![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/USATSI_22349638.jpg\")
<\/p>\nORCHARD PARK, N.Y. \u2014 The show must go through.<\/p>\n
For 53 years, there was only one way for the players, stagehands and each piece of their equipment to reach the arena floor, no matter the production. And only one way for it all to come out.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s nothing fancy about the Rich Stadium\/Ralph Wilson Stadium\/Buffalo Bills Stadium\/New Era Field\/Highmark Stadium tunnel. The dank passageway is purely utilitarian, more Folsom than fulsome. The floor is hard and gray. The walls are cinder block and concrete, painted black and royal blue. Pipes, tubes and ducts span above.<\/p>\n
The tunnel is 20 feet wide, nearly 400 feet long and descends at a 7 percent grade \u2014 the same slope as Interstate 70 through harrowing Vail Pass in the Rocky Mountains, where runaway truck ramps await 18-wheelers that\u2019ve fried their brakes.<\/p>\n
Yet within the tunnel\u2019s austere environment, an ecosystem has thrived since the stadium opened in 1973. It\u2019s chaotic yet organized, gladiatorial yet \u2014 usually \u2014 tame, a powder keg that somehow stays unlit. Out of spartan necessity, a hive of icons and peons work shoulder to shoulder, producing Western New York\u2019s grandest spectacles.<\/p>\n
As cold as it looks, the tunnel pumps life. If not Highmark Stadium\u2019s heart, the tunnel is the aorta from which everything flows. One game probably is all that remains for the uniquely critical artery, with the Bills entering the playoffs as a road team.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n One shared, narrow tunnel has made for interesting experiences between the Bills and visiting teams. (Tina MacIntyre-Yee \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
The Bills are moving into a $2.1 billion home across Abbott Road next season. Multiple tunnels and a service-level concourse will bring them into the 21st century with a proper big-league venue.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are a bit archaic with the one tunnel, and sometimes I forget that because we\u2019ve been doing it so long,\u201d said Bills senior vice president of operations and guest experience Andy Major. \u201cI haven\u2019t seen anything at all comparable to us having every single thing running through that one access point.<\/p>\n
\u201cI go to other stadiums, and I\u2019m jealous. But I love our tunnel. There is something special about that tunnel, where if you know the history of this organization and the team, you know every player that\u2019s worn that red, white and blue has gone down that tunnel.\u201d<\/p>\n
O.J. Simpson, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Doug Flutie and Josh Allen are among the 1,148 Bills to have emerged from that tunnel for a home game as Buffalo enters Week 18 with one game left. Joe Namath, Walter Payton, Lawrence Taylor, Bo Jackson and Tom Brady have taken the same route.<\/p>\n
Home and visitor locker rooms are directly across from each other, just inside the garage door at the top of the hill. The setup forces enemies into tight quarters, unlike other NFL stadiums.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlpha males, especially guys who are Hall of Fame players, you\u2019re eyeing each other down,\u201d said New England Patriots left tackle Bruce Armstrong, who played more road games in Rich Stadium than any other position player aside from Brady and Dan Marino. \u201cThe game started before you got on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tunnel has welcomed more than NFL royalty, and on New Year\u2019s Day 2008, NHL legends Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Ryan Miller starred in the tunnel.<\/p>\n
Mick Jagger, Michael Jackson, Bob Dylan, Eddie Van Halen, Jerry Garcia, Beyonce, Jay-Z and Garth Brooks ventured down the tunnel\u2019s runway to perform for crowds that would top 80,000 fans.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/USATSI_27894939-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n The Highmark Stadium tunnel is for the two teams and any vehicles requiring field access, including ambulances. (Tina MacIntyre-Yee \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
Crammed within the tunnel is an armada of service vehicles: ambulances, equipment trucks, field tractors, forklifts, golf carts. When one tries to squeeze past another, tunnel travelers plaster themselves to the walls.<\/p>\n
They weave through police officers, janitors, coaches, HVAC repairmen, roadies, referees, outside security guards, doctors, caterers and dozens more, some suddenly materializing from the catacomb offices and dressing areas behind the tunnel\u2019s walls. Major estimated over a thousand people traverse the tunnel at a Bills home game, many of them multiple times.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of hustle and bustle through one tunnel,\u201d former Bills defensive lineman Kyle Williams said. \u201cA lot of places you come out of your locker room and you make your way down a one-way street. That tunnel is chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n
The tunnel was created when the NFL was smaller \u2014 logistically, economically, culturally. The business was quaint by comparison. Handoffs drove the game. Athletes didn\u2019t look like they were assembled in a laboratory. Many of them worked side jobs in the offseason to feed their families.<\/p>\n
Rich Stadium was no-frills and constructed in 18 months. A single entry point was deemed adequate. The 7 percent slope was necessary to get competitors and equipment down into the lower bowl, dug into 50 feet of shale beneath ground level.<\/p>\n
In recent years, every game is preceded by a Bills retiree standing on a platform above the tunnel and \u201cleading the charge\u201d of players running onto the field below. Then the club added chants of \u201cLet\u2019s go, Buffalo!\u201d and \u201cWhere else would you rather be than right here, right now?\u201d<\/p>\n
When the Bills\u2019 starters were introduced decades ago, they emerged from a tunnel adorned with large advertisements for Miller Lite and Marlboro.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s just hard-nosed, old-school football, man,\u201d Bills cornerback Tre\u2019Davious White said. \u201cFoundational pieces. That era of football, they were probably smoking cigarettes in that tunnel before the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
White is correct. Former Bills linebacker Jim Haslett enjoys sharing the story of his first Rich Stadium pregame introduction in 1979. Ahead of him in line was veteran linebacker Isiah Robertson, enjoying a few more drags. Robertson flicked his cigarette at the tunnel wall at the public-address announcer cue and trotted onto the field.<\/p>\n
In a more scintillating moment, the tunnel framed Jim Kelly\u2019s jubilant return during his third Bills home game. The 1983 first-round draft pick finally reported to the Bills three years later, once the USFL folded; Buffalo welcomed him with the NFL\u2019s richest contract.<\/p>\n
Then, in here-we-go-again Bills fashion, a late hit by the Kansas City Chiefs sent him to the locker room with an arm injury, and backup quarterback Frank Reich promptly fumbled at the goal line. Rich Stadium erupted in the second quarter, when Kelly shot out of the tunnel \u2014 Buffalo\u2019s introduction to his warrior spirit.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou go to all these college stadiums, and everything\u2019s a show,\u201d said Williams. \u201cThere\u2019s light shows, smoke bombs and fireworks. To me, the best stadiums you go into are all about the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s about a rabid fan base that is loud and letting the other team know \u2018You\u2019re in the wrong place.\u2019 Those were always the best experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n
(The tunnel does contain one bit of splash. Many people simply walk past without noticing. On a wall next to an elevator outside the Bills\u2019 locker room is a button that triggers \u201cShout!\u201d from ceiling speakers. The button is disabled on game days to maintain the tunnel dwellers\u2019 sanity.)<\/p>\n
Buffalo\u2019s home-field advantage begins within the tunnel\u2019s unfriendly confines. Right off the bus, opponents have emitted countless groans upon walking into the tunnel and making a left turn into the visitors\u2019 locker room, a notoriously basic cubbyhole. About a decade ago, renovations made the space more hospitable, although it\u2019s still considered among the NFL\u2019s worst accommodations.<\/p>\n
Just 20 feet across the corridor, Buffalo\u2019s digs have never been considered posh. There isn\u2019t enough room for those trendy accoutrements that have become standard in the big leagues.<\/p>\n
At such proximity, eyeballing and smack talking are inevitable.<\/p>\n
Armstrong: \u201cThat\u2019s where the games started, almost as soon as you walked out of the locker room door.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams: \u201cThere\u2019s interactions that happened between coaches to players and players to players from other teams that are probably more colorful than a story will allow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bills safety Jordan Poyer: \u201cBuilds a little tension coming into the game. I kinda like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
White: \u201cSome guys like to see their opponents before the game. I remember one game against the (Green Bay) Packers. Stef (Diggs) was going against Jaire Alexander. Stef took that moment to get in his face. As a competitor, if it gets your juices flowing to see an opponent, that\u2019s where you meet up and you can get those things across.\u201d<\/p>\n
Armstrong: \u201cThe mental games were exacerbated when you\u2019re facing each other right away. Buffalo guys are out there sleeveless, and Bruce Smith has all that Vaseline all over his arms.\u201d<\/p>\n
White: \u201cI\u2019m not a big trash talker, but I want to see what kind of mindset these guys walk out of the locker room with. What are their mannerisms? What is their body language? I think about it strategically.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pregame conflict is easier to duck if you\u2019d rather. Preparations are spread out over hours, dependent on each player\u2019s routine.<\/p>\n
Still, when time is precious at halftime or when everybody heads to their locker rooms within minutes of the final whistle, Highmark Stadium\u2019s single artery gets clogged with emotional beasts. Some might be particularly aggrieved. Others may be in the mood to taunt.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou probably don\u2019t need,\u201d said Williams, \u201ca bunch of grown men who are wired a certain way and competing against one another, brushing shoulders on the way back in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wall of Fame linebacker Darryl Talley had a pregame approach that he couldn\u2019t replicate at halftime or afterward. When he went down the tunnel \u2014 for 102 games, fourth all-time behind teammates Andre Reed, Smith and Jim Ritcher \u2014 Talley wanted to be last out of the locker room<\/a>. That way, Talley knew the sounds behind him could come only from an enemy.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a lot of scrapes,\u201d Talley said. He insisted he never got into a tunnel scuffle but that he witnessed too many fights to count. \u201cThere\u2019d be a lot of s\u2014 going on in there. A guy would do something during the game that wasn\u2019t appreciated, and they\u2019d go up the tunnel and take care of business.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/USATSI_24888482.jpg\")
<\/p>\n