BUFFALO, N.Y. — People who were born during or after the Buffalo Bills glory days grew up rooting for a losing team. They relied on old videos and the words of their parents or other elders about what it was like living through that success.
After 25 years, the Buffalo Bills are back, and they're giving the next generation of fans a winning experience.
Despite growing up in Steelers territory, Abby Wojcik grew up loving the Buffalo Bills. Her father, a longtime Buffalo season ticket holder and Cheektowaga native, inspired everyone in his family to root for the Bills.
Wojcik recalled the many weekends her father spent driving from Pennsylvania to Buffalo to see each home game with both her grandfather and mother. But Wojcik said that the team she rooted for growing up was not the team her father knew.
"I got teased by other boys in schools for being a Bills fan. Nobody respected Buffalo or the Bills for most of my life," she recalled.
Many young fans like Wojcik got used to celebrating a losing team, many times suffering a heartbreaking loss but still enthusiastically celebrating: breaking tables, hosting large tailgates, and dancing to the "Shout" song to support them no matter what.
Now that the Buffalo Bills are AFC East champions and fighting for a Super Bowl spot in Kansas City, fans are getting the experience older fans know well.
"It's definitely super exciting just to have that hope, and you are not scared anymore for games. You are excited to watch them play," Bills fan Emily Poplawski said.
Added Bills fan Ryan Mura: "I am so happy to be a part of it and it feels surreal."
Wojcik knows that feeling.
"As somebody who has known Buffalo is so special my entire life, to see other people take notice is, I've waited for my entire life, it feels like," she said.