Sports means something different to everyone. Everyone has their own favorite team, their own memories of “where I was when…”, and that’s what makes sports great. No one person will feel the same about any one sporting event. We relate sports to our own lives, in our own way. It’s that uniqueness of experiences that brings all sports fans together, breaks down all barriers; white or black or brown, male or female, rich or poor, young or old — we are just sports fans. Each year, we at GoingFor2, give our writers a chance to share that experience, that emotion, that ‘one thing’ that stood out above all else in the past year. The sports story that mattered to them — big or small. The following is one such story. Enjoy…
In 1995, life was good. NBA Jam: Tournament Edition and Twisted Metal were occupying countless hours and the buzz was all about who had gotten a new Walkman to rock out to “Wonderwall” and “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”. With the announcement the local Browns would be moving to Baltimore, my Buffalo Bills fandom was the envy of most of my football-loving friends. Little did I know. 25 years is a long time. Long enough to go from a wide-eyed pre-teen to a suburban dad of two nearing 40, with every major pit stop in between. Drivers license, high school graduation, college, relocating to a new city, and well over a decade of career progress. All occurred without my football team winning their division. That’s not to say there weren’t fleeting moments. Doug Flutie led a magical season that ended with a forward pass. Trent Edwards looked like he might be an answer until Adrian Wilson left him seeing stars. The Ryan Fitzpatrick – Fred Jackson-led team looked like they could slay the New England beast in 2011 until 5-2 turned into 6-10.
Embed from Getty Images There were whispers of near misses on franchise QBs: Drew Brees agreeing to a deal on the tarmac in New Orleans on a plane bound for Buffalo, a handshake deal to get Ben Roethlisberger that feel apart when the Texans decided they needed Dunta Robinson to match Jacksonville’s pick of Reggie Williams, and Buddy Nix believing Russell Wilson would last until round 4 when he traded up to take T.J. Graham.
Embed from Getty Images We did manage to break the playoff drought on a week 17 Tyler Boyd touchdown I will never forget. But the Beast in the East still reigned on. All of that changed in 2020. Infighting led to Tom Brady fleeing to Tampa. And “Wrong Josh” defied the Twitter Experts and broke out. The Buffalo Bills are Division Champions.
Embed from Getty Images No one knows where this roller coaster ends up. No one knows how long the reign will last, with Tua leading a feisty team in Miami and
Trevor Lawrence a young QB with the Jets, and Bill Belichick has not retired yet, so it’s not likely we see a New England copycat reign. But those are future concerns. Right now, we are popping the champagne, closing out an ugly year with a huge highlight, enjoying a string of nationally televised games, and watching playoff seeding. As division champs.
