The Buffalo Bills are facing criticism for their trip home from Chicago on Christmas Day, with a public dispute emerging over whether the team asked for help during the worst blizzard to hit the region in decades.
The Bills were forced to remain in Chicago after their December 24 win over the Bears as a dangerous winter storm moved across the country and settled in over the city of Buffalo. The team was able to fly to nearby Rochester on Christmas Day and chartered buses to return to Buffalo, but there are now conflicting reports as to whether the team asked local authorities for help making it home and some controversy over the decision to travel through a region that was under a travel ban at the time.
Bills Deny Asking for Help
As the Buffalo News reported, Bills team officials said they did not ask the Erie County Sheriff’s Office or New York State Police for escort, but both state police and Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz dispute that claim. On December 28, Poloncarz claimed that the Bills asked the Erie County Sheriff’s Office for an escort into Buffalo, which was under a travel ban at the time.
The state police also said the Bills reached out for help in getting back from Rochester on December 25, when heavy snow was still falling across the Buffalo area.
“There was not preferential treatment given to the football team … the Bills are not considered essential workers.”
Erie County Executive @markpoloncarz says the Sheriff’s Office declined to give the Bills an escort because of the driving ban. #billsmafia
“The Buffalo Bills asked state police to escort team buses from the airport in Rochester to Buffalo, and the State Police denied the request,” State Police public information director Beau Duffy told the Buffalo News. “At the request of the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, a trooper did assist with briefly escorting the teams buses off airport property in Rochester, but discontinued the escort once the buses reached I-490.”
Ron Raccuia, the Bills’ executive vice president and COO, told the Buffalo News that the team wanted the 150 people in their traveling party to get the chance to spend Christmas with their families and made the “very difficult decision” to return to Buffalo. But he said the team never asked for special treatment in getting him.
“We made sure that we were not diverting any resources needed in any part of our community, whatsoever,” Raccuia said.
Local officials said the death toll from the storm has topped 30, with rescue and recovery efforts still underway.
Bills Face Criticism for Christmas Travel
The Bills had already faced some criticism for their arrival in Buffalo on Christmas afternoon, when video showed the players digging their cars out of deep snow and heading home during a travel ban.
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Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Poloncarz emphasized that only first responders were supposed to be traveling during that time.
“As much as they’re essential for our mental health when they win, they are not essential workers,” Poloncarz said, via RochesterFirst. “If they got capabilities, a CDL license, and want to get behind a rig, we’ll take them on. If Josh [Allen] and them want to start shoveling driveways, be my guest. But the Bills are not considered essential workers.”
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Bills in Hot Water for Controversial Travel Home on Christmas Day