Buffalo Bills offensive lineman Dion Dawkins took time out of his offseason to jump on The Players’ Tribune.
The outlet, made for and by professional athletes, allows players all across sports to touch on topics personal to them with a personal touch. What is near and dear to Dawkins? Bills Mafia.
Dawkins used the outlet to pen his thoughts on the season that was and that teammates that are special to him. But an overlying topic was Bills fans and he had two key thoughts.
First, if you’re in, you’re in. If you’re not, don’t try to become a bandwagon member of Bills Mafia.
“I have an important message for those people,” Dawkins explained. “DO NOT TRY THIS.”
“The bandwagon is full,” Dawkins added.
But Dawkins wasn’t just trying to warn outsiders, he was excited to thank the Day 1 members. The left tackle explained throughout his football career, folks only knew he was a football player because he was big. But not in Buffalo.
Dawkins writes:
In Buffalo, man, it’s crazy. It’s crazy! Y’all are crazy. And I mean that in the best way possible. I’ll be at Wegmans, just shopping around, minding my business — and it’s not, “Big man over there, I think he might play for the Bills??” It’s not even, “Oh yeah, that dude, he plays for the Bills.” It’s, “DION!” It’s, “Shnowman!” It’s, “You already shnow!” And maybe that sounds like a small thing….. but I have to tell you, it’s really big. Those interactions, those moments with fans, those quick little hellos where the whole thing just lodges in your brain, like, Wow, what I do matters to these people? And they don’t just know me….. they know ABOUT me?? No lie: I cherish those moments. I will forever.
Friday and no work? #YouAlreadyShnow@DDawkins66 pic.twitter.com/XP8J8v45yO
— Sam-Jarvis Green-Carges (@carkeys33) January 10, 2020
For Dawkins’ full article in The Players’ Tribune, click here.