BUFFALO, N.Y. — As summer ends, football begins. Sunday marked the electric start of a clean slate for the Buffalo Bills — something fans have waited months for.
"Home opener, it's a no-brainer. I mean, we're all coming back from the summer, we're finally getting ready for football season. It was great,” Tyler Seck said.
A home opener called for a sea of red, white, and blue. Fans flooded into Highmark stadium dressed in their Sunday best.
"It's just electric, everybody's happy, win or lose. We want to win but it's just the fans, the Mafia, they have this team, it's great,” said Dan Bertoni, a fan who traveled from Florida.
We might be just one game into the season, but there already seems to be a new fan favorite capturing the hearts of Bills Mafia.
"Coleman, Coleman, watching Keon Coleman.”
Keon Coleman, a name mentioned by fans again ...
"Looking forward to see how Keon Coleman’s doing."
and again ...
"I'm going to say something a little controversial, Keon is better than Diggs,” Ned Becerra said.
As fans made their way into Highmark Stadium, they were met with licensed security guards and new technology, meant to get you screened and into the stadium faster.
And as a new season begins, construction right across the street continues.
This season parking and traffic patterns have been adjusted to work around stadium construction. In order to get into the official Bills parking lot, fans are now required to get a hold of a parking pass ahead of time. Many fans however, opting for independently owned lots.
"We parked a little bit down the road but I feel like out of all the parking lots we got here, there was enough parking kind of for everyone,” David Hallmark said.