Former Buffalo Bills linebacker Takeo Spikes was less than impressed with his setup when visiting his old team at Highmark Stadium for their season opener.
Back in Week 2, Spikes was honored as the Bills’ ‘Legend of the Game’ – where he was tasked with pumping up the crowd before eventually watching from a luxury box.
However, Spikes was less than impressed with the suite he was put in – which saw a significant part of the field blocked off by the upper deck.
While this took place weeks ago, Spikes recently addressed it in an episode of his ‘Behind the Mask’ podcast.
‘Sometimes you have to remind people of how they need to be treated, and this was a case right here which hurt me. I felt hurt.’
Takeo Spikes blasted the Buffalo Bills for what he thought was poor treatment when he visited
Spikes said that he was less than pleased by the blocked view in the box he was given
The linebacker was invited up to Orchard Park as part of a pregame ceremony
According to Spikes, he suggested that he should be put in the same box as owner Terry Pegula, but that was never offered as an option.
While he says the pregame celebration was ‘great’, he quickly found out that the section he was placed in was not up to his standard.
‘I wish I could’ve stayed for the entire game but seating accommodations were NOT the standard,’ Spikes wrote in a tweet at the time – with a picture of his seat. ‘How you gonna have the @NFLLegends supporting with this obstructed sample size of a view!? Felt like I was in timeout.’
Additionally, Spikes said the team didn’t meet his request to be flown to western New York in first-class and says the team didn’t communicate well with him leading up to the game.
“If I’m going to take time out of my day to come up, at least just show me the respect that I deserve,” Spikes said on the podcast, adding, “For a second, it made you feel like you was worthless.”
Spikes ended up leaving the game upset, but said that Bills GM Brandon Beane followed up with him and offered to make up for the less-than-ideal situation.
In spite of this, the former linebacker – who spent three seasons in Orchard Park – said he’d ‘always be a Buffalo Bill’.
