Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Three years ago, NFL YouTuber and Green Bay Packers superfan Tom Grossi set out on a venture to travel to all 30 NFL stadiums in 30 consecutive days, all in an effort to raise funds to support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. That venture helped raise more than $500,000 to help support children at St. Jude.
In 2026, Grossi is at it again, only this time with a $1 million goal in mind.
Nearing the end of his "30-in-30 Part Deux" tour, Grossi made his stop to Buffalo on Monday, and was greeted with open arms by members of "Bills Mafia" and other NFL fans at Southern Tier Brewing Co.
"I had this one circled that this was gonna be one of the crazier fan events, and five minutes in, looks like I'm correct," said Grossi during his visit Monday with WBEN.
"I told these guys last time, three years ago, that was the first time a group of people has ever chanted my name, which was a very surreal experience. Now that every single city that we're in does that, it all started here in Buffalo, and they continued that tonight."
Unlike three years ago, Western New York was one of the final stops of Grossi's tour across the NFL, with the Bills being Day 25 of his 30-day campaign. It all started three-and-a-half weeks ago on May 29 in Los Angeles with a visit to SoFi Stadium, and will conclude this Saturday, June 27, when he visits Lambeau Field in Green Bay.
Shortly before his arrival at the fan event in Buffalo on Monday, Grossi had hit the $750,000 mark in his fundraising campaign.
One element that Grossi feels is making a significant difference this time around with the 30-in-30 tour is the fan events in every city, and the large turnouts each day.
"I think we had 100, maybe 150 people last time we were here in Buffalo, and this is a lot more than 150 people," Grossi noted. "I like to spend time with every single person, it's not a 'Hey, here's a picture, nice to meet you. Have a nice day.' That's why these fan events are seven, eight hours. So while, obviously, it's fantastic what we're doing for St. Jude and this community coming together to help kids, the best thing that I've seen is just the constant communities that are being built. The 'line buddies', folks are talking to each other, people are actually coming out and talking about football and having a reason to dress up in their football best in the middle of June."
During his first visit in Buffalo, Grossi was actually in town the day before officials broke ground on construction of the new Highmark Stadium across the street from the old Highmark Stadium. Compare that to now, Grossi visits Western New York the day before officials cut the ribbon for the new state-of-the-art facility, and as the old stadium continues to be demolished.
While Grossi didn't get the chance to take a tour of the new Highmark Stadium, he did take a moment to admire the past, present and future of each facility.
"To see [demolition of the old stadium] actually happen live was a little bit surreal and a little bit sad," Grossi admitted. "I was like, 'Oh, there's so much history that is there.' I mean, you look across the street at that giant building, I have to imagine it's gonna be a top of the line facility. I saw the renderings and everything, it's gonna be great. But I'm a big history guy, and just seeing Highmark go, it's a little bittersweet.
"I went and saw a game, I think I was 16-years-old at Highmark - we lost, by the way, Brett Favre did not do well. But to have all of that and see while they're both still somewhat standing and being like, 'Alright, that's now the old and that's the new.' Again, it's a little bittersweet, but I'm sure they're gonna make probably great memories of that new stadium."
It's these visits to Buffalo over the past few years that reminds Grossi just how much Bills and Packers fans share in common.
"Not to be a homer, but it reminds me of Green Bay a lot. It has that small-town feel, in which 'We live and bleed Buffalo Bills.' To have that kind of passion come out every single game day, but also when I have come to town now twice, they love their Bills here," Grossi said.
Grossi has worked to fundraise money for several charities over his years creating content on YouTube, with more than $3 million raised for various charities since 2021. All of this in the name of "Chaotic Good", which is Grossi's notion of doing random acts of kindness to help others.
Working with St. Jude was something Grossi wanted to do in his first 30-in-30 tour, and he knew it had to be the charity he'd partner with again in 2026. And the results this time around is nothing short of surprising for Grossi.
"It's what it's always been like. This community is incredible," Grossi said. "We raised a million dollars in February in six days, again, when we did it for Undue Medical Debt, and I had no doubt we were gonna be able to come together and do a million again. I'm willing to do whatever we got to do, jump through tables again. Well, we'll see what happens there. But put on bear claws, jump off buildings to raise money for kids, it's worth exhausting yourself for this."
A link to Grossi's event page at St. Jude's website, plus a link to donate can be found here:
