BALTIMORE — There's camaraderie in losing a spot in the biggest game of the year.
The Ravens’ journey this season may have ended after a challenging match up with the Buffalo Bills, but there’s no hard feelings for fan Will Funk-Heiser, especially after watching their "painful" loss to the Chiefs.
Inspired by the Bills Mafia putting aside competition and raising money for Mark Andrews, Funk-Heiser started a GoFundMe for Bills Tight End Dalton Kincaidafter he failed to catch a pass that cost the Bills their own Super Bowl bid, a pay-it-forward move that caught the attention of TMZ and SNL star Heidi Gardner.
"The best thing about sports, I think, is that you can turn these really bitter, negative emotions, if you're feeling sad or upset, and turn them into something good," Funk-Heiser said.
It's now grown to more than $23,000 from 680 supporters as of Sunday night, far beyond what Funk-Heiser thought would have ever come from this.
The fundraiser benefits Summit Educational Resources, a New York-based non-profit that supports individuals with autism spectrum disorder.
It wasn’t until he connected with their assistant marketing director Kara Lee, that he really understood that this was so much more than fun and games.
“She was just overwhelmed and really grateful and really excited then it became really way more real for me," he said. "All of the feelings of like ‘Oh this is just in response to what the Bills fans did’ kind of went away. I was like ‘Wow this is something that’s actually really good that’s actually going to help people.'"
The Mark Andrews fundraiser has earned more than $146,000 dollarsand though Funk-Heiser says it’s not a competition but it would be nice to beat the Bills in something.
Right now, the goal is set at $40k but he hopes to raise as much as possible.
Birds flock together, Funk-Heiser says he’ll be rooting for the Eagles next week, as they take on the Kansas City Chiefs in their bid to win three consecutive Super Bowls, a feat never done before.
