Think that I've mentioned, and possibly even reviewed, some episodes of the ESPN film series "30 For 30" before.
Well, whether I have or not, this series is enjoyable. It often shows you some of the behind the scenes stories that you probably were not familiar with. It also usually includes interviews with thoughts from prominent figures involved in whatever story they are doing.
In the weeks leading up to, and since, the Super Bowl, there were a lot of football related stories. One of them was particularly enjoyable. It was "30 For 30: Four Falls of Buffalo." It was released in 2015, and it explored the fate of the Buffalo Bills of the nineties, the only team to go to four straight Super Bowls, but also the only team to have lost four straight Super Bowls.
Here's something strange, admittedly: I am a Giants fan, yet I liked those Buffalo Bills. Don't get me wrong: I was so happy when the field goal went wide right and the Giants won Super Bowl XXV, that I jumped up in celebration. I taped the game, and think I might have watched it literally three times that first week alone!
Yet, I was happy that Buffalo had enjoyed such a successful season. And I really did hope that they would get back to the Super Bowl, and win it. But when they did go back the next season, I had a bad feeling. People don't seem to remember, or appreciate, just how dominant that 1991 Washington Redskins team was. To my mind's eye, they were likely the third most dominant single season team that I can recall, behind only the 1985 Chicago Bears and the 1989 San Francisco 49ers. They had the most explosive offense in the league, scoring nearly 500 points (back when that was really saying something) and the second best defense that season. They scored at least 33 points in half of their regular season games, and held opponents to 17 points or less in 12 of their 16 regular season games. Then they swept aside the Atlanta Falcons in the divisional round and crushed the Detroit Lions in the NFC Championship Game. They raced out to a fast start in Super Bowl XXVI, and Buffalo only got in rhythm and finally realized that they could play with that Washington team when the game was already out of reach.
After that, it felt like the narrative for the Bills was that they had established themselves as a very good team, but one that could not take that next step and win the Super Bowl. That mixed legacy followed them around, unfortunately, when they reached the next two Super Bowls, both against Dallas. Nobody before had ever reached four straight Super Bowls, and they also had the greatest comeback in NFL history under their belts. Yet, they are remembered largely only for losing those Super Bowls.
Still, to me, they were a team that I both liked and appreciated at the time. If anything, my respect for them has only grown in the years since.
This documentary really goes into that team's mixed bag of success and failures. It focuses mostly on the Super Bowls themselves. But you get to hear from many members of that team: running back Thurman Thomas (probably the biggest star on the team), quarterback Jim Kelly, wide receiver Andre Reed, defensive end Bruce Smith, linebacker Darryl Talley, head coach Marv Levy (who I thought then, and still think now, was a class act), back-up quarterback Frank Reich, wide receiver Don Beebe, special teams star Steve Tasker. Most of those guys are in the Hall of Fame, and they all seem like pretty damn decent guys. Frankly, that's not a given in football, where you get a lot of...well, guys that are less than likeable, to say the least. And I'm not just talking about those who were convicted (or should have been convicted) of awful crimes. Many personalities in the NFL were just jackasses off the field, even if their talent on the field made them stars. Also, you hear from Scott Norwood, the placekicker who missed that field goal that could have won it for Buffalo in Super Bowl XXV, and which clearly is a memory that still haunts the Buffalo Bills franchise and their fans, as the "Wide Right 2" playoff exit last month reminded us.
So I really enjoyed this particular installment of "30 For 30." And I would recommend it to anyone who wants to understand that incredibly resilient (and again, likeable) Buffalo Bills team, who came so close to reaching the summit numerous times, and just could not quite get there. They were a great team, and deserve to be remembered as such. This documentary relives those times, and was highly entertaining! Recommended to any fair-minded football fans, or sports fans more generally.
New ESPN First Take - Andre Reed on ESPN 30 For 30 Four Falls of Buffalo
No comments:
Post a Comment