Buffalo may be rabidly obsessed with their Bills, but that hasn’t stopped the team from getting into a tiff with the city during the recent snow-pocalypse.
The Bills played the Bears in Chicago on Christmas Eve and had to travel back to Buffalo in the middle of a historic blizzard that has claimed the lives of at least 37 people in the metropolitan area so far. The team flew into Rochester – a nearby airport – in the midst of a driving ban in the city, which was enacted due to the blizzard.
According to Erie County, the team asked for a police escort to return to their homes, and they were denied. So, they drove themselves – and the city is not thrilled.
“They were not allowed to travel. They did,” said Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz. “At that time, there was actually heavy snow still. I don’t want anybody to think that Erie County gave preferential treatment to the Bills.
“As much as they’re essential for our mental health when they win, they are not essential workers.”
The Bills, though, are denying they asked for preferential treatment from the county, with team COO Ron Raccuia being adamant about the claim to the Buffalo News.
“We made sure that we were not diverting any resources needed in any part of our community, whatsoever,” Raccuia said. “We were in constant communication not only with them, as well as other agencies throughout Western New York, from the day we left for Chicago on Thursday until the day we returned. But we did not ask for or receive special treatment. We would not do that.”
Videos went viral of the Bills players returning home Sunday to find their cars under several feet of snow, with one video showing a player driving away with seemingly an entire snow house on the roof of his car.
The Bills have to travel yet again this week for their “Monday Night Football” game against the Bengals in Cincinnati. Luckily, the snowstorm in the city has subsided, with the temperatures creeping into the 40s this week.
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