Once again, Bills Mafia has turned a negative situation into a positive one. In the past few days, the Bills fan community has united to raise over $60,000 (as of this writing) for Breakthrough T1D.
This non-profit organization focuses on research and advocacy for Type 1 diabetes and is a charity that Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews has supported before.
On Sunday night, the Buffalo Bills knocked out the Ravens in the divisional round of the playoffs, partly due to some mistakes made by Andrews, including a tough drop.
After the game, Andrews faced a lot of online hate from Ravens fans and bettors who thought he caused the team to lose.
In reaction to this, a Bills fan named Nicholas Howard started a GoFundMe campaign to collect funds for Breakthrough T1D.
“As many of you are aware, the Ravens’ tight end couldn’t catch the game-tying 2-point conversion, which disappointed many Ravens fans,” Howard wrote in the fundraiser description. “
On top of that, the tight end has received death threats and hurtful messages after his performance last night.
We want Bills Mafia to contribute to Mark’s charity for type 1 diabetes. Let’s aim to raise at least $5,000.”
All things Bills: Stay updated with the latest news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates, and more about the Buffalo Bills.
As of Wednesday morning, the GoFundMe has collected over $63,000.
Breakthrough T1D also expressed gratitude to Bills fans in a message to ESPN. “Breakthrough T1D is very thankful for the kindness of the Buffalo Bills community and all the fans who chose to donate after Sunday’s game,” the statement said. “
These contributions will help fund research and advocacy for the 1.6 million Americans, like Mark Andrews, who have type 1 diabetes.”
“Andrews has been outspoken in his advocacy around the issue and served as a Breakthrough T1D youth ambassador.”
This fundraiser is only the latest example of Bills Mafia’s outpouring of charitable support.
In 2018, Bills fans donated over $100,000 Andy Dalton’s charity, the AJD Foundation, after the quarterback led the Bengals to a Week 17 win (coincidentally, over the Ravens) that helped the Bills clinch a playoff berth for the first time since 1999.
