This Tuesday morning began like so many other mornings, I hopped in the car, headed over to Dave's place we loaded up the van and got on the Interstate headed for Buffalo. This time was different though, it wasn't Sunday morning it was Tuesday, the Bills weren't playing and although the drive was familiar we weren't heading to the Ralph. Today we were headed to Fireman's Park in West Seneca for a kickball game hosted by new Bills RB James Wilder Jr.
Upon arriving at the park we noticed a small group gathering near a pavilion and I realized right away that this wasn't another typical Bills meet and greet, there were no lines, no admission fee, nothing of the sort. This was a real, genuine hang out. Dave and I walked up to the pavilion to find James Wilder Jr. already shaking hands, taking pictures, and chatting up the fans with a giant grin on his face. After finishing up with a group of kids he walked right over to Dave and I introduced himself, we talked shop for a bit and snapped some pictures as the crowd began to thicken up.
It was almost time for the kickball game to start and I could sense the excitement building in all the young people around me. Smiles everywhere you look. As I was wandering around taking this all in I noticed another figure coming across the grass from the parking lot, a big guy dressed in blue. "Holy shit!" I thought to myself, "That's Karlos Williams" and it was, we had the two Florida State teammates in the house getting ready for some kickball! The air of excitement I described earlier continued to grow and expand as Karlos and James selected captains and began picking teams.
As they game got underway Dave and I found a cozy spot along the first base line to watch the action unfold. We went live on Periscope to "cover" the game. You can check that footage out at the bottom of this article and see for yourself just how cool this event was. Its always great to see players giving back to the city and community to do it on such a personal level in such an intimate setting completely blew me away. Wether or not he sticks on the Bills rosterI can only speculate at this point but there is one thing I do know for sure after this event, I will always be a fan of James Wilder Jr.