The Buffalo Bills and local police are attempting to get the team’s players and staff to the airport so they can travel to their “home” game in Detroit against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
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Melissa Holmes of WGRZ Buffalo reported Orchard Park police and other law-enforcement agencies are helping Bills players get to Buffalo Niagara International Airport, which is about 25 km away from the team’s home in Orchard Park, N.Y.
A New York State record of 195 cm of snow has fallen in Orchard Park — the home of the Bills, which is located a bit south of Buffalo — since the storm started Thursday. The total is the same height as six-foot-five Bills star quarterback Josh Allen.
The airport closed for a few hours Saturday morning, but has now reopened. The Bills are scheduled to fly out at 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT.
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The league decided Thursday to move the game to Detroit’s indoor Ford Field because of the forecast. Tickets, topping out at $30 for a lower-level seat at the 50-yard line, went on sale Friday with Bills season-ticket holders getting first access. The game is scheduled to kick off at 1 p.m. ET.
Visit Detroit’s CEO Claude Molinari told WKBW that all downtown Detroit hotel rooms were sold out within 20 minutes of the game being moved.
Bills COO Ron Raccuia was driving to pick some players up from their houses, Tim Graham of The Athletic reported.
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The Bills have faced some criticism for not leaving on Thursday. Raccuia said there wasn’t time to arrange a charter on short notice after the decision was made to move the game.
The NFL also moved a Bills home game to Detroit in 2014 because of a fierce storm.
However, that game was pushed back a day to Monday night — which is not possible this year because the Bills are scheduled to be back in Detroit on Thursday to face the Lions in the U.S. Thanksgiving game.
Former Bills offensive lineman Eric Wood, now a member of the team’s radio crew, recalled people picking up Bills players on snowmobiles for the 2014 storm.
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The journey to the airport figures to be daunting with the roads clogged with abandoned vehicles.
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