What was WNY like during the Bills Super Bowl Era?

[JohnNord]

 

What do you think?  
 

What do you guys remember from the Super Bowl Era?  

[Dick_Cheney]

**** my stupid ass for being 5 and 6 years old when I still lived in WNY and this was happening. What was I thinking. 

[Chicharito]

I was 8 when we went to the first superbowl. I imagine it was cold as heck just like now.

[BillsPride12]

I was pretty young but it was definitely crazy. No social media back then so it was all first hand experience but it felt like you saw Bills madness everywhere you went

[JDubya76]

It was magic.

[US Egg]

Had seasons for the 1st two SB seasons, glad I didn’t hit in the SB ticket draw.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

Oddly I was in Cleveland and Columbus for college and medical school. Drove back to many games during those years. 

Looking back I dont think we realized how much better the NFC was than the AFC.  Outside of Montana and then Young the AFC had much better QBs - Marino, Kelly, Elway, Bledsoe, Esisason, Kosar, and even Kreig. But the physicality difference between the leagues in retrospect was stark. 

[Pete]

51-3 is one of the greatest moments at Highmark!  Incredible party atmosphere in the stadium!  And that kicked off the 4 year run.  Those were some awesome Bills teams!  That 1991 team was a Juggernaut!

[Tuco]

Just now, US Egg said:

Had seasons for the 1st two SB seasons, glad I didn’t hit in the SB ticket draw.

Oh I don't know. For sure being there when the kick went wide right was the biggest letdown ever. But every fan should experience the whole thing at least once. And winning the draw meant tickets were face value - and hard as it is to believe, that was $150 back then. The night before the game downtown Tampa was closed off to traffic and just full of people. We walked along and came to some square or park or something and the Outlaws were playing a concert on a flatbed truck. We had Buffaloes shaved into the side of our heads. People running around in their jerseys, either Bills blue or Giants blue. Every time I would see a Giants #56 I'd be like, "Yeah, Darryl Talley, woohoo!" And the Giants fan would be like, "Eff You, this is LT man!" Then we'd high-five and carry on.

 

Wound up in some humungous bar with thousands of people and KC and the Sunshine band playing (okay not my favorite it was still fun). The whole week leading up to the game is an experience, backed by the excitement of seeing your team in the big game. I admit, the missed kick and the long walk back to the car with all the Giants fans celebrating was a kick in the nads. A big one. But overall I still think it's an experience every fan should enjoy if they can, especially since it seems to take us 30+ years at a time to get there.

[Iiiiiiiiive Got a Feeeelin]

my grandparents live on Pilger in OP so you hop their back fence and youre in the parking lot, literally.  one of my favorite memories was going there for xmas during the 90's runs to see the shanty town of rv's that used to live in the bills parking lot all damn week.  also one time me and my bro were outside playing football during a home game and Jeff Wright sacked Marino on the half yard line, at the time it looked like a safety and the stadium got so loud and shook so hard it scared the crap out of us and we had to run inside to see what happened it was like a bomb went off

Edited February 8 by Iiiiiiiiive Got a Feeeelin

[Vark]

I was in Hamburg for SB 25, working at the Little Caesars on South Park Ave. I remember looking out the windows during the game and not seeing any traffic on the road at all. I got out of work and got home just in time to see, well, you know...

[zow2]

I was in my prime years of life (early 20's) and it was amazing.  Went to a couple of the Bills Super Bowls.

[Court Jester]

I was in my 20's....I remember the front page of the sports section of Democrat and Chronicle....FULL page pictures of the Bills stars. Everyone was on the Bills wagon. The 4 losses in a row were heart wrenching and brutal to watch, the hope was crushed each year. Was tough being a Bills fan the day after the losses. Felt sorta like the losses we suffered at the hands of the chiefs...just rough

Edited February 8 by Court Jester

[PromoTheRobot]

What was it like? 

[FieldGeneral]

I tell you what, Monday morning high school homeroom wasn't fun. 

[PromoTheRobot]

1 minute ago, FieldGeneral said:

I tell you what, Monday morning high school homeroom wasn't fun. 

 

Pretty much like it's been the past 5 years.

[Court Jester]

1 minute ago, FieldGeneral said:

I tell you what, Monday morning high school homeroom wasn't fun. 

Exactly, because we were all talking like it was a sure thing for weeks and opposing team fans were sick of it. Laid into us afterwards.

[PonyBoy]

SB 25 I worked in a restaurant that sold pre paid tickets & closed doors on the Niagara Falls  border. Open bar, all the pizza & wings you could eat for a set price.

 

About 250 was our limit. Probably 240 Bills fans. 

It literally felt like you were at the game. I was getting paid to be a fan.

That Norwood miss was so surreal...

 

I never felt so confident about it being made the way that season went. Obviously it didn't happen. The silence in that place was deafening. 

 

It was like a ritual year after year for Bills being in the SB. Kind of like the Patriots have felt without the wins 🫤

 

I'm old now, that feeling will never happen again. It truly was a special time for many of us on this board. 

 

 

 

[Bferra13]

33 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Oddly I was in Cleveland and Columbus for college and medical school. Drove back to many games during those years. 

Looking back I dont think we realized how much better the NFC was than the AFC.  Outside of Montana and then Young the AFC had much better QBs - Marino, Kelly, Elway, Bledsoe, Esisason, Kosar, and even Kreig. But the physicality difference between the leagues in retrospect was stark. 

12-2 regular season record vs the NFC were the Bills 90-93.

[frostbitmic]

For four straight years the Super Bowl parties were amazing.