An open letter to Buffalo Bills fans: Embrace each moment

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Fan with all your heart

I am very rarely the type of person to tell another how to “correctly fan” when it comes to their favorite team. I have a brother who I would consider a casual fan and selected a favorite team based on uniform color. Totally fine by me.

I have a sister who I believe just got a tattoo of a running joke in our football chat group and scours stats maybe more than I do. And the answer is “no.” I’m not explaining the tattoo because that’s a conversation for another time and place.

What I’m getting at is that fans assemble for an infinite number of reasons and at all intensity levels. I’m not about to ask you to change how you fan. That said, for fans of the Buffalo Bills, I’m about to ask you to take a step back. I don’t want you to change, but I believe now is a good time to fan in the moment.

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The impetus here is related to the angst I believe most of us feel when it comes to the Bills. We really, really, really want to see them win the Super Bowl. Really. We also recognize how special this team can be and the alien unicorn we have in Josh Allen. If this team can’t win a Super Bowl, perhaps we’ll never see one. For the record, I don’t disagree with that sentiment.

I am a little worried, though. Buffalo has now wrapped up their fifth division title in a row, and earlier than ever. It’s been almost two months since the Bills failed to score at least 30 points. It’s been even longer since they allowed that many, and that was only once. The “reset” year has yielded one of the most dominant teams we’ve ever seen to this point.

I’m old enough to measure my time on this planet in decades, and I’ve seen a dominant, maybe even Super, Bills team before. A phrase from that era bothers me as a fan. “Act like you’ve been there before.” To that I say...

Eff that.

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I’ve seen some downright lousy teams too. No matter the ups, downs, scores, or how the season ended — we always found a reason to love the game. Maybe it was a favorite player, or an unexpected win, or the ever-present promise of “there’s always next year.” What’s my point here? We always had something to celebrate.

What about now when we have a million things to celebrate? It may be tough, but try to celebrate as many of the million things as you can. Yes I want the Super Bowl(s). I also know you won’t get that without reaching the playoffs. You won’t reach the playoffs without wins. You won’t get wins without successful plays. Every moment builds toward what we’re all hoping for.

I don’t know if this is our year. Maybe it won’t be. For me, while the story is still unraveling, I won’t take the success for granted. Not even the Super Bills won the division five times in a row. Josh Allen just surpassed Jim Kelly in total touchdowns. Allen could play another decade if he wants to. All around us records are being made. It seems like every week there’s a new play that we need a name for.

There may come a time where once again our celebrations are the “At least we have Brian Moorman” variety. These are the good times Bills fans.

Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images

Now to be clear, I’m not saying “don’t complain.” In fact, living in the moment should lead to complaints. Every play may be a milestone, but not every play is a good one. If every win is a milestone, then so is every loss. Fandom is celebrating, but fandom is also grieving. That means anger, venting, and, yes, even finger pointing.

Until it’s time to grieve, you’ll find me celebrating. Go Bills!