Thousands of fans are celebrating the Buffalo Bills' first trip to the AFC Championship Game since the 1993 season in a unique way -- by donating tens of thousands of dollars to a charity that Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson supported during his college career at Louisville.
Shortly after Buffalo's 17-3 victory Saturday night over the Ravens -- a game in which Jackson left during the second half to enter concussion protocol -- momentum was generated among Bills fans online to show support for Jackson by supporting the "Blessings in a Backpack" Louisville chapter.
"It started around 11:30 last night, and our donation box just started flooding with donations from Bills fans for Lamar. It's just been overwhelming -- in the best possible way," said Nikki Grizzle of "Blessings in a Backpack," whose mission is to mobilize communities, individuals and resources to provide food on the weekends for elementary school children across America who might otherwise go hungry.
According to Grizzle, as of 4:30 p.m. ET, they had surpassed 9,000 individual donations and $240,000.
This isn't the first time that Bills fans -- affectionately known as "Bills Mafia" -- have gathered together with a charitable heart.
At the end of the 2017 regular season, when quarterback Andy Dalton led the Cincinnati Bengals to a win that helped the Bills qualify for the playoffs, they did something similar for Dalton.
Bills fans also donated in droves earlier this season to John R. Oishei Children's Hospital after it was announced that quarterback Josh Allen's grandmother had died. Donations to that cause eclipsed $1 million.
Grizzle described what has unfolded since Saturday night in one word.
"Amazing," she said. "And it just keeps rolling in."