ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Buffalo Bills fans are geared up for a big night Thursday, waiting to see who the team picks in the NFL Draft. One Rochester-based Bills Mafia regular was among those expecting to watch while recovering from major surgery.
If it’s a big Buffalo Bills moment, good or bad, Ken Johnson has likely seen it in person. Johnson recalled one such moment: the Bills’ heartbreaking loss to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXV.
“I never call it wide right,” said Johnson, of the kick Scott Norwood missed to end the game. “I always call it wide left, because I was actually at the Super Bowl and I was six rows back in the top center. It was coming right at me, and that thing was definitely going left!”
Johnson is at the heart of the Bills Mafia, that group of Bills fans that packs the stadium in Orchard Park for every home game.
“I like to go to the games,” he said. “I just like to be there in person. I don't like watching on TV.”
Western New Yorkers may know him as “Pinto Ron,” the ketchup- and mustard-covered guy with a streak of attending well over 400 straight Bills games, both home and away.
During a magical season where Bills fans couldn’t attend home games in person because of the pandemic, Pinto Ron had something else to deal with this year: a chronic heart problem, and a leaky valve which needed fixing.
“The time finally came, so it was no surprise,” said Johnson. “There was no shock. I was just hoping it wouldn't be in the middle of the football season when it came, and I kind of lucked out there.”
His cardiologist at Rochester General Hospital actually told Johnson in October that he’d need open heart surgery.
“Since the NFL season was in full swing, he wanted to wait till the season was over,” said Dr. Bipul Baibhav. “Since he had this condition, which was chronic, it was not any acute thing that had happened over the weeks or just a couple of months. I think it was reasonable to wait a few months.”
Johnson was able to attend five Bills games this past season. When he returned from a season-ending playoff loss in Kansas City, the surgery was on.
“I got kind of an underwhelming scar, and I might have to get a tattoo to enhance that,” he laughed. “If I go through all that effort, I might as well get something out of it.”
One thing he got out of it was a special video message, delivered by “One Bills Live” hosts Chris Brown and Steve Tasker, sending their best wishes.
“There are certain things that make you different,” said Tasker in the recording. “It's not the mustard that makes you different. It's not the ketchup that makes it different. It's your heart and your love of the Buffalo Bills that makes you different, and we are so glad that your heart is going to be back in working order because that's where the Bills live.”
“That was pretty cool,” said Johnson, who says he feels stronger than ever. Doctors told him his arteries were 100% clean.
“It could actually be the mustard and ketchup which kept my arteries clean,” he laughed. “You know, sinking into my skin, and there might be something to that.”
As for the 423 game in-person streak interrupted by COVID-19, Pinto Ron is taking it one game, and one day, at a time.
“I’m not actually as concerned about the streak as most people are,” he said. “I just want to keep going to the games.”