Time for BillsMafia to become ‘Championship Caliber’ FAMbase

When Sean McDermott rolled into Orchard Park one of the first things he did to change the beaten down culture in the locker room was to post the two words “Playoff Caliber” all over where players congregate at One Bills Drive. He created this ‘theme’ very early in his tenure because he wanted players to make an immediate positive shift in their mindset. His vision was very specific.

As a newly minted head coach, McDermott began to attack his job like he was preparing for a championship wrestling match. While other head coaches may have theoretical schemes and philosophies, Sean lives his “process” from the inside out. I’ve studied a lot of human behavior over the years and McDermott’s unique personal style bowled me over the first time I watched him speak at his introductory press conference.

And please… just take a moment to reflect back on how far this franchise has come since this beautiful piece was put together…

If you can’t see the light shining from Sean McDermott’s soul in this piece, you’re missing a gift that was given to us as a reward for our decades of long-suffering fandom. Marv Levy brought this franchise to respectability in the 1990s, but it is Sean McDermott who is helping us evolve to another whole level as a FAMbase.

So what does McDermott have to do with helping us evolve our mindset as a fan base?

If you didn’t pick up on it while watching the previous video, watch it again to see just how far this Buffalo Bills franchise has evolved since the changing of the guard. There was a lot of dysfunction still managing operations at One Bills Drive during 2017. Interesting how quickly things changed for the better in terms of overall success since the front office for the Bills was reconfigured. One can only hope the Pegulas will find the hockey equivalent of ‘Magic Beanes’ and McDermott for our beleaguered Buffalo Sabres.

But seriously… take a moment and think about just how far this franchise has come in terms of becoming ‘championship caliber’, to use McDermott’s current theme song. The last four years have been an amazing journey for lifelong fans of the Buffalo Bills. No matter your current age, if you’re a Bills fan, you have suffered.

And now we find ourselves at the beginning of what could become a championship season for our beloved team. Like a real chance for the Bills to win a Super Bowl. Yes I did just write those words. It is a plausible possibility and it still feels so strange.

The world was weird enough during the COVID-19 pandemic. I still keep waking up after last season thinking it was one of my out to lunch dreams the Bills made it to the AFC Championship game. Then I start to wonder if some in our ‘FAMbase’ feel a similar sort of disorientation. Did last season really happen?

It’s as if we dare not speak of such Super Bowl possibilities or we will jinx them into that place where our fan-hood went into something I used to refer to as “cold storage”.

It’s time to bring out the goods, folks.

If we expect this team to take the next step and bring home a Lombardi trophy, it’s time we prepare ourselves as a FAMbase for this very real possibility as well. Last season was over so fast I barely had time to acclimate myself to the possibility it could happen. I don’t want to feel so ill prepared this season, because these windows of opportunity to win and NFL Championship are ephemeral.

So what does this fan base need to do to become ‘championship caliber’?

We need to step up our leadership around the league and empower ourselves to be outspoken about doing it as Sean McDermott would suggest… the right way. Breaking tables will follow us to our grave, and our binge drinking will likely continue to go down in the record books… and there’s very little doubt this will become our lasting legacy.

But there are some things we can do along the way to make the most of our opportunity, should the Bills do something crazy like win it all. Lately McDermott has been preaching “humble and hungry”, a very good theme song for our FAMbase as well.

Let us vow NOT to become like Patriots* fans. Surely we can find a way to do better.

Should the end goal of winning a championship really start to materialize as a possibility, you never want to let every single joyous and frustrating moment slip by without cherishing it along the way. Some of us have been waiting 50+ years for a truly magical season. The fates tripped us up short FOUR freaking times in a row in the 90s, and that’s affected how we think about our beloved team to this day.

So it’s time during this “quiet period” of the NFL calendar to begin planning how to ensure every moment of this upcoming season be properly consumed, recorded and enjoyed to the max… good, bad or otherwise. Because you never get a ‘redo’ of the first time you realize your favorite football team is hanging out around Base Camp at Mt. Everest. The weather forecast is sunny and mild with no wind for the next few days, so now’s your chance.

Because it truly is all about the journey.

~The Caboose~

Find me on Twitter @RobynMundyWYO.