How creative and rowdy will Bills Mafia be for Colin Kaepernick?
They call themselves the “Bills Mafia,” arguably the heartiest and most loyal fans in a league built on hearty and loyal fans.
A decade and a half-plus without a playoff appearance has done little to cull their ranks. The prospect of half a season (at least) of kickoffs occurring under cold, snow and wind is considered part of the fun, not a reason to stay home. Their old-school stadium on the outskirts of town, a facility that lacks many of the bells, whistles and modern amenities of the NFL’s parade of billion-dollar palaces is embraced, especially because the most likely alternative was the franchise relocating somewhere else.
The fans of the Buffalo Bills are loud and proud, and on occasion, or many occasions, over served. They have a habit of getting loaded up enough pregame that they leap from the back of pick-up trucks onto tailgate tables, smashing them to bits. Hey, when you have just two winning seasons this century, you take traditions where you find them.
In short, attending a Bills game is rowdy, rollicking and mostly awesome. Unless you play for the other guys.
This Sunday, the other guys include Colin Kaepernick, who will be the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers. It is his first start of the season, and thus first since he began protesting social injustice by at first sitting, and later kneeling, during the pregame national anthem.
The action has made him a political and cultural touchstone, cheered by some, jeered by others. For many he is the most hated man in the NFL, which was easier to handle when he was standing around the sideline. Now he’s going to play, and while 49ers coach Chip Kelly is far more concerned with jumpstarting his 1-4 team, he certainly isn’t making it easy for Kaepernick by making his first start in Buffalo, of all places.
This is blue-collar Western New York, not the Bay Area. This is the Bills Mafia, emboldened by the team’s three-game win streak, not a place that struggles to sell tickets. This is the Buffalo defense, ranked fifth in points allowed, not some struggling sieve.
“Buffalo is always a tough place to play,” New England quarterback Tom Brady said last year. Brady has long been the Bills Mafia’s most hated target.
He’s probably in second place now.
“I’m excited about it,” Kaepernick told reporters in California after practice. “I’m ready to go, hoping I can bring more to this team and try to get us a win this Sunday.”
There is no doubt Kaepernick is excited to play. He took the franchise to a Super Bowl once but has now found his career stalled out, watching Blaine Gabbert struggle. Can Kelly’s new offense breathe life into his play? We’ll see.
Still, this is going to be hostile.
There will certainly be some fans who support him, or at least his right to protest. His jersey was the NFL’s No. 1 seller earlier this year. There will be many more who will see it the other way. The Bills’ head coach, Rex Ryan, hasn’t just publicly endorsed Donald Trump, he introduced him at a rally last year.
The #BillsMafia went quickly to work on social media after the announcement Tuesday. There were no “let’s support Kaep” discussions to be found. Expect heavy booing, chants, signs and who knows what else? There was a joking suggestion Bills fans should sing the national anthem whenever the Niners have the ball, assuring either a series of kneel-downs or Kaepernick to remain standing.
So it’s going to get, um, creative.
For San Francisco there really wasn’t much of a choice. The team is on a four-game losing streak. The offense has been anemic – ranking 31st in the league. Gabbert has the league’s 30th-ranked passer rating, is 31st in yards per attempt and 27th in completion percentage.
“It’s not Blaine’s fault,” Kelly said Tuesday. “It’s just as a group offensively we need to be better in a lot of ways. So we’re going to see what we can do and make a move here.”
Kaepernick has handled the barrage of negativity well. Everyone from talk-radio hosts to Ruth Bader Ginsburg has ripped him. He has slowly honed his message and never shied away from answering every question he can in an attempt to explain himself. He has donated $1 million to charities surrounding his issues.
Now the spotlight returns to him for football reasons, giving him a fresh podium just as the story had begun to die out. Kaepernick said he’s focused this week on preparing for the game, not on the anthem, not on his contract situation, not on whether this is mostly just an audition for playing elsewhere next season.
And not on Bills fans.
“It’s a great opportunity to go out and win some games,” Kaepernick said. “That’s ultimately what the goal is.”
Buffalo, here he comes.
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