Peterborough Influencer Gets Lifetime Moment With An NFL Football Off Buffalo Bills Touchdown

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Running and coaching influencer Brendan Carpenter got a taste of NFL history as he got to hold the ball thrown into the stands fresh off a touchdown at the Buffalo Bills playoff game at Highmark Stadium on Monday night.

Carpenter has over 21,600 followers on his Instagram account. He posts running/coaching content on his account. Photo courtesy of Brendan Carpenter.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen rushed for a 52-yard touchdown against the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers then eventually threw the ball into the stands to a raucous Buffalo crowd as part of his celebration.

The Peterborough influencer did not initially catch the ball Allen threw. The lucky fan who did snag it allowed Carpenter to borrow it for a picture to create a lifelong memory.

“The ball got hit out of our hands by the guy beside us and landed in the lap of the guy in front of us,” he explained. “It was right in our grasp and the other guy made a lunge. It's still a cool story to have the ball for a second and glad the guy that got it was a lifelong Bills fan and let us snap a picture with it after the fact.”

The influencer got tickets to see the game after his collaboration with NFL Canada.

“We were blessed enough with tickets from my partnership with the NFL Canada that we established last year so we were already winning either way if we got the ball or not and was just happy to see the Bills up 21-0 at that point.”

The game was initially scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. but was moved to Monday at 4:30 p.m. New York Governor Kathy Hochul decided to postpone the game for safety reasons with a weather emergency, including heavy snowfall.

The team asked 200 snow shovellers to help clean the stadium at midnight Sunday since it was overflowing with snow. Even with the help, there was still lots of snow piled in the stadium but that added to the atmosphere said Carpenter.

“Being at the game was insane. No one does it like Bills Mafia,” he explained.” It didn't matter if the seats were cleared because no one ever sits down at a Bills game so standing in piles of snow after everyone tried to shovel the stadium just added to the folklore of Bills Fans.”

‘Bills Mafia’ is a term coined for Buffalo fans known for their crazy antics (among other things) during and before the game. A recent tradition is fans jumping through tables, emulating WWE wrestlers.

During the game, every time the Bills scored a touchdown, Bills Mafia was throwing snow into the air, celebrating their team’s score.

“It was crazy, though, with the snowball celebrations and everyone throwing them; I had never been so happy to be pelted with snow,” laughed Carpenter. “We are a different breed of fans and I wouldn't have it any other way. This year, I was in the stands for a 30+ degree and sun game, a 0 degree and rain game, and now a -20 and snow game and the fanbase never changes; we just show up, go through tables and enjoy the hell out of Bills football.”

The Bills defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-17 and advanced to the Divisional Round. They will host the defending Super Bowl Champion, the Kansas City Chiefs, this Sunday at 6:30 p.m. at Highmark Stadium.

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David Tuan Bui