An Open Letter To Bills Mafia on Kids at Buffalo Bills Games

Dear Bills Mafia,

As a card-carrying member of our team and city, I am proud to be part of the greatest fanbase in the world. There are 4 reasons, off the top of my head, I love our community so much.

We’re tough, and you need only look at this past Sunday night’s game to see proof of that. We will show up in any weather, let alone during a 17-year playoff drought, to support our team.
We are fun! Our tailgates are the envy of fans in every single sport. People from around the country and world travel to Orchard Park for every single home game to take part in the festivities. How could anyone not at least be curious about pizza served from a filing cabinet, table jumps, and some guy being absolutely doused in ketchup and mustard? That’s only to name only a few of the things that happen at our tailgate.
We are inclusive. Maybe more than any other franchise. It truly does not matter who you are, what you believe, who you voted for, how you identify, or anything else. We are all Bills fans and we will all look after and welcome each other. I love that, and think it’s so important even if some don’t.
We are, definitively, the most charitable fan base in the world. No fans have given to more causes, helped more children, and been kind to absolute strangers with time, money, and awareness. We literally give you the shirt off our backs, even when you are the enemy. Look no further than the tens of thousands of dollars we’ve given to Tua Tagovailoa’s charity: the quarterback of our arch nemesis, Miami Dolphins.

This last point, though, is where we need to have a hard talk.

Sunday night, as the Bills beat up on the San Francisco 49ers in a driving snowstorm to clinch their 5th straight AFC East Title, one of ours did something absolutely deplorable, disgusting, pathetic… Pick a negative adjective. They pushed down an 8-year-old 49ers fan at his first NFL game, who just beat cancer.

Now, look, we ALL know this jackass who did this does not represent Bills Mafia. While I’m not calling for anyone to find him and drag him out, I would ask anyone who knows him to have him reach out to little Mia and, at the very least, make a heartfelt apology. Also, smack him on the back of the head, please.

One fan’s actions never represent ALL the fans for any fanbase.

But we need to talk about this on a deeper level.

I am the father of a 10—and 4-year-old. I would never, ever bring them to a Buffalo Bills game.

Why? You can sit here and pretend this story is surprising, shocking, and rare (and the specific circumstances are), but we all know taking young kids to a Bills game is a very risky proposition. Those handful of fans that don’t represent us? They are still us. They are at every game. They drink too much. Smoke too much. Party too much. They can’t handle their liquor, and they make TERRIBLE choices they probably would never make anywhere else. Yes, sometimes they are mean to little kids, too.

We’ve all seen the fights in the stands. The absolute mess of a fan screaming non-sensical drunken, and violent obscenities. People dumping their beers on others, purposely. The heckling of opposing fans, but not in a good nature or at all justified way. Sometimes, it borders on a hate crime.

There is nothing wrong with a little trash talk. There is nothing wrong with having a great time. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with letting loose and going a little overboard, either. You all work hard. You probably paid way too much money to be at the game. You all deserve a break and a time to let loose. The thing is, when it gets to this level, and a cancer-surviving kid gets pushed over for wearing a 49ers jacket, we have to look inward and start doing better.

I don’t blame the Bills. They have a family section and more parents need to utilize it. They have tons of security but there are 73,000 people who packed into this stadium every game. It’s impossible to stop things from happening. It always will be, too.

That’s why WE need to do it. We need to tell our overboard friends and family to calm down, have a water, make better decisions, not PUSH OVER A KID (or anyone for that matter), and maybe not go into the game or go to games in general if they can’t act appropriately. We have to do a better job of policing ourselves and taking care of anyone who might be at a disadvantage, even fans of the other team.

Will that happen? Probably not. I have no illusions that this will change anything. Winning has made us act better overall because there’s a reason to go to the game other than to party. Ultimately, though, we need to take more personal responsibility for our actions and the actions of the people we came with and know.

See something? Say something. Hear something? Speak up. Don’t be afraid to tell security, either. Trust me, they want to find jerks like this guy and throw him out. They live for it.

Maybe, someday, parents can bring young kids to games other than family day in the preseason and not worry too much. It’s going to take a lot of work to do that, though.

Mia, on behalf of Bills Mafia and Western New York, we’re very sorry. You don’t see yourself coming back anytime soon, which is completely understandable. I know plenty of people would love to give you a better experience, though. I hope you and your family will reconsider and reach out to people who can make sure it’s a great and safe time.

One of those people is the great Del Reid, the man who created the Bills Mafia. He gets it, and he always offers a solution. He’s currently rallying people to give to a charity on behalf of Mia. Please donate and show Mia our love.

Thank you, Del, for being the best of us.

Bills Mafia, we all know what we’re really about and this incident doesn’t change that. Just show Mia and everyone, what we do best.

Thanks for reading. Go Bills.

Pat McMahon can be heard on weekdays from 10 am to 3 pm on Buffalo’s Real Rock 92.9 WBUF. Email your thoughts to him any time: Pat@WBUF.com

Image of Mia from this Facebook Video:

On a lighter note, here's Josh Allen holding puppies.