BUFFALO, N.Y. — Bernie Cesar's children can't recall a time when their father didn't have a beard. If you ask the 93-year-old man about his beard, he will tell you "I have a beard until the Buffalo Bills win the Super Bowl."
It's decision he made based on a bet he made with Pro Football Hall of Fame Offensive Guard Billy Shaw. Shaw played while the Bills were in the AFL. He and Bernie were neighbors in Williamsville. At the time the Bills were close to making it to Super Bowl I.
"If the Bills should win, 100 percent and go to Super Bowl and win, I will shave my beard," Cesar said.
Shaw told Channel 2's Claudine Ewing via zoom from his home in Georgia, "If it weren't so far I would go to Buffalo and shave it for him."
"He's been getting calls from people he hasn't seen in years, "Bernie, papa, uncle Bernie we're getting razors, we're coming to Buffalo. They're so excited, he's so excited, but we gotta take it one step at a time," said Cesar's wife Susan.
Shaw was the first player inducted into NFL Hall of Fame who didn't play in the NFL. At the time the Bills were in the AFL before the merger.
Bernie just stopped going to Bills games a couple of years ago because he can't make the walk into the stadium. He is a Navy veteran. His name is on the wall at the Naval Park. He served in WWII.
