Buffalo Bills Training Camp Returns to Fisher July 31st

Veronica R. Chiesi Brown
May 29, 2015
2 min read

The Buffalo Bills announced training camp will begin on July 31st. It marks the 16th year the Buffalo Bills have had their training camp 85.2 miles (I love google) down the Thruway in the suburb of Pittsford at St. John Fisher College. It just so happens, yours truly graduated from there.

For anyone who ever went to training camp before St. John Fisher at SUNY Fredonia, you know the vast difference between the two venues. I am not saying that I don’t like training camp at Fisher because I think it is great for my alma mater and there are advantages to the current location. There are so many things for visitors to do, a big shop set up to buy Bills gear and of course, for the players, a great venue to practice and have a temporary home.

With all that being said, as a life-long Bills fan and having experienced both training camps, I miss the old one. Yes, this one is more convenient and has more “bells and whistles” but when

Jim Kelly, Andre Reed, Thurman Thomas, Steve Tasker and all the other greats from the 90s were playing, we could go up to them and talk to them without any problem. There was no security, no gates and certainly not as many people. They played on a grass field with one maybe two sets of bleachers and the rest of the visitors brought lawn chairs and sat right along the end lines. It was a great childhood memory for me. I got to see “my” team really get down to the basics. No frills, no fancy stadium, just pure football at its finest.

Once again, I am not knocking the way camp is now. I think it is great and yes it has to change with the times. As much as we try to deny it sometimes, football is more than just the game, it is a business. To make money you have to make it more accessible and more aesthetically pleasing and of course it is all about location, location, location. St. John Fisher is perfect for the Buffalo Bills. It isn’t too far from home and is in the heart of the teams “other” fan base. It connects two cities that as much as they sometimes don’t like to admit it, are alike.

My advice, go to training camp. Experience what it is now. You can still see what the players are made of and still see how your team is shaping up albeit from a larger distance than of of years past. It still will get you pumped for the season. I know I want to just see Rex Ryan on the field with the players no matter where it is. I am sure his energy transfers and visitors are in for quite the treat.

Veronica R. Chiesi Brown @VRCB32

Link to: Bills Fanatics FB Group