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IG: aj_mckenzie416
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Twitter: AJMckenzie94847
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00:00Heart-breaking way to lose it for the Bills.
00:02It just wasn't to be this year.
00:06You're out there for one thing and one thing only, to win the Super Bowl.
00:11And it's sad to say, but we never actually fulfilled that part of our dream.
00:52You're out there for one thing.
01:17For most of the 1970s and 80s, Buffalo was an NFL wasteland.
01:26The football seasons were as dark and cold as the town's winters.
01:34In the mid-80s, the Bills hit rock bottom with back-to-back 2 in 14 seasons.
01:41They became a target of ridicule in their own city.
01:45There were knock-knock jokes.
01:47Knock-knock.
01:50Oh, and who?
01:51Oh, and eight?
01:53There were fans.
01:54They just look at you and tell you.
01:56Straight out.
01:57You guys suck.
02:00To make matters worse, the quarterback who was expected to lift the dark cloud from the
02:05franchise, parts of it.
02:07Buffalo selects quarterback Jim Kelly, Miami.
02:12You know, I cried pretty much.
02:14Not full-blown tears, but, you know, I grew up in Pittsburgh.
02:18I rooted for the Steelers.
02:20And as a teenager, watching them go to all those Super Bowls.
02:22And, of course, I wasn't thinking about going to Buffalo, and I ended up not going to Buffalo.
02:29Jim Kelly rejected Buffalo and played two seasons with the Houston Gamblers of the new
02:34United States Football League.
02:39But when the league folded, the quarterback needed a team, and he agreed to sign with Buffalo
02:44just before the start of the 1986 season.
02:48The Bills have been on the ropes for several seasons now.
02:51Attendance has slipped badly.
02:52Because the one-loss record is dripping in red paint.
02:55But suddenly, the warnings and portents vanished when, on August 18th, the Bills announced that
03:02they had signed a young man named Jim Kelly, a quarterback with an $8 million arm.
03:08Kelly! Kelly! Kelly!
03:10This is just 19 days after Jim Kelly signed a contract with the Buffalo Bills.
03:15And, Van, I don't think there's been an opening day that's been as eagerly anticipated as this one.
03:19And Kelly has made the difference there.
03:22Even with Kelly's arrival, the Bills struggled in 1986.
03:50Let's go!
03:52I told the players, fellas, I want you to know something.
03:54We don't have a generation gap.
03:56We have a two-generation gap.
03:59But what I said to them was, what it takes to win is simple.
04:02But it isn't easy.
04:03If you run, throw, block, tackle, catch, kick better than your opponent, you're going to win.
04:08So let's go to work.
04:14Buffalo was building a contender.
04:20A year earlier, they had drafted number 83, receiver Andre Reid, and number 78, defensive
04:27lineman Bruce Smith.
04:34In 1987, they added Pro Bowl linebackers Shane Conlon and Cornelius Bennett.
04:40I said, we got a chance to be really, really damn good.
04:45We just had a lot of talent around us.
04:49And we just started beating on folks.
04:56People were like, well, where did they come from?
04:59How did they get to be this good?
05:01They quit.
05:01In 1988, the Bills added future Hall of Fame back Thurman Thomas.
05:07And they were in the AOC Championship game by 1988.
05:12Buffalo won 12 games and a division championship.
05:17Scott Norwood a chance to win it.
05:19The put down.
05:20The kick is up.
05:21And it is good.
05:23The Bills have won it in overtime.
05:25They win the division championship.
05:28And the Buffalo Bills have come from oblivion.
05:33For years' time, we totally changed a franchise around that everybody laughed at at the beginning.
05:38But the late 80s, early 90s, not too many people were laughing anymore.
05:43Fellas, listen up.
05:44Where else would you rather be than right here, right now?
05:48Let's go!
05:49Let's go!
05:51Mark Levy always seemed to know just what to say.
05:54And not just because he earned a master's degree in English history from Harvard.
06:00At a young age, Levy learned the power of the spoken word.
06:05When I was a 14-year-old boy, and World War II had just begun,
06:09I sat by the radio and listened to the British Prime Minister talk to the British people
06:14who, in all essence, were defeated.
06:16We shall fight on the beaches.
06:18We shall fight in the fields and in the streets.
06:22We shall never surrender.
06:23And Winston Churchill, I have never heard anyone more inspirational than that man.
06:30And he became an idol of mine.
06:32And to me, he is the greatest historical figure of the 20th century.
06:37I'm always quoting Winston Churchill.
06:39My favorite Winston Churchill quotes about a guy he doesn't like.
06:42He says, the guy's got all the virtues I don't like and none of the vices I admire.
06:50Levy often taught his team lessons in military history.
06:54He would go off on a tangent telling you a story about war.
06:58And you'd sit there and you'd listen and you'd go,
07:01Hey, Marv, can you back up and break that down a little bit for me?
07:04Because I didn't quite get it.
07:06I knew that they might have to think and they might look around a little bit perplexed.
07:10I never wanted to give the impression that football and war were the same.
07:15But I was doing it to make a point.
07:17Darn it.
07:20In 1989, the coach with all the war stories had his own battles to contend with.
07:26When several players aired their differences in the media,
07:29the team earned the nickname, the Bickering Bills.
07:33Every little thing, if there was a shot on the sideline of somebody being animated,
07:38we were having a big argument, supposedly.
07:40I like to call us the misfit toys from Christmas.
07:44There's somebody left off in Buffalo.
07:46It was bickering, but you think about it.
07:49In your family, you fight with your brothers and your sisters, but you still love them.
07:53You say things you probably shouldn't say, and all young athletes do the same.
07:57You grow, you mature as time goes on.
08:01The Bills finished the 1989 season a disappointing 9-7
08:06and were bounced from the playoffs.
08:13As Buffalo entered the 1990 season, the team's chemistry was still in question.
08:21Following an opening day win, the Bills were blown out in Miami in Week 2.
08:33Midway through the fourth quarter, Levy pulled his starters from the game.
08:38A lot of guys on defense, we got mad because you feel like he's pulling you out
08:42to keep you from getting beat up worse.
08:44And that's making you look like a sissy or a punk.
08:46Let me stand here and take my ass with you.
08:48And I was like, dang, whatever happened to me again.
08:51I admired the players that didn't want to come out.
08:53And I told them, I'm glad.
08:55Wait until Super Bowl XXVII.
08:57You were upset about it.
09:00The next day out on the field, it was an extremely warm day in Buffalo.
09:04And it was a terrible practice.
09:06They couldn't wait to get off.
09:07But I was really angry that they didn't come back fighting better than that.
09:11I called a meeting after practice and told them a story that I had learned from my own father
09:18who had been a member of the Marine Corps in World War I.
09:21They fought at the Battle of Belleau Wood.
09:24The Marines were very exhausted and their commander said,
09:27we are in an attack now.
09:29And the Marines were unbelieving.
09:31The commander looked in his eye and he said,
09:33when it's too tough for them, it's just right for us.
09:38So I relayed that story.
09:40I'm going to be tired.
09:42And I'm going to be tired.
09:43But I at least am going to go out there 100%.
09:47And if you don't, I'll just know that when it's too tough for you, it's just right for me.
09:54The 65-year-old coach kept command of his talented troops.
10:00We did have a lot of different egos on our team.
10:02And when we did step out of line, he always let us know.
10:05When he got angry, you knew when he got angry.
10:07He didn't do it much.
10:08He got to come up field with it.
10:10But when he did, you knew who was boss.
10:12Get up field and stop f***ing dancing.
10:15Marv never speaks just to talk.
10:17He speaks because he has something to get across to you.
10:20Everything that he did had meaning to it.
10:23Everything he did.
10:23I know it is.
10:24He was a mass f***ing.
10:25I'm telling you, if we had aliens on this planet,
10:28I bet you Marv could sit down and talk to them.
10:30Where's he going?
10:30There couldn't have been anybody else
10:32been around the cast of characters that we had on our team
10:35and got us to do what we did.
10:38After the loss in Miami,
10:41Levy's team had a chance to prove its toughness.
10:45Buffalo bailed 21-9 in the fourth quarter.
10:48The first thing that went through our heads was,
10:50he's going to pull us out of the game again.
10:52And no, we're not going to let this happen.
10:55We've got to do something.
10:56Somebody's got to make a play.
11:10Buffalo scored three touchdowns in 77 seconds.
11:16Elway throws.
11:17It's deflected and intercepted by the Bills.
11:20Leonard Smith at the 30.
11:21Now to the 20.
11:2215.
11:2310-5.
11:24Touchdown.
11:25He scores.
11:27A week later, the Bills overcame a 10-point fourth quarter deficit.
11:32And it's left.
11:34And the Bills have the goal.
11:35And all the way to the end zone,
11:37the number 10-1 team, William.
11:39He scores.
11:41He scores.
11:42He scores.
11:42In their next game,
11:44the Bills' winning score came with just 19 seconds left.
11:48Here's Kelly to throw.
11:50Looking.
11:51Can't find anyone.
11:52Now he throws.
11:54Touchdown.
11:55Danny Muir.
11:56The Bills have done it again.
11:58Way to come back, guys.
12:00Way to hang in there.
12:02The Bills had won four straight
12:04and were now 5-1.
12:08The team that once couldn't get along
12:10had now found its winning chemistry
12:13and was answering its critics.
12:15It's a great football team with a lot of moral fiber
12:18and a lot of character, and they showed it.
12:21And I think those who say that they don't have it
12:23and there are who do and who wait for them to stumble
12:26ought to examine their own character.
12:28The resiliency that we had,
12:30the will to win that we had in our hearts.
12:33Congratulations.
12:34It came down to one person getting us ready
12:36each and every week.
12:37That was more of a leaving.
12:41Five future Hall of Famers.
12:44I played on a team that was full of stars
12:47on offense and defense,
12:48and not everybody can be a star.
12:52Not everybody can get their just due.
12:55Number 56, Darryl Talley,
12:57knew what it was like to feel overlooked.
13:02For years, the outside linebacker
13:04did the dirty work
13:05while his teammates reaped the rewards.
13:14And through his first seven seasons,
13:17Talley was never named to the Pro Bowl.
13:22I feel like this.
13:23I feel like Rodney Dangerfield.
13:24I get no respect for nothing I do.
13:27I'm not getting any respect from the media.
13:29And I went in there,
13:30took me some tape,
13:31put it up over my name tag,
13:32and wrote Rodney.
13:35And everybody looked at me.
13:36What's wrong?
13:37I'm Rodney Dangerfield.
13:38I get no respect.
13:39What else can I do?
13:41Like I said,
13:41the only thing else I can do
13:42is turn into God.
13:44And I can't do that
13:45because I can't walk on water.
13:47You know, I can understand it.
13:48The role he played in our team,
13:50because there were so many stars,
13:51probably wasn't highlighted enough.
13:54And after a while,
13:55I said, you know what?
13:56Forget it.
13:57There's nothing to be mad about.
13:58I'm winning.
13:59My teammates are having a good time.
14:01I just tried to block out
14:02what the media was doing
14:03and play football.
14:09In 1990,
14:11Talley led the team in tackles.
14:17In week nine,
14:19he had two interceptions
14:20in a rout of the Browns.
14:24Intercepted by the Bills,
14:25Talley!
14:27At the 40!
14:28He's going all the way!
14:29Daryl Talley scores!
14:33But Talley's biggest contribution
14:35to the team
14:36may have come
14:37from his personality.
14:42Daryl's a strange character, man.
14:44He's one of my best friends.
14:45See the smile put on my face?
14:48Daryl's pure entertainment.
14:49He was one of our biggest leaders.
14:51Let it go!
14:52We've got to have it!
14:52Let it go!
14:53His leadership came primarily
14:56from his enthusiasm for the game,
14:58for how much he was in it.
14:59Let's go, baby!
15:00Let's tighten it up now!
15:01Tighten it up and get after it!
15:03Let's go!
15:04Let's go!
15:04Let's go, you fool!
15:05Daryl had just the right feel
15:07for when to call a player a side.
15:10Work here!
15:11Come on, keep playing!
15:12I think he helped inspire
15:13Bruce Smith,
15:14who, when he first came into the league,
15:16was a rather overweight,
15:18self-indulgent guy.
15:20A couple years later,
15:21there was no more dedicated workout guy,
15:23no one who loved the game more,
15:25and Daryl Talley was a big part of that.
15:28Show him something I've never seen.
15:31That's all I got to say.
15:36Bruce Smith would go on
15:38to become the NFL's all-time sack leader,
15:41and in 1990,
15:42he had a career-high 19.
15:47All season,
15:48Smith,
15:49Talley,
15:50and the rest of the defense
15:51followed a simple plan.
15:54We were exceptionally quick,
15:56and we just wanted to hit you.
15:58Let's just run
15:59and knock the everything
16:01out of everybody that moves.
16:03All right, let's go!
16:04We're gonna knock their ass off!
16:14In week 11 against the Patriots,
16:16the Bills' defense posted
16:18its second shutout in three weeks,
16:20and Buffalo ran its winning streak
16:22to eight games.
16:23Here is Thurman Thomas,
16:36The Bills were 9-1
16:39thanks to a cast of pro bowlers
16:41and an unheralded leader.
16:51Against the Browns,
16:53the Bills fell behind early,
16:55but when they turned
16:57to their no-huddle offense,
16:59they nearly came back to win.
17:01From that moment on,
17:03Ted Marchabroda,
17:04our offensive coordinator,
17:05and I would talk.
17:07You know,
17:07maybe that's something
17:08we ought to not wait
17:09until the last few minutes to do.
17:11And then,
17:12before the next season began,
17:14Ted said to me,
17:14Mark, why don't we open
17:15the season opener
17:16with our two-minute drill?
17:18I sort of looked at Ted,
17:19and I said,
17:19I've been thinking
17:20the same thing, Ted.
17:21That was the beginning.
17:22You know,
17:23he put his job security on,
17:24and really,
17:25think about it.
17:26Here he was
17:27letting a quarterback
17:27take the offense,
17:28and if I burn,
17:30he's burning with me.
17:34Instead of crashing
17:35and burning,
17:37Kelly and the Bills
17:38set the field ablaze.
17:44Kelly was the NFL's
17:45top-rated passer in 1990,
17:47and Buffalo led the league
17:49in scoring.
17:50In the no-huddle offense,
17:52Kelly to throw again.
17:54He throws long this time,
17:55and it is caught!
17:57He's on his way
17:58for a touchdown!
18:01It was balls to the wall.
18:03I mean,
18:03they kept the accelerator down.
18:05They didn't let up
18:06on anything or anybody.
18:12With the Bills'
18:13no-huddle offense
18:14scoring so quickly,
18:16Buffalo's defense
18:17didn't have much time
18:18to rest.
18:19I was like this,
18:20if you got a cash register
18:21that's gonna run
18:22and tally up the points,
18:24guess what?
18:25Let that puppy run.
18:27Run it up
18:28as high as you can.
18:29I'm not,
18:29don't stop it
18:30on my account.
18:32We conditioned ourselves
18:34to play against that
18:35in practice,
18:36so it didn't bother us
18:38on defense.
18:40In 1990,
18:42Kelly was the only
18:42NFL quarterback
18:43to call his own plays,
18:45and he mixed the pass
18:46and run equally.
18:51Thurman Thomas
18:52was the workhorse,
18:53but Kelly wasn't afraid
18:55to run the ball himself.
19:00The quarterback
19:01was hardly quick as a cat,
19:03but he did remind some
19:04of a certain feline.
19:07I called him Heathcliff.
19:08I mean,
19:09he's the cat
19:10that thinks he's a dog.
19:11He's a quarterback,
19:12but he thinks he's a linebacker,
19:14and he thinks he's as tough
19:15as anybody out there.
19:16Come on, Heathcliff,
19:17let's get him going!
19:19Now, trust me,
19:20he looks like Fred Flintstone
19:21running,
19:21but he'd run head first,
19:23jump in the pile,
19:23whatever it took.
19:25That comes from being
19:26raised in a family
19:27of six boys.
19:28Heathcliff!
19:29Way to play, Heathcliff.
19:30I was the football
19:32plenty of times
19:32when I was a young kid.
19:35A lot of teams
19:35were recruiting me
19:36out of high school
19:36to play linebacker.
19:37My brother said,
19:38you don't want to play
19:39linebacker,
19:39you want to play quarterback.
19:42Despite his toughness
19:43on the field,
19:44the Bills quarterback
19:45showed a delicate stomach
19:47in the pregame locker room.
19:51He would throw up
19:53every single week.
19:55You hear something
19:56in the background
19:56going,
19:58well,
20:0012's ready,
20:01we don't have to worry,
20:01let's go.
20:02Yeah, they got to be
20:03kind of old
20:03to be honest with you
20:04because they would not
20:06even leave the locker room
20:07until I get done
20:08throwing up.
20:08I'm sitting there waiting,
20:10waiting,
20:11all of a sudden,
20:11here it is,
20:12I hear him,
20:13there's Jim,
20:14let's go,
20:14we ready to play now,
20:15guys.
20:15Sometimes I went back
20:16and I faked like I was
20:17so I can get everybody
20:18ready to go.
20:20As the 1990 season
20:22wore on,
20:23Kelly continued to make
20:24opponents feel sick.
20:27In week 13,
20:28he passed for three
20:29touchdowns against the Eagles.
20:31Down to the 20,
20:32the 15,
20:32the 10,
20:33the 5,
20:33he scores!
20:35The following week,
20:37Kelly and the Bills
20:37blew out the Colts.
20:46In a week 15 showdown
20:48with the Giants,
20:49Kelly staked Buffalo
20:50to an early lead.
20:53But then the unthinkable
20:55happened
20:56to the indestructible
20:58quarterback.
20:59I go,
21:00uh-oh,
21:01he cliff is down.
21:02He doesn't get hurt.
21:07Kelly is hurt.
21:08He is hurt horribly.
21:10Have you ever had
21:10a knee injury?
21:11It doesn't tickle.
21:13No,
21:13don't do that,
21:14dog.
21:14Don't do that.
21:15Hold on a second.
21:16Where did you feel that at?
21:17Where did you decide?
21:19I feel a ton of
21:20brothers.
21:20You're a loser.
21:22Of course,
21:23it's tremendously distressing.
21:25Here's a guy
21:25that's the leader
21:26of your team.
21:27He's carried you
21:27this far,
21:28and now he's injured.
21:31The 12-2 Bills
21:33won the game,
21:34but they appear
21:35to have suffered
21:36a loss
21:36that could destroy
21:38their season.
21:43Go down against
21:44division rival
21:44Miami.
21:46He watched
21:47as number 14
21:48Frank Reich
21:49helped Buffalo
21:50clinch the
21:51AFC East title.
21:53This is where
21:54it gets tough,
21:54and the traffic
21:55gets heavy.
21:56Reich will throw.
21:57Looking,
21:58throws,
21:59touchdown!
22:00Can't stop it!
22:01The Bills finished
22:0213-3
22:03and earned
22:04a bye week
22:05before their
22:06first playoff game.
22:08Even with the
22:09extra time off,
22:10it was uncertain
22:11whether Kelly
22:12would be ready.
22:13Four days before
22:14the game,
22:15when he first starts
22:16practicing,
22:16you're reserving
22:17judgment.
22:18When he saw
22:19you looking to see
22:20if you're trying
22:20to discern
22:21is he ready,
22:22he would throw
22:23off vibes like
22:24you bet I am,
22:25don't you for a minute
22:26think I'm not?
22:45and the
22:47no-huddle offense
22:49The blitz is on, he throws, he's got a man, Reed, at the 20, down to the 15, to the
22:5510,
22:55five, touchdown, Andre Reed!
22:59Four weeks after his injury, Kelly threw for 339 yards and three touchdowns.
23:10And Rich Stadium has erupted in Fandemonium!
23:18I mean, yeah.
23:21Next week, baby, one more game! Let's play!
23:24One more game for the Bills to reach their first...
23:33One more river, one more river to cross.
23:36This was something that had been sung during World War II by the British Eighth Army as they advanced.
23:42And so, at our team meetings the night before the game, I recall that...
23:47He stood up and sang it.
23:48Yeah, he's no Frank Sinatra, that's for sure.
23:51One more river to cross.
23:53We've got one more game left to get to the other side.
23:56Hot dog!
23:57Hot dog!
23:57Come on!
23:59The players took their coach's latest message to heart and recalled another from several months back.
24:06Just before the kickoff, Darryl Talley said,
24:09Coach, can I say something?
24:10And I said, yeah, Darryl, go ahead.
24:12And he still turned to the player and says,
24:13When it's too tough for them, it's just right for us.
24:16There's no place else you'd rather be than right here, right now.
24:19When it's too tough for them, it's just right for us!
24:34That game, the ball just bounced the right way.
24:36It was a snap.
24:37I fumbled and I went to pick it up and my helmet got thrown up in my face.
24:41I had to adjust my helmet.
24:42I scrambled to the right and I threw one to James Lofton.
24:44He drops the ball, picks it up, rolls to the right, still on his feet.
24:49Just remember everything clicking.
24:51Now throws, it's good to Lofton.
24:53He runs in for a score.
24:58By halftime, Buffalo was ahead 41 to 3.
25:04And I know the Raiders can coo-coo to no huddle off and say that they've seen it before,
25:08but they've never seen it the way the Bills run it.
25:11Once we got them down, it was like, look, don't let up.
25:15Everybody to the ball.
25:16Everybody to the ball now.
25:20If you got them down, you better keep them down there and keep beating them.
25:23And that's what we did.
25:29And the Raiders are greater and he throws it and intercepted by Kelly.
25:33On the sideline, Quinny's asked me, what got up your ass, man?
25:37I ain't never seen you go after somebody like this.
25:39Slow down.
25:40Slow down.
25:41Take your breath.
25:41Hey!
25:42I definitely think I went somewhere different that day.
25:50And it is intercepted there.
25:52Kicked off by Kelly.
25:54He's down the sidelines to the 20.
26:03Daryl Talley, the Bills are in the Super Bowl for the first time in their history.
26:24I went through all of the knock-knock jokes, and to finally culminate with going to the Super Bowl,
26:31that was perhaps one of the best feelings you're going to get right there.
26:37Jay Schrader threw five interceptions.
26:42I just want to let you know.
26:46Where are we going?
26:47To the show.
26:48Where are we going?
26:49To the show.
26:50What time?
26:50Next week?
26:52What time is?
26:53Showtime, baby!
27:03There's a surreal sense about it, really.
27:05Is this really happening?
27:07Am I really part of this?
27:08And you also look around, and you look at these players that you've been working with so hard.
27:15It's a jubilation you feel, and you should savor.
27:22Don't be misled by the size of the score, because you've got another river to cross.
27:29There's one more river to cross.
27:31You know, you'd sit back here in Little East Brady High School, and I was always a Steeler fan.
27:35I've seen Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lin Swan, those type of players playing in the Super Bowl,
27:39and I said, maybe one of these days I'll get my chance.
27:42Well, my chance has come, but 20 years down in a row, they'll say, oh, Buffalo was in it,
27:47but they're going to know who won it.
27:49So our goal is to win it, not just to show up.
27:55Let's go!
27:56Let's go!
27:59This is the biggest game of my career, and knowing that your country's at war,
28:03I mean, you've got all of that rushing through you,
28:07and to say the least, Whitney Houston nailed the national anthem.
28:10For the best.
28:13And I'm free
28:19And I'm free
28:20And I'm free
28:21And I'm free
28:21And I'm free
28:36When the planes flew overhead, if you didn't get goosebumps on you then, you're not an American.
28:41I'm going to tell you what, that was the most exciting thing that ever happened to me,
28:47except for the birth of my two kids.
28:49USA! USA! USA! USA!
28:51I'm never going to forget that feeling.
28:53I get goosebumps now thinking about it.
28:55Remember, you guys, when it's too tough for them, it's going to be just right.
29:01The bills were favored over the Giants,
29:06and at the start of Super Bowl XXV,
29:10Buffalo seemed destined for a championship.
29:37But Bill Parcells' Giants stayed with Buffalo.
29:44New York controlled the clock with a power running game
29:47and produced long scoring drives at the end of the half
29:50and start of the third quarter.
29:55Bills have not had the ball in this quarter,
29:57and the clock is running,
29:58and that's just the way the Giants want it.
30:01And Jim Kelly is watching helplessly at the sideline.
30:05As an offense, a team just standing on the sidelines for so long.
30:09They marched on eight or nine minutes with the ball.
30:11Then, of course, you go through that long halftime.
30:13Then we kick off to them.
30:14They get the ball, they control the clock again.
30:16It come down probably a good hour, hour and a half
30:19that we weren't even on a football field.
30:21We would give up stupid plays.
30:25I mean, we missed tackles in that game,
30:27and we usually didn't miss tackles.
30:29And I missed one that I think was on the most crucial play of the game.
30:37Third and about 13.
30:39They have the ball at the 32-yard line of the Bills.
30:42Here's a huge play.
30:45Parkinson Sr. gets the ball,
30:47and I don't know what Tally was thinking,
30:50trying to, I don't know, clobber him,
30:53but just hit him in the legs.
30:55Should have hit him in the legs.
30:59Kostetler to throw, and he's got a man there,
31:02and he breaks loose, and he is going to be hit.
31:05Ingram falls forward.
31:07He may have the first down.
31:08The Bills again should have stopped him.
31:10A ball tap.
31:11You're right.
31:12I went right over the top.
31:15I just about took his head off,
31:18but I accept responsibility for missing.
31:23I wish I could have every one I missed back,
31:25but that one more so than any other.
31:32The crucial third down conversion
31:34scored to take the lead.
31:39Marv Levy's team had hardly touched the ball,
31:42but with the Bills trailing by one in the final minutes,
31:46Buffalo's offense got one last shot.
31:50He clips hands.
31:52You know, it's up to him.
31:53He's got to orchestrate us down the field.
31:58King Dodd, for me, everything I dreamt about as a little kid.
32:04Two minutes left in the ball game.
32:05The ball's in my hands.
32:07It's Super Bowl.
32:08Everything.
32:08As a little kid, there it was right in front of me.
32:10Now we have 2.16 to play,
32:13and this will be it.
32:14One more shot for Jim Kelly in the Bills.
32:16You wouldn't want it any other way.
32:1890 yards away from a touchdown,
32:20and probably 70 yards away from a field goal shot.
32:33131 to play,
32:35130 to play,
32:36129.
32:47113 to play,
32:48112.
32:49I knew the confidence I had in our kicker.
32:51I knew from Scott,
32:53anything inside the 50,
32:54he was good,
32:54he could make it,
32:55and my goal was to get our team inside the 30-yard line.
32:5831 seconds left.
32:59Here's a...
32:59He was 105 from 40 yards away on grass.
33:07And I don't know why Kelly or anybody was running the ball.
33:14Just throw the ball towards the sideline
33:18and keep time on the clock.
33:23Running play Thurman Thomas at the 40-35-30.
33:30We're down to 12, 11, 10.
33:32Kelly may spike the ball here.
33:34I think he'll spike it.
33:35He will spike the ball.
33:39High drama here on the Super Bowl.
33:42Kelly moved this team 60 yards
33:44in two minutes and eight seconds.
33:48Good job, damn it!
33:49We're going to move on this.
33:49Good job, damn it!
33:59The quiet man of this football,
34:02Scott Norwood.
34:03He can fire the shot heard around the world now.
34:08If there was any thought in my mind at all,
34:11believe it or not,
34:12if he makes this,
34:13there's still going to be about four seconds left.
34:15Now, what are we going to do?
34:16You know, think about it.
34:19He has made eight of his last nine!
34:22Scott, he's going out and do his thing.
34:24You know, that was it.
34:29It's that confidence he was going to put it through,
34:30and we were super happy,
34:31and you take a deep breath
34:33and just relax.
34:34It's going to go through.
34:39Oh, he's faster in Buffalo.
34:42This shot, 47 yards.
34:50Reich, waiting for the snap.
34:58Puts it down.
35:00On the way.
35:01It's long enough.
35:11And it is no good.
35:13He missed it to the right
35:15with four seconds to play.
35:24From this day on,
35:25I still thought that thing went through.
35:27On that sideline,
35:28it looked like it was coming right through.
35:32Well, it was a heartbreaking way to lose it
35:35for the Bills.
35:36An anguished look on the face of Jim Kelly.
35:40Yeah, it hurt.
35:41I fell for the players.
35:42I fell for the city of Buffalo,
35:43and to be honest with you,
35:45for my family.
35:47For my five brothers,
35:48my mom and dad
35:49that helped me throughout my high school,
35:51college, and NFL career.
35:52They were right there with me the whole time.
35:54And I fell for them.
35:56I fell for them.
35:57Cornelius and I walked off the field together that night.
35:59And we just shook our heads
36:01and said, damn, damn.
36:03Just let one get away.
36:05They played their hearts out absolutely,
36:07but it just wasn't to be this year.
36:10A very quiet locker room,
36:11as you can imagine,
36:12after the game.
36:13And I went over,
36:14didn't know what I was going to say.
36:16Sit down next to Scott Norwood.
36:19Before I could say anything to him,
36:21Darrell and Nate Odoms came over.
36:23I said, man, don't worry about it.
36:25I miss tackles, man.
36:27The game should never have come down to that.
36:29And we all had chances in that game
36:32to make plays to make a difference in it.
36:35You go back to the hotel,
36:37and you just, you mourn.
36:42Pound your mattress.
36:43Finally, you get off by yourself
36:45in the dark of night,
36:46and everybody's asleep.
36:47And I remembered some words from a poem
36:49about an old Scottish warrior.
36:51Fight on, my men, Sir Andrews said.
36:53A little I'm hurt, but not yet slain.
36:56I'll just lie down and bleed a while.
36:59Then I'll rise and fight again.
37:09The poem that consoled Marv Levy
37:11the night of Super Bowl XXV
37:12became a touchstone for the Bills players.
37:17When we got back to Buffalo the next day
37:19for our final wrap-up meeting,
37:21I had that drawn up, posted it on the bulletin board,
37:23and about eight or ten players
37:25came by after the meeting and said,
37:26Do you have a copy of that, Coach?
37:28And over the next years,
37:30something went wrong.
37:31Somebody, I don't know who it was,
37:33would post a copy of that poem again.
37:37Fight on, my men, Sir Andrews said.
37:39A little I'm hurt, but not yet slain.
37:41I'll just lie down and bleed a while.
37:44And then I'll rise and fight again.
37:50The Bills followed their Super Bowl XXV loss
37:54with perhaps the greatest run of resilience
37:56in NFL history.
38:04In 1991, the Bills once again rolled through
38:07the regular season,
38:08but once again fell short in the Super Bowl.
38:20I remember after our second Super Bowl loss
38:22on a call-in show that I appeared in,
38:24one fan called in and he said,
38:25Coach, I can't take it anymore.
38:27I don't want to go back to the Super Bowl next year.
38:30It hurts too much.
38:32I said, Sir, I appreciate your anguish.
38:34I share it, but I'm glad you're not on my team.
38:37I guess you could say we were pissed off
38:39at everybody because nobody wanted us there.
38:42Because they say, oh,
38:43they're just going to go there and lose.
38:44And you know what?
38:46They can get as mad as they wanted me.
38:48I'm going back.
38:49I'm going back until I drop or win it.
38:55Everybody waiting for us to fall?
38:57We may fall a little bit every now and then,
38:59but we always know one thing
39:00and we're going to get right back up.
39:04The ability to get up
39:05after repeatedly being knocked down
39:07was a lesson.
39:12What do you do?
39:13Do you just keep lying there
39:14in the fetal position and whimper?
39:16Or do you get off and fight again another day?
39:19We could come from the depths of hell
39:23and snatch the victory right out of your mouth.
39:26We can overcome, baby.
39:27We can overcome this.
39:29In the 1992 playoffs,
39:32the Bills overcame a 35-3 deficit
39:35and produced the greatest comeback
39:37in NFL history
39:38on the way to their third straight Super Bowl.
39:41Now they're talking about character.
39:43This is what?
39:44This is the team.
39:46What a comeback by the Bills.
39:52You've got to believe
39:53if you're a Bills fan.
39:56And so now it's in God's hands.
39:58God is good.
39:59God is just.
40:01Please, God,
40:02make three a charm.
40:03Our time has come.
40:05Go Bills.
40:08Go Bills.
40:10Go Bills.
40:14The third time was another disaster.
40:17And so was the fourth.
40:19This has just been
40:20a horrible and horrendous nightmare for the Bills.
40:25What a way to end a tremendous season.
40:29We've worked so hard during the course of the season
40:31to make it to where we're at.
40:32We have a lot to be proud of.
40:34But, you know, you always think,
40:36why?
40:37Why do we deserve to, you know,
40:40to lose the way we did today?
40:42We did just about whatever you could do on a field
40:44to another team or opposing team.
40:47And we get to the last game of the year.
40:58We all had to take the blame for that.
40:59We had not one, two, three, four bites of dead apple
41:03and still didn't swallow it.
41:05You know, people say today,
41:06are you crestfallen?
41:08No.
41:09Do I wish we would have won them?
41:10Absolutely.
41:11Four of them, three of them, two of them, one of them.
41:13Yeah, we would have wanted to win.
41:15We all acknowledge it.
41:16We can't change it.
41:18It's hard.
41:19It's agonizing.
41:20It eats at you.
41:21When you see a Super Bowl,
41:23when you go to one, you go,
41:24dang, I had four chances to win one.
41:28Didn't win one.
41:32Of Buffalo's four straight Super Bowl losses,
41:36it is the first in Super Bowl XXV
41:38that may be the most haunting.
41:42To this day,
41:44the Bills can't escape reminders
41:46of the game that ended wide right.
41:49My daughter's championship basketball game
41:51is a seventh grader.
41:53Everybody arrives for singing the national anthem.
41:55It's no lie.
41:56It's a seventh grader's championship game.
41:59Whitney Houston singing the national anthem.
42:01I'm listening to this song.
42:03I'm listening and listening.
42:04I'm like, that's Super Bowl XXV.
42:07It came down fourth quarter,
42:09three seconds go in the game.
42:10We're losing 20 to 19.
42:12Our best free throw shooter on the free throw line,
42:14two shots.
42:16Second one bounces wide right.
42:21You look at basketball,
42:22they play seven games.
42:23Baseball, they play seven games.
42:27We only get one shot.
42:29One shot at it.
42:33The Bills are the only team
42:35to get that one shot
42:36four straight times.
42:43And though they never earned a championship ring,
42:46they earned a special place
42:48in NFL history.
42:53Some people have played their whole lives
42:55and never gotten it.
42:56We did it four times in a row.
42:58I think that's something special.
43:03I don't care what anybody has to say about it
43:05and they can tell me I'm crazy.
43:07But I do think,
43:08in the grand scheme of things,
43:10we're one of the better teams ever amassed
43:13in the history of the game.
43:15May be the basic lesson.
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