Buffalo Bills were denied a police escort home after deadly blizzard

Western New York loves its local NFL team, but apparently not enough to escort players through a deadly blizzard.

The Buffalo Bills played an away game against the Chicago Bears on Christmas Eve, then tried to fly back to upstate New York on Christmas Day just as the Buffalo area got hit with a massive snowstorm that forced officials to close the airport. The team instead flew into nearby Rochester, contacted state and county police agencies and asked if someone could escort players back to their home base, according to a local county official. 

"We said no, there is a driving ban," Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said during a press conference Wednesday. "I don't want anybody to think that Erie County gave preferential treatment to the Bills."

New York State Police also denied the Bills' request for an escort home when the team came home, spokesman Beau Duffy told CBS Sports. Duffy said in a statement that a deputy in Rochester escorted the team from the airport to a nearby highway, but stopped once team buses made it onto the interstate.

State and local police departments typically provide an escort when residents need traffic cleared for a funeral, when a group of people are traveling to a wedding or if someone of special importance needs extra security detail. Precincts provide this service for a fee as long as their department has enough officers on staff to conduct the escort. 

Deadly winter storm

Parts of upstate New York have been battered this month by a winter storm that has left more than three dozen people dead. Those who survived lost power to their homes or quickly ran out of food. The sheriff's office denied the Bills' request because deputies were busy handling life-threatening emergencies elsewhere, Poloncarz said. 

"As much as they're essential for our mental health when they win, they are not essential workers," he said.

The number of deaths from the blizzard this month has surpassed Buffalo's previous fatality record of 29 in 1977.

The Bills, who won their game in Chicago, said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch that they never asked for an escort from Erie County sheriffs. They did not address whether other law enforcement was contacted.

"We made the very difficult decision to come back during Christmas Day because we had 150-plus people in our traveling party who wanted to be with their families," said Ron Raccuia, the team's executive vice president and chief operating officer. "It was a decision strictly for that. We tried to do it as safely as possible. We made sure that we were not diverting any resources needed in any part of our community," he said.

Players and coaches returned to Highmark Stadium on Monday and found their cars buried under pounds of snow. An Instagram video from player Dane Jackson shows his teammates struggling to dig their cars out. 

City officials lifted Buffalo's driving ban Thursday and reopened the airport, major highways and neighborhood roads.