Reich]

On 8/18/2025 at 8:09 PM, hondo in seattle said:

 

I grew up in the 70s.  Our Bills fandom wasn't as extreme as it is nowadays.  At least, not in my neighborhood.  Everyone was a Bills fan to some extent, but we all followed other teams, too.  None of the kids in my neighborhood were monogamous or fanatical.  

 

Same here. Maybe it's because we had note just the Sabres but the Braves too to distract us a bit, or maybe it's because Buffalo was a little less provincial back in the day? I was back in WNY early this summer and I have to admit that level of Bills devotion just seemed a little extreme for a dead time in the football calendar ...

 

[That's No Moon]

15 hours ago, BillsPride12 said:

I think those Super Bowl losses really lost a lot of "street creed" for the Bills with the youth and I'm being dead serious

 

That's why I wonder how the kids of today's era view the Bills playoff losses to the Chiefs every year?  If this was what it was like in the 90s there'd be some huge Chiefs fans kids but I never see any kids sporting Chiefs gear when I'm out and about.  It seems like for today's generation it is cool to be loyal to your hometown team

Kids these days are into the TikTok highlight culture and the Bills have a highlight machine in Josh Allen, who is also incredible in Madden. Both of those things help him with the kids.

[Augie]

22 hours ago, Fleezoid said:

I was in my teens in the 70s. Had a friend who became a Buccaneers fan as soon as they got in the league. It was clear to me it was just to be different. It didn't help the Bills were mediocre at best. But the Buccaneers were worse. 

 

The Buccaneers were only an NFL team because execution was a policy violation according to the NFLPA…..or something like that…. 🤷‍♂️

 

 

If you're young, you may not get that reference. If you’re old, it’s a classic! 

[Gregg]

6 minutes ago, Augie said:

 

The Buccaneers were only an NFL team because execution was a policy violation according to the NFLPA…..or something like that…. 🤷‍♂️

 

 

If you're young, you may not get that reference. If you’re old, it’s a classic! 

 

 

[DrDawkinstein]

Hahaha, absolutely a thing in the 90s. We had the one Miami fan. He was in a family of like 7 kids, and it was his only way to stand out and get attention. Kinda sad.

[JP51]

On 8/18/2025 at 10:22 PM, AlCowlingsTaxiService said:

I’ve had friends like that, from middle school all the way up to adults. In many cases, I feel like being a contrarian to them is somehow “cool”, because well, it’s different

Yeah looking for attention... dont see it much anymore especially cause the Dolphins are pretty bad...