What the Bills mean to the city of Buffalo

Happy 716 day to Buffalo and Bills Mafia!

On this day we look at and reflect on what makes the city of Buffalo truly great and why the community of Buffalo is so close and often seen as one of the best sports cities in the country.

Sure, Buffalo doesn’t have warm weather year round – we don’t have that crazy Miami nightlife or the beachside ocean views, or the stars like Los Angeles. Instead, Buffalo has some of the best food in the country, great beer (Labatt of course), one of the seven wonders of the world in Niagara Falls, and most importantly, the people.

The people of Buffalo always seem to make the most out of any situation they’re in. The people that are genuine, kind and also a little bit crazy, too. We see this at almost every home game, but we saw it especially at the Wild Card game against the Patriots this past year. In sub-zero temperatures, the stadium was still jam-packed with screaming fans, including former Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick who was slugging beers while shirtless. There truly is nowhere else like it. I would love to see some of those fans from LA or down south sit in the frigid cold for even one quarter. The loyalty and dedication is what makes Buffalo special.

Buffalo is a smaller city, but a prideful one. This community is so close and loyal to not only their city, but their sports teams as well. We’ve had to suffer pretty badly over the course of the last two decades between the Sabres and the Bills. Between “Wide right” and “No goal”, this fanbase deserves the world. We are just all looking for one. Just one before we die.

I wasn’t alive when it happened but I was able to get a little feel for those Super Bowl losses after watching the 30 for 30 documentary ‘The Four Falls of Buffalo’. It was truly an amazing and inspiring documentary for me, to see what the city had to go through for four straight years with their favorite NFL team and the toll it took on the players.

One of my favorite scenes from that documentary is when the Bills returned home from their first Super Bowl loss and the entire city welcomed them at city hall and applauded their efforts. They all gave speeches of support and thanks to the fans for cheering them on and supporting them all season long.

Then, they introduced kicker Scott Norwood. “Scott! Scott! Scott! Scott!,” the crowd bursted out cheering, as tears began rolling down my face as I watched the scene.

It’s the way that the city supports one of their own, even with a miss like that. They uplifted him, supported him and clapped for him, and that was a really amazing moment for me to see, and one that I think really encapsulates what Buffalo, and Bills Mafia is.

Expectations are high for the Bills team this year, just like they were in the early ‘90s. I can only imagine what the city would look like if the Bills won the Super Bowl this year. This city deserves it so much. These fans and this organization deserve a championship and man, we are closer than we’ve been in over 25 years. Most of us live and breathe Bills football and now that we have a team that is enjoyable to watch and a team that is respected and supposed to win, it really is exciting times in Western NY.

People would call in sick to work, I know I would, to go to that Bills Super Bowl parade. Not a single table or Labatt Blue would be safe and the streets of Buffalo would be buzzing for a week straight. No one will be sleeping, as it will truly be a party of a lifetime and it feels so close to reality. I’m not going to sugarcoat it, that Rams parade was pathetic. The people of Buffalo will show them how it’s done when the time comes.

To see where the Bills are now and that all that waiting and suffering finally seems to be worth it with the players and the staff that they have now, it only seems right that this is going to be the year where the Buffalo sports curse is broken.

The city of Buffalo is one like no other, and one that no one else would ever understand unless you live there or visit there. When it’s too cold for them, it’s just right for us. Buffalo breeds toughness, and no one from the warmer climates would be able to last a fortnight in the Buffalo cold. But that’s just the way we like it.

I had a lot of fun writing this. Happy 716 day everyone! Eat some wings (with blue cheese), drink some Labatts, and Go Bills!