When so much snow fell in Buffalo, the Bills had to move to Detroit
People love to read about weather stories. And I love to write about them. This one was different, however.
A ferocious lake-effect storm on Wednesday, Nov. 19, 2014 had left the Buffalo area buried under six feet of snow.
The snow was so bad that the Buffalo Bills were advertising for shovellers so they could play a football game on that next Sunday.
The game had to be moved to Detroit’s Ford Field on the Monday night. The Bills beat the New York Jets 38–3.
I wrote this front-page story for the Toronto Star.
It is No. 12 on my list of top-40 stories as I count down the days to retirement after a 35-year career here.
Come to Buffalo for football, stay for the shovelling
By Curtis Rush
If you ever wanted to work in the NFL, here’s your chance.
But bring a shovel. Instead of shuffling off to Buffalo, why not shovel off to Buffalo?
The Buffalo Bills are advertising jobs for snow shovellers.
The National Football League team wants as many as 500 people willing to clear out an estimated 200,000-plus tonnes of snow from Ralph Wilson Stadium after an overnight snowstorm paralyzed western New York state.
The pay isn’t great at $10 an hour — but the offer includes tickets to Sunday’s game against the New York Jets.
That’s if there is a game.
Buffalo received a year’s worth of snow in just four days, meteorologists report, and about 100 motorists were trapped on the I-90 expressway, some for hours.
The Bills are preparing contingency plans just in case they lose the race against time and snow.
The team took to Twitter to call for snow shovellers to help clear out the stadium and advertised a number to call.
In Orchard Park, the home of Ralph Wilson Stadium about 16 kilometres southeast of Buffalo, no one is allowed to drive after perhaps the biggest snowstorm in the 41-year history of the venue.
The final decision on whether the game can go ahead will rest with the NFL, and there are a number of potential options.
They could postpone the game or move it out of Buffalo, although it’s not an option to use MetLife Stadium, where the Jets play. The New York Giants share that facility and have a game there Sunday.
The Rogers Centre in Toronto would be unlikely, but it hasn’t been ruled out.
“We have not been contacted by the Bills nor the NFL,” wrote Stephen Brooks, senior vice-president of business operations for the Blue Jays and the Rogers Centre, in an email. “Hosting any event with such short lead time would present considerable challenges.”
Snow in Buffalo is old news and so are the jokes, but social media delivered some new ones.
“Buffalo Bills are asking for volunteers to help shovel the stadium for this week’s game. Also looking for a defensive end and QB,” one person tweeted.
But while some laugh it up at the team’s expense, others questioned the ethics of asking people to dig out a stadium when people were stranded and emergency crews were having trouble getting around.
Early in the day on Wednesday, Bills head coach Doug Marrone turned from a football leader into a civic leader, helping some neighbours push their van out of the snow.
The massive snow forced the city of Buffalo to institute a driving ban, and Amtrak was forced to suspend rail service in the region as up to two metres of snow fell in some areas.
On Wednesday, the inside of the stadium was covered under a thick blanket of snow and there were blowing drifts. The coaches called off practice and planned to bunk in overnight at the team’s practice facility. They were arranging to videotape the game plan and distribute it to the players digitally.
“With the driving ban, we’re not putting anyone in jeopardy,” Marrone said.
“We’re doing the best we can, like everyone else in the area.”
With the Bills unable to practise, the Jets have a decided advantage, but they weren’t gloating.
“It’s hard to imagine what the people of Buffalo are going through,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said on a conference call. “It’s hard to fathom.”
Bills public relations official Scott Berchtold said: “I’ve been here 26 years. This is the toughest weather I’ve ever seen here.”
Players also took to social media to express their shock at how hard Buffalo got hammered. Former Bills receiver Andre Reed tweeted: “I’ve lived in Buffalo almost half my life … Seen some pretty big snowstorms. But 5–6 ft. That’s crazy.”
Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency and deployed the National Guard to help find and rescue anyone stranded in the storm.
“This is a very extreme event,” said Shawn Smith, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Buffalo. “It basically crippled all the towns south of Buffalo.”
The bad news is that more snow is in the forecast for Thursday.
But by the weekend, there’s a possibility that Mother Nature will be able to do the work of at least 500 snow shovellers. The forecast is for temperatures to climb to 9 C on Sunday, and for the area to see periods of rain.
