Fans of Bills fans work: For a short while, Eric Shields put down his shovel to record a football fan going down a snow slide without clothes. Workers, many of them Buffalo Bills fans who heeded the team’s call, clear snow ahead of the 2024 AFC wild card game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. (Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports/Reuters)
During this weekend’s snowstorm, Buffalo football supporters came up with innovative ways to have fun and relieve some steam while clearing out the home stadium of their club. Before their wild-card playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Buffalo Bills sent an invitation to the public to visit Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, New York, throughout the weekend and on Monday morning in order to clear the snow.
Numerous people responded to the appeal, among them Buffalonian Eric Shields, who on Saturday captured a video that went viral showing a boisterous Bills fan going down a snow chute without a shirt on. “Oh, I’m going to go,” the guy said. Then another guy says, “Oh, please take off your shirt!” And he’s like, ‘Alright,’ and took his shirt off,'” Shields said As It Happens host Nil Köksal.
The Bills and the stadium’s housekeeping firm, Jani-King, released multiple statements over the weekend pleading with fans to assist in clearing the stadium as severe winter storms tore through sections of the United States. “I woke up in the morning, I drunk a Monster energy drink, and I was ready for the day,” Shields stated.Fans of Bills fans work
Those brave enough to work in the bitter cold were compensated $20 US per hour plus free hot food. “We had chicken fingers,” Shields said. “They’re relatively expensive at the game. So I mean, that’s a perk if you get them for free.”
As the majority of shovellers belonged to the Bills Mafia, the team’s support base, Shields stood out thanks to his New England Patriots mask. “I wanted to wear a jersey, but I didn’t want to ruin it,” he said.
He said that the Bills fans teased him lightly, but being a Buffalo native and lifetime Patriots supporter, he is accustomed to it. He said, “It’s all for fun.” “I love my city regardless of what team I like.”Fans of Bills fans work
The workers, along with stadium crews, worked all throughout Saturday and Sunday to clear the more than 60 centimetres of snow that fell over the weekend. Nevertheless, the game, originally scheduled for Sunday, was postponed until Monday because of the weather.
“We would shovel in portions, and as we reached the next one, we would turn to see that the section we had just finished was covered,” Shields explained. “So, I mean, Even though it was all for nothing, it’s still better than having it accumulate here.”
The team asked fans to make room again on Monday morning. At 4 a.m., Brandon Brummert left Rochester, New York, and traveled 144 kilometers to assist with shoveling.
“The weather is presently gorgeous. God be praised, the wind isn’t kicking. It would be terrible right now with the snow blowing,” Brummert stated early on Monday. At game time, the field had been cleared, but when the gates opened, most of the seats were still covered in snow. Undaunted, fans cleared their seats with their hands or bits of cardboard, even borrowing shovels from guest services.
Those who were unable to find a place to sit either stood or sat in the snow. Also, the supporters celebrated Buffalo’s game-opening touchdown by flinging snow like confetti.
“The weather is presently gorgeous. God be praised, the wind isn’t kicking. It would be terrible right now with the snow blowing,” Brummert stated early on Monday. At game time, the field had been cleared, but when the gates opened, most of the seats were still covered in snow..Undaunted, fans cleared their seats with their hands or bits of cardboard, even borrowing shovels from guest services. Those who were unable to find a place to sit either stood or sat in the snow. Also, the supporters celebrated Buffalo’s game-opening touchdown by flinging snow like confetti.