Bills wide receiver Stefon Diggs is getting busier on his off days, and he likes it that way.
Last year, getting traded to Buffalo during the pandemic, he couldn’t get to know his new fan base and community quite the way he wanted to. Now, he’s ready to give back during his favorite time of year.
“My birthday is around Thanksgiving, actually. So it's actually a huge holiday for me. Everybody knows how big I am on family,” he told The Buffalo News. “So it's always about my family. And as far as making an impact on other families, (that’s) what I've been really aiming for now, because family means so much to me. And the more family I can impact or reach out to, the better.
“As far as my birthday, I’m extremely blessed, so close to my birthday, I like to give back more than receive.”
His birthday isn’t until Nov. 29, but he continued deepening his ties to the community Tuesday night at an event at Wegmans in Orchard Park sponsored by Procter & Gamble and PLB Sports & Entertainment (PLBSE).
Diggs met fans and took photos with each, all before doing about 30 minutes of questions and answers with the group. Kids got to go first, and the questions ranged from game-day superstitions to 'What type of vegetable would you be if you were a vegetable?' (“Tomato,” Diggs said before a dramatic pause and lowering his voice. “Because a tomato’s not a vegetable. It’s a fruit.”)
He talked at length about what this week will look like leading up to the Jets game, going through the general preparation and the motivation of coming off a loss, all before throwing in a Diggs dig at the end: “There’s only really like one New York team,” he said, to loud cheers.
He answered all the questions while sitting at a table showcasing his “Diggs 14”-branded hot sauce and blue cheese, made with PLBSE and a layered example of how he’s trying to further ingrain himself locally. A portion of proceeds from the sauce benefit the WNY Women’s Foundation in Buffalo, which – along with the First Fruits Food Pantry at Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church – is one of the beneficiaries of a turkey drive that Diggs will host next week.
It’s not the first time PLBSE has made a hot sauce, though most athletes – Josh Allen included – go the cereal route. Diggs had his reasons for going in a different direction.
“I had a couple choices between cereal and stuff like that, but I was like, ‘I want to do something different,’ " he said. “I just thought about the location I was at: Buffalo. What’s bigger than Buffalo wings? … So part of just being cohesive with my new fan base and my new home.”
The community aspect was the driving factor, but there was another reason it felt like the right choice. He hasn’t gotten to have the hot sauce a ton of times – “I’m a busy man,” he says – but when he has, it feels familiar.
“(It’s) a little bit like me,” he said. “A little bit of sweet, little bit of spicy. An acquired taste. Hopefully people enjoy it.”
Diggs’ November schedule has a few other things coming up. He also plans to pop in on community events put on by his teammates. He says he sometimes likes to keep it a surprise if he shows up, but he’s always motivated to be there.
“As far as you being a teammate and you being their friend, you support them,” he said. “You support them in events, you support them in things that they have. Like if other of my teammates have charitable events, you want to be there to support them, because you're not just a teammate, you’re their friend, too.”
His own turkey drive next Tuesday will be the first he’s been able to host in Buffalo. He tried last year, before ultimately deciding it was too risky at that point in the pandemic, especially for kids. Diggs hosted Thanksgiving turkey drives in Minnesota, his favorite event out there. He’s done coat drives in Washington, D.C., near his hometown, too.
“I try to do something every year,” he said. “And each year, I try to do more and more.”
After last year’s hiatus, he’s more ready than ever.
“I'm pretty excited,” Diggs said. “Just kind of like a similar thing to any place that I've been at before, as far as giving back and trying to make a huge impact. And meeting my new fan base and people that need something, especially around these parts. So the Mafia, whatever they need, I got them, just like they’ve got me.”
