BUFFALO, N.Y. — As this point, it's part of the Bills Mafia playbook.
Donate to a player's favorite charity, either to say thank you, or when they need a boost.
This time around, it's a Western New York cat shelter that's received more than $100,000 in donations and counting. They're coming in support of Tyler Bass, who has been the subject of negative comments since missing a field goal in Sunday night's playoff loss to the Chiefs.
Take a step into the Ten Lives Clubhouse in Blasdell, and you'll be greeted by a photo of the Bills kicker.
"Show Your Soft Side is a non-profit organization that teams up with celebrities and athletes to prevent animal abuse by showing that you can still be tough and be kind to animals," Public Relations Manager Kimberly LaRussa said. "Show Your Soft Side had a connection with Tyler Bass and he wanted to help rescue cats, and Tyler took photos with our rescue cats and we were so excited. It's not every day that a Bills player helps our cats, so we were so grateful to Tyler."
LaRussa said Bass and his fiance own cats themselves.
After Sunday's game, Tyler deleted his social media accounts, seemingly in response to negative comments and threats.
His fellow cat people felt called to his defense.
"Our phones before we even heard about all this were ringing off the hook," LaRussa said. "They said, how can we support your organization in Tyler Bass's name, so they decided to donate 22 dollars to Ten Lives Club, and it's just blown up. We are just overwhelmed by the generosity right now."
The donations are coming in increments of $22 in solidarity with Bass, who wears jersey No. 2 for the Bills.
They're from Western New York, as well as cat lovers in Chiefs Country, Steelers Nation, and beyond.
"We help 3,000 cats a year, and we're only able to do that with the community support, so this doesn't happen every day and Ten Lives Club has to do a lot of small events throughout the months to receive donations," LaRussa said. "So this is like huge for our rescue right now."
Throughout its 23 year history, Ten Lives Club has never raised this much money in such a short time before.
"We do wish it was under better circumstances," LaRussa said. "We never want to hear that someone is bullied. I don't care that you're a celebrity or a football player. It's not right to throw that kind of hate at someone. He's a human and he's a person and we all need to be kinder to each other."
LaRussa and the staff at Ten Lives Club hope that the outpouring of support for the cats warms his heart.
"I hope that he's watching and he sees the impact he's made, and how much he's helping our rescue cats, and I hope it brings him and his fiance a smile," she said.
Those looking to donate can do so by clicking here, and can view the social media post from the Ten Live's Club below.
You can also support Ten Lives Club at their Kitten Bowl on February 3rd, from 12 p.m. - 3 p.m. at Sports 365 Bar & Grill in Cheektowaga.
