Amanda Perino, a New Jersey native who now lives in Amsterdam (in the Netherlands, not Upstate New York), didn’t set out to see a Buffalo Bills game. She’d never even been to a football game before. Then one day, on a business trip from Europe to the United States, she bought a new SIM card for her phone and everything changed.

Below is her full account of how she was welcomed into the Bills Mafia, and met Ryan MacKinnon, Bryon Horstkotter, Richard Sterner, Brandon Glowacki, Ken Glowacki, Kenny Tee and Rich Niver. It might be the best “how I became a Buffalo Bills fan” story of all time. We’ve reprinted it here, with Amanda’s permission:

NOTE: There is some profanity in the text below

A story (bear with me, it’s long but it’s a good one): In September while in the States for work, I bought a US SIM card so that I could have a US number and use my phone for emails and work. Almost immediately I found myself pulled into an ongoing group chat with 10 other numbers. At first I ignored it thinking it would eventually stop, but my phone continued to ping with messages.

It turns out I had chosen a number that someone had recently given up. This was a group of Buffalo Bills fans, and this was their fantasy football group chat.

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Eventually I messaged the group: “Hey, not sure who you think this number belongs to, but I just signed up to this number myself so I think your friend lost it. :( My bad!” I thought they would remove me from the chat. Surely they would remove me from the chat! Any sane group of people would remove me from the chat!

Bills chatprovided photo

They refused. 😑“If that’s true I feel bad for you” said one.

“Hahahahahahaha welcome to the sh*t show” said another.

“I’ve been trying to leave this for a year”. etc, etc. I asked again: “No chance of leaving me off this thread, huh?”

“It would probably be easier to change your number again” one replied.

Bills chatprovided photo

So the chat continued: football, drinking, Bills, food, bro talk, more football. 🏈🍻🏈🌭🏈I gotta admit, at first I was annoyed. Because I rely on my phone for work, I checked every notification coming through, and 9 times out of 10 it was this group chat. I was ready to throw my phone against the wall.

But eventually I found myself looking forward to reading the texts and laughing at the chat. They were funny dudes. It became my entertainment that week while I was in the States for work.

I started to join in with a smart ass comment here and there, and in no time I was chatting in the thread as if I knew them.

Bills chatprovided photo

They referred to each other by nicknames or initials, so in order to follow the conversation better, I even saved their names in my phone under “Buffalo” so I could figure out who was who: Buffalo Sterner, Buffalo KT, Buffalo Niver, Buffalo BG, Buffalo Horse, Buffalo Sam, Buffalo Rymac.

(Yes, I know, too much time on my hands.)

My new number had previously belonged to one of the group named “KG”, so they started calling me “New KG” or “NKG” for short.

"New KG didn’t chose this thread, this thread chose you” one joked.

By this time, I didn’t want to let on that I was female, because I didn’t want them to throw me out of the chat. It was like looking into a secret bro window, and I was having fun. 🙊 But because I hadn’t blocked the chat, and was taking part in the conversation, they just assumed I was a guy. So I said nothing and never corrected them, and tried not to give them any reason to guess otherwise.

Bills chatprovided photo

This was all in the lead up to the Bills home opener, so the chat was around the game and the upcoming tailgate.“ NKG you might want to make a trip for this one” they said. “NKG you need to come to a game this year”

“New KG better come to one tailgate this year or we’ll hunt him down”

I couldn’t make it to that game so last minute….but that got me thinking. I already had to be in NYC in October for work. NYC to Buffalo was a mere 80 minute flight… 🤔“Where are the Bills the weekend of Oct 18?” I asked. Turns out it was a home game against Miami. “COME TO THE MIAMI GAME” they said.

(I think you can see where this story is going.) 😆

“Buffalo Sterner” wrote: “I have two tickets NKG. You can have the second one. Free of charge. But we need proof it’s you coming.”

I mean…how could I not, right? I told them I’d be there, but I think they only half believed me.

Bills chatprovided photo

Fast forward to a month later and I found myself on a flight heading to Buffalo. 🤷‍♀️ I had given them no solid proof I was coming, keeping everything a mystery. For all they knew, I was lying. And if I did show up at the tailgate, they still didn’t know for sure what I looked like or if I was male, female, old, young, nothing. And the thing was, they didn't care. I was welcome, end of story. But keeping this secret was killing me.

Needless to say, their faces when I walked up to the tailgate and flashed my “NKG” shirt were PRICELESS. I wish I had filmed it! No one could believe I was a chick, or that I'd actually shown up.

Amanda Perino (left) pictured with Rich Niver, Richard Sterner and Brandon Glowacki (left to right).Courtesy of Carrie Laviolette

Long story short (if you’re still reading), it was a great surprise and they turned out to be as fun in person as they were on the chat (only slightly less bro chat…slightly), and I had an AMAZING time with them, their partners and their friends. From the tailgate (my first ever!) we went into the Bills game (my first football game ever!).

The sun was shining, the Bills won, and I was initiated into the #BillsMafia in the best possible way (no tables were harmed in the making of this Bills fan). It was a great weekend.

Bills fan for life now! 💪🏈

Amanda Perino (right) tailgates Adriane Suzanne and her new group chat friends.Courtesy of Richard Sterner

*** Shoutout to Richard Sterner (“Buffalo Sterner” from the group) who actually met me the night before the game at Bada Bing. He was the first I surprised, and he found it hilarious. From that point on we were in it together, and he helped me carry the secret the last few yards (football reference, who am I even?!). He told me where to go and what to say when I walked up to the group at the tailgate (asking directions to the Hammers Lot while standing there wearing an NKG shirt). Not only did he give his spare Bills ticket to “NKG” but we hung out the rest of the weekend and he was an absolute star of a host. My Ride or Die for the weekend! 😆 Buffalo, you’ve got a good one there. 👍

Richard Sterner and Amanda PerinoCourtesy of Amanda Perino

*** I need to mention that I didn’t walk into this completely blind. I am a chick after all, and these were a group of 10 strangers. I did my due diligence as best I could, which meant I gave my mom everything I knew about them, which was “Buffalo” and all of their nicknames, and asked her to find them on Facebook. People, don’t underestimate my mother’s skillz. She found ‘em. She found ‘em all. We gathered around her laptop just to see a few photos and make sure they seemed like a decent group of guys. We saw wives, girlfriends, kids, pets. They seemed as fun on Facebook as they were in the chat, and even my mom, who is super safety conscious, didn’t see any concern in me going to surprise them. Mama knows best!

Amanda Perino and Kenny TeeCourtesy of Kenny Tee

Amanda Perino and her new friends enjoy the game.Courtesy of Adriane Suzanne (also pictured)

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