ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — "Bills Mafia, let's go!"
Known as the "Shnow man," Bills starting left tackle Dion Dawkins is probably one of the Bills most animated players.
After a $60 million extension last season, Dawkins was ready to attack training camp and help the Bills make another run at an AFC East title.
That was before a positive COVID test sidelined his goal.
He spoke to me exclusively about his feelings since his post COVID hospital stint.
Ashley Holder: When you first found out you have COVID, how did that happen?
Dion Dawkins: “Man, my body had told me (laughs). I felt normal. I was ready to practice, and it’s the first day of camp, so I'm like, what’s going on? I had retest, thinking it was a false positive or something. That next day is when it started to hit, and I was feeling yucky, but then the second day it hit hard, and I was like, 'Man, this is serious.' ”
Dawkins' mind was no longer specifically on football but just surviving.
He spent almost a week in the hospital at Buffalo General, isolated from teammates, family and friends.
Ashley Holder: You’re a really animated guy, you’re always happy and running around. So how tough was it for you to have to sit down and feel the way that you felt those couple of days?
Dion Dawkins: Man, Ashley, I would say that was probably this first in a long time that I actually sat down. Like you said, I never stop moving, I'm always animated and on go, and now sitting in a hospital bed. I'm 27, sitting in a hospital bed and just hurting. Just lying there alone it was just hard.
Dawkins wasn't able to have any visitors see him besides the nurses at the hospital, who he thanks greatly for taking such good care of him. He had daughter at home, along with a premature newborn son, and his first thought was protecting their safety.
For Dawkins, he was already fully vaccinated, and his symptoms were incredibly severe.
Dion Dawkins: Why is my COVID so bad but other people that had just said it was a mild cold and it ain’t nothing. But I got it, and I got the worst flu or worst sickness in the world. I didn’t understand it. Why me? I take it as a blessing that I went through it because now I know, and now I truly know (from) firsthand experience this stuff isn’t no joke."
Ashley Holder: Would you urge people to get vaccinated to be safe?
Dion Dawkins: Great question, Ashley. I want people to look at my story and see how it affects you. Dissect your household and make the right decision for you household. Get the knowledge talk to people about it who had it who didn’t have it. Please just look at my story and make what’s right for you and your house hold."
This coming off the wide receiver and return specialist Isaiah McKenzie posting a photo on his twitter today (Thursday) from the NFL that he was fined $14,650 for not wearing a mask around the Bills facility.
Fellow receiver Cole Beasley also retweeted that very message saying he too was fined and added, "but I was wearing a mask when I was in close contact with fully vaxxed trainer who tested positive and still got sent home."
Both players remain out of practice and are now subject to more repercussions if they continue to not mask up while not vaccinated.
For head coach Sean McDermott, it's frustrating because this is valuable time starters are missing, which not only impact them but the team as a whole.
"It's very frustrating, very frustrating," McDermott said. "There's people livelihoods at stake in terms of peoples jobs and performances are judged off wins and loses or how well one does X or Y. Some of that is dependent upon other members on the team.
"That's why this is a team game. Being able to count on people is important. When you're going through a week if this were a real week and having the players out that we've had that makes it hard to win games that way and that's the competitive of this."
The Bills are just one of four teams in the NFL who near only the 80% vaccination rate. Not exactly the best sign for a team who is a Super Bowl contender.
"Respect is important doesn't mean I'm not passionate about my passionate or what I feel is the right thing to do for the greater good of this country and that in my mind is getting vaccinated."
McDermott added that decisions will not be made as far as roster cuts if a payer is vaccinated or not.
Safe to say that coach knows this will most likely be a problem for the Bills come the regular season if players decide to stand on their positions and remain unvaccinated. He hopes to see an increase of more vaccinated players following this incident.
Now Dawkins was one of those who were able to make a full recovery from COVID. He was able to make his preseason debut against the Chicago Bears last weekend, and he told me he's still feeling winded but is making a lot of physical progress. He does extra running after every practice.
And again, McDermott is urging his players look at Dawkins and Tommy Sweeney's situation. Sweeney missed last season due to a heart condition from COVID, and he just got vaccinated.