When an opposing player makes a terrible mistake in a big game, the reaction of many sports fans is joy. Our team will win! We rule, you stink!
But not all sports fans are like that.
With 1:30 left in Sunday’s NFL playoff game, the Baltimore Ravens scored a touchdown to close a deficit to the Buffalo Bills, bringing the score to 27-25. A two-point conversion ties the game.
“The whole season essentially boils down to this play,” said play-by-play TV announcer Jim Nantz.
Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson threw the ball to Mark Andrews on the goal line. He caught it…and dropped it. To be fair, he did appear to slip when the ball hit him on a snowy field in Buffalo. But he dropped it.
The whole season came down to that play. And the Ravens blew it and lost the game. Their season is over.
But at least some Bills fans felt sympathy despite their win.
Andrews has type 1 diabetes, and two Bills fans stepped up to raise money for Breakthrough T1D, a charity he supported that supports diabetes research and advocacy. Their language sounds a little different from the fiery speeches some soccer fans like to use when discussing the game.
“We just want to spread love. “That’s exactly what we want to do.” said Ryan Patota, 20, a sophomore at Canisius University in Buffalo and a lifelong Bills fan. Patota and Nicholas Howard, both sophomores who run a Bills fan Instagram page, decided to start a charity effort with that goal in mind.
“To be honest, you hate the other team,” Patota said. “You want your team to win. But we want to bring the two foundations together and say, ‘This is more than a game.’”
Howard said: “I have tremendous respect for Mark Andrews. Even though he was playing against us.”
The effort had raised more than $100,000 as of early Thursday afternoon after more than 3,000 individual donations. The original goal was to raise $5,000. “I never expected it to explode like this,” Patota said.
At first, donations came mainly from Bills fans, he said. But as word spread, fans of the Ravens and other NFL teams joined in.
Andrews pricks his finger 30 times per game and uses an insulin pump to check his blood sugar. “Type 1 diabetes is incredibly difficult, but I refuse to let it affect my career or life in any way,” he said in a post on the UMass Chan Medical School website.
The Ravens did not respond to a request for comment from Andrews, who is 6-foot-5, 250 pounds and has played in the league for seven years, three of which were Pro Bowl seasons.
Elite athletes are often hated by opposing fans, but players who make mistakes can also be criticized by supporters. Of course, angrier and more outspoken Ravens fans poured negativity toward Andrews all over social media after the dropped catch. The response motivated the drive’s organizers, they said.
“There are a lot of keyboard warriors out there making disgusting comments,” Patota said.
“Maybe they lost the bet, but that doesn’t give them the right to spread hate,” Howard said.
Football fan David Whelan, who donated $25 to the fundraiser, wrote to Andrews on his donation page: “It is very unfortunate that some Ravens fans have a comically short memory and have forgotten the disproportionately enormous contributions you have made. Their team has become one of the best in the NFL.” (Andrews caught 55 passes in the regular season and five in that fateful playoff game.)
Despite the wave of unity, Patota said he remains a huge Bills fan. But going forward, “we’re definitely going to have a soft spot for the Ravens.”
