Buffalo Bills players and coaches visit 12 area schools

On Wednesday, the Bills returned to school in a little more literal way.

Players, coaches and staff broke into groups of about eight to 12 people and boarded buses. The groups visited 12 schools across six districts, all within a 25-minute radius of Bills Stadium.

McDermott, who came up with the idea, wanted the players to “make a connection and also have an impact” on area students.

“There are different ways we can do this as an organization – this being, for me, the easiest way to give our players the opportunity to get out in the community to local schools, take their helmets off and to let these students and student-athletes in some cases, see them and their faces and make that connection.

“And maybe say, maybe someone, somewhere says, ‘Hey, I can be that.’ I can be like them. »

The head coach was joined at his spot by linebacker Matt Milano, receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling, safety Cole Bishop, linebacker Dorian Williams, defensive back Te’Cory Couch and offensive linemen La’el Collins, Ryan Van Demark and Tylan Grable.

Their group traveled to Lackawanna High School, where they began by meeting senior and junior athletes from different sports.

Michelle Roberts, the Bills’ vice president of community impact, said that when the team reached out to all 12 schools, each of them came up with their own plans for how to spend their hour with the team. These activities varied considerably. At Lackawanna, McDermott and the players held a question-and-answer session with the student-athletes before heading to different classrooms.

Meanwhile, Allendale High School was scheduled to put on a reptile show, led by wide receiver and reptile enthusiast Mack Hollins. Other schools held book readings, arts and crafts activities or parades with the Bills.

The team plans to report back on community engagement on Thursday.

“Hopefully we can come back tomorrow and talk about it a little bit and see what they learned from it,” McDermott said. “And I have to believe a lot of that comes from them learning from the students and some of the questions they ask our players. … I think it’s mutually beneficial here for both parties.