National Football League

Buffalo area cat rescue group receives over $100,000 in donations in Tyler Bass' name

Published Jan. 23, 2024 7:06 p.m. ET

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Bills fans are looking to lift the spirits of kicker Tyler Bass through charitable donations after he missed a pivotal field goal in their season-ending loss to the Chiefs.

Ten Lives Club, a Western New York cat rescue and adoption group that Bass has partnered with, received over $110,000 in donations in the kicker's name as of Tuesday afternoon, a spokesperson for the non-profit organization told The Buffalo News. 

Bass missed a 44-yard field goal in Sunday's game that would've tied the game up 27-27 with under two minutes left. The missed field goal was the last time the Bills had the ball in the game. 

The Bills kicker appeared to deactivate his social media accounts sometime over the last two days after he reportedly received death threats over the missed kick. Ten Lives Club sent its support for Bass over social media on Monday afternoon, helping to spark the donation campaign. 

"WE STAND WITH TYLER BASS. DON'T BULLY OUR FRIEND," the organization wrote in a Facebook post. "We just heard the terrible news that Tyler Bass is receiving threats after yesterday's game and our phones are ringing off the hook from people who want to donate $22 to Ten Lives Club in Tyler's name.

"Tyler doesn't deserve any of the hate he's receiving. He's an excellent football player and an even better person who took the time to help our organization and rescue cats last year. Leave our friend alone."

The $22 increment donations are likely in reference to Bass' jersey, which is No. 2. Bass began his partnership with Ten Lives Club in 2022, appearing in an Instagram post promoting the organization. Ten Lives' Kimberly LaRussa told The Buffalo News that Bass "loves cats," and everyone in the organization is "all rooting for Tyler."

"I hope people rally with him," LaRussa separately told Buffalo TV station WKBW. "It's very unfortunate to hear that he's been given a hard time today. He's human, he's a person, we all have feelings. I know people are very passionate about football in Western New York, but you also have to think about him as a person and the human that he is. He happens to be an excellent football player and is an excellent human as well."

Bass just wrapped up his fourth season in the league, converting 82.8 percent of his kicks during the regular season. He took accountability for the missed kick following Sunday's game.

"Ultimately, you can put it on me," Bass told reporters. "I got to do a better job of keeping my target. I got to do a better job of playing it a little bit more left to right. I've been playing here long enough to know you got to do that. … It just didn't work out. I feel terrible. I love this team and this one hurts bad."

Bills head coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Bean both came to the support of Bass on Tuesday. 

"I would just tell you that I am confident in Tyler, and I'll start there and I'll end there, but in between those two is to me, yes, there were some kicks we need to make, no doubt about it," McDermott said. "He knows that, and there's no one that works harder at it than he does and takes more pride in the work that he puts in and his job to perform at the highest levels that he can for the team and his teammates.

"He's deeply invested in his teammates and this team, and I'm very confident that he's gonna do what's necessary this offseason to get himself just right."

"I gave [Bass] a hug after the game and just told him, listen, I know he wants that kick back more than anybody," Beane added. "And he's done a lot of good things. He's won games. He's tied games. He's made big kicks for us. And one kick doesn't change how I view him, how we view him, his teammates view him. ... I don't think there's a player or staff member that I've heard that doubts Tyler Bass."

Beane also voiced his support for Bass to be the Bills' kicker moving forward.

"I would hope that fans or whoever, if someone's giving him a hard time, that [they] would take his career and take how hard he works and how much his teammates and this organization believes in him," Beane said. "He's going to be a big part of what we're doing going forward. There's no wavering of support in this building, or definitely from [McDermott] or myself."

Bass signed a four-year extension in the 2023 offseason that will keep him under contract through the end of the 2027 season.

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