Bills Mafia stopped jumping on tables and decided to turn the tables.
NBC Sports Chicago posted a video on Twitter calling the Bills Mafia — a collection of passionate Buffalo Bills fans — the "laughing stock of the NFL." Buffalo hosts the Chicago Bears on Sunday.
The video denigrated the Bills Mafia as super-fans who jump on tables and "drink to make their team fun to watch" and showed clips of tailgating fans fighting, crushing tables, chugging alcohol and lighting their pants on fire.
The insulting clip lit a fire under Bills fans, who fought back with their hearts and wallets. Bills Mafia members responded by donating to a Chicago-based nonprofit that provides support for children with cancer.
"That’s who bills fans are" said Bills Mafia co-founder Del Reid. "We are not just the crazy fans that are jumping through tables and setting ourselves on fire and whatever else, but we are people that we love each other and we love other fans and strangers as well too. So I’m not surprised that it happened."
Eric Purdy, 32, tweeted a call for Bills Mafia to be better than click bait along with a photo confirming his donation to Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation. Del Reid, a co-founder of Bills Mafia, joined in with a $25 donation to the foundation. Dozens more Bills fans followed and replied with screenshots confirming their donations to Bear Necessities, many of them in $25 denominations.
"I found that to not be the best portrayal of what the Bills Mafia really is. We're a family community of fans that look out for each other," said Purdy, a 2004 Victor High School graduate who is now a teacher in Colorado Springs, Colorado. "I could've responded in a different way but this seemed to be the Bills Mafia way.
"I hope the original posters of the video at least take notice and maybe find a little bit more of a comprehensive understanding of who the Bills Mafia is. We're more than just smashing tables."
This isn't the first time this year Bills fans have come together for charity. They raised more than $400,000 to the Andy and Jordan Dalton Foundation after Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton threw a touchdown pass in Week 17 that sent Buffalo to the playoffs and ended the franchise's 17-year playoff drought.
If you'd like to join in, you can donate to Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation here.