CINCINNATI — Members of Bills Mafia sound eager to welcome Bengals fans to Orchard Park, New York for Sunday's NFL Divisional Playoff game between Buffalo and Cincinnati.
Two weeks ago, the league suspended and then canceled a Bengals-Bills regular season contest after safety Damar Hamlin collapsed from cardiac arrest. The response from people in the Queen City struck a chord some will never forget.
"You expect these fan bases to be so combative," Bills fan Lauren Carducci said. "I think it's going to be, we're holding each other's hand going through this game in a way."
"I think it's going to be an arms open type of situation," Bengals fan Jim Williams said.
A bond between the fan bases developed in 2017. Then-Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton threw a touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd to win a game that allowed the Buffalo Bills to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in 17 years. Fanatics known as the Bills Mafia donated thousands of dollars to Boyd's and Dalton's charity foundations.
Traveling insurance executive Jim Foster, known as Bengal Jim, scored big too.
"I happened to be in Toronto the following week for business and there was a Bills bar, because it's not too far from Buffalo, that I watched their game at and I didn't pay for a beer or chicken wings or anything that day because the Buffalo fans went out of their way seeing I had my Bengals stuff on," Foster said.
Bills fan Jill Dolan said there's "always" going to be a connection between the two organizations.
"When I was in Cincinnati (two weeks ago) there were still fans bringing that up, which I thought was so touching that it meant that much to them," Dolan said.
Dolan is a retired sixth-grade teacher and Bills season-ticket holder for 30 years. Her retirement gift to herself was a ticket to every road game. After tailgating before the Bills-Bengals game on Jan. 2, Dolan bonded with another group of fans.
Carducci, Williams and Foster felt that same connection with strangers in the stadium moments after Hamlin collapsed.
"It was so cool to see Bengals fans comforting some of the Bills fans after the game and the prayer vigils at the hospital between Bengals and Bills fans out there," Foster said.
Dolan said even as she was flying back to Buffalo, she heard from Bengals fans.
"I had people coming up and saying I am so sorry, we are praying for your guy," Dolan said. "Really, (Cincinnatians) I want to say they ought to be proud of themselves, but that's what you would hope any city would do. I just can't believe the outpouring of love from your doctors to the people providing food to those people. It was amazing.
That response stuck with Dolan and Carducci. When both teams earned a playoff rematch, the members of Bills Mafia said they look forward to welcoming any Bengals fans that travel. Carducci co-hosts a tailgate and offered visitors free food and drinks. Dolan said Bengals fans should expect respect and compassion.
"We had a grocery store shooting," said Dolan. "We just had an awful snowstorm. We had Damar. The outpouring of love and how people surround their people and take care of them that's what I saw in Cincinnati. I wish we could have that happen everywhere. I mean, what a better world if all fans could be like that."
