Nathan Dougherty Buffalo Bills fans greet the team at the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport on December 25.
The Buffalo Bills may have had their Christmas plans ruined after being stranded by a massive winter storm, but they got a warm welcome after finally returning to Western New York.
The Bills were forced to stay overnight in Chicago after their 35-13 win over the Bears on December 24 as a storm was dumping heavy snow and wind on the city of Buffalo. Though the Buffalo airport remained closed due to the conditions, the team was able to fly into nearby Rochester in the afternoon on Christmas — and had a few hundred fans there to welcome them.
Bills Fans Greet Team
The Bills’ team plane left Chicago’s O’Hare Airport late on Sunday morning and arrived at the Frederick Douglass Greater Rochester International Airport at close to 1 p.m., an unexpected leg in a longer-than-expected road trip that started with the Bills leaving Buffalo a day early to avoid the start of the storm.
They arrived in Rochester to find close to 400 fans waiting with signs congratulating them on winning a third straight AFC East title. Some fans had been waiting for more than two hours, as the flight was initially scheduled to land before noon.
Bills fans have made a tradition out of meeting the team at the airport after significant games, though this is the first time they have done so in Rochester, which is close to 60 miles east of Buffalo.
The crowd is growing. @news10nbc
The tradition started in 2017, when hundreds of fans turned out at the Buffalo airport on a frigid New Year’s Eve to welcome the team back after clinching a first playoff berth in 17 years. Just hours earlier, the Bills had gotten a season-ending win over the Miami Dolphins and some help from Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati Bengals, who defeated the Baltimore Ravens to help the Bills slide into the playoffs.
While it may have been difficult for the Bills players to spend much of the holiday away from their families, head coach Sean McDermott said after Saturday’s win that he was happy they could all be together.
“There’s nothing I want more than to be home with my family and for you guys to be with your families, but if I can’t be with mine, there’s no other family I’d rather be with than right here with you guys,” McDermott said.
More Difficulties Ahead for Buffalo
While the Bills players were able to safely return to Buffalo by late Sunday afternoon, the region still faced some significant challenges. Though the worst conditions from the storm ended on Christmas, there were still major efforts to dig out abandoned cars and restore power. The Buffalo News reported that the death toll from the storm reached 27 as recovery efforts started.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said that more than 12,000 people remained without power, though crews were working hard to have it restored.
“They’re hoping to restore a good portion of those today,” Poloncarz said. “But as I said yesterday, there are some that still might not get restored until Tuesday, due to the serious nature of substation damage.”
The Bills will likely have a chance to wait out the aftermath of the storm as they get a longer layoff before facing the Cincinnati Bengals in a Monday Night Football game on January 2.