ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — Highmark Stadium was the place Steve Tasker caught his first NFL touchdown. It's the stadium where Tasker blocked a punt that J.D. Williams returned for a memorable touchdown in 1990. And who could forget the freezing cold AFC Divisional game in January of 1994 when Tasker had a 67-yard kickoff return touchdown. All of it happened in Orchard Park.
"It's hard to say goodbye to a place where all of that happened," said Tasker. "I mean we were the Avengers and the Beatles all rolled into one. It was unbelievable. We did some unbelievable, unforgettable stuff in that stadium, and a lot of cool stuff has happened since."
Tasker will join his former teammate Thurman Thomas as the Legends of the Game on Sunday. They have task to ask the roaring crowd Marv Levy's famous line, "Where else would you rather be than right here right. now?"
"When I found out I was like OK, what am I gonna say? I don't know what Thurman and I are gonna handle, I don't know whether he's gonna do the "Hey ay ay," or I'm gonna do it," said Tasker. "I've rehearsed kind of what I'm going to say in either case, and I can't get through that, "Where else would you rather be?" I choke up even when I'm even sitting in my office by myself. I get choked up."
"Thurman, Bruce, Jim all the dozens of guys are going to be there this weekend, there's a piece of us in that stadium," explained Tasker. "Both physically and spiritually, emotionally. We left a lot of our youth in that stadium and grew up a lot there. So, the last time is going to be hard to get out...It's hard to walk away."
The Bills will be wearing the vintage red helmets to pay tribute to the past players including Tasker.
"It's pretty cool, I'm sure it will be emotional for a lot of the old guys," said Tasker about the red helmets. "Yeah that'll be emotional. That was an era of history not just for the Bills, and Bills fans obviously, but also for the league. To have one team go to a championship four straight years and do all the cool stuff we did and have so many Hall of Famers sprinkled around the roster...You know the head coach, the GM, the owner, players... It'll be emotional."
And yes, Tasker has a special cigar ready for Sunday.
"I can't smoke it inside the stadium, but yeah there'll be more than one cigar on Sunday for sure," said Tasker.
