Buffalo was smacked by a massive blizzard for the second time in less than a week ahead of Sunday’s NFL Divisional Round game between the Bills and Chiefs. The lake effect storm dumped more than two feet of snow on Highmark Stadium from midweek to Friday.
That is on top of what was already there!
Andy Major, vice president of operations and guest experience for the organization, said on Friday that there was no less than five feet of snow in the stands. They got the walkways cleared in time for last Monday’s game but could not dig all of the way out.
Neither the field nor the stands were suitable to host an NFL playoff game with about 48 hours until kickoff. It was time to rally the troops.
The Buffalo Bills needed help!
Buffalo sent out the bat signal and called for $20-an-hour snow shovelers for a second-straight weekend. They arrived in mass at 2:00pm on Friday and immediately got to work.
Everything was cleared out by Saturday afternoon and no additional weather arrived. It was bitter cold, but all of the snow was removed from Highmark Stadium come Sunday morning.
Bills Mafia absolutely dominated their shoveling duties this week. The grounds crew worked extremely hard to ensure that the field is up to standard. It was a great success!
Buffalo posted an incredible timelapse video to social media with less than three hours until both teams took the field for the rematch between recent AFC rivals. To see the stadium go from a complete snowy mess to a manicured, snow-less surface in real-time is an awesome visual.
Shoutout to every single person involved with the snow removal process at Highmark Stadium. The Buffalo Bills have it down to a science at this point, and with enough time to get the job done, it’s tremendous to watch unfold from start to finish! Job well done.