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Besides
hanging out with Boom, Kelly, and Ed Kilgore, my coolest experience during this era came on November
20th, 1994, when I met Brett Favre in the players' tunnel about an hour after Buffalo won 29-20. He was still fairly unknown
at the time, and he let me snap a picture after we talked. We were the only two there, so we chatted for a couple of minutes.
He reminded me of Chris Linn. Click Pictures to ENLARGE:
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| 1994 Brett Favre and the Packers |
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| I met Brett Favre in the Bills' Tunnel |
My first sideline game was the Nov. 8, 1992 Pittsburgh Steeler contest, won by the Bills 28-20. I was able to move all
around the field, so I stood next to the players' areas as much as possible, both teams. The scene was quite intense, as
there were all sorts of people on the artificial turf - sound people, journalists, camera guys, photographers, writers, officials,
security, cheerleaders, and the rest.
During this time, Kelly used to hold an annual summer football camp at St. Bonaventure, and several of us were involved in
one way or another here and there. I bought my first videocam in 1992 and one of the first things I filmed was the camp scenes,
when I hung out with Howard Ballard, the 350-lb. tackle.
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| Jim Gray, Boomer Connell |
Boom usually had to do some kind of work for NBC or Channel 2 before or during the game, and one time, we helped Jim
Gray, the famous sideline reporter. Boom ran the technical equipment/satellite connections, I held off the stupid drunks,
and Gray did the on-camera, outside the stadium report. Wild stuff.
Jim Kelly was a great guy in person, and all of his brothers (the family had 6 boys, no girls) were cool dudes who dealt
well with the good and bad points of Jim's fame. In 2000, Jim and Dan came to the annual Cuba Lake party put on by our friend
Wayne and attended by 300 of the local in-crowd. For an hour, Jim sat with us (Moke, Swets, Boom, Wayne, Gibey, and me) at
a table, and we watched the various drunks and chicks come up and visit with the famous guest. Unbelievable.
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| Cornelius Bennett, Thurman Thomas |
Big Boom taped and produced the Jim Kelly Show at the station studios for the first few years, but taping moved to Jim's
big restaurant around 1995. There was a complete recording studio built behind the fine dining area and extraordinary sports
memorabalia (and offices upstairs). I took my 2-yo son Jordan to one of the downtown tapings, and he played with Jim's new
wife and oldest daughter. Jill was pregnant with Hunter at the time.
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| Kelly in 1994 win over Packers |
I had three different encounters with Bruce Smith during the 1990s. After the 1992 Steelers game, I talked with Bruce at the
post-game parking lot party. He was very intelligent and soft-spoken. In 1994, my friend Greg and I ran into him in Virginia
Beach, on the main strip, as he drove around in his golden convertible. In 1996, when I was working as the ER physician at
South Buffalo Mercy Hospital, I treated his child. Once again, he was very intelligent and gentle, contrary to his defensive
aggressiveness on the playing field.
Boom went to all the Bills' Super Bowls in 1991, 92, 93, and 94. Jim also took Boom to Hawaii for all the Pro Bowls during
that time. Boom got to know all the all-stars and ESPN guys, including Chris "Boomer" Berman and Boomer Esiason.
Over the years, Boom has been able to get Kelly, Berman, and other celebrities to record video spots involving Portville
and the Class of 1979. In 2003, Boom, Swets, and I hung out with Kelly at his hunting lodge to film stuff for our PCS Class
of 1979 reunion videos, as well as do a project for a hunting company that Jim promoted. Of course, we had Swets do his Big
Jim Hawbaker character all day long.
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| Brett Favre under center |
Bills Connection Page 1
Bills Connection Page 3
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Bills Connection Page 1
Bills Connection Page 3
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| Thurman Thomas |
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| Andre Reed |
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| James Lofton |
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| Thurman, Andre, Jim, and offense |
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| Shane Conlon from Frewsburg |
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| #20 Henry Jones, #56 Darryl Talley |
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| Pete Metzellars, Andre Reed |
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| Bruce Smith |
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