Getty Kansas City Chiefs fans cheer on their team at Arrowhead Stadium as Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills operate on offense.
The grim reaper game, the 13-second sprint, the Arrowhead answer — however fans decide to remember the January 23rd thriller between the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills is up to them but one thing’s for sure, they won’t forget it anytime soon.
And whether that memory is filled with euphoria or anguish, fans will likely be telling stories of it for generations to come.
To commemorate such an event, Chiefs fans decided to pay it forward — or back, according to Brett Fitzgerald of “Chiefs Kingdom Memes” on Facebook.
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Fans Make Generous Donation
In a January 25 article from WKBW, Tim Meehan and Pheben Kassahun highlighted the charitable actions from Chiefs Kingdom this week. They wrote: “As of Wednesday morning, Oishei Children’s Hospital says more than 9,500 Chiefs fans donated more than $173,000 to the Patricia Allen Fund.”
That fund, of course, is a charity created by quarterback Josh Allen in honor of his grandmother.
We know we said we would provide an update tomorrow but we are so overwhelmed and grateful to share 1300 donors have donated tens of thousands of dollars today! We will share more later today! ❤️ #ChiefsKingdom #BillsMafia
Per Tim Daniels of Bleacher Report: “In November, Oishei Children’s Hospital unveiled the Patricia Allen Pediatric Recovery Wing in memory of the Bills quarterback’s grandmother after $1.1 million in donations were made by Bills fans following her death in 2020.”
Fitzgerald led the charge for Chiefs fans to get involved. “Bills Mafia was the catalyst in this and we’re just following their lead on it,” he told reporters. WKBW added that his Facebook group posted a call to action on Monday, January 24, asking for $13 donations in honor of Kansas City’s 13-second touchdown drive that sent the game to overtime.
Bills Mafia has been charitable to many causes in years past, as Fitzgerald referenced. ESPN picked up the story, mentioning a few Buffalo-led donations including “$442,000 for the Andy & Jordan Dalton Foundation” in 2017 and Lamar Jackson’s foundation in 2020, among others.
Fitzgerald admitted that he began the movement by sending $13 donations to Patrick Mahomes’ 15 or the Mahomies Foundation before a friend inspired a “better” idea.
“I was messaging with a friend of mine up in Buffalo and he said if the Bills had won Bills Mafia probably would have been donating to charity. I’m like I like that idea, so instantly went [and] found Josh Allen’s foundation. Donated $13 to it, so basically switch [the] $13 over to Josh Allen’s foundation… I said, this is better,” he told WKBW.
Like Mahomes’ comeback victory, the rest was history. If you would like to join this cause and donate to the Patricia Allen Fund, click here.
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Football Is Family
Too often, we forget that we’re all just diehard fans of this exciting sport and this act of kindness from Chiefs Kingdom — as well as countless others from Bills Mafia — are reminders that there are bigger things than this game.
Another reminder is the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. The Chiefs and Bills franchises nominated safety Tyrann Mathieu and defensive tackle Harrison Phillips for this prestigious honor in 2021-22.
The Honey Badger was already voted the winner of Nationwide’s NFL Charity Challenge leading up to the award. His Tyrann Mathieu Foundation received $25,000 for their efforts.
We’re excited to announce @Mathieu_Era from the @Chiefs as the winner of our #WPMOY @NFL Charity Challenge. To help support Tyrann’s community impact, we’re donating $25,000 to @TM32_Foundation! #WPMOYChallenge t.co/8JXtgjETuv
The Arrowhead Report detailed Mathieu’s charity: “Mathieu established his charitable foundation to impact the lives of financially disadvantaged children and youth through encouragement, opportunities and resources to achieve their dreams in Kansas City and his hometown of New Orleans. The foundation’s signature programs include the Tyrann Mathieu Tech Zone, Tyrann’s Backpack Giveaway, Tyrann’s Turkeys, Tyrann’s Christmas Blessing and Heart of a Badger Youth Camp.”
Buffalo’s Phillips earned $5,000 in the same challenge. The Buffalo News reported that “Phillips does the majority of his philanthropic work through The Playmakers Organization, which supports at-risk and special needs children.”