Bills fans’ passion takes center stage in Visa commercial

The plight of many longtime Buffalo Bills fans was appropriately captured during a Visa commercial that debuted on “Monday Night Football” when the Bills opened their season Sept. 11 at the New York Jets.

Called “Never-ending Fan,” the commercial chronicles a fan exhibiting his team pride over the years – going through the roller coaster of emotions that is being a Bills fan and then passing on that allegiance to a new generation – and all the while, enjoying the special moments that life brings along.

It is poignant in its message that life goes on, regardless of what happens with one’s favorite team.

It also features Scott Norwood, the Bills’ longtime kicker most synonymous with a field goal that went “wide right” with Super Bowl XXV on the line in 1991. It was the first of four straight Super Bowls the Bills would lose. But Norwood’s missed kick was just a side note in the commercial as the fan proposes to his future wife in the same moment.

The commercial follows the Bills fan through 16,795 days of his life, starting out as a disappointed kid in his first jersey, Joe DeLamielleure’s No. 68, to an optimistic grandfather buying his granddaughter a Norwood jersey from the former Bills kicker himself – starting her “Day 1” as a fan of the team.

One scene was shot inside the Bills stadium, and the commercial also includes Flutie Flakes, authentic jerseys with names and numbers of iconic players like Bruce Smith and Kyle Williams, and of course, a blizzard.

“The team’s history and unwavering fan base is the perfect story of hope and resilience that could inspire all,” said Mary Ann Reilly, Visa’s chief marketing officer in North America. “We felt it was serendipitous when we saw the Bills were playing on ‘Monday Night Football’ in Week 1. Visa traditionally debuts our new spots during kick-off weekend, and being able…