Bills offer $20 per hour for volunteer shovelers with heavy snow forecast for AFC wild-card game
With heavy snow on the way, the Buffalo Bills are putting out a call for volunteer snow-shovelers for the night before their AFC wild-card game.
The team posted an announcement Friday requesting anyone interested in shoveling snow Saturday night to report to Highmark Stadium at 10 p.m. on Saturday and prepare to work through the night. The Bills are scheduled to face the Pittsburgh Steelers at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
The terms are simple. Shovelers must be 18 or older with proper photo identification, will be paid $20 per hour, will receive complimentary food and breaks through shifts and will have to dress warmly. The Bills asked volunteers to bring their own shovels, but will provide shovels if they don't have one.
This isn't an unprecedented move among NFL teams in the far north, as the Green Bay Packers did the same thing in 2020. In that case, however, volunteers were only paid $12 per hour and reported to work at 6 a.m., rather than the preceding night.
The Packers requested 600 volunteers and received more than 600, with Lambeau Field taking about 3.5 hours to clear out.
The Bills will probably need that kind of help for Sunday. The National Weather Service issued an ominous report earlier Friday, warning "heavy lake effect snow bands with gusty winds" hitting Buffalo and that "travel will be difficult to near impossible within snow bands" on Saturday and Sunday.
We're talking about as much as a foot of snow hitting the Buffalo area.
Heavy lake effect snow bands with gusty winds will occur east of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario Saturday through Sunday night. The snow bands will oscillate north to south, impacting the Buffalo and Watertown Metros. Travel will be difficult to near impossible within snow bands. pic.twitter.com/nwgMRaNH9P
— NWS Buffalo (@NWSBUFFALO) January 12, 2024
The other cold-weather wild-card game this weekend will see similarly brutal weather. The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Miami Dolphins in what is expected to be one of the coldest games in NFL history, with a forecast low of minus-8 degrees.
Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans and Detroit Lions will play host to the Packers, Cleveland Browns and Los Angeles Rams, respectively, in their nice, comfy domes. The only other outdoor game will take place Monday night in Tampa Bay when the Buccaneers host the Philadelphia Eagles. Weather forecasts project a high of 74 degrees, though there's a chance for rain.
