Getty Stadium workers clear snow off the field prior to a game between the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium on December 17, 2022 in Orchard Park, New York.
After the Buffalo Bills (12-3) defeated the Chicago Bears 35-13 on Christmas Eve, the team was forced to spend the night in the Windy City as a historic snowstorm hit Western, New York. The Buffalo International Airport is closed through Tuesday, December 27, but the Bills were able to fly into Rochester on Christmas Day.
However, once the Bills got back to the training facility where their cars were parked, they got what ESPN‘s Adam Schefter called a “Christmas surprise” on Twitter. The lake effect snowstorm dropped nearly four feet of snow, per Accuweather.com, and the Bills players and coaches’ cars, all parked outside, were completely buried.
Bills had a Christmas surprise waiting for them when they finally were able to make it back today from Chicago:
The Bills had to personally shovel their cars out of the snow in order to get home to their families on Christmas, and a video of the epic feat quickly went viral. However, several viewers were thoroughly confused as to why this job was left to the Bills players and coaches. One person tweeted, “How does a multi billion dollar business, that is in a blizzard tundra climate, not have covered parking for the players they pay millions of dollars for????”
After Buffalo #Bills played on Saturday Christmas Eve, they had to wait till Sunday and then had to fly to Rochester NY w Buffalo airport closed. Bused to their cars and they were buried in snow. Amazing.
Another person tweeted, “You’d think the Pegulas, being billionaires, would have paid someone to do this for them. Why risk players getting hurt?”
While several Bills Mafia members wished they knew about the snowed-in vehicle situation, one fan tweeted, “Damn shoulda told my buddies and I we would be there do dig em out,” many fans did get the memo, and showed up at the facility to help dig out the cars.
Thank you @BuffaloBills fans! We are so grateful.
Jordan Dorsey, the wife of Bills offense coordinator Ken Dorsey thanked Bills Mafia for helping get her husband home. She tweeted, Thank you @BuffaloBills fans! We are so grateful.”
Bills Head Coach Asked For Zero Sympathy That They Couldn’t Get Home on Christmas Eve
GettyHead coach Sean McDermott of the Buffalo Bills walks off the field after a win over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on December 24, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois.
After it was revealed that the Bills, who had just clinched their third straight AFC East title after defeating the Bears, would be stuck in Chicago on Christmas Eve, head coach Sean McDermott made it clear that they would not be asking for anyone’s sympathy.
“Everyone’s health and safety is of the utmost importance, whether it’s us or people back home, No. 1,” McDermott said, per New York Upstate. “Respectively, for us, I don’t want thinking, ‘oh, whoa is us.’ I mean, there are a lot of military people who aren’t able to come home at all right now, or people out there — emergency workers. I mean, yes, it’s a shame we can’t get home, but there are a lot of people who have got it a lot worse than we do out there, including some people back home right now.”
Josh Allen Said He Looked Forward to ‘Quality Time’ With His Teammates in Chicago
The #Bills appear to be enjoying the division title.
With the division clinched, and after earning their sixth-consecutive win, Bills quarterback Josh Allen didn’t mind spending an extra night in the Windy City. “Allen says they wish they could get home tonight but the team is going to spend some quality time together tonight,” Bills reporter Maddy Glab tweeted. And based on the celebratory photos and videos shared from the vistor’s locker room at Soldier Field, it seems the Bills were ready to party extra hard in Chicago on Saturday night.
Tight end Dawson Knox said after the game, “No one knows anything about Chicago nightlife or anything on Christmas Eve,” per The Buffalo News reporter Katherine Fitzgerald. “I’m sure we’ll find something team-building, team-chemistry-wise. Thankfully, no curfew tonight.”