It's Marv Levy's 100th birthday. Here's a look back at his time with the Bills
Former Buffalo Bills head coach Marv Levy turns 100. Here's a look back at his time with the team.
Happy Birthday, Marv Levy!
The former Buffalo Bills coach turns 100 today. Here's a look back at his time with the team.
Nov. 3, 1986: Levy is hired as Bills head coach
"The reason Levy is here now is his organizational ability, his skills at motivating players and his knack for focusing on a goal and sending his teams in pursuit of it," then-Buffalo News sports editor Larry Felser writes. The next week, the Bills defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Levy's first game as head coach.
Nov. 20, 1988: Fandemonium
Levy coaches the Bills to a 9-6 win over the Jets, giving Buffalo its first AFC East title since 1980.Jubilant fans "tore down two sets of goalposts, stole the nets behind the goalposts and made the Rich Stadium carpet a more dangerous place than it had been for the previous 3 hours and 20 minutes of combat between two pro football teams," The News' Gene Warner writes.
The Bills' Carl Byrum celebrates with fans following Buffalo's playoff victory over the Houston Oilers on Jan. 1, 1989.
AP file photo
Jan. 1, 1989: Playoff victory
The Bills defeat the Houston Oilers, 17-10, in Buffalo's first home playoff game since 1967.Of the postgame press conference, Felser writes: "Marv showed up still wearing his nondescript blue windbreaker and his 1950s Coe College haircut. Nevertheless, the offense he had approved for the disposal of the Oilers was, considering the Bills' usual conservative style, somewhere between
and Deadhead material."The next week, the Bills fall to the Cincinnati Bengals, 21-10, in the AFC championship game.
Jan. 20, 1991: AFC champs
The Bills win the AFC championship, cruising to a 51-3 victory over the Los Angeles Raiders at Rich Stadium."The win drove a record 80,324 fans to delirium despite the shadows of war. And the cheers were echoed more than 9,000 miles away by Bills fans who found joy in the heart of danger," The News' Gene Warner and Mike Vogel write.
" 'There are a lot of happy guys over here,' said an Air Force serviceman in the ready room at Mirage Air Base on the Persian Gulf, where reservists from Niagara Falls' 914th Tactical Airlift Group fly supply routes for Operation Desert Storm. 'We listened to it on Armed Forces Radio, and we'll be listening to the Super Bowl, too.' "
Jan. 27, 1991: Super Bowl sorrow
"It was the drive that failed," The News' Milt Northrop writes."Scott Norwood missed a 47-yard field-goal try with four seconds left in the game Sunday, leaving the Buffalo Bills 20-19 losers to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXV."
"It's very tough to beat a team that has a very good running game AND a very good defense," Levy says after the game. "We came close but ..."
Buffalo Bills' Carlton Bailey runs in for a touching after a pass interception during the third quarter of their AFC championship game against the Denver Broncos on Jan. 12, 1992, at Rich Stadium.
AP file photo
Jan. 12, 1992: Another AFC victory
"The Bills' 10-7 win over Denver allowed them to make good on a promise they had made to themselves and anyone else willing to listen after their loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXV," The News' Vic Carucci writes."The promise was, 'We'll be back.' "
Jan. 26, 1992: Second straight Super Bowl loss
The Bills fall to Washington, 37-24, for their second straight Super Bowl loss."Defeats are very bitter, and I can't remember one in 40 years of coaching that was more hurtful than today," Levy says following the game. "Overall, we played a team that was better and they showed it."
Marv Levy during the Bills 41-38 comeback game against the Houston Oilers on Jan. 3, 1993, in Orchard Park.
Bill Wippert/Buffalo News
Jan. 4, 1993: The comeback
"What can you say about the greatest comeback in National Football League history?" Carucci writes."You could say it was unbelievable – or, better yet, un-BILL-ievable – and you'd be right.
"In the wildest of wild-card playoff games, the Buffalo Bills beat the Houston Oilers in overtime Sunday, 41-38, before a non-sellout Rich Stadium crowd of 75,141 and a national television audience that didn't include Western New York."
Jan. 17, 1993: Three-peat
"The route was different. The destination was the same," Carucci writes."Despite following the treacherous path of three playoff games, including two away from Rich Stadium, the Buffalo Bills find themselves back in the Super Bowl for a third year in a row.
"The last stop before Pasadena came Sunday at sun-drenched Joe Robbie Stadium, where they pounded the Miami Dolphins, 29-10, to win their third consecutive AFC championship. The Bills became only the second team in NFL history to reach three straight Super Bowls, and the fourth club ever to get there as a wild-card entry.
" ' I've never been prouder in all the years I've coached than to be associated with the men on this team," said head coach Marv Levy, whose club improved its record to 14-5. 'It's been a long road and a hard road. There was a headline (in The Buffalo News) prior to the Houston (wild-card) playoff game that read, 'Bills Begin Longest Road Today.' I've used that this entire post-season.
" 'Today, it came through Joe Robbie Stadium.' "
Dallas Cowboys head coach Jimmy Johnson, left, is congratulated by Buffalo Bills head coach Marv Levy after Super Bowl XXVII in Pasadena, Calif.
AP file photo
