Quarterback Jim Kelly, running back Thurman Thomas, defensive end Bruce Smith, and head coach Marv Levy. Hall of Famers all, and they usually get most of the plaudits for the success of the Buffalo Bills in the late 1980s and early 1990s. But wide receiver Andre Reed, a Hall of Famer in his own right, having been inducted in 2014 after eight years of waiting, was no slouch either.
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Reed played in 234 games, tied for eighth-most in NFL history among wide receivers. He was a Second-Team All-Pro twice in 1989-1990 and went to seven straight Pro Bowls from 1988-1994.
Though his 951 receptions are now 22nd all-time, they were second when he retired in 2001. In that same vein, he was sixth in receiving yards with 13,198 upon retirement (now 18th) and seventh in receiving touchdowns with 87 (now 18th).
But unfortunately for Reed and the rest of that Hall of Fame cohort, the main thing they’re remembered for is not their individual brilliance, but their team failure.
There are a couple of franchises that have lost four Super Bowls, but only the Bills managed to do it in four straight years, doing so from 1990-1993. Reed, who was part of that unlucky squad, says that fans were “ruthless” in talking trash to him about those losses for the first few years after he retired.
“When I retired, the first five years was like, people were ruthless. ‘You went there four times and you didn’t win, and na na na.’ You know, that’s how people are,” said the wideout on Seconds Acts podcast.
Buffalo’s first loss in 1990 against the New York Giants was no doubt the one that hurt the most. It was a classic battle of New York’s number one defense against the Bills’ number one offense. Which would prevail? The Giants were trotting out a backup QB in Jeff Hostetler, had no RB rush for 800+ yards, and no receiver went for 600+. Buffalo was predictably the 6.5-point favorite.
But with the team down 20-19 late, it all came down to a Scott Norwood 47-yard field goal. A kick that the Bills kicker infamously sent “wide right” (words now synonymous with the kick and Norwood) to lose Buffalo the game. It’s one of the great tragic moments in modern American sports lore. And how close they came is the reason a lot of these guys, including Reed, say that first one hurt the most.
Despite going 13-3, 11-5, and 12-4 over the next three seasons and continuing to dominate the AFC, the Bills had missed their best shot. They were pummelled by Mark Rypien and the Redskins 37-24 in the following year’s Super Bowl. The Cowboys and their version of the “Triplets” just killed Buffalo in the next two, winning 52-17 and 30-13. Funny enough, all four losses came at the hands of NFC East foes.
However, Reed says that after those first few years of “ruthless” ribbing, the fans started to cool off about the shortcomings of the 1990s Bills dynasty that could have been. Instead of ruthlessness, it became admiration.
Reed also mentioned that players from those teams who went on to win Super Bowls elsewhere still hold a deep respect for those early ’90s Bills.
“But as the years went on, the ruthlessness became admiring. There was an admiration for all of us during those teams. Don Beebe won a Super Bowl with the Packers. He was with us for three of those losses. He said in an interview, ‘If I could give a ring and a Super Bowl championship to all those Bills guys, I would.’ And that kind of choked me up too because it’s like, that’s what you play the game for… Your legacy.”
The Bills didn’t have much to celebrate for about a quarter-century after that final Super Bowl loss in 1993. But exactly 25 years later, in 2018, they drafted a raw Wyoming QB named Josh Allen. Seven years and one NFL MVP later, and Allen has turned the Bills back into perennial contenders.
He just needs to make sure he doesn’t let another era of elite Buffalo teams go by the wayside without a Super Bowl championship.
