Buffalo Bills fans continue to spread the love and Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is thankful for it.
In their AFC divisional-round matchup on Saturday, Lamar Jackson exited the contest early with a concussion and never returned.
Due to his injury, Bills fans started donating to Jackson’s favorite charity, Blessings in a Backpack, which is based in Louisville where Jackson starred in college and won the Heisman Trophy in 2016, after the game.
Earlier this week, USA Today writer Steve Garder reported that Blessings in a Backpack chief marketing officer Nikki Grizzle said the foundation had received 5,500 individual donations from Bills fans that totaled nearly $150,000 in 14 hours after the game on Saturday.
That number continues to climb as well. On Tuesday, WJZ reporter Rick Ritter reported that Bills Mafia members had donated more than $407,000 from more than 15,000 fans. Even Chiefs fans were getting involved too.
Update: more than $407K raised by #BillsMafia for @BlessinBackpack, helping feed children in need. More than 15,000 fans have donated. #ChiefsKingdom now getting involved, trying to bring the total to $500K. Amazing. #Ravens @wjz
Lamar Jackson took to Twitter on Monday to thank Bills Mafia for the donations.
Before Jackson exited the game on Saturday, he had tallied 34 yards on the ground and threw for 162 yards and an interception.
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Bills Fan Raises Money for Josh Norman’s Charity by Selling AFC Championship Game Tickets
Bills Mafia is a special bunch and while they always look to help out others, they look after their own too.
According to Sarah Minkewicz from WIVB.com, Bills fan Joe Croom had people enter to win his tickets for the AFC Championship by donating $29 dollars to Josh Norman’s Buffalo Business Blitz, which helps small businesses in the Buffalo area that were affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Every time someone donated $29 it was another entry into the contest. Croom told Minkewicz that he raised over $13,000 to donate towards Norman’s cause.
“We’ve donated to Oishei, we’ve donated to Andy Dalton, we’ve donated to Lamar Jackson’s favorite foundation and it’s like us and New York State we are probably the worst state kinda dealing with this pandemic and we are bending over backward for things that mean so much more,” Croom told Minkewicz during their interview.
The local Bills fan said he came up with the idea after seeing how many people donated to Jackson’s charity. So, he wanted to see if he could put in some effort to helping out someone in his own backyard.
“I saw a lot of people donating and a lot of people not really knowing about it,” Croom told Minkewicz. “So, I’m like ok let’s see if we can raise awareness to give money back to our community to help people in need.”
Bills Mafia Helps When They Can
Over the past few years, Bills Mafia has donated to several different causes. In 2017, after then-Cincinatti Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton threw a late-touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd to beat the Ravens and send the Bills to the playoffs and break their 17-year playoff drought, Bills fans donated to the Andy and Jordan Dalton Foundation.
Then, they burst back onto the scene this year by donating to Josh Allen’s favorite charity at Oishei Children’s Hospital. Donations recently surpassed the $1 million mark. Bills fans wanted to thank Allen after he played against the Seattle Seahawks earlier this year when he had lost his grandmother hours before the game.
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Lamar Jackson Sends Message to Bills Mafia After Donations