Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - For the last six seasons, the National Football League has honored some of the greatest fans in all 32 fanbases to represent their favorite team as their "Fan of the Year". They'd then have the chance to be honored by the league as the Fan of the Year for the season at the NFL Honors just before the Super Bowl.
Many often say the Buffalo Bills have some of the best fans in all of sports, with the likes of John Lang ("Bills Elvis"), Del Reid and the "Bills Chefs" (Richard Peterson and Derrick Norman) representing the franchise as past Fan of the Year nominees.
In 2025, the Bills have selected Therese Forton-Barnes as their representative for the NFL's Fan of the Year.
Forton-Barnes is the founder of the Water Buffalo Club 716, which she started in 2021, that has built quite an international community of supporters for not just the Bills, but also Western New York sports organizations and non-profit initiatives.
"Dedicated to enhancing, uniting, and supporting Buffalo through her work and community service, [Forton-Barnes] has played a crucial role in honoring and preserving the area's rich sports heritage, bringing significant attention to the achievements of local athletes and sports organizations, while fostering pride and camaraderie in the region for over two decades," said the Bills in a team statement.
Forton-Barnes is set to enjoy this week in San Francisco, where her and the other 31 Fans of the Year will take part in a number of league events in the lead up to Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, Calif. This includes the "Big Game" this Sunday, where she is expected to take part in an on-field ceremony.
She says the feeling of being named the Bills' Fan of the Year is overwhelming.
"So many people are worthy of this honor. I am so humbled to be chosen for the 2025 Fan of the Year for the Buffalo Bills, and it's so exciting I can represent 'Bills Mafia', especially out at the Super Bowl," said Forton-Barnes in an interview with WBEN. "It's just a great honor, and I am so appreciative of everybody that voted. And also for the Buffalo Bills' support, they've been wonderful."
Being an event planner, she admits it can be hard for anyone to surprise her with much of anything. That was not the case when she was announced as the Fan of the Year nominee by Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas and his wife, Patti.
"[They] surprised me over at Stitch Buffalo, and they got me. I was just so taken back on the honor of what it means to be the Fan of the Year," Forton-Barnes. "And through the course of all of this and finding out so much more information on what I've had to do, it's just been amazing. They have us on these conference calls, the commissioner did one call, and the NFL really takes it serious about how important fans are to the game. We are part of the game, so I am representing all Buffalo Bills fans, and now I'm up for the ultimate Fan of the Year, which would be even more overwhelming."
Although Forton-Barnes already knows the past Bills Fans of the Year very well, she is humbled to be joining the family, or as they call the "'fan'ily".
"We're on a group thread, all of us. We take it very serious, and we have some things we're going to do in the offseason as the Fans of the Year that we can help make the experience even better for fans. So it's quite fun," Forton-Barnes noted. "I'm the first female, and happy to be joining such incredible 'FOTYs' - we call ourselves 'FOTYs', Fans of the Year. So 'Bills Mafia', we're special. We know it and everybody knows it, so it's quite amazing."
When it comes to her work with the Water Buffalo Club 716, her group has welcomed Bills fans from all over the globe and of every status. She has invited fans from the likes of Australia, Germany, Ireland and Italy to join them for a game day weekend in Orchard Park to celebrate like only Bills fans know how to.
"I do it because I'm so grateful for what I've been able to do as a Bills fan," Forton-Barnes said. "I've gone to close to 400 games my whole entire life, I've been going since a little girl from the 'Rockpile'. And having the Water Buffalo Club platform now, everybody is welcomed into the Water Buffalo Club, and so many people tell me they feel so honored because they're fans, but now that they can be a part of a group - we have a really great Facebook page that everybody communicates on - it's just a really fun thing. We're still part of the 'Bills Mafia', of course, and anybody's welcome to join the Water Buffalo Club. But it's just given so much to these people that felt like they needed a little bit of a home, and it's been quite amazing."
She says one of her favorite memories to date actually came this past season when the Water Buffalo Club welcomed a pair of diehard Bills fans from Australia to take in a weekend of fun and excitement in Orchard Park.
"They fly here just to go to a game, one game. They've lived to do this their whole entire lives," she said. "They've pretty much have followed the game because of the teams from the '90s that they read in the newspaper two days later. It's amazing to me, so I really try to make their experience so special. And this year, I took the one guy on the field afterwards, and we did snow angels on the field. I just think he was pinching himself and couldn't believe he was experiencing it. And then I actually got him to meet Jim Kelly too that day."
As for her week in San Francisco, Forton-Barnes is very much looking forward to interacting and sharing the week with her other Fan of the Year nominees.
"I've already met some in some cities that we played away, in Cleveland and Jacksonville and Pittsburgh, I met all those people. Everybody's got such incredible stories, so meeting all of them is really going to be very special to me," she said. "I've been lucky. I've gone to a few Super Bowls in the past, but this one is really going to be different. There's going to be lots of parties and things that we're going to be attending, but really I'm going to take it all in as a Buffalo Bills Fan of the Year and really enjoy that to the fullest."
What would it mean if she is named as the NFL Fan of the Year in 2025?
"I think about it. It's a little overwhelming, but I'm ready for it. If my name is called, I'm there, and I will represent football fans around the world, for that matter," Forton-Barnes said. "If I get the ultimate Fan of the Year award, I will be so honored and respect the NFL for what they are doing for fans. Because this has only been going on for, I think this might be the fifth year. It's sort of a new thing, and I give them a lot of credit, and all the teams a lot of credit for really honoring fans."
NFL Honors will take place on Thursday, Feb. 5 at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco at 9 p.m. EST.