Bills Mafia and the Dawg Pound flood Ford Field
(CBS DETROIT) - Bills Mafia and the Dawg Pound make a stop at Ford Field after several feet of snow pushed the Buffalo Bills home game to Detroit while the Lions are on the road.
"Go Bills" and "Go Browns" chants rang across the tailgating lots of Ford Field on Sunday morning.
The Buffalo Bills played the Cleveland Browns in Detroit at Ford Field after Highmark Stadium and the city of Buffalo gets covered in several feet of snow. As two of the most die-hard fan bases in the NFL, some fans made the trek over from Buffalo, driving seven-plus hours to get to Detroit and escaping the mess mother nature left behind in New York.
"There's crisscross cars stuck in the road. People are leaving their cars. Some people are literally maybe not getting out for a week like it was up to like, I don't know, buildings are getting covered, so it's going to take us a while to get it together. But I got it. We got this its buffalo," said one Bills fan tailgating on Sunday.
Some of the most popular fans also making their way out. John Lang, also known as "The Bills Elvis", had fans running up to him the second he put on his glasses and well-known gear. He's been dressing up as "The Bills Elvis" since 1992 and is happy to experience his team in a new setting here in Detroit.
"I passed a bunch of Bills fans (on the drive to Detroit) and they pass me all the way and were waving each other and beeping and the Bills Mafia is a great camaraderie of friendship and generous and really good people," said Lang.
Cleveland also got their share of snow but the Dawg Pound also made the drive around Lake Erie. The two fan bases both agree that a neutral fan site makes for a great game and the respect level among all fans today is higher than ever this time around.
"There's a mutual respect, unlike most fanbases in the league. So it's fun. A lot of drinking going on, a lot of food going on, a lot of just extracurricular activities going on. But just love it. Just love it all," said another tailgater decked out in Cleveland Browns gear.
For the Bills, this is actually the first of two games they'll play at Ford Field this week. A Thanksgiving showdown with the Lions was already on the schedule.