When 35,000 fans show up for a Buffalo Bills practice, the rest of the country wonders why.
It’s the little things from the owner to the players, the support staff and the fun social media department that endear the team to the fans.
A prime example is the road that runs parallel to Lot 2 at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, home of the Buffalo Bills.
That quiet dead end road is where the team owner visited neighbors to talk about fencing. It’s also where star wide receiver Stefon Diggs played catch with kids and signed autographs with home owners and fans.
Shane Prouty is neighbors with Bill and Patti Larson. Prouty owns the famous “Bills Mafia House” which is featured during telecasts of NFL games and other features on the rabid fan base in Buffalo. The small house has a few Bills photos inside and there is a parking lot for fans on game day. The house itself is listed as an Airbnb.
The team put up a fence that blocks the view of the backyards on the road near the stadium parking lot. The privacy fence works both ways, and Bill Larson understood when it went up. The Larson’s and Prouty did not complain, but they didn’t expect what was going to happen next.
Bill Larson, a proud grandfather and great-grandfather, was home from work on a weekday when there was a knock on his door.
“Hi, I’m Terry Pegula,” the man said.
Larson countered, “Of course I know who you are!”
After exchanging pleasantries, Pegula told Larson the reason for the visit.
“He told me since they put the fence up, there were complaints from fans who park in the parking lot during games that they couldn’t see the Bills Mafia house. He wanted to know if I had any issues with the fence as well,” Larson said. “I told him, ‘Mr. Pegula, I see a lot of fancy cars and businessmen driving past my backyard a lot (to the security gate near the field house) and I don’t think anyone wants to see my fat (butt) sitting in my swimming pool!’
“So I told him the fence was fine at my house, but he said he was going to have employees cut into the fence at Shane’s Bills Mafia House so the fans could enjoy the iconic home,” Bill Larson said. “I could not believe the owner of the best NFL franchise cared that much and listened to the fans, and then all by himself, came over to visit and talk to use.”
After Pegula left, Bill Larson called his neighbor.
“They put the fence up and I said, ‘Well, ok, whatever, the fence is a little high and it blocks the house a little bit, but it’s still see it and it’s part of our tailgate experience.’ We didn’t think anything more of it, but then couple days later, workers came and started taking parts of the fence down in the places the view was blocking the house,” Prouty said. “Now you could see it.”
Prouty said he was lucky enough to get one of the old signs ‘section” signs with the Bills’ logo. They were replaced because the signs had a Coors Light logo and Labatt Blue was the new beer sponsor the the Buffalo Bills.
“An employee of the Bills called me and said, ‘Hey, just so you know, Terry was the one who requested that fence to be brought down behind your house because people couldn’t see it.’ I thought that was really cool for me, to find out why that actually happened,” Prouty said “We always played nice with the Bills, they have treated us great, they never get on us about anything and treat us well and they have from Day 1, which is super cool and we try to keep a great atmosphere here for the fans which is what it’s all about.”
