'You gotta show love': Bills fan who started GoFundMe supporting Mark Andrews blown away as donations surpass $75,000

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – A charitable effort launched Monday by a local college student to support a cause dear to Ravens tight end Mark Andrews has received more than $75,000 in just two days.

Andrews was on the losing end of the Buffalo Bills' 27-25 victory in the divisional round of the playoffs on Sunday. Andrews caught a team-high five passes for 61 yards, but also lost a fumble and failed to catch a two-point conversion that would have tied the game with 90 seconds to play.

Nicholas Howard, a sophomore studying sports management at Canisius University, attended the game with his dad and was thrilled for the Bills victory. But when he went online Monday morning, the commentary he witnessed didn't sit right with him.

"I just saw all the distasteful comments toward Mark Andrews. It just reminded me of what Bills Mafia does," Howard told WIVB News 4 on Wednesday during an interview from his dorm room. "Usually they would start a fundraiser and support him, just to show that we have his back."

So Howard went to GoFundMe, made an account, and set up his first fundraiser. The proceeds are directed to Breakthrough T1D, a charity that works to make life better for those with type 1 diabetes – including Andrews.

"My initial goal was $5,000," Howard said. "That was surpassed quickly. It went from $5,000 to $11,000 and 24 hours later it's at $70,000.

"It's super overwhelming. I can't believe it," he added. "I just started it and had the voice that can help this thing blow up. ... I just want everyone to know that you gotta show love. Buffalo already does that enough, we're the City of Good Neighbors as is it and I just wanted to continue that representation."

Bills Mafia has a long history of donating to charitable causes tied to results on the field. Their efforts may have begun with donations to former Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton's charity after he led a comeback that helped end the Bills' 17-year playoff drought. Since then, donation campaigns have extended to the charities of players like Tua Tagovailoa, Lamar Jackson, Tre'Davious White, Tyler Bass, and others, including the Patricia Allen Fund supporting Oishei Children's Hospital. (Not to mention other donation campaigns like one to a visual impairment charity following poor officiating or one showing love to a callous Baltimore radio host.)

Howard said he didn't know much about type 1 diabetes before this week. But for Andrews, the condition has been a daily thought since he was 9 years old.

“I remember sitting in the doctor’s patient room,” Andrews said in April. “(A) doctor comes in after we gave the results and said that I have type 1 diabetes. And this was the first time that I’d seen my dad cry. I saw the emotion of my mom. And I knew that something in my life was going to change forever. This is something that was going to be extremely significant.”

Andrews had to learn to manage the disease but didn't let it stop him. He said in a 2020 interview that he pricked his fingers to check his blood sugar about 30 times a game. 

“I adapted a mindset that this disease is a part of who I am, but it’s not going to define me and it’s never going to stop me in achieving my dreams," Andrews said. "Type 1 diabetes is incredibly difficult, but I refuse to let it affect my job or my life in any way.”

Several comments from those who donated to the GoFundMe echoed that sentiment.

"Mark, I fell in love with NFL football at age 22, and was diagnosed with Type 1 at age 23," one commenter wrote. "You have shown a generation of young T1Ds that there is nothing we can't do. Thank you for your heart and your courage and for continuing to fight for the community that believes in you."

Howard was touched by the messages he has received from around the country since starting the fundraiser, opening his eyes to the extent of the condition.

"This actually encouraged me to research it and understand more perspective from other people that suffer from it," Howard said. "I had a lot of people reach out that have been personally thanking me saying their son or father or someone is suffering from it. It made me realize it's an overlooked kind of disease, misunderstood."

The Baltimore Ravens posted about the GoFundMe on Tuesday, and Howard has been thrilled by media coverage the fundraiser has received. He hasn't heard from Andrews directly, but is holding out hope.

"Oh, that would make my day," Howard said. "That would be the coolest thing ever. I have so much respect for him."