Steve Christie watches the Buffalo Bills on satellite TV from his home in Florida. And he heard his name often during the telecast of their game at the New York Jets 11 days ago.
That’s because Tyler Bass kicked six field goals – for all the Bills’ points in their 18-10 win – tying Christie’s franchise record for most makes in one game. And then Bass followed that up by kicking the game-winner in Sunday’s 24-21 win against the New England Patriots.
“I’m happy for him,” Christie says. “He did what he had to do.”
Oddly enough, Christie kicked his six at the Jets, too, in 1996. Bass hit six field goals on eight attempts. How many tries did Christie have? “I don’t know,” he says. “I’m not sure if I missed any or not.”
Turns out he did miss one, from 36 yards. Christie’s makes came from 48, 32, 47, 23, 33 — and the game-winner from 47 yards, with 10 seconds remaining, as the Bills prevailed, 25-22. Christie didn’t remember that, either.
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“I remember most of my big kicks,” he says, “but I forgot about that one.”
The biggest make of Christie’s career, of course, was the game-winner in overtime in The Comeback, when the Bills beat the Houston Oilers, 41-38, after trailing by 32 points in a wild-card playoff game following the 1992 season. That kick came from 32 yards. Christie’s holder was Frank Reich, architect of The Comeback – and, as luck would have it, the quarterback for the Jets in that 1996 six-make day for Christie.
If all that seems like a lifetime ago, it’s only because it is. Since then Christie, who turns 53 next week, has beaten cancer and moved to a home near Bradenton, Fla., where he helps his wife, Kelly, sell real estate, sometimes to snowbirds from Buffalo. He also coaches kickers and punters at the high school around the corner from his home, where his daughter Clare goes. And, of course, he buys the satellite package so he can root for the Bills.
“Oh, yeah, of course,” he says. “I played there nine years. I played three years for the Chargers, two for the Bucs, and one for the Giants at the very end. So I am a Bills guy all the way. Always have been, really.”
By that he means the Bills were his NFL team when he was growing up in Oakville, Ont. His CFL teams were the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. He always knew the Bills’ incursion into Canada – when they played a half-dozen regular-season games and some exhibitions in Toronto – wasn’t going to work.
“It was quite evident to me from the start," he said. "I always knew not everybody from Toronto is a Bills fan. You can’t guarantee the thing is going to fly just because of proximity. Toronto is an international city, so they love all the teams, not just the Bills.”
Christie finds Florida, too, to be ecumenical in its fandom. For instance, he has a neighbor from St. Catharines, Ont., who happens to be a Green Bay Packers fan.
“There are a lot of Bills fans around here,” Christie says of southwest Florida. “An insufferable amount of Patriots fans, too, but what are you going to do?”
Christie has another rooting interest in addition to his Bills – the Glasgow Celtic, a professional soccer club that plays in the Scottish Premiership.
“I watch every game,” he says. “My wife and everybody are, like, ‘Whatever.’ My kids say, ‘Dad’s got the green-and-white hoops on again’ ” – meaning his striped Celtic shirt.
Christie is Scottish on his father’s side, and Irish and Norwegian on his mother’s. Clare is named for the county in Ireland where the family has roots. Killarney, the Christies’ chocolate Lab, is named for the Irish town where Steve and Kelly were married. And Madigan, the foxhound they call Maddie, is named for the pub in Ellicottville owned by his aunt and uncle, Grace and Kevin Kell.
The Christies moved south full time after splitting time for years between Florida and their home near the Oban Inn, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. Christie decided, as he faced his illness, that living in two places was too much. Now he’s more than six years removed from his bout with colorectal cancer and feeling at home in the sunny South.
Christie is especially pleased with the Bills under the leadership of Sean McDermott, because he and the coach share an alma mater – the College of William & Mary, in Williamsburg, Va. And he finds himself rooting hard for Bass, who had a rocky start to his rookie season.
Bass missed his first attempt versus the Jets, from 45 yards, which left him 6 for 10 on the year. That’s not good enough, and Bills fans kicked up a fuss on social media. Then Bass made kicks from 53, 48, 46, and 37 before missing another one, from 37. Two more makes followed, from 29 and 40. And the 28-yarder against the Patriots means Bass has hit seven of his last eight attempts.
“Getting six is a big confidence builder for him, and it’s something he’s going to have to use going forward,” Christie says. “The weather is going to get worse, and the kicks are going to get more important. There is going to be more and more pressure. That’s when you know pretty quickly if you are cut out for the gig or not.”
Christie was. The Bills signed him as a free agent in the midst of their 1990s Super Bowl run, and he wound up as their all-time leading scorer. He kicked a 54-yard field goal in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys that remains the longest in Super Bowl history.
“Small consolation,” he says. “Doesn’t mean much, but it’s nice to have.”
A better memory is The Comeback, where Christie recovered his own onside kick – a play just as important as his game-winning boot.
“I run into Warren Moon occasionally,” Christie says, “and once we get past the whole Houston thing, I tell him how much I loved watching him out west when he was in the CFL,” playing for Edmonton.
“I can see now I was aging him when I was doing that. And, man, I get it now. I run into Bills fans who say, ‘You were my mother’s favorite player.’ And I say, ‘Yeah, thanks.’ ”
And he bursts out in laughter. “Reality check,” he says.
Kickers face a new reality check every week in the NFL. Christie thinks Bass is going to be fine.
“He’s, well, how do I say? He’s young. Sometimes guys just need to polish up, and I think that’s the case here," Christie said. "He’s got a good leg, but he needs experience. And he certainly got a lot of experience [against the Jets]. Being a kicker in the league, you just have to forget about your misses, and you move on.”
