Super Bowls Once Were Fun - Sort Of

A long, long, time ago, Super Bowl Sundays were incredibly fun and exciting. Well, mostly. At least they were before the games started and sadly only part way through them. The reason for this is I'm a Bills fan. If you know anything about the Bills and Super Bowls, my post could simply end right here.

As Bills fans, we hang on to the positives. The only team to make it four years in a row. No one has done it since. And probably no team will do it again, at least this is what we tell ourselves. Those teams had perseverance and heart. They never gave up. They had great team spirit. They were great teams. We had the K-gun. Jim Kelly was a winner and still is. The Thurminator (Thurman Thomas) at running back. Andre Reed was the master of the run after the catch. And there was Bruce Smith dominating the defensive line, wreaking havoc on opposing quarterbacks. Can't leave out Frank Reich and the greatest comeback of all time (against the Oilers in playoffs). Those were fun times. Unfortunately, though, the Bills lost every Super Bowl game. It's still hard to believe.

Of course, the first one hurts the most. Two words Bills' fans have a hard time hearing is "wide right". It wasn't an easy field goal. It was about 48 yards, with a few seconds left to the game, and to determine the world champions. The kick was wide right. There was a play earlier in the game where Bruce Smith had his hand on Jeff Hostetler's wrist in the end zone. If he tackled him it would have been two points for the Bills; if he knocked the ball out and we recovered it would have been six points. It's agonizing playing the game of "what if". So, we leave it alone. It just wasn't meant to be. We lost 20 to 19.

The lost to the Redskins was agonizing. We never seemed to be in the game. We then got destroyed by the Cowboys, the only redeeming value was when Beebe ran down the field and knocked the ball out of Leon Lett's hand at the half-yard line preventing a touch down. I thought we had a real chance to redeem ourselves in our fourth Super Bowl against the Cowboys. The Bills were leading 13 to 6 going into half time. We had the ball to start the third quarter but just 55 seconds into the third quarter Thomas fumbled and the Cowboys tied the game. We never scored again.

It's been a long time since the Bills last reached the Super Bowl in 1994. When I think about those great years the Bills had, I remember just how great the offense was, how dynamic and exciting Kelly ran the no huddle offense, and how much fun it was to gather with family and friends to watch the Bills play. The Bills were a great team. Yes, they never won the big game. So what. Easy to say now, twenty one years later. Maybe they'll be back someday. One can hope.