Maybe it is the spirit of the holiday season having a little room for some pay-it-forward motives at the end, or maybe Buffalo Bills fans just wanted to share their gratitude to Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton in the most charitable way possible. Whatever the case may be, Bills fans have been donating to Dalton’s foundation in droves after Dalton and the Bengals helped get the Bills into the postseason for the first time since 1999.
Dalton led the Bengals to a stunning win on the road against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday afternoon. The Ravens needed to win to clinch the final spot in the AFC playoff field, but the loss to the Bengals left the door open for the Bills, who defeated the Miami Dolphins to put themselves on the doorstep of the postseason.
If you start this highlight at exactly 11:59…
You know what? Just play it on repeat until the New Year.
Start your 2018 off right.#CINvsBAL #Bengals50 pic.twitter.com/SkL7MLVlhM
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) January 1, 2018
To show their appreciation, Bills fans began donating to Dalton’s foundation, the Andy & Jordan Dalton Foundation (which provides support for those affected by seriously ill and physically challenged children) and the charitable efforts continued to spread throughout Bills Mafia. Dalton certainly noticed there were a bunch of donations coming in from Bills fans, and he took to Twitter to offer thanks for the donations.
To all the Bills fans that are donating to my foundation, thank you. We appreciate the support. If you are interested in donating visit https://t.co/9SMNu78Znq
— Andy Dalton (@andydalton14) January 1, 2018
Soon after that tweet from Dalton, the Bills followed up with an update on just how much the Bills fans have been donating. According to Dalton, Buffalo fans have donated over $57k to Dalton’s foundation.
In the 24 hours since the 1st donation came in, over 2500 donors and just over $57,000 and counting! Last update for the night! I will update tomorrow. We can’t thank y’all enough!
— Andy Dalton (@andydalton14) January 2, 2018
That tweet from Dalton was made last night, so it stands to reason spreading the word on Twitter likely led to more donations to come into the Dalton Foundation. It’s moments like this that offer a glimmer of hope that good can be accomplished through sports. Kudos to Bills fans for taking to donating to the Dalton Foundation to show their appreciation for Dalton’s on-field help to end a long playoff drought in Buffalo.
UPDATE: The donations continue to roll in…
We are blown away and so grateful for the amount of generosity we have been receiving! Keep it up and help us get to $150K! #BillsMafia @buffalobills pic.twitter.com/d7tYsTZv2L
— AJD Foundation (@ajdfoundation) January 2, 2018
