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There are alot of
Bills' fans around. Most of them live in the region, but many have migrated to other parts of the world.
Over
the past 40 years, my best friends from Portville, New York and I have had some very cool experiences with the Bills that
have excited our lives as football people in Western New York. Like many folks out there, we have true stories to tell.
Starting
in 1970, when our dads took us to the old Rockpile...to collecting cards...to imitating players on the football field...to
working with celebrities during the 1990s. We had the opportunity to know, hang out, and interact with dudes like Jim Kelly,
OJ Simpson, Brett Favre, Marv Levy, Ralph Wilson, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, Chris Berman, Dan Marino, and other personalities
in the NFL scene.
Over the past four decades, we have lived all over WNY - Portville, Buffalo, Amherst, Grand Island, Geneseo, Rochester,
Boston - and we have gathered many photos, stories, videos, and Bills paraphernalia over the years. The following pages document
some of our encounters with these WNY icons.
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| The PCS 1978 backfield with Jim Kelly |
My first encounter with the Bills came in August of 1970, when Swets and I went with our dads to an exhibition game against
the L.A. Rams, starring Roman Gabriel at QB. The star for Buffalo? #32 OJ Simpson, our big-time hero at the time. I even
adopted his jersey number.
After that experience in the old Rockpile, we started collecting football cards
at the Portville Pharmacy. I still have almost all of those classic NFL cards from the early 1970s, including dozens of Bills
from the 60s upward.
As kids, we also read the Olean Times Herald every day for news and stats on
the NFL, keeping up on the Bills, but also favoring regional teams like the Steelers, Browns, Lions, and Jets, as well.
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| Chris Berman and Moke |
I went to my first game at Rich Stadium in 1977, selected to go after playing well against Bolivar in our junior season.
I went with the Burdick family to a rare Monday Night Football game in their RV, but I can't remember the Bills' opponent.
Being inside the stadium for that night game was truly overwhelming.
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| Brett Favre at Bills Nov. 1994 |
Even though the Bills stunk during most of the 1980s, we lived in Buffalo and followed the team as they hired Marv Levy
and drafted a slew of great players at the end of the decade and during the early 90s. The Super Bowl years began, and we
were there to witness the action.
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| 1994 Packers Assistant coach Dick Jauron at Rich Stadium |
Working for NBC, our best friend Boom was able to get 2 free sideline media passes for all the Bills' home games during
the Kelly era, so he invited his Portville buddies to take turns on various Sundays. These experiences were unforgettable,
and I was able to roam both sidelines and endzones for games against the Steelers, Packers, Dolphins, and Lions.
Boom
also invited us to the Wednesday night tapings of the Jim Kelly Show, which was broadcast on Sunday mornings. I went to many
of these recordings, which took place at various locations over the years, including Channel 2 studios, Kelly's downtown restaurant,
and Buffalo State. Afterwards, we went out with Jim's entourage to eat somewhere in the city.
After the games, we hung out with the players and their families in their fenced-off parking lot, which was full of RVs,
SUVs, and kids. Since Boom knew everyone from the stadium janitor to the cheerleaders to Ralph Wilson, we were free to talk
to anyone and the atmosphere was very casual and friendly. Totally awesome.
On the sidelines, I have been able to stand next to guys like Reggie White, Barry Sanders, Brett Favre, and Dan Marino,
as well as Marv Levy, Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Andre Reed, Kent Hull, and Steve Tasker. Boom and I went to Marv's coaching
retirement announcement on Jan. 1, 1999 in the bitter cold at the fieldhouse and taped the whole event. Crazy.
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| #92 Reggie White and Company battle in Orchard Park |
Bills Connection Page 2
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Bills Connection Page 2
Bills Connection Page 3
| Click Pix to Enlarge |
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| 1970 OJ 3-D card I got from a cereal box |
During the 80s and 90s, Boomer worked for
NBC and had the opportunity to work with OJ Simpson, Chris Berman, Jim Gray, and many other TV big-wigs.
Boomer produced the Jim Kelly Show for
Channel 2 from 1988 to 1998, so we were able to meet many of the Bills' players during the tapings of these shows, at the
games on the sidelines, in the players' parking lot post-game parties, and other venues.
Thanks to Boomer...we hung out with dudes like Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Darryl Talley, Bruce Smith, Andre Reed,
Kent Hull, Cornelius Bennett, Steve Christie, Frank Reich, Henry Jones, Glenn Parker, Don Beebe, Steve Tasker, and their families.
We were able to
get some nice photos and video footage of these Bills' events we attended during the Super Bowl run.
Boomer and Moke have been the sole reason
why the rest of us Portville 79ers have been able to rub shoulders with NFL players.
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