This article appeared in the January 19, 2021 edition of the Monitor Daily.

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‘This is what the world needs more of right now’

Jeffrey T. Barnes/AP
Buffalo Bills fans celebrate after an NFL divisional round football game against the Baltimore Ravens, Jan. 16, 2021, in Orchard Park, New York.

Buffalo Bills fans are an odd lot. One cooks pregame food in the oil pan of a 1989 Buick. Another has a jug of milk he bought before a famous Bills game – in 1993. And yes, they have a habit of doing flying leaps onto plastic folding tables.   

But this weekend, they did something even more shocking. After the Bills beat the Baltimore Ravens, 17-3, the so-called Bills Mafia donated nearly $300,000 to the charity founded by the opposing quarterback, Lamar Jackson, who was injured during the game. Mr. Jackson’s Blessings in a Backpack provides meals for students who might otherwise go hungry, and Sunday was its biggest fundraising day ever.

It’s not the first time Bills fans have done this. After the grandmother of their own starting quarterback, Josh Allen, died last year, they donated more than $1 million in her name to a local children’s hospital, which dedicated a wing in her honor.

The gratitude from Ravens fans overflowed. “Ravens fan stopping by. You all are class acts. Good luck the rest of the way,” one posted on a Bills Reddit thread. To Nikki Grizzle, spokeswoman for Blessings in a Backpack, it was an example of how sports can unite. “This is the epitome of good sportsmanship; this is what the world needs more of right now.”


This article appeared in the January 19, 2021 edition of the Monitor Daily.

Read 01/19 edition
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