Tony Mastrangelo is a Buffalo native who has been a Bills fan for 20 years, going to games, watching every Sunday and loving football. For a while, he thought he was the jinx. The infamous playoff drought began around the time that he began following the team. Then came the Andy Dalton Miracle.
Around the time, he was getting ready to propose and had wedding plans that involved his favorite team.
He picks the story up from there in another of our series of fantastic tales from Buffalo sports fans:
From the moment we started planning our wedding, it was always part of my dream to have our pictures on the field. Whether it's Rich Stadium, the Ralph or New Era, to me it's Bills Country and it's the perfect place to celebrate with our closest friends.
In 2017, when I was planning on proposing to Sydney – my now wife – I did some research to see if it was possible to get married on the field. Well, it was really expensive so I did a bit more digging to find out that you could get pictures taken for a lot less money.
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Last fall, we mailed out “save the dates” to some of my favorite Bills players and also to Terry and Kim Pegula, coach Sean McDermott and Brandon. Beane. Coach McDermott replied and sent us his best wishes, which was cool.
During the spring as the pandemic started, we did not cancel or postpone our wedding because we thought it would all be over in five months. We were wrong ...
As July came, we had to cancel our ceremony venue because it was not open and then we had to cancel our reception venue because that was not open, either. Thankfully, we were able to find a venue that could be open and have our wedding festivities.
I remember going over details and the coordinator said, "OK, so your ceremony will be at 5 with the reception to follow at 6."
I said, “Absolutely not! We need time in between to go to the stadium for pictures!”
I was 100% set on doing that, and it's one thing I was not going to change even though we had to change almost everything. The coordinator spoke to the owners of the venue and they granted us permission to move the ceremony to a 1 o'clock kickoff! That gave us enough time to drive to the stadium with our wedding party and drive back to our venue in time for the reception.
Of course, the "Shout" song played!
Of course, my new wife and I ran out the tunnel on our wedding day with friends and family on either side for high fives is one of the best moments of my life.
Of course, we had a Bills cake. (That was a surprise.)
Of course, the Bills actually have a really good team this year, a No. 1 wide receiver in Stefon Diggs and a realistic chance to win the division to have a home playoff game but fans will probably not be allowed to attend.
I will watch every game though, with my family and friends and root on my team. Like I have for the last 20 years. Win, or lose I will wear my Zubaz and my jersey every week. That's what we do in Bills Country.
Football to me is about having something to believe in. It's tradition. Whether it's picking up my friends to go and tailgate at 8 a.m. in the freezing cold or getting together with the same group of people every week to do the same thing.
It's making memories. It’s family. It's hope. It's getting three hours a week to take a break from the problems and issues of everyday life.
From Flutie to Johnson, Cheering on Pat Williams, Freddie Jackson, Paul Posluszny, Kyle Williams and now Josh Allen, Tre White and more. Buffalo – the city, all of Western New York and this team have a special bond. It's so much more than just football.
