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We Remember Key Bills Moments: Championships and Heartbreaks · Sports History Network

• 0:47
  Gotta love it.
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  The NFL season is finally here and week one of our teams is coming up this weekend.
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  And no teams are more excited than.
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  Probably the Buffalo Bills franchise.
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  It's been a long time coming.
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  They have a great chance of maybe being able to represent the AFC in the super bowl once again.
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  But there's something really special that may happen after week two.
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  Our guest today, Scott Perry, has something.
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  Really exciting for the Buffalo Bills fan, along with some Buffalo Bills history.
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  This is the Pigskin Daily History Dispatch, a podcast that covers the anniversaries of American football events throughout history on a day to day basis.
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  Your host, Darrin Hayes is podcasting from America's North Shore to bring you the memories of the gridiron one day at a time.
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  So as we come out of the tunnel of the Sports History Network, let's take the field and go no huddle through the portal of positive gridiron history with pigskindispatch.com.
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  This podcast is part of the Sports History Network, your headquarters for the yesteryear of your favorite SP.
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  You can learn more at sportshistorynetwork.com hello my football friends.
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  This is Darin Hayes of pigskindispatch.com welcome once again to the Pig Pen, your portal to positive football history.
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  And we are in for a treat.
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  We are going to talk about some great Buffalo Bills history Today.
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  We have Scott Perry, our friend who was on an earlier episode.
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  Scott, welcome back to the Pig Pen.
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  Hey, thanks for having me, Darin.
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  I really appreciate being on your quality podcast.
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  It's a pleasure.
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  Well, the pleasure is all ours, Scott.
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  And of course, you know, a lot of this material we're getting is from your book.
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  Maybe you could just give us a quick glimpse of what the book is in the title and we'll talk more about it here near the end of this episode.
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  Thanks, Aaron.
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  I appreciate you saying that.
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  NFL since 1970 is.
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  Boy, it's got such a huge history starting back in the late 70s.
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  And it's a way, it's the ultimate visual historical standings reference.
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  So by using the standings with the helmets.
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  I'm a helmet fanatic, so I know there's a helmet addict Facebook page, right, Darren?
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  You know about that?
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  Yeah, that I, I know we've talked to the gentleman that runs that.
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  So we've talked to Blaze quite a bit.
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  Everything is helmets.
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  So I want you to see it's helmets for standings and then compilation.
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  So I'm not sure I'm excited for Bill Stands.
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  So.
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  So that's a good segue into it being a Bills Fan being from Rochester, you know, I'm in the Bills market area too, here in Erie.
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  Why don't you us about the piece on Bill's history today?
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  Yeah, the.
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  Bill's owner, Ralph Wilson was from Detroit and he was exploring the idea of having an AFL team in Miami.
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  But somehow he ended up picking Buffalo.
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  And I meant to look it up there and I apologize.
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  I'm pretty sure the 1960 uniform of the Buffalo Bills was silver and blue.
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  Do you know if that might be pretty accurate?
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  That I'm not sure, but I got some people I can probably check with to see.
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  That's a segue.
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  I am Professor Perry.
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  I'm here to educate as many fans as I can.
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  Mostly I'm seen here in Denver talking to senior communities, but I'm trying to reach the younger fan base and make everybody smarter.
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  You know, it's all about winning a championship when you're a pro football fan.
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  But this book has.
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  Now that's my mission.
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  But I keep track of every franchise mostly since the merger.
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  Whether they're a 500 team above or below.
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  Now championships are the most important, but whether or not they're 500, that's a big deal.
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  Not only that, now, since kickoff 70, it's been 877 games.
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  It's possible to be a 500 game winner and it's also possible to 500 game loser.
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  We'll talk more about that.
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  So I think that's to me as a neurodivergent guy, it's just something that I'm so focused on and I know there's fans out there that have an interest in another aspect of the history of their organization and how
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  they're doing overall as a team.
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  So.
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  So Buffalo starts in 1960 and I, I love.
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  I gotta start about the factors.
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  Eight original AFL franchises.
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  Of those eight, two of them my Denver Broncos, the Buffalo Bills have never left the city, never changed their nickname.
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  The other six, we can get into that further, Darren, as to what happened to the other six franchises.
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  But only my Broncos and, and my pseudo Buffalo Bills have never wavered off their name and location.
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  Pretty cool, huh?
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  Yeah, that is interesting.
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  Yeah.
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  So another connection.
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  Well, in 60, Lou Saban was the Patriots head coach.
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  He lasted about a year and a half, moved over to Buffalo, won the 1964 and 65 AFL championship.
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  And in 66 they lost 1966 AFL championship to the Chiefs.
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  So had this super bowl started?
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  So I'm all about the Super Bowl.
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  I really wish that we could go back in time and have the NFL say oh, this team, this league looks pretty good.
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  Let's play the 1960 NFL championship.
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  AFL versus NFL.
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  That would have been.
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  Do you know what teams that would have been, Darren?
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  1960.
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  No, who's that?
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  The.
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  Well, the Bear, Bears and the Oilers.
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  That would have been.
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  Ah, you got it half right.
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  Which one's right?
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  The Oilers is right.
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  I know that for the AFL, I'm not sure NFL at that point 60.
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  Is a big deal.
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  Lombardi got beat by the packers and became a big anti Eagle guy.
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  But then he went on to win five championships by the end of the 60s.
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  So Super Bowl 1, had it started in 60, would have been Green Bay versus Houston.
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  So all right, I'm getting off track but so the Bills would have been In Super bowl one had it started after the 64 season, four and one after it started the 65 season.
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  But then they play to go to the super bowl and the Chiefs beat them.
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  Very frustrating to see the, the cheeks who are the originators of the AFL fitting that they went to Super Bowl 1 but Buffalo missed out on that.
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  So fans had to wait 25 years from Super Bowl 1 to get into the Super Bowl.
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  But another aspect that I, I love, I would.
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  I moved from Denver to Rochester in 78, but I, my dad played tennis with the guy and his, and his cousin was Terry Miller.
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  Terry Miller was drafted at Oklahoma and he replaced O.J.
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  Simpson and he had a thousand yard rushing season.
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  I mean that's pretty obscure, right?
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  Does that name even remotely ring a bell?
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  Darren?
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  No, I've never, I've never heard that name.
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  But that's interesting though, I gotta divert to that.
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  So the Bill.
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  So I'm a fan and in 1980 I'm growing.
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  Everything is committed to memory.
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  That's how it's my God given gift to memorize all the fans football facts.
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  But 1969 I happened to just have a, an OJ Simpson card here.
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  But I'm bringing up OJ because in 69, his rookie year, they beat the Dolphins and he was long gone by the time the Bills beat the Dolphins again.
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  So last game of the 60s, now the Bills are going 020 and beat the Dolphins in the first game of the 80s.
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  So an entire decade to 10 years, two games a season.
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  Oh and 20 and the Buffalo Bills in 1980 win the division.
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  And I love 1980s, one of the first years I was really in tune and I, when I became a fan in 78, decided to love all the bad teams.
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  So in 1980 who were the division winners?
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  I Had I got it right here.
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  The Browns, very unusual for the Browns win their division, the Bills won their division.
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  Getting out of that Dolphin headlock, basically.
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  Right.
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  And the Chargers, they won their second in a row, but that's pretty rare.
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  And then also in the nfc, the Eagles went on to play in the Super Bowl.
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  The Vikings were the only kind of normal team that was expected to win the division.
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  And then the Falcons won their first division in 1980, losing to Danny White in that horrible playoff game.
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  Because I like the teams that were bad.
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  So anyway, so 1980 was a big deal in Bill's history.
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  So got a fast forward.
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  Of course we'll talk about the.
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  Well, no, it's in the middle of this.
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  Of the four year run of being AFC champion.
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  Right.
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  So.
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  And now as a Bronco fan, I'll talk about the fact that the Bills crushed the Raiders 517 in the AFC Championship game 10 to 7.
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  Elway got hurt and Kubiak couldn't quite make the comeback in Buffalo.
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  And they lost 10 to 7, the same score they lost to the Patriots last February.
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  An injury to Elway caused a 10 to 7 loss in the AFC championship game.
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  My Broncos are 10 and 3 in this, in the AFC championship game, having lost two 10 to 7.
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  Ironic.
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  So still pretty good record, 10 and 3.
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  Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  So.
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  So then they also, they beat Joe Montana's Chiefs in that run.
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  And you know, I, my book has a page in it, the what if Super Bowls.
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  I love it.
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  I was in a whole podcast a couple years ago based on that page.
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  What if the opposite conference participant won the game and went to the Super Bowl?
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  So not a mix, but the actual two losers played.
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  And in that game in 90, 95, that Joe Montana would have faced the Kansas City Chiefs, but it ended up being the Bills versus the Cowboys.
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  And not that.
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  So that ever crossed your mind before, Darren, that that would have been the case?
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  No, no.
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  But that, that would have been an interesting prelude to Montana's career, wouldn't it?
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  Instead I had to endure my Bills getting crushed by a team I really not a big fan of.
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  So interesting how that played out.
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  So, so that's, that's.
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  I mean that's part of the four year, four year run of the, of the Bills.
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  That's part of their history, of course.
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  And it's, it's great.
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  Now me being a helmet guy, I gotta tell the story, man.
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  I hated that red helmet.
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  And you know, me being an old guy, I know pretty much why they did it because if you look at the standings in my book.
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  I.
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  I just love my book.
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  It's the ultimate way to just look at what happened in the past.
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  But the 1983 season, all the AFC east teams had red helmets.
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  Well, the jets by then were green.
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  But Joe Ferguson was an old, older quarterback, and he was having trouble seeing his receivers downfield with the.
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  All the white helmets.
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  Right.
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  So they converted to a red.
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  So that was.
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  84 was the first year.
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  So I just.
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  This is bizarre how my life ties in with football.
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  So it's the year 2011, and I am so excited the Bills finally go back to the white.
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  And I'm like, yes.
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  Well.
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  And now they're coming to play a preseason game in Denver.
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  I'm like, I'm gonna see the Bills in the white helmet.
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  Well, I had to go to a wedding, and I'm up.
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  And this is really ironic.
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  If you're.
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  If you know Denver and you're from Buffalo, visiting, sightseeing, you go into a Bills game.
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  Here you go up I 70, Interstate 70.
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  The first thing when you get up the hill, you see a big green sign, Buffalo Bills grade.
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  Isn't that a really.
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  Not a fitting way to start your vacation?
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  Come to see the Bills.
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  But anyway, I was up in that area at a wedding.
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  So I'm sitting at the wedding overlooking the entire Denver area, and I can see the stadium lights.
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  And I'm like, I'm sitting at a wedding and there's the Buffalo Bills playing the Broncos.
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  But I was so, so thrilled.
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  I mean, if you know me, I have New England roots, so I love the old New England helmet and I really despise the flying Elvis.
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  So it really affects my ability to cheer on the Patriots.
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  That's one of the many reasons.
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  So, anyway.
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  Yeah.
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  All right, well, why don't we take this opportunity before we let you go here off the segment to just tell us people the name of your book again and where folks can get it.
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  Great.
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  Yes.
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  It's called the NFL since 1970, Scott Perry, and it's on Amazon.
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  So I've had some help with it.
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  I.
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  I do what I do, and I'm.
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  I.
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  So there is a small version that's black and white.
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  Please make sure that you don't get that.
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  There's a color version at 6 by 9, but if you get the 8 by 11, you're going to be much happier.
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  The effect of.
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  It's kind of like a comic book.
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  You flip the page and you watch your favorite team's helmet go up and down based on the effect of their quarterback, head coach and ownership.
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  So.
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  And it's when I put the word since my book title, it's like making donuts.
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  I got to keep it updated every year.
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  So my hope is that you'll get it, enjoy it for the season, give it to a young kid, let them become a fanatic fan and order a new one.
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  And get that that updated page which might be your NFL team, showing how many championships they've won since since the merger.
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  So fantastic.
• 13:38
  Well, folks, if you're driving and you didn't get a chance to have a pencil, write that down or, you know, you're at the gym, don't worry.
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  We have the link to to Scott's book in the show notes of both YouTube and on the podcast.
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  If the bills go 13 and 5 this year, they will be a winning organization for the first time in their history as an NFL team.
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  So they had to go 16 and 1.
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  They didn't do it.
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  But if they go 13 5, they will have one more win than loss in the regular season since kickoff, 1970.
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  That's the first for the franchise.
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  So if you're a Bills fan, you definitely need to get a copy of the book to celebrate that fact and watch as it's the last time they're a losing organization.
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  Fantastic.
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  All right, Scott, well, thank you and we will talk to you again next week.
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  Peeking up at the clock the time's running down.
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  We're gonna go into victory formation.
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  Take a knee and let this baby run out.
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  Thanks for joining us.
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  We'll see you back tomorrow.
• 14:32
  For the next podcast, we invite you to check out our website, pigskindispatch.com not only to see the daily football history, but to experience positive football with our many articles on the good people of the game as well as
• 14:45
  our own football comic strip, Cleet marks comics, piggin dispatch.com is also on social media outlets, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and don't forget the Pigskin Dispatch YouTube channel to get all of your positive football news and history.
• 14:59
  Special thanks to the talents of Mike and Gene Monroe, as well as Jason Neff for letting us use their music during our podcast.
• 15:07
  This podcast is part of the Sports History Network, your headquarters for the yesteryear of your favorite sport.
• 15:12
  You can learn more@sportshistorynetwork.com.