Buffalo Bills Fans "Circle the Wagons" for Andre and the Team

Aug. 04, 2014

The moment had finally arrived.

Andre Reed had just finished listening to Marv Levy's eloquent introduction and the fans that had come to Canton were ready to explode......along with the hundreds of thousands of Bills Backer organizations, Bills Mafia members and just plain old "Bills Fans" scattered all across the United States and the rest of the world.

Andre's Bust was revealed and the "Swami" Chris Berman invited Andre Reed to the microphone with his favorite saying "No one Circles the Wagons like the Buffalo Bills"

This felt like a family reunion.... and even though there were other players being inducted, there was something very special about this ceremony that was like no other that I had ever witnessed. The enshrinement was like a good order of chicken wings, but it had Buffalo Hot Sauce all over it. It was a night that made Bills Fans proud to be part of the "City of Good Neighbors."

Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Daryl Talley, Cornelius Bennett, Steve Tasker and the "engineer" of the team that went to 4 straight Superbowls - Marv Levy - were all there.

The only one missing was the "Architect" Ralph Wilson.

He was watching from above........and I'm sure that Heaven's window was open just enough for him to see the action, feel the cool wind on his face and hear sound of the fans coming into his suite.

Andre opened his speech with the Marv Levy saying "Where would you rather be, then right here, right now!" It was the most memorable statement of the night......... and Buffalo fans went crazy.

For a player in the NFL, that kind of applause would be kind of like getting that first hit in a football game. It kind of knocks the butterflys out of your system and gets you ready to go the distance with confidence. Andre took the reception and like he did for so many years - took it to the house and spiked it with authority!

The hot sauce that permeated Reed's speech was all about toughness. He acknowledged his fans in Buffalo, Allentown, Kutztown, and Canton - those "blue-collar towns that dot the road-map of an amazing journey."

You'd have to be the Tin Man in the Wizard of OZ if you didn't have a tear in your eye when he said "The toughest individual I've ever met in my life is Jim Kelly, No. 12. You're the reason why I'm standing here today. ... Every time I looked into your eyes in the huddle, I knew we could get it done. I knew we had a chance to win. Leadership, beyond reasonable doubt."

Damn.....I'm crying just from writing this. At the conclusion of Reed's Pro Football Hall of Fame speech, Jim Kelly joined him on stage and hooked up with him one last time as a huge crowd of predominantly Bills fans, cheered like they did so many times at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

A couple hours before the ceremony, Andre told me that he didn't think the NFL would ever see this type of duo again in the NFL. Check it out here: Andre comment on the Dynamic Duo

I think he's right.

To close out his speech, Reed made this promise to the Buffalo Bills fans "Oh, yeah...and the Bills will stay in Buffalo, too."

Those words may have brought the biggest cheer of the night from Bills fans.

In Buffalo, the fans are "Circling the Wagons".

If someone moved our team from Buffalo, it would be like someone stole our chicken wings and hot sauce – with the anger and resentment multiplied about a thousand times.

No one is going to take this team away from us without a fight, and as a former Buffalo Bill player I'm ready to stand with Andre Reed and the Buffalo Bills fans to make sure that they stay right here where they belong.

The Hall of Fame Ceremony was like a reunion, but not just for the Bills players of the glory days. It was for also a reunion of the fans that enjoyed the games and the special moments of the Super Bowl years. Andre said it best "It could have been any city, but Buffalo, New York is where this happened and if you missed it, you missed some good stuff. If you happened to be growing up during those years, you witnessed greatness."

Let's keep it going Buffalo - and someday we just might witness this type of greatness again and be able to tell the world "Where else would you rather be, then right here, right now?"