It was New Year's Eve, and Amy Floyd's cell phone began to buzz. Repeatedly.
Floyd, the executive director for the Andy & Jordan Dalton Foundation, receives a notification on her phone each time the organization nets a new donation. Usually, the buzzing is manageable, but on Sunday evening, it started to get out of control.
The donations started pouring in shortly after Andy Dalton, the quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals, threw an improbable go-ahead touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter to knock the Baltimore Ravens out of the playoffs.
And they didn't stop. The dollars continued to roll in throughout New Year's Eve as Floyd hosted guests at her house, and when she woke up on Monday morning, there were plenty more donation alerts waiting for her on her phone.
The donors' listed addresses were mainly based in New York state.
"I kind of put the two-and-two together," Floyd said in a phone interview. "That's Buffalo, New York."
Many of the donations came through in increments of $17, which seemed weirdly arbitrary until Floyd really started to think about it.
Seventeen dollars. Seventeen seasons of Buffalo Bills football without a playoff berth.
Andy Dalton erased that when he took that shotgun snap from midfield on a fourth and 12 and connected with Tyler Boyd for a 49-yard touchdown pass, eliminating the Ravens from the playoffs and sending the Bills in their place.
So Bills fans, now eternally grateful, are returning the favor.
As of about 9 p.m. on New Year's Day, fans had donated more than $50,000 -- and counting -- to the Andy & Jordan Dalton Foundation, which helps children with serious illnesses and physical challenges.
"It's really just been... incredible's not even the right term. The amount of support, the amount of money, amount of positivity coming from this experience, it's just overwhelming," Floyd said.
Many of the individual donations included touching messages about what the end of the playoff drought meant to their families.
Like the man who said he heard his father cry for the first time. Or the woman who'd lost her grandson and felt inspired to give.
"It's just message after message after message after message, not only the notifications of these donations but also the stories that come behind them is just something really incredible," Floyd said. "And it really speaks to Buffalo. Speaks to the city, speaks to the fans."
The influx of tens of thousands of dollars will have a significant impact on the operations of the Andy & Jordan Dalton Foundation.
It could help bolster the organization's "Pass It On Fund," which assists families with their medical bills. It may also help fund a holiday program that collects gifts for kids, which just wrapped up for 2017 but could certainly use extra dollars for 2018.
Dalton has been active on Twitter throughout New Year's Day, thanking fans personally for their generosity. His foundation is near and dear to his family, having launched in 2011 shortly after the Bengals drafted him out of Texas Christian University.
While in college, the granddaughter of Dalton's quarterbacks coach was diagnosed with cancer. Dalton formed a strong bond with her, and he immediately recognized the impact he could have on young kids in difficult situations. His wife, Jordan, also had a lifelong passion for helping children with special education, so they pledged to help children both with special needs and serious illnesses.
"#BillsMafia we can't thank you enough!" Dalton tweeted on Monday. "This money is going to make a huge impact for seriously ill and physically challenged kids and their families! Keep it coming!!"
As for Floyd, she said she definitely knows who she's rooting for in the playoffs now.
"You've definitely gained some fans all around Cincinnati, and I'm sure in Texas, too," Floyd said.