Bills Mafia on the Big Screen: Buffalo fans to be the focus of new feature-length documentary

A new documentary centered around fans of the Buffalo Bills is in development.

Mark Konezny-USA TODAY Sports

Bills Mafia is set to hit the big screen.

Deadline reported on Wednesday afternoon that a new feature-length documentary chronicling the lives of the most “devout” Buffalo Bills fans is in the works from Addison Henderson and Kevin Polowy, both of whom grew up in Buffalo, NY. The documentary is titled Just One Before I Die, a nod to an oft-used phrase amongst Buffalo sports fans referencing their desire for a championship.

The co-directors describe the film as an exploration of Bills and general sports fandom, with Polowy telling Deadline that the documentary will seek to answer why Buffalo fans continue to support the team despite constant heartbreak.

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“Are the highs worth the lows?” Polowy wrote in a statement to the outlet. “Will they ever win a title, or will I go to the grave like my beloved yet beleaguered father, never having witnessed the glory of a Super Bowl victory? With this documentary, we want to explore what keeps fueling [Bills Mafia] to remain as loyal as we have through all the pain and misery — and in turn paint a broader and more universal picture of what fuels unwavering sports fans of any stripe.”

Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

The Buffalo faithful seem a fitting group to feature in a documentary, as few fanbases in all of sports have endured more heartbreak. The list of dreadful Bills-related moments that the fanbase can recount by a singular word or phrase (‘Wide Right,’ ‘The Drought,’ ‘13 Seconds,’ etc.) is embarrassingly long, but despite the constant heartache, Buffalo fans are ever-passionate and never let their support waver.

Bills Mafia has become a popular topic of league-wide discussion in recent years due to their… unorthodox tailgating traditions that include breaking plastic tables and dousing people with condiments. The fanbase likes to have fun, and it also likes to give back; Buffalo fans have raised millions of dollars for various charities and philanthropic efforts over the years, this a testament to the general compassion typically possessed by those with ties to the ‘City of Good Neighbors.’

Just One Before I Die is set to enter production this fall.

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