Pittsford, N.Y. (WBEN) - Football is back, as the Buffalo Bills have begun preparations for the upcoming season at training camp on the grounds of St. John Fisher University in Rochester.
This upcoming year for the Bills is a significant one, as the team will be playing its final season at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, a facility that has been the home of Bills football since it opened in 1973. Following this campaign, the team will move into the new Highmark Stadium across the street along Abbott Road.
The new Highmark Stadium remains on schedule with construction, and is expected to be opened next summer and ready for football come September.
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With the upcoming schedule of football games expected to be the final events taking place at the current facility, many Bills fans are hopeful to get their chance at making the trek to Orchard Park to take in one last experience at the stadium.
"Definitely want to do one more time at Highmark this year. Excited for the new stadium, like everyone is, but I definitely want to get into, at least, one game this year, for sure," said Bills fan Zach Wagner from Rochester.
For Dave from Rochester, as a Season Ticket holder at the current stadium, this season will be an important one for him, as he was one of the fans who deferred his Season Tickets for the new stadium.
"I started going, became a Season Ticket holder taking my dad, and he can no longer go to games, but still keeping it going through this Highmark Stadium."
As for Bills fans James and Stephanie Mirras from Seneca Falls, their love for the team and the stadium stems from their dad and grandfather being huge fans back in the day.
"Our grandfather, our dad grew up going to the Bills stadium, the 'Ralph' - 'Sundays at the Ralph' - their whole life. That's really why we're Bills fans. So growing up in the stadium and now being able to see the rise of a new one, our generation of the Bills is really cool," said James in an interview with WBEN.
For a third-straight training camp, the Mirras siblings were in attendance at training camp with a fun sign as a way to interact with the team at St. John Fisher. This year, they brought a big farewell card to send off Highmark Stadium ahead of the final season, and then keep it for display at home.
"Last year, we did the drums versus flats, the great [chicken wing] debate, and it was like a landslide flats. There's tons of signatures, I have it framed up in our living room. Hopefully we can do the same with this one," said Stephanie with WBEN. "I've got the 'Turning 17' one I did for Josh Allen two years ago, that's in my room. So we keep them, put them up, and we just enjoy them."
Over the 52-year history of Highmark Stadium, a number of games or specific memories stand out among Bills fans. A couple of recent games over the years came to mind for some fans.
"Watching them beat the Dolphins [in the 2022 season]. It was a messy game a little bit, but they still squeaked it out," Zach said with WBEN. "It was just nice to see a playoff win. That was the only playoff game I've seen there, so that was a good time to see that."
"Me and my dad were at the game following Damar Hamlin [in 2022] and all that. We were there for both of the return kickoffs for touchdowns, that was just electric. That was such a cool feeling being there," said James. "It felt like it was for Damar, and the whole community was surrounded together in that one moment. That's one of my favorite memories, and being there with my dad was cool."
"The playoff games when you can feel the pressure, and it's just the noise and the chaos, and everybody comes together to cheer on the same people. You're there with your family, and it's just the adrenaline is what keeps it [energized]," added Stephanie.
Meanwhile, Dave's favorite memory of the stadium may be a recent opportunity that isn't from any game played in years past. He was one of the lucky fans to get the chance to take part in filming for the new Hallmark Christmas movie centered on the Bills, set to premiere later this year.
"I was in one of the stadium scenes, it was 40 [degrees] and cool, so that was fine, because we had to dress for a winter game," Dave recalled with WBEN. "And then when we had to dress for a tailgating scene, like it was December, it was about an 86 degree day, and we were all red-faced, but not from the cold, it was from the heat. A lot of cotton on the ground for snow, and it was pretty interesting."
What are some of the best, or most favorite Bills players to watch over the years at the stadium?
"We always loved Cole Beasley, our boy, 'Beaz'. He would have to be, together, our favorite player," James said. "But currently on the roster, I stick with my man, Dalton Kincaid. He's the boy."
"I'd have to say Matt Milano and Terrel Bernard. Love the linebacking core there. Oh yeah, and Freddy Jackson was pretty cool," Dave added.
Meanwhile, it's the reigning NFL MVP that has been Zach's favorite player to watch over the years.
"The things he does are amazing," he said. "It's unbelievable some of the throws he makes, and sometimes you're like, 'Oh my God, why would you throw that?!' But then other times, even the times when you say, 'Oh my God,' it still finds its mark somehow. It's unbelievable watching him play."
When the stadium is eventually closed at the completion of the 2025 season in Orchard Park, what may be something fans are looking to keep from the stadium as a keepsake?
"I'd like to grab a couple of my seats that I have, and set it up in the man cave," Dave said.
"I think I'd take our seats, the Season Ticket seats. And I'd take those and put them home in our living room or something," Stephanie echoed.
As for James and Zach, they're both looking to find ways to honor the distinguished Bills of the past.
"Probably the Ring of Honor. Respect to all the Bills legends," Zach said.
"The Ralph Wilson sign, his name that's on the Wall of Fame, I think would be cool," James added.
And while the memories of the old stadium will last a lifetime, fans are eager to get the chance to make new memories at the new Highmark Stadium once it opens at the start of the 2026 season. What are they most excited about?
"I know it's going to be better for weather conditions, so it'll be a little bit better attending a game in December or November, when it actually gets snowing and everything like that. But at the same time, I think Bills fans also appreciate the fact that it's not a dome, because we do want elements as part of football," Zach said.
"It would have been nice to have a retractable dome, because I'm all about the weather affecting the game. Closing it up while it snows and then opening up after the snow for the game would have been really good, but we'll see how the snow melt system works and go from there," Dave added.
As for James, he's hoping for only one outcome this season that will help open the new stadium with a bang.
"Hopefully a Super Bowl banner," he said. "It's only been done one other time in NFL history, opening a new stadium, also a banner raising ceremony. How perfect would that be?"