New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's western New York roots run deep, and so does her love for the Buffalo Bills.
Born and raised in Hamburg, a town of around 60,000 located just under 30 minutes south of downtown Buffalo and less than 10 miles southwest of Orchard Park, the state's 57th governor isn't shy about where her loyalties lie.
From the start of her tenure at the Empire State's helm, Hochul has shared the blue-collar background of her grandfather's work at Buffalo's Bethlehem Steel, stressed the importance of being from upstate and championed the construction of the Bills' new $2.1 billion stadium.
As the team prepares to take the field for their first regular season game inside the new Highmark Stadium on Thursday, Sept. 17, the USA TODAY Network
recently spoke exclusively with Hochul about her relationship with the Bills, including game-watching etiquette and what she's most looking forward to this season.
The governor's answers have been edited for space and clarity.
How and why did you become a Buffalo Bills fan?
I had a family that was fanatical about Bills football. I had four brothers, one sister, six uncles, a grandfather, and everybody, all we did was talk sports. So, if you didn’t know the score of the Bills game or who the lineup against the Packers was going to be the next weekend, you weren’t participating in the dinner conversation. You had to know.
This is back in the 60s when it was a fairly new team. I was just a real little kid, but it was just part of the tradition, the folklore. Everybody talked the Bills in my town. It was a town just one town away from the new stadium, but as I was growing up, they played at what was called the Rockpile, a run-down facility in the city of Buffalo.
And people would still trudge out to the Rockpile and go watch the games and cheer on quarterbacks like Jack Kemp, who lived in Hamburg, our town; we’re very proud of that. And O.J. Simpson lived in my town when he played for the Buffalo Bills and set rushing records before he left the team and got into trouble later.
So, it’s part of the DNA of growing up in western New York, but particularly a place like Hamburg with a very sports-oriented family.
What memories stuck with you around watching the Bills growing up?
You couldn’t talk during a Bills game. I knew that. I knew as a child, you had to be silent during the Bills game. Only could talk during commercials. And it was like going to church on Sundays. Everybody gathered around the television set.
We couldn’t afford to go to the games when I was younger at all. We just knew that they existed on television. But it was a very huge point of pride for us as a family when the brand-new stadium opened up in Orchard Park, 1973.
My grandfather had spent his entire life working at the Bethlehem Steel plant, retired, and all he wanted was not a place in Florida or a Winnebago to travel around the country; he wanted a Buffalo Bills season ticket. So, the family all scraped together, got grandpa season tickets.
My grandfather was at the very first opening day of the stadium that we just closed ... And that’s what you saw when you went to grandpa’s house was his framed copy of the certificate that he was at the first game of the new Bills stadium in Orchard Park, 1973. So, that’s how deep it goes.
Has being a Bills fan shaped who you are?
No doubt about it. It’s part of my identity. It takes toughness to sit in an open-air stadium when the snow is blowing and you can’t even see the field because it’s intensely cold, you’re freezing, you’re still cheering, and you’re just part of a communal experience that defies what anybody else, what any other fan in America would probably deal with and we embrace it.
What's it been like being governor through the team’s recent resurgence and new stadium process as someone who grew up a Bills fan?
I’ve worked hard to unify upstate and downstate. One way to do that is to unite behind the Buffalo Bills and understanding the deep passions for the Jets and the Giants. I simply say to those fans when I’m in the city or downstate, can the Buffalo Bills be your second favorite team?
And people are embracing it. I see more people wearing Bills hats and Bills t-shirts and jackets walking around in the city. And so many people in the city of New York know that I’m a rabid Bills fan, they just walk by and say ‘Go Bills.’
But even without a Super Bowl, the joys of just being a fan and embracing the team and seeing their evolution and Josh Allen’s leadership and how strong he has become, it just really symbolizes what Buffalo is all about. It’s just regular people doing some extraordinary things.
The stadium was important to me to have the fans have an experience they wanted. And when I first found out I was going to become governor, I knew that the owners, Terry and Kim Pegula, were frustrated that they weren’t getting an answer out of the administration on whether or not there’d be support for a new stadium. And the lease was up, and there were repairs that were definitely needed; they were expensive. And the Bills had options to go elsewhere. They absolutely were being recruited by other cities. So, it was a perilous time for the Bills.
And I became the first governor from Buffalo since Grover Cleveland and knew what I had to do. And first conveyed to them my strong feelings of getting a new stadium built.
But as a new governor, I had to expend tremendous political capital to get it through the Legislature. I’m not sure they wanted to commit that much money to a sports venue in a place that most of them had never been to. But I was able to be successful. And I showed the economics that, in fact, the Buffalo Bills in the region is about $300 million a year.
I figured out the economics of it. I had to pitch it. I had to negotiate hard. I had two main criteria. One was that the Bills commit to staying 30 years ... as well as we would not be responsible for cost overrides, which is fortunate because a lot has happened with inflation and tariffs and costs could go up. But I kept the size of the state’s share the same. So, in comparison to other stadiums, ours comes out as a much better deal for the taxpayers.
I went to about 10 games as governor ... I just walk out of there just so full of love of the fans and the team and reminder of where I come from and it brings you back to your roots and why I am the person I am today. Buffalo has defined me and a huge part of what defines Buffalo is the Buffalo Bills.
What are you most excited for ahead of the new season?
Well, the next season for the home games, just showing the fans in the world this extraordinary venue. The new stadium is just spectacular. And I want Buffalonians and Bills fans from all over to be so proud of what we were able to build for them and achieve it right on schedule ... This is part of their story.
Do you think this is the year the Bills will win the Super Bowl?
I think this is our year. I really do ... We’ve got new coaching leadership. Josh Allen is primed. The team is psyched to play in the new stadium.
I think there’s a sense of this is a new stadium, new leadership. It’s palpable. There’s a strong belief that this is the year.
Emily Barnes covers state government for the USA TODAY Network-New York with a focus on how policy and laws impact New Yorkers' taxes, communities and jobs. Follow her on Instagram or X @byemilybarnes. Get in touch at ebarnes@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Kathy Hochul reveals how deep her Buffalo Bills roots run | Exclusive Q&A
