PHOENIX — Buffalo Bills receiver Stefon Diggs says he wanted to win this season for Bills Mafia.
The Bills weathered many storms this season, figuratively and literally. Safety Damar Hamlin suffered a cardiac arrest in the Bills’ Week 17 game against the Cincinnati Bengals and the team rallied around the community after a mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket left 10 people dead in May.
‘It felt like the world was pulling for us and we let them down,’ Diggs told USA TODAY Sports at Super Bowl 57 Radio Row.
The Bills’ season ended with a 27-10 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC divisional playoff round. Diggs said their team lost their identity as the season progressed.
‘It weighs on your emotions a little bit, especially considering Buffalo is that tight knit, family town,’ Diggs said. ‘You want to win for them. You want to do everything for them, but it’s just so much going on in the world. You kind of try to put it in the back of your mind or compartmentalize momentary, just so you can focus on games… Went through a lot, it’s never any excuses but it was tough.’
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Diggs said it was ‘amazing’ to see Hamlin make a surprise appearance at the NFL Honors awards show on Thursday: ‘It’s definitely a different scope and different point of view, so I’m appreciative of it and thankful.’
Diggs said his dream is to one day play with his brother Trevon Diggs, who recently enlisted Cowboy Nation to ‘help and tweet’ to get the Bills’ receiver to Dallas.
‘I always wanted to be with my brother,’ Diggs said. ‘That’s the thing. He knows that though, so he’s playing on the heartstrings a little bit.’
Like Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce, Diggs said he and Trevon Diggs want to play in the Super Bowl – but they would prefer to be on the same side.
‘In a perfect world, we would be on the same team in the Super Bowl,’ he said. But beggars can’t be choosers. ‘We’ll play against each other. I’ll take it any way we can get it.’
