BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – A charitable effort launched Monday by a neighborhood faculty scholar to help a trigger pricey to Ravens tight finish Mark Andrews has acquired greater than $75,000 in simply two days.
Andrews was on the shedding finish of the Buffalo Payments’ 27-25 victory within the divisional spherical of the playoffs on Sunday. Andrews caught a team-high 5 passes for 61 yards, but in addition misplaced a fumble and did not catch a two-point conversion that will have tied the sport with 90 seconds to play.
Nicholas Howard, a sophomore learning sports activities administration at Canisius College, attended the sport together with his dad and was thrilled for the Payments victory. However when he went on-line Monday morning, the commentary he witnessed did not sit proper with him.
“I just saw all the distasteful comments toward Mark Andrews. It just reminded me of what Bills Mafia does,” Howard advised WIVB Information 4 on Wednesday throughout an interview from his dorm room. “Usually they would start a fundraiser and support him, just to show that we have his back.”
So Howard went to GoFundMe, made an account, and arrange his first fundraiser. The proceeds are directed to Breakthrough T1D, a charity that works to make life higher for these with sort 1 diabetes – together with Andrews.
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“My initial goal was $5,000,” Howard mentioned. “That was surpassed rapidly. It went from $5,000 to $11,000 and 24 hours later it is at $70,000.
“It’s super overwhelming. I can’t believe it,” he added. “I just started it and had the voice that can help this thing blow up. … I just want everyone to know that you gotta show love. Buffalo already does that enough, we’re the City of Good Neighbors as is it and I just wanted to continue that representation.”
Payments Mafia has an extended historical past of donating to charitable causes tied to outcomes on the sector. Their efforts could have begun with donations to former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton’s charity after he led a comeback that helped finish the Payments’ 17-year playoff drought. Since then, donation campaigns have prolonged to the charities of gamers like Tua Tagovailoa, Lamar Jackson, Tre’Davious White, Tyler Bass, and others, together with the Patricia Allen Fund supporting Oishei Kids’s Hospital. (To not point out different donation campaigns like one to a visible impairment charity following poor officiating or one displaying like to a callous Baltimore radio host.)
Howard mentioned he did not know a lot about sort 1 diabetes earlier than this week. However for Andrews, the situation has been a every day thought since he was 9 years previous.
“I remember sitting in the doctor’s patient room,” Andrews mentioned in April. “(A) doctor comes in after we gave the results and said that I have type 1 diabetes. And this was the first time that I’d seen my dad cry. I saw the emotion of my mom. And I knew that something in my life was going to change forever. This is something that was going to be extremely significant.”
Andrews needed to be taught to handle the illness however did not let it cease him. He mentioned in a 2020 interview that he pricked his fingers to test his blood sugar about 30 instances a recreation.
“I adapted a mindset that this disease is a part of who I am, but it’s not going to define me and it’s never going to stop me in achieving my dreams,” Andrews said. “Type 1 diabetes is incredibly difficult, but I refuse to let it affect my job or my life in any way.”
A number of feedback from those that donated to the GoFundMe echoed that sentiment.
“Mark, I fell in love with NFL football at age 22, and was diagnosed with Type 1 at age 23,” one commenter wrote. “You have shown a generation of young T1Ds that there is nothing we can’t do. Thank you for your heart and your courage and for continuing to fight for the community that believes in you.”
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Howard was touched by the messages he has acquired from across the nation since beginning the fundraiser, opening his eyes to the extent of the situation.
“This actually encouraged me to research it and understand more perspective from other people that suffer from it,” Howard mentioned. “I had a lot of people reach out that have been personally thanking me saying their son or father or someone is suffering from it. It made me realize it’s an overlooked kind of disease, misunderstood.”
The Baltimore Ravens posted concerning the GoFundMe on Tuesday, and Howard has been thrilled by media protection the fundraiser has acquired. He hasn’t heard from Andrews immediately, however is holding out hope.
“Oh, that would make my day,” Howard mentioned. “That would be the coolest thing ever. I have so much respect for him.”
