ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Our final segment of the 12-part series is about an epic road trip tradition that started way back in the 80s.
Thirty eight years ago, before Bills Mafia and before Jim Kelly was QB, these three diehard Bills fans began an adventure that continues to this day.
Steve Shaw, Mike Denzel, and Bryan Widmann are all natives of Western or Central NY that moved to work in California. In 1985 the trio saw Vince Ferragamo and the Buffalo Bills lose in San Diego. The next year, they saw the Bills on the road against the Oilers.
They have been to every old stadium together, and now the charter is to circle back and see all the new ones.
Other than 2020, the COVID year, the same three people here have been to a Bills game every year for 37 years. This season was a short road trip, watching the Bills win at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
A few other friends have joined in over the years. The trio usually decides on location when the schedule comes out. They've been to London, Carolina and Jacksonville. They even made it to Buffalo once, back in 1987. They've been to all Bills road games since.
They have evolved from traveling in an RV to staying at AirBnbs. The Bills record is 14-23 when the guys see ‘em play.
Mike says, "Because of this trip, I always see my best friends and it is in the calendar every single year. I can tell you that weekend, I laugh the hardest I do the entire year either creating new memories or remembering weekends that we’ve had over the past 37 years".
You can watch the full series on the WGRZ-TV YouTube Channel.