By JOHN ANDERSON
During the Super Bowl run for the Buffalo Bills, including the famous “Comeback Game” against the Houston Oilers, it was common to see players run into the far right corner of the end zone near the scoreboard for a touchdown.
And they would always run near the white sheet that simply had painted on it, “Batavia Party Zone.”
The Bills no longer allow those signs, and I tried to track down some of the members of the party zone a few years ago. Talking to Thurman Thomas at an event in Batavia in 2018, he said, “Oh I remember that sign! It was always there when we scored. What ever happened to them?”
It turns out, they still go to games and lost a beer on Sunday.
The Buffalo Bills had a slow start against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, but the combination of Josh Allen to Stefon Diggs resulted in an 11-yard touchdown.
While most touchdown celebrations are now planned and even practiced, Diggs, an All-Pro wide receiver, grabbed rookie offensive tackle Spencer Brown and went to the crowd and grabbed a beer from a fan.
Diggs shook the beer in celebration, then Brown took is a stop further and poured the beer over his face mask like he was at the greatest of Bills Mafia tailgate experiences.
After the game, Diggs took to Twitter and asked “So me and a friend of mine had a lil too much fun. Spilt this poor man’s beer? Find him for me waana buy him one.” Diggs ended the sentence with a red and blue heart, the colors of the Buffalo Bills.
Labbatt’s Blue USA even got in on the action and wants to replenish his supply.
This morning on Twitter, Casey Radka of Batavia said the man who lost his beer is not on Twitter, but is an original member of the Batavia Party Zone.
“I guess I’ll post the story from yesterday. Richard Donohue invited me and my friend to the game yesterday because the seats we were sitting in belonged to him and my dad from when that section was the Batavia party zone. Richard has been a season ticket holder for 40 years,” Radka tweeted.
Then under the tweet, he said, “And has had the same seats every year, for the people looking for him I can help if needed because he is not on social media. This experience has been amazing and was all he could talk about last night.”
It’s not the first time Diggs has wanted to do things for fans. In this plbse.com video, Diggs gave gift cards to families who need help from the Western New York Women’s Foundation. PLB Sports and Entertainment, who created Flutie Flakes and also have Josh Allen’s cereal, have a hot sauce and blue cheese with Diggs where proceeds go to the women’s foundation. PLB Sports and Entertainment also donated food and product as well.
