The Buffalo Bills‘ fans have rushed to the defense of Mark Andrews, days after the 29-year-old Baltimore Ravens tight end dropped a game-tying pass to send his team crashing out of the NFL Playoffs.
After a successful Lamar Jackson drive down the field for a touchdown, the Ravens opted to go for a two-point play to tie the game and likely force overtime. Jackson found the space and a wide-open pass to Andrews, but he fumbled the ball.
The error effectively allowed the Bills and Josh Allen to move on to the AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs, whilst the Ravens were left wondering what exactly it is they need to do to get to the last game of the season.
Yet some disgruntled fans took it too far and began to unleash a torrent of abuse against the NFL player, even prompting his girlfriend to potentially have pre-emptively disabled comments on her Instagram to protect themselves.
But now the Bills fans have seemed to band together to lift Andrews‘ spirits in an emotionally moving gesture as they donate to his charity fighting Type One Diabates, something he battled as child.
Ravens thank Bills fans
The Bills Mafia, as the rowdy crowd at the Highmark Stadium are dubbed, launched a GoFundMe that earned $25,000 after Nicholas Howard started the ball rolling on the heart-warming initiative.
Over 1,000 donations were sent and the target goal of $5,000 was smashed in under 48 hours; to give the football player some good news, after what has been a tough week for Andrews to take, earning the praise of the Ravens.
“Breakthrough T1D [formerly JDRF] greatly appreciates the generosity of the Buffalo Bills community,” the Ravens said via a statement. “And the many fans who were compelled to donate after Sunday’s game.
“These donations will support research and advocacy on behalf of the 1.6 million Americans who, like Mark Andrews, live with type 1 diabetes.”