Sheriff: Table slamming will now be outlawed at Bills tailgate parties

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer
Buffalo Bills fans won't be able to slam each other through tables anymore. (AP)
Buffalo Bills fans won’t be able to slam each other through tables anymore. (AP)

It’s a bit funny, when you think of it, that a rule outlawing “table slamming” before Buffalo Bills games needed to be put on the books.

But bad news, #BillsMafia, those viral videos of people crashing (and sometimes burning) through tables before games will be no longer. And if someone does it anyway, they could face criminal charges.

With the Bills’ home opener coming up Sunday, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office will be enforcing some new rules according to WGRZ. The wildest tailgate scene in the NFL will have to tone it down a bit.

Sheriff’s office wants to stop excessive drinking before Bills games

Over the past few years, videos of Bills fans doing crazy stunts have been a staple of social media during the football season. Bills fans are also capable of some awesome charitable donations, but we also know the Bills Mafia for their insane pregame antics. You can understand why the team and law enforcement would want to make it a little safer out in the parking lot.

The ECSO wants to stop excessive drinking before games. WGRZ said officers will be in the parking lots looking to “eliminate excessive consumption of alcohol and checking for glass bottles.”

There’s a “Fan Code of Conduct” that will be enforced too, which has general rules on tailgating, respecting others and being safe. The Bills’ 2018 stadium guides says, in part, “Disorderly guests are subject to ejection from the parking lot premises, revocation of tickets, and/or criminal prosecution.”

Specifically, the ECSO said table slamming will not be permitted, according to WGRZ and WKBW.

Shawne Merriman had a table-slamming event planned

Table slamming is exactly what it sounds like. A fan gets body slammed into a table, generally breaking it, WWE style. Sometimes fans just jump through it. It’s not complicated.

Perhaps we can blame Shawne Merriman for the new policy. The former Bills and San Diego Chargers linebacker planned to have “Slam Fest” in the Bills parking lot on Sunday. That too is exactly what it sounds like: Bills fans would have the opportunity to get slammed through a table by Merriman, according to NewYorkUpstate.com. Fans had to sign a waiver that absolved Merriman from any injuries that occurred, “including death,” according to NewYorkUpstate.com.

All right, it was getting a little out of hand. Merriman tweeted that he was canceling “Slam Fest.”

So no more slamming, from Merriman or anyone else. Anyone who still participates in table slamming “will be ejected and could face criminal charges,” the Erie County Sheriff’s Office said.

It’s truly the end of an era in Buffalo.

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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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