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As devastating as that Monday Night Football game must have been for New York Jets fans to watch after Aaron Rodgers' Achilles injury, the team whose season was arguably more derailed in East Rutherford in Week 1 was the Buffalo Bills. Seeing the abysmal quarterback play from Josh Allen and new career high in turnovers after an alarming regression in that department last season had to have lifelong Bills fans (present company included) extremely concerned. If you found yourself cursing at the television last night, in front of your young children, wondering why you put yourself through the torture that is being a Buffalo Bills fan year after year, you'd be forgiven (or at least rest easier with the knowledge that you're no better than me).
Then, in one heartwarming minute toward the end of the game, when Bills Mafia was starting to get that sinking familiar feeling in our stomachs that we were going to blow this one, a keep-the-faith moment and reminder of what it truly means to be a Bills fan came from a commercial during a TV timeout of all places.
In a moving one minute advertisement by Visa, various days in the life of a die-hard Bills fan (is there any other kind?) are captured, with symbolism and Bills easter eggs galore (and an affecting score that is either the instrumental montage music from Pixar's UP or a definite soundalike).
The piece starts with the inevitable Day 1 of Bills fandom, when a young boy is taken by his mother to a 1970s era Bills store at a sporting goods store close to the stadium to purchase his first jersey, a #68 Joe DeLamielleure, with a big, bright smile on his face. In the background, the Bills radio station plays with the upbeat proclamation, “You're listening to the home of the Buffalo Bills. It's a beautiful day for football and a beautiful day for a Bills victory.”
The video then unceremoniously cuts to the boy sitting dejectedly in the rain-drenched Rich Stadium as the Bills lose 13-0. Just as abruptly, the narrative skips ahead to Day 3290 of Buffalo Bills fandom where the boy, now in his late teens or early 20s, and clad with an 80s upstate New York mullet, buys a Bruce Smith jersey for his girlfriend, who thanks him with a kiss.
A few years later, on Day 4879 of being a Bills fan, he makes the fateful decision to propose to that same girlfriend just as Scott Norwood is lining up to attempt his infamous 47 yard field goal in Super Bowl XXV. We know how that kick turned out, but the life news turned out much better for our protagonist, who we next see as a new dad on Day 7735, with his newborn draped in a Doug Flutie jersey.
Later, on Day 11738, he sends his kid bundled up in Bills gear for a snowy day of school with the natural salutation “Go Bills!” On Day 13980, he excitedly shouts across the street to his family-filled station wagon “I got Williams!” after a new jersey purchase of Bills defensive staple Kyle Williams.
Finally, life comes full circle as our lead, now a grandpa, buys a jersey for his adorable granddaughter, whose own Bills fandom now starts at Day 1 anew. And what jersey did she decide on? Scott Norwood's #11, in the most Bills-esque final touch imaginable to this poignant piece.
ICYMI: This Visa commercial from last night did a pretty darn good job of capturing the unique experience of becoming and then—despite decades of disappointment—remaining a loyal Buffalo Bills fan. Go Bills. pic.twitter.com/9EjdyI5xDt
— Rich Luchette (@richluchette) September 12, 2023
The commercial says so much with so few words. With its quick cuts between moments of glory and heartbreak, love and loss, hope and despair, it captures the essence of what it means to root for a team like the Bills. Being a Buffalo fan has never been for the faint of heart. As the “wide right” timing of his marriage proposal makes clear, it means sticking with someone in good times and bad. It means supporting our players through their highest highs and lowest lows. It means finding someone who shares your irrational belief in the Bills' chances every season.
As a third generation lifelong Bills fan whose kids just started asking for their own Bills jerseys, I found this to be a profoundly redemptive and teachable moment that reminded us why we root for the Bills every year, even as they break our hearts — and the timing of this ad's premiere, at the most apropos of moments in a particularly disappointing game, only made it the more kismet. With that, it joins the great Bills media spots of yore — the Marv Levy Snickers commercial, the ESPN claymation Bills ad, Tim Russert's weekly sign off from Meet the Press, and of course the epic 30 for 30 film The Four Falls of Buffalo.
The Buffalo Bills might find themselves with numerous reasons to be concerned about the state of the team this season after last night's debacle, but fans were at least offered a nostalgic tale of hope, belief and keeping the faith from an unexpected late game source. Go Bills.
