Following a bombshell mid-week trade that brought Amari Cooper to Buffalo, the star receiver turned around and recorded four catches for 66 yards in the Bills’ 34-10 victory over Tennessee on Sunday afternoon.
Cooper has only played three games in front of the Bills Mafia in nearly a decade in the NFL, and playing for his hometown team has given him a greater respect for the notoriously loud upstate New York fans.
It’s pretty impressive, I mean the spectators, and there’s a good vibe to the game,” Cooper told reporters following Sunday’s victory. “… Throughout the week, I was warned that the fans are really passionate. I’ve been a part of a number of extremely enthusiastic fanbases. I played for the Raiders, Cowboys, Browns, and Alabama. But this one feels a little more intense. So I suppose that is a good thing.
Despite playing in the NFL’s third-smallest metropolitan area of just 1.2 million people with a team that struggled mightily for much of the twenty-first century — the Bills managed only two winning seasons, both 9-7, between 2000 and 2016 — Buffalo maintained a reputation for having one of the league’s most devoted fanbases. And, with the addition of franchise quarterback Josh Allen beginning a rebirth on the gridiron in 2018, this fervent fan base has transformed into a big advantage at Highmark Stadium.
Bill Mafia’s influence extends far beyond gamedays, with a reputation for extraordinary, collective charity gifts. Bills fans donated more than $1.4 million to John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo after Allen’s grandmother passed away in 2019, resulting in the addition of the Patricia Allen Pediatric Recovery Wing to the facility, but they’ve proven similarly altruistic toward opposing players as well — fans donated nearly $500,000 to Blessings in a Backpack in honour of Lamar Jackson after he had to exit a playoff game against Buffalo and contributed $415,000 to Andy Dalton’s
Cooper also expressed gratitude to the Cleveland fans during his postgame interview, where the five-time Pro Bowler had played for the previous three seasons. However, while the Browns were 1-5 after six weeks with an ineffective passing attack, Buffalo acquired Cooper this week in the hopes of sparking a sixth-straight postseason run, for only a third-round draft pick.
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