Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN/WGR Sports Radio 550) - As we inch closer to the final season at Highmark Stadium, the rich memories of those who played at the 52-year-old stadium continue to come into view.
Jeff Nixon played safety for the Buffalo Bills from 1979 through 1984, with his final two seasons being spent on injured reserve due to a knee injury.
He was selected in the fifth round (87th overall) in the 1979 NFL Draft out of the University of Richmond. He led the Bills with six interceptions in 1979, and then followed that up with a five-interception season in 1980.
Nixon remembers well what the atmosphere was like playing at, then, Rich Stadium in Orchard Park.
"The atmosphere was great because Chuck Knox had come in, and he was an established coach," Nixon said in an interview with WBEN. "He had some great success when he was out in [Los Angeles], and we knew he was a good coach. And he surrounded himself with other good coaches. I was able to have a pretty good career there during that period of time."
One of the biggest victories at Highmark Stadium during the Chuck Knox era was when the Bills snapped a 20-game losing streak to the Miami Dolphins. The fans were so happy to finally beat Miami that they tore down the goal-post at the end of the game.
Nixon had a career day that game with three interceptions and a fumble recovery. The four takeaways is still the most by one player in a game in franchise history.
After the game, Nixon left the field quickly to avoid being trampled by fans.
"I was glad to get out of there when I did, because I might have gotten mauled," Nixon joked. "It was an exciting moment for the fans, and that was the thing that I really [remember]. I didn't experience any of those 10 years really of losing, but all the fans were so frustrated that we could never beat these guys. So when we finally did, it was like mayhem. Just mayhem."
When asked of his thoughts on the Bills this upcoming season, Nixon strongly feels it's all the way this time for Buffalo.
"The Bills are going to win the Super Bowl this year," he said. "They're going to win it because they've got the MVP quarterback [Josh Allen], and we've just got a team. We still got the nucleus of this team we had last year. We've lost a couple players, but we've gained, I think, some really good players in the draft."