My Experience as a Bills Fan: Forever in the Hunt

By Grant Haffenden Last updated Dec 14, 2015

Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor (5) runs past Indianapolis Colts safety Clayton Geathers (42) during the first half of an NFL football game on Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Bill Wippert)

One thing about being from the Buffalo area is that, from a young age, you are forced to become a Buffalo Bills fan. One of your favorite songs becomes the ‘Shout!’ song that is played after the Bills score, and your favorite colors become red, white, and blue. However, being a Bills fan means one other thing too: losing.

Now, I probably should have realized that being a Bills fan was tough when my first memory as a child is the Music City Miracle, but I stuck with them. During my lifetime, the Bills have had only three seasons where they did not finish below

.500. During my lifetime, I have had to suffer through watching games on CBS or FOX in November and December, just to see the Bills always “In the Hunt” according to the latest playoff projections.

Every Sunday, usually when the Bills are guaranteed to lose, my parents always tell me that they wish I was alive when the Bills were good. You know, they won just about every Sunday, with Jim Kelly handing off to Thurman Thomas or throwing touchdowns to Andre Reed (all Hall of Famers by the way). On the other side of the ball, you had Bruce Smith (the NFL leader in sacks) and company terrorizing opponents’ quarterbacks and taking care of business.

With the recent ESPNs ’30 for 30’ documentary focusing on the Bills and their run to four straight Super Bowls, it is just another reminder of why I remain a Bills fan. Even though the Bills lost all of those Super Bowls, it is stuff like this that keeps me watching. Being a Bills fan, there is always a glimmer hope, a light at the end of the tunnel where you tell yourself, “This has to be their year, right?”

Another lesson you learn as a Bills fan is that you can never give up on them because of “The Comeback.” Down 35-3, Frank Reich, a backup quarterback, led the Bills all the way back against the Houston Oilers. I can easily sit there and tell you who scored for the Bills during the comeback and even what head coach Marv Levy told his team at halftime.

Now it is completely reasonable to give up on them, and many people I know have. It is easy to give up when they go 7-9 for what feels like the tenth straight year. It is easy to give up when you get beat by the New England Patriots every year and then see them go off and do something that the Bills have not, win a Super Bowl. It is easy to give up when you can almost predict how the Bills will find a way to lose a game, even down to the player that will cause the loss.

But I know I cannot. It would go against everything the Bills have taught me.

So, instead, I have to go through watching Wide Right, or the Music City Miracle, or be reminded that it has been 15 years since my team has made the playoffs, but it is all worth it.

It is worth it because, when they finally do make the playoffs, it will be one of the greatest days of my life, not because they ended the streak, but because all of this waiting would be worth it, even if is just for a moment.

Even this year, with the Bills chances of making the playoffs slim to none, I will be there with my eyes glued to the TV. And even if they do not make it, I will be back next year with the same belief that it will finally be the Bills year.