Buffalo Bills fans prove sportsmanship still exists; Donations support Lamar Jackson after his injury

     On Saturday, January 16, the Baltimore Ravens lost to the Buffalo Bills after Ravens Quarterback, Lamar Jackson, suffered from a concussion while playing in the AFC Championship Game. 

     Buffalo fans show their support for the Ravens and Jackson by donating to one of Jackson’s favorite charities, Blessings in a Backpack. There were more than 11,000 donations and 360,000-plus dollars donated to the charity from the Bills Mafia honoring Jackson, according to bleacherreport.com. 

      Blessings in a Backpack is a charity organization which helps provide meals to elementary school children on the weekends across the country since they rely on food mostly from school, according to blessingsinabackpack.org.  

      Freshman Preston Miller shares his thoughts on the event, “What the ‘Bills Mafia’ did with Lamar Jackson’s favorite charity does prove that sportsmanship still exists.” Miller adds, “The ‘Ravens Flock’ had returned the favor and donated a lot of money to Josh Allen’s favorite charity […] Both sides [Bills fans, Ravens fans] proved sportsmanship still does exist.” 

     Sophomore Alex Tobias, a Ravens fan, said, “Bills fans have always been known as one of the more diehard fan bases towards their teams, and to see them donate to his [Lamar Jackson] charity after he got injured was very reassuring.”  Tobias says, “This was a very important playoff game between two of the best teams in the league, and to see the opposing team fan base support [to] Lamar and his favorite charity after his injury was great.” Tobias continues, “They [Bills fans] realized it was more than football when he [Jackson] went down knowing this could be a possible long term injury with a head injury.” 

     Tobias was asked if he would donate to charity like the Bills Mafia if the Ravens were playing another team and the opposing team’s Quarterback was injured, he responded, “Yes I would. Although these games get very competitive, you got to realize that behind the game of football, that’s a person that got injured and not just a player. Luckily for Lamar, it’s not too serious, but for another QB, a concussion could be career ending and could easily have long term effects on the person.” 

     As for other fan bases and their sportsmanship, Miller claims, “Some fans take it as if their team was rigged or scammed all due to a bad call or play. But in some cases, if it was an overall good game, I think they could come to their senses and say that they simply got beat.” Tobias says, “They [fans] are normally always respectful when the outcome does not go their way.”