Super Bowl XXXVIII - Panthers vs. Patriots

January 29, 2004

To Victory's Gate

Winston-Salem man has memories - fond and foul - of playing in four Super Bowls

By John Dell | JOURNAL REPORTER

Keith McKeller has tried to watch ESPN's highlights of past Super Bowls. But McKeller, a former tight end for the Buffalo Bills, can't bear to watch the four in which the Bills were involved.

They lost all four - and he played in all of them.

"I've tried to watch those past Super Bowls, but I can't get through them, so I just turn the channel," said McKeller, who works as a sales representative at Flow Honda on Peters Creek Parkway.

McKeller, 39, has lived in Winston-Salem since 1997. He retired from football after the 1993 season after seven seasons with the Bills. He is proud that he is one of only 12 players to have played in four straight Super Bowls, but what he isn't so proud of is that he's also one of 12 players who lost four straight Super Bowls.

Other than the losing, he has nothing but fond memories of being involved in what he called the biggest game in the world.

"It's just amazing with all the activities going on, and really, you feel like a travel agent more than anything with getting your family to the game and things like that," he said. "The thing is, there's so much going on it doesn't hit you until Sunday that you have to play a game.

"They were all special," said McKeller, who also played in five AFC championship games.

McKeller made at least one catch in each of his Super Bowls and finished with six catches for 53 yards. He shared playing time at tight end for most of his career with Pete Metzelaars.

In McKeller's final Super Bowl, the Bills lost 30-13 to the Dallas Cowboys in January of 1994. It turned out to be McKel-ler's last game.

The most disheartening of the four losses, he said, was the first, on Jan. 27, 1991, when Scott Norwood missed a 47-yard field-goal attempt with seven seconds left that allowed the New York Giants to win 20-19. After losing the next year to the Washington Redskins 37-24, he said, the next two Super Bowls became a mental challenge. The Cowboys won both.

The Bills were outscored 139-73 in the four games.

"I think after we lost that second one it was a mental thing where we just couldn't handle it," McKeller said. "Something bad would happen, and it just steamrolled. So that part was disappointing, but (losing four straight) isn't something that keeps me awake at night."

Most of McKeller's co-workers at Flow Honda know about his exploits in the NFL, and many of them ask questions about the Super Bowls this time of year. He says that there are more questions this week because the Carolina Panthers will be playing in their first Super Bowl against the New England Patriots.

"I get asked more about the Super Bowls because someone will see one of the highlights on ESPN or whatever, and they'll come up to me the next day and say they saw me," McKeller said.

McKeller said that the Panthers will have less pressure on them in Sunday's game because they weren't expected to be there.

"They are the underdogs, so there is less pressure," he said. "(The Panthers) are peaking at the right time, and they have an excellent chance. New England is also playing their best football, so I'm looking forward to watching the game."

McKeller, who played basketball and football at Jacksonville State University, was drafted by the Bills even though he played just one year of college football. He was a member of Jacksonville's 1985 Division II national championship basketball team as a 6-foot-4 power forward who led the Gulf South Conference in rebounding for three of his four seasons.

McKeller says he stays in contact with Thurman Thomas, who was the Bills' star running back during those four Super Bowls, but he hasn't been back to Buffalo in a long time.

And he says that his Super Bowl memories pale in comparison to those of his first day of practice with the Bills in 1987.

"We were going to the practice there at Rich Stadium, and I couldn't believe how many people were there to watch," McKeller said. "And then some kids called out my name because they wanted my autograph. So I went over there and signed, but I was just amazed they even knew who I was.

"That was the first time I ever signed an autograph."

• John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or at jdell@wsjournal.com