Chiefs Fans Redirect Donations to Buffalo

Gifts change direction when Kansas City learns about Bills fans' tradition of giving
By Bob Cronin,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 27, 2022 7:00 PM CST
Chiefs Fans Honor Bills By Donating to Hospital
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen walks off the field after a playoff loss Sunday in Kansas City.   (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

Their team was 6 points better than Buffalo on Sunday, but Kansas City Chiefs fans are nonetheless taking a page out of the Bills' playbook. Buffalo's fans have a tradition of donating en masse to a charity chosen by their opponent. After the Chiefs' wild 42-36 playoff win Sunday night, their fans started giving to charities associated with their star quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, encouraged by a Facebook page. The gifts arrived in $13 increments, for the 13 seconds left in regulation when the Chiefs began their drive that tied the game, setting up overtime, ESPN reports. That changed as Chiefs fans learned about their counterparts' tradition.

Money then started pouring in to Oishei Children's Hospital in Buffalo. Within 24 hours, more than 9,800 Chiefs fans have sent $178,000, per CBS Sports. By Thursday morning, the total was $312,800. Bills fans in the past have honored their quarterback, Josh Allen, and his grandmother by donating $1.1 million to the hospital, where Patricia Allen died last year. There's now a wing and support team named for her. Much of that money came in $17 increments, for Allen's jersey number. Out-of-town donations from Bills fans include more than $500,000 to the foundation started by Lamar Jackson, the Ravens' quarterback, after Buffalo beat Baltimore in the playoffs last year. (More uplifting news stories.)

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