Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - In the hours after Buffalo Bills kicker Tyler Bass missed a game-tying 44-yard field goal on Sunday to seal the team's fate against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Divisional Round, some disgruntled fans took to social media and called out Bass with some hateful comments that led him to deactivate his accounts.
Despite the negativity from some due to the outcome to Sunday's loss, there has been even more of a stronger, positive response in support of Bass in large quantities from members of "Bills Mafia". And, of course, it comes in the form of supporting charity.
The beneficiary this time around? Ten Lives Club - the Buffalo-based nonprofit cat rescue and adoption group.
"We are just so blown away and so grateful," said Kimberly LaRussa, public relations manager with Ten Lives Club. "Obviously, we wish it was under better circumstances. We were very saddened to hear that Tyler was being given a hard time, especially after he took the time to help our cats last year with another nonprofit called Show Your Soft Side. Anyways, we are just blown away. This means the world to allow us to save so many cats, and we are so grateful right now"
As of late Tuesday morning, LaRussa said they had received more than $50,000 worth of donations from Bills fans across the world in support of not just Ten Lives Club, but also Bass. That total surpassed $100,000 Tuesday afternoon with the help of a $5,000 donation from Titos Vodka.
As of late Wednesday after, the total donations exceeded $277,000, which also included a $30,000 donation from Rachael Ray and Nutrish.
"It's never right to bully anyone. Tyler Bass is a human, and he deserves way more kindness than he was receiving," LaRussa said. "I just hope with all this support he's seeing, he knows everyone has his back and loves him and appreciates him for you not just being an awesome football player, but for being an awesome person."
LaRussa is very familiar with how "Bills Mafia" has shown its support for others over the years through charities, but is excited, along with the club's supporters, that they are the beneficiaries of the generosity of Bills fans near-and-far.
So how did this movement all start to support Ten Lives Club in support of Bass? LaRussa says that remains a mystery.
"I have been seeing some things on Twitter, but actually, I found out because my boss at Ten Live Club called me and told me the phones at Ten Lives Club were ringing off the hook," she detailed. "People were calling and saying, 'Hey, we want to donate $22 in honor of Tyler Bass. How do we do this?' That's how we found out, but how it got started, we have no idea. But we're just blown away right now."
LaRussa says it was through the other nonprofit organization, Show Your Soft Side, where Ten Lives Club got connected with Bass, and the love and support has been there with the Bills kicker ever since. Show Your Soft Side is an organization that works to prevent animal cruelty.
"They partner with celebrities and athletes to show you can be a tough guy and not hurt animals. So they partnered with Tyler, and asked for us to bring our Ten Lives rescue cats to meet him," LaRussa said. "The cats met Tyler, they did a photo shoot, and it was really nice to see that. A lot of the athletes were taking photos with dogs, and Tyler's like, 'Well, I have cats. I want to help the cats.' So that was really, really special and really sweet. Just a really nice, genuine person when we met him."
If you happen to be interested in contributing, LaRussa says you can donate by visiting TenLivesClub.com/donate, or you could donate on their Facebook or Instagram pages.
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