"WE STAND WITH TYLER BASS. DON'T BULLY OUR FRIEND."

How sad that the outcome of a football game- A FOOTBALL GAME- leads to death threats.

It’s a game, y’all…not life or death.

I have but one doctor on this ship. He tends to the ill, not the stupid.

• Aegelis, X Captain Ruik's Adventure

Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups

• Anonymous

If any of y’all watched the Kansas City Chiefs- Buffalo Bills football game on Sunday evening, you know it was a great one. Over the years, these two teams have developed an exciting rivalry and have played some thrilling and dramatic games, particularly come playoff time, when it’s win or go home.

Sunday was the AFC’s divisional round of the NFL playoffs, and Kansas City visited the Buffalo Bills and their vaunted Bills Mafia. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had never played in a playoff game on the road, so this game was seen as a test of his ability to lead the team in a hostile environment.

As advertised, the game was close throughout, with several lead changes in a wintry Buffalo that didn’t seem as if it would lend itself to great offensive football. The game defied expectations, though, and with 1:45 in the fourth quarter and Kansas City leading 27-24, Buffalo’s kicker, Tyler Bass, lined up for a 47-yard field goal that might have sent the game into overtime.

For a professional kicker, a 44-yard field goal is usually well within their range. Bass is no different, and everyone in Highmark Stadium fully expected Bass to put it between the uprights. The snap and the placement were perfect, as was Bass’ kick…or at least it appeared to be initially.

The ball traveled end over end toward splitting the uprights, looking as if it would be good. Then, it began to fade hard to the right and missed the right upright by a fair margin. The crowd at Highmark Stadium was stunned for a moment, and the only sound to be heard was the jubilation of the Chiefs players, staff, and their fans in the stands.

Tyler Bass looked stunned, as if he couldn’t comprehend what had transpired. He was immediately surrounded by Bills’ players encouraging him to keep his head up as he walked off the field.

Kansas City took over on downs and ran out the clock to win the game 27-24. The Chiefs will play in Baltimore for the NFC Championship on Sunday and a spot in the Super Bowl. The Bills will stay home to shovel themselves out of the next snowstorm.

Another heartbreaking loss added to the large pile of such losses for Bills fans, who are still waiting for their first Super Bowl trophy.

What happened in the aftermath of Bass’ missed field goal was as sickening as it was heartening.

Bills fans are looking to lift the spirits of kicker Tyler Bass through charitable donations after he missed a pivotal field goal in their season-ending loss to the Chiefs.

Ten Lives Club, a Western New York cat rescue and adoption group that Bass has partnered with, received over $110,000 in donations in the kicker's name as of Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the non-profit organization told The Buffalo News. 

Bass missed a 44-yard field goal in Sunday's game that would've tied the game up 27-27 with under two minutes left. The missed field goal was the last time the Bills had the ball in the game. 

The Bills kicker appeared to deactivate his social media accounts sometime over the last two days after he reportedly received death threats over the missed kick. Ten Lives Club sent its support for Bass over social media on Monday afternoon, helping to spark the donation campaign. 

Death threats. Over a football game. Seriously? No doubt they came from people who’d bet large sums of money on the game and stood to win if Bass had converted the field goal. When he missed, they probably lost a ton of money and their f*****g minds.

That’s the only explanation I can imagine for such a stupidly childish reaction. It’s a kid’s game, y’all. Then again, this sort of stupefaction is what happens when imbeciles are allowed to bet large amounts of money on the outcome of nonsense like a football game or, more specifically, a field goal attempt.

The good news is that hundreds, perhaps thousands of fans donated $22 to the charity Tyler Bass is associated with, the Ten Lives Club, a cat rescue and adoption organization in Erie County, NY.

Ten Lives Club helps serve Erie County through a large network of volunteers and the gracious donations from our supporters. No donation, volunteer effort, or fundraiser is ever too small, and helps us to continue to bring healthy cats into happy homes.

You can donate here. I did.

The Ten Lives Clubs stood behind their benefactor in no uncertain terms.

"WE STAND WITH TYLER BASS. DON'T BULLY OUR FRIEND," the organization wrote in a Facebook post. "We just heard the terrible news that Tyler Bass is receiving threats after yesterday's game and our phones are ringing off the hook from people who want to donate $22 to Ten Lives Club in Tyler's name.

"Tyler doesn't deserve any of the hate he's receiving. He's an excellent football player and an even better person who took the time to help our organization and rescue cats last year. Leave our friend alone."

"I hope people rally with him," LaRussa separately told Buffalo TV station WKBW. "It's very unfortunate to hear that he's been given a hard time today. He's human, he's a person, we all have feelings. I know people are very passionate about football in Western New York, but you also have to think about him as a person and the human that he is. He happens to be an excellent football player and is an excellent human as well."

This isn’t the first time the Bills Mafia have risen to the occasion and shown that their hearts are much bigger than outsiders might think. Bills fans are known for having a soft side and for understanding where football fits in the overall scheme of things.

Sure, no one likes to lose, and few hate it more than the Bills Mafia, but they also know that life goes on, as it must. And there are few people more proud of where they’re from than a Buffalo native. I’ve been to Buffalo, and I don’t get it, but people who are from Buffalo think they grew up in God’s country.

And maybe they did.

So the Bills lost a game? BFD. As a Minnesota Vikings fan, I can honestly say that I feel their pain. Another defeat in a big game? Yes, we’ve been there. Minnesota and Buffalo are the only teams in the NFL that have lost four Super Bowls.

Of course, at least Minnesota didn’t lose four in a row like Buffalo….

There will be another season…in about six months, when it will start over anew. So, sure, be disappointed, as I am every season when the Vikings play their final snap (they didn’t even make the playoffs this year). But remember that in the end, it’s just a game.

And for those who think a 44-yard field goal should be automatic, I’d challenge you to grab a football and a friend. Go out to your local football field and try to make a 44-yard kick. While you’re trying to do that, remember that you’re doing so with no rush and without 70,000 screaming fans on a cold January day in Buffalo with the game on the line.

Field goal kicking is far more difficult than you might think. While playing soccer in college, I toyed with kicking for my school’s football team…until I learned that the football coach was a tool who thought he was leading men into battle. That was the end of my football career. What I learned leading up to bowing out was that field goal kicking is a surprisingly difficult art, especially when 11 large men charge at you with evil intent.

What Tyler Bass was attempting to do isn’t easy. Yes, he’s a paid professional, and he had one job, but it’s not easy. That he missed a critical kick doesn’t make him less competent, nor does it make him worthy of death threats.

The good news is that Tyler Bass accepts the risks and the ups and downs of his trade, as do his coaches and teammates. They know Bass has made crucial kicks for them in the past and will in the future. More importantly, they know he’s a quality person who represents the team well in the community.

That’s more than can be said for the jackasses who’ve seen fit to send death threats his way. I can only hope there will be reserved parking spaces waiting in (the) Hell (I don’t believe in) waiting for them.

They deserve nothing less. GTFOH, willya??

(All of my posts are now public. Any reader financial support will be considered pledges- support that’s greatly appreciated but not required to get to all of my work. I’ll trust my readers to determine if my work is worthy of their financial support and at what level. To those who do offer their support, thank you. It means more than you know.)