All right, welcome to Good News York episode
35 and not just any episode I think I am is probably
the most excited I've been so far everybody knows
here I am a gigantic Bills fan and I am so pleased
to welcome the Don of the Bills Mafia and the
CEO of 26 Shirts, if you're a Buffalo Bills fan,
you know him, you love him, Mr. Del Reed. Let's
get him on here. My man. Listen, I know the clapping
is underwhelming. It's just one of me right now.
My co -host is not here. How are you, buddy?
Great, man. I appreciate the invite. I hate Don.
I hate you, Tom and Don. You know what? I should
have asked you that. I don't know what else to
call you. I feel like in the Mafia, what do we
call it? Like the CEO of the Mafia? What do you
think? What is the right title? I usually go
with co -founder. Co -founder. Bree and Leslie,
you know, it honors them as well if you go on
that route. Absolutely. Shout out to Bree and
Leslie, of course. Creators of the Bills Mafia.
You know, Del, thank you for coming on the show.
I told my kids before I left today, I said, guys...
I leave a Bills fan today, and when I come back,
I'm gonna be up into the next tier of Bills fandom
because I'm talking to the co -founder of Bills
Mafia. Now, I know you've told this story a million
times. I know it. But I feel like, for the sake
of consistency and for those that are listening
and watching that don't know, take us back to
November 2010. Del Reed... Buffalo State graduate
thinks he's going to be a computer IT guy and
all of a sudden something changes in your life.
What happens? Yeah, so again, thanks for having
me on this. Of course. Gonna be a fun conversation
for sure. Yeah, so for the four people who haven't
heard the story, Stevie Johnson goes out for
a pass against the Steelers in overtime. Steelers
I think were the defending AFC champs at that
point. Bills had started the season 0 and 8.
Yep. and push the, you know, these league heavyweights
to the to the brink in overtime. And Ryan Fitzpatrick
drops back, throws an absolute rote, perfect
pass to Stevie land in his hands and he drops
it like he can pause it like he has the ball
in his hand. I was I was there. My seats were
in that end zone. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So, oh, man.
Yeah. So we're let down. But it's so. He goes
on Twitter that night and kind of like questions
his faith and You know questions God and Bill's
fans being the types we are you know in the week
prior he just scored three touchdowns against
the Cincinnati Bengals in a awesome comeback
And so we were in love with this guy he felt
like we had somebody special Because you know
during the drought there was a lot of Joe footballs,
you know. A lot of Jimmy's and Joe's. A lot of
Jimmy's and Joe's. A lot of Jags, right? Just
another guy, right? So Phoebe was far from a
Jag. So he interacted with fans like more so.
I mean, Twitter was like very different back
then. It was much more organic, more real. Now
every player has their own content manager and
their brand advisor and all these things. But
Stevie, to this day, he's just on there mixing
it up with fans. He was one of the originals
that, like you said, there wasn't a lot of interaction
on Twitter. It was very rare that you would get
direct interaction. So it was wild that he was
so open to talking to people on there. Yeah.
Fast forward a year or two when the Bills released
their uniforms, their updated uniforms. It was
during the lockout with the NHL or NFLPA. And
Stevie had snuck in to the stadium as a fan because
he wanted to see the new uniforms. That's how
engaged this guy was. It really felt like he
was one of us. You know, he really embraced Bills
fans. And so anyway, so the next day. And Schefter
retweeted Stevie's, you know, questioning God
tweet and For Adam, you know, he breaks all the
NFL news. So for him to share something, you
know, a day later was more oversensitive, a bunch
of those fans. So we're like, why are you dredging
this all up like a whole day? I think everybody
was like down because they lost the game and
at the same time, rallying around Stevie because
we're just like showing him love. And then all
of a sudden, Adam comes in out of left field,
like actually, you know, retweet right then.
Yeah, yeah, it was so we we we started teasing
him hashtag shepter breaking news became a thing
and He ended up those of us that were making
fun of open cheese. I guess some people were
vulgar I never saw those but like he said in
interviews since Some people were really being
nasty, which I mean if you've been on Twitter
well, it's believable You and I are around the
same age. I think you and I both know that there's
a There's drought era fans, and then there's,
you know, post and pre -drought era fans. We
were a little bit grumpier back then, you know?
So that was probably part of it. Yeah. So, but
anyways, so you end up blocking a bunch of us,
and then, you know, you fast forward to, I think
it was the week of the draft in 2011, and I was
just doing like a follow Friday tweet, if you
remember those, and you recommend people you
followed to people that follow you, and... I
just named a bunch of us had gotten blocked.
And I called us the Bill's Mafia. And it was
a joke. And I was picking up a pizza. It was
Friday night, I think. Picking up a pizza. And
I was just waiting for the pizza to be done.
I'm just tweeting on my phone and then get in
the car. I, you know, go home and eat dinner
with the family, everything. And what did you
know? We kind of caught on. And then we just
continued to, like, slowly steamroll or slowly
snowball over the next several months. So by
the time training camp rolled around, You know,
players were using it, other fans were using
it, and then Bree and Leslie, who I mentioned
a moment ago, the three of us, we kind of like
saw something here, like, should we do something
with this? You know, and I always say I'm really
blessed that they were the other two in this.
These co -founders of mine, just because. we
all agreed that we did not want to make this
about ourselves. Because how often does something
go viral, and then the person who was part of
it, like, goes out and tries to do something
and make it about that. And for me, I'm always
like, I'm out. Yeah. Newman Newman was funny.
You know, as a funny video you made, I don't
care about what you're doing next. Right. So.
So we all we just saw that there was an opportunity
here to do something unique and different. This
is kind of like the advent of social media. And
we really I guess we took to heart the social
part of it. So we started organizing tailgates
and started a website. And it was like had like
a blog aspect to it. And the one thing that I
was responsible for was I called it Mafia Monday.
And I would interview a different Bills fan every
week, just random Bills fans like just make you
know, because we're all we all know what happens
in the field, but so much to Bills culture. Yeah.
fan culture in general. that doesn't happen where
the game is involved. And so I just wanted to
bring all these cool stories to light and started
doing that. And just our goal was always to make
it about the fans, not about ourselves. And it's
kind of funny enough fast forwarding now to here
it is. 14 years later, and I'm starting and been
doing an awesome video podcast with Brockman
Media called Family Tides. It's like back to.
I've been just interviewing fans. Yeah, you went
full circle. Yeah, so it's kind of cool how that
all shook out. That is funny. We're all unblocked
now and literally cool with Adam Schefter. Got
to meet him last week. That was crazy. Very full
circle moment. Week in my hat, we wrote Schefter
breaking news on the underside of the brim. It
was kind of funny. You could use a good sport
about it. That's amazing. That's actually, I
was going to talk about that next. It was a LeBatBlue
event. It was a live event where you and the
other co -founders of Bill's Mafia 26 shirts.
You guys finally came full circle. Stevie Johnson
was there. You met Adam Schefter. It looked like
it was an unbelievable time. Was Schefter...
I mean, I'm sure he's cool about it now. Was
he cool about it then? I feel like I remember
he was kind of pissed off, like, when it first
happened, and he was like, you know... kind of
raging a little bit like these guys are on my
ass, you know, how was he before you met him
as compared to at the event? He's always been.
I mean, I don't know how he was immediately after
the thing I blocked, right? That's true. Ranting
or whatever. That's a good point. Within a few
years, like my buddy Sean on Twitter, he petitioned
Adam to unblock me and he did. And then probably
Five years ago. I think I tweeted it Adam and
I said hey just so you know like you kind of
changed my life I'm like crap grateful to you
for that and He says no you did it all yourself
really nice kind words, you know, and then It's
kind of wild and now going back like for it.
We're at home, you know last Thursday So we go
today that we did the event with Adam and Stevie
and I go home and I'm just Sitting on the couch
like for a bed And my phone lights up and he
followed me. No way. Yeah, it's like kind of
funny. Like, I don't know if 2010 Dell ever expecting
it. It's well, it's just so wild. The world we
live in now where, you know, you used to hear
like overnight success or things can change in
a minute. And literally with the scent, with
the scent of a tweet, it can happen in that.
And that's what happened to you. Tell me a little
bit more about the event. You know, there were
a lot of pictures. I didn't see any videos. I
don't know if any videos are coming out. It looked
like you were on the stage with Adam Schefter,
Stevie Johnson. Was the event more of like you
told the story and then took questions? How did
it go? Yeah, it was a lot of that. Well, the
ESPN did that piece back in January that Adam
was a part of and everything. Which was great.
Oh my gosh. They were here for eight hours that
day. It was great. I thought they were just going
to come in, do an interview, and leave. And so
I'm texting with the producer. I'm like, so how
long should we expect you? And he's like, oh,
about eight hours. I'm like, all right. Mi casa
su casa. So we hosted them in 26 shirts. And
I think Sal Capaccio came out, and he was a part
of it, because Bree couldn't make it out. And
so Leslie was part of it. And since Bree couldn't
make it out, he lives in Virginia. We had Sal
step in, because that was the first, back when
he was living in Florida, he had his own live.
a streaming show, and he was the first one to
bring the three of us on and interview us. So
I'm like, all right, Sal should be a part of
it. So that was cool. But anyway, so they showed
that video and then, yeah, they did like a Q
&A and like Maddy Glab moderated the whole thing.
So she had like set questions to ask us. So and
then they took questions from the audience. I
was there for maybe like the first third of it,
just talking about that bit. And then then I,
you know, I stepped out into the audience and
then they had it was it was Maddy with. Stevie
and Adam just asking questions more about like
the team itself and you know and all that stuff
So it was awesome. It was great. It was very
vindicating because in the early years the team
did not like They did not like the term Bill's
Mafia and they would Steve was saying how they
would actually tell players not to use it only
Yeah, that's what Stevie said and then I remember
there was one time. It was like maybe It was
January 2013 It was at the Pro Bowl And Jarrett's
Bird, they're letting players tweet from the
Pro Bowl. So Jarrett's Bird tweeted something
about Bill's Mafia. And the Bills did a manual
retweet, if you remember those from back in the
day, like R -T space and the name and then the
words. Oh my gosh. I forgot about that. Yeah,
it was like R -T, Jarrett's Bird. That one was
for you Bills fans. They took out Bill's Mafia
and they put Bill's fans in it. So they literally
scrubbed it. And I remember the outrage and everything
on on Twitter. So for them to have been so. Not
in not cool with the term, I mean, it's it's
a different them, right, different ownership,
you know, from the top down, it's all different
people there now, but still vindicating and that
like for Bill's mafia have to have been such
a grassroots, like almost like the real mafia,
like this thing of ours, right? It's described
like this thing of ours for that to. have been
fully embraced to the point now where the builds
are doing an event celebrating the origin of
it, bringing in Adam Schefter and Stevie Johnson.
And it's just mind blowing like to have been
up there on the stage talking about it. It really
is. But someday I always joke someday I'm going
to wake up and there's all a bit of dream. But
on the plus side, I'll be 35. 100. Well, dude,
it couldn't happen to a better dude. You're so
you're so down to earth. You're such a great
guy. You do so much for the Buffalo community,
obviously for the fan base. I mean, you gave
us a name and it really is like, honestly, the
Bill's Mafia is kind of like the Buffalo's version
of Woodstock. Like it was just this big mistake
that ended up becoming this this thing, this
this life changing thing. And I give you a lot
of credit, you know, you. So after this, Now,
I don't know if it's during or after. You start
26 shirts, which 26shirts .com. You've got to
check this out. Just amazing. Talk to me a little
bit about how that started. And I'm interested.
I read something about the name, how you got
the name. I love that. Yeah. So a couple of years
into Build Mafia. So now we're in 2013. People,
we had a Twitter account that actually way back.
Stevie told us that to register, he said, you
should create a special account just for Bill's
Mafia. So at the Bill's Mafia, it's been renamed
to Buffalo fan base for different reasons. But
people are always asking like, hey, can you share
this fundraiser? Can you retweet this and things
along those lines? And so just one day somebody
was sharing a story with us and it really just
struck a chord with me. I felt I just felt moved
to do more than just like share his online raffle,
you know, and a little girl named Amber, she
had a condition called retinoblastoma, which
is like eye cancer. And just was really moved
by the story. And I said, all right, you know
what? Next time we do something, I'll share your
fundraiser. But next time we do something, you
know, different with Bill's Mafia, like I'll
I'll give you the money, you know. And that was
coming right off. And if you remember the legend
of Kiko Alonso. Oh, yes, very much. So that was
another. So that was I think that was just that
was another thing where I I made a joke and just
kind of went like, you know, you know, it doesn't
happen that often these days now. But it's all
good. So so we had sold some Kiko shirts and
that was it was fun to just to kind of watch
it grow the sales and everything and get end
up giving that money to a little girl, I think,
in the only end. But I had so I had this this
idea like Even in the middle of the drought,
Bills fans are hungry for merch. They were hungry.
Because we love our team. It doesn't matter how
they're performing. It doesn't matter. We're
still going to show up. We're still going to
show up. Right, right. You're still going to
when you travel, when you go to Florida, Disney
World Company, you're still wearing all your
Bills stuff, even if they went on 17. So I had
this idea for a one -year project. I could probably
do. a different shirt every two weeks and help
a different family. At that point now, the amount
of people are like, hey, can you share this?
Can you post this? Becoming pretty intimately
familiar with the number of families in need
in the community. And I said, all right, let's
do it for a year. Let's do a different shirt
every two weeks. I love t -shirts. So I'm just
taking something I love. And I love the idea
of being able to help people. So I just decided
to... Go forward that project. I remember putting
sharing it with some friends. It was in a Bible
study on a Monday night We let some buddies and
just sharing this little girl story and just
saying how I want to do I Want to do more? I
want you whatever this platform is that you know,
God has dropped in my lap I want to do something
productive with it and Spitting on had this idea
to sell t -shirts to help you know families and
I said I think I'd do a different one every week
And my buddy Jake, er, my buddy, I forget which
one said it, like, can't do that, like, that's,
you're asked, you work full time, you know, that's
a lot of, that's a lot of work, that's a grind.
I said, yeah, you're right, I could probably
do it every two weeks, though. Like, I know my
schedule, I know, I could, I could probably do
this every two weeks. My buddy Jake, he's sitting
on the couch right next to me, I remember this,
he goes, dude, that's like 26 shirts. I'm like,
yeah, I know, I think I could pull it off. So
I wake up the next morning, and it's literally
as if like, Like the term 26 Church is just like
following me around everywhere I look, you know.
So it's a weird name. So there's no domains or
handles or anything taken like that. So I registered
all that and I posted about like on the Bill's
Mafia blog that I wanted to do this project.
And then next thing I know, I'm doing interviews
with the news. I got artists reaching out to
me. And so a week after that Monday, I just mentioned.
So one week later, I had a website up. I was
working with a local t -shirt company to produce
the shirts and I always joke now I'm 11 and a
half years into my one -year project. No, I get
to do it. I get to do it. I get to do it full
time. You know, that's part of the story as well,
too. So just blessed to be able to do this. Don't
hate anything for granted. I don't hate anything
for granted. It's absolutely amazing, man. I
freaking love you. That's, you know, and that's
the thing, too, is this it all fits together
because, you know, The Buffalo Bills fan base
has been known. We give to charities all the
time. And the fact that, you know, the co -founder
of Bills Mafia, now his main gig is also involved
in charity, because a lot of what 26 Shirts does
is for charity, am I right? Yeah, that's why
we exist. Yeah, that's our why. So, I always
joke if people wanted to buy... you know, limited
edition hammers. I would sell limited edition
hammers. I just want to do something that, well,
I probably wouldn't be the guy to do it, but
somebody would, like somebody would come forward
and say, hey, I can do these hammers. No, but
like that's just, it's an opportunity to use
our powers for good. And, you know, fandom in
the world, but especially Western New York is
like a, it's like a renewable resource. You know,
you never run out of fandom. Sometimes it wanes
a little bit here and there, and sometimes there's
a lot more of output, you know. than other times,
but that excitement, that love is always there.
You can tap into that, use that for good works.
And that's what makes us, Bill's Mafia, so great,
man. And, you know, you're right. You just got
me thinking. There is kind of a supply and demand
kind of thing with the fandom. You know, it goes
up and down. Oh, I could give you a dissertation.
Oh, brother, me too. Me too, my man. You know
I I noticed this I'll admit this kind of hit
me in the heart But I noticed I'm so happy for
you because 26 shirts is obviously doing so well
You know have branched out into other cities
and I clicked on the tab and like one of the
first things I saw was a chiefs thing and I'm
like You know what? Get it as a business you
got to grow, but I can imagine that must have
killed you to have to you're probably like Reluctantly
like all right. I'll make this chief shit Is
that what happened it just kind of you got to
a point where it went I think we're ready to
expand into new cities Yeah, well first things
first. I hate the Kansas City Chiefs. Let's just
be super cool that no yeah, right, so New England
Patriots Kansas City Chiefs Yeah, but that said,
there's people that need help everywhere, you
know? And when it comes to, you know, helping
people, like, check your fandom at the door,
you know? Absolutely. Because people are people.
That's one thing I'm really proud of. Sometimes
I think people gripe about it a little bit or,
you know, fans will gripe about it. Like, how
come those fans are always helping other cities?
They're always helping, like, doing a fundraiser
for, like... How dare they help people? Yeah,
right. And we do a lot of good here in Western
New York, you know, but Bill Shantz in general,
I mean, and people are people, you know, and
listen, if if, you know, we let me start by saying
for the Buffalo 26 years, we make we make fun
of other teams kind of often on the shirt. I'm
not doing it with these other people like men
and others. No, no, no, no. There's no whatever,
you know. But, you know, if they're going to
rock gear too, so they might as well rock gear
and give it back. So that's the thought process
there. No, and that's great. You know, and that's
how I've always felt. You know, I'm certainly
not going to get into politics, but it's the
same way. It's like people over party, right?
And it's the same thing in sports. You know,
it's people over your team. You know, people
need help all over. And that just speaks to the
person that you are, man. I thought I'd do something.
Yeah, some of my best friends that I've made
through social media are... Patriots fans or
Dolphins fans or? Even chiefs fans and like I
never would have met them if it wasn't for my
hatred of their teeth Hate can bring us together,
too I thought I'd do something fun, so I can't
take full credit because I used AI okay You're
probably against that. I have great ideas, but
I can't draw. So I came up with four shirt ideas.
I'm not asking you to use them. I just wanted
to show you something fun here. See what you
think. Live reaction. All right, the first shirt.
Danny, let's do Mad Max. Now actually, Max Hairston
liked this. I pumped this one out. It's a little
Mad Max, he's flying through the air, a little
fire. You have High Wark Stadium in the background
because it's AI. Blue helmet. Yeah, blue helmet,
I know. They're not perfect yet. My second design,
let's go with the Bill Dozer. I am pushing hard
for this. My friend, Brian Park, so I wrote Where
Else With. He came up with it. He said forget
the tush push. We need the bill dozer. So I love
that. That's great. That's fantastic. You know,
again, that snow plow. I like the snow plow.
The snow plow. Shout out to Dion Dawkins, of
course. Yeah, but I like the bill dozer. I like
the bill dozer. And I'm glad you do too. My third
is I would have all the built in Buffalo. Let's
throw that one up, Danny. I thought this is kind
of cool. You know, we're built in Buffalo, right?
And then that I like that and then you're gonna
hate this one because you know You don't like
to be called the Don but there's Adam Shepter
You can't really see but he's got cement shoes
on and that's in Lake Erie and that's you Which
by the way, I did want to tell you I think you've
officially arrived, you know, like when I was
playing music I was always like if my song ever
makes it into karaoke like I've made it You know,
and I feel like I said in the AI picture, they
sent me one back. And then I said, can you make
the guy look more like Dell Reed? And I swear
to God, dude, I do not need Skynet knowing who
I am or believe me. And I hope I didn't contribute
to that. It's funny moving on. I know I want
to be respectful of your time. I could talk bills
all day. Let's let's get into it a little bit.
What do you think about the draft? I like it.
I like it. You know, Brandon made a good point
on WGR. Oh, yeah. I don't know if I would have
expressed it quite the way he did, and I think,
you know, Jeremy and Joe have valid points on
their end as well, too. You mean Jerry. Jerry
and Joe. Jerry and Joe, yeah. That was funny.
But they needed help on defense, you know, and
either to fill holes that are there or to prepare
to fill holes for guys that have one year left
on their contract. I don't, you know, I don't
love the idea of just putting everything on Josh's
back all the time. But, you know, Brandon made
some good points. They scored a lot of points
last year. And they were really bad on third
and long passing downs. They weren't getting
to the passer, you know? And they need better
coverage. They need better pass rush. So I'm
happy with how it went. Yeah, me too, man. I
mean, we all knew it was going to be a defensive
heavy draft, including Jeremy and Joe. You know,
I just thought when it got to the Dion Walker
pick, I'm not saying they should not have taken
him. I thought right there would have been a
good spot to grab, you know, Trey Harris or Kyle
Williams, which it killed me to see him go to
the Patriots, by the way. You know, I just think...
I was... Go ahead. Sorry. No, no, no. Go ahead.
Was that I was making a joke every time Division
rival would draft somebody this year. I was just
saying that person sucks. Yeah immediately well
now It felt bad typing Kyle Williams sucks. I
know it's so weird to say that It's so weird
to say that but yeah, it's uh, I do the same
thing It's like someone gets drafted to a rival
team and I'm like, well, I gotta hate them now
But yeah, I thought, you know, to kind of back
up what Jeremy and Joe were saying, I agree.
We needed a defense, a huge defense of draft.
Because if you think about it... people that
don't watch the Bills like we do, they'll say
things like, oh, well, you know, Josh, he plays
amazing in the playoffs, but he just can't finish.
And it's like, no, he can finish. He finishes
every time. It's just the coaching decisions
or the defense lets him down. So what did they
do? They went out and not only did they fill
holes on defense, but they bolstered it. We saw
what the Eagles did to Patrick Mahomes in the
Super Bowl. And that's what they went out and
did. And I am beyond happy with that. Yeah, that's
they they. They double down on the need. And
it was the one thing that was super interesting
is I'm glad that whether they realize it or not,
that Jeremy Joe kind of provoked Brandon being
in the in leading into the air view. I don't
think it was intentional, but we got some really
good insight into his thought process. Yes. Going
into that draft. Like, were we going to like
understand all of the nuances or all of the.
With his whole mindset was unless he gets frustrated
with me. He just like spits out all this reasoning
sure I thought that was great as fans. It's cool
to know Kind of where your GM's head was at in
a situation like that instead of like kind of
wondering like why did they do that? You know
so like he was very clear in terms of the decision
-making that was great that was actually one
of the things I was afraid of is I thought there
would be so much blowback from Bean calling into
Jeremy and Joe's show that it would almost like
shame him into like, I can't do that. And then
he'd apologize, which I'm not saying they don't
deserve an apology. But what I am saying is I
want the GM to come on and be that transparent.
Like I want to bring that back. You know, I want
to I want to know what they're thinking. And
I don't know if you watch the latest embedded,
but Bean explains a little bit further on their
process. I won't go into it, but basically how
they wanted to stick to a certain position and
not switch positions unless the value was right.
So it was cool to hear. Look, I think the bottom
line is they have a good receiving core. I think
it's better than last year. I love the Elijah
Moore signing. I mean, his ceiling could be wide
receiver one or two, and his floor could be special
teams. I don't know what we're going to get.
But what I do love is is that we have a better
unit but more importantly you know I think the
focus is that we don't really have like it's
third down you know Diggs was our guy that's
you know it's like basketball who you giving
the ball to at the last second and I don't I
don't know if we have that guy yet and maybe
we do and we're going to find out who it's going
to be but you know it's just People you know
when being was like well, we scored 38 points
a game or whatever it was and that is true And
I agree with him, but I would just like to know
if I had the time How many of those points were
Alan you know running it into the end zone because
he didn't have someone downfield there, you know,
so You know, but I I loved the draft Do you have
any thoughts as of yesterday? Any thoughts on
Gabe Davis coming back or not? No, I don't I
don't see it Thank you. I know he's got a good
relationship with, like, in the culture, in the
Glock room and everything, but no disrespect
to the guy, but I'm fine if he lands somewhere
else. 100%. That's where I'm at. You know, I
would get if he came back for chemistry reasons,
maybe to help. I mean... He is kind of a little
bit bigger and veteran version of Keon Coleman,
or at least his role, a power slot type. So,
you know, I could see maybe with his development.
But otherwise, I think the way it ended was the
way it probably should have ended. And good on
him. He got his bag. You know, for sure, for
sure. And he earned it. You know, I listened
to Joe Marino and his podcast almost every day.
And. He's always had some strong opinions on
Gabe Davis, which I kind of like. And I usually
trust Joe with what he's going to share. Oh,
yeah. His opinions often become my opinions.
Yeah. That's how I feel about Jeremy White and
Joe Marino. They're both very brilliant. Oh,
yeah, for sure. I mean, I just love Jeremy real
quick. I've been listening to him since he was
on the 7 o 'clock show with Brad Ryder in 2003
or 2004 or whatever it was. I'm always I've always
enjoyed listening to that. And he he does a really
good job of explaining his reasoning and his
thought process and everything. Yeah. That's
the one thing I love about Jeremy is he's such
a great football mind, but he's also he's the
kind of the opposite of most of us. He's not
knee jerk. He's well thought out. And he always,
he comes at a lot of these discussions with interesting
angles. I'm just a big, I'm part of his text
group. I suggest it if you, it's like three bucks
a month. I really suggest, it gives you a little
extra. So shout out to Jeremy and Joe and all
those guys. I absolutely love all of them. Sal,
Nate Geary, you name it. I wanted to talk to
you, move it along. Again, I'm trying to be respectful
of your time here, but. You know, people ask
me about the table smashing, right? You know,
that's kind of a thing. You know, Bill's Mafia,
and then usually the second sentence is table
smashing. Now, you're one of the co -creators,
the co -founders, I should say, of Bill's Mafia.
Now, as a fan who grew up in the Super Bowl era,
you know, the four straight Super Bowls, and,
you know, I had season tickets during the drought...
I have an interesting theory on how the table
smashing came about and I would love to hear
I trust your opinion on this so people ask me
about it and I would say Listen, I'm like I'm
now I'm 42. I don't I never participated in tables
We didn't do the table smashing, you know, I
noticed the table smashing We used to tailgate
in lot five, which I think is now a lot six or
seven now in the stadium lot and I remember the
the porta potties were always there and while
I was waiting in line there's that grass lot
right next there and nine times out of 10 I would
see like a fire and I would hear screaming and
I'm like what the fuck is going on over there
and I remember looking over and seeing someone
jumping through a table and I'm like what the
fuck are these guys doing and then fast forward
I don't know a month later and it's starting
on now it's become a thing so my theory is and
I tell people this I'm like look Guys like me
come from an era of, we want to get back to the
Super Bowl era, like we want to go back to those
days, the glory days. We're there for the game.
And I feel like that generation that started
the table smashing, I feel like they were all
high school kids or whatever. They don't know
what it's like. They know that the Bills always
suck. We're just going to go to the game and
part like I went to a tailgate and a football
game broke out, basically. You know what I mean?
Like they're there for the party. And I think
that's how it started, because a lot of people
that aren't Bills fans would tell me like you
guys jump through tables. I'm like, no, that's
not there's just a sector of the fan base. Yeah,
I think you're probably right. In terms of how
that came about, you know. Yeah, I'm not I'm
not a huge fan of it like neither I always say
people can people can get up for a game However,
they want that's fine. Like I don't I'm like
a judge just not not for me not for this body.
Oh 49 years old it's not going through a table.
So But I always say just be safe just be smart
so But yeah, I've always I've always thought
that especially when you can get tickets on stumble
for like eight bucks. Yeah a game People are
going there and they're partying beforehand.
If they make it into the stadium, great. And
if not, well, it's fine. You know, I feel like
it's the same fans. I was there. Remember when
the the fans slid down the railing at the game
and like fell onto the section below? I feel
like he was part of that crew of like. And that
was a game we were beating the Jets. We were
like way up. And at that point, we were not used
to like we're like, what do we do when we're
winning? We've never experienced this. Let's
slide down a goddamn railing. Nuts, but I think
that was the moment I realized I'm getting older
because I used to laugh at that stuff You know
jumping through tables, and I looked at it more
from a father's perspective. I'm like they're
gonna get hooked. You know yeah, I Do want to
deliver? One oh good no no no go ahead. I apologize.
There's one away game in Tennessee Probably seven
eight years ago and a fan like jump through I
think with the cardboard boxes almost like the
tables went and like the guy was just laying
there motionless. I'm like, what do we do? What
are we doing? You know? Yeah, dude. There were
a couple of videos I saw where they're on fire
or they're, you know, they're breaking their
neck. It looks like they're breaking their neck.
It's just not not great. I got a question for
you. The new stadium is being built. We're all
excited about that. Someone proposed a question
on social media of like if you could take one
thing from the current stadium. As a souvenir,
because there's rumors they might sell that stuff
off. Do you have something in mind that you would
want? I want my bench. That's what I said. That's
what I said. I want my section. Or at least the
four seats. I don't need to have the whole bench.
I'll share it with everybody else in our room.
But I would love that. The four seats that we
have in section 224. I would love that. Shout
out 224. My seasons were in section 119. And
I said the same thing. I have it written right
here. Mine would be the bench. And you know why?
Because you know that they have dents in them.
Because you know on third down when we're banging
away. And to me, that is the coolest shit ever.
Did you hear about the Hallmark movie? Did you
sign up to be an extra on that by any chance?
Yeah, I have a casting agency reached out to
me, so there may be something involved. But we'll
see. That's how I met it. I know that's not how
you met him. We'll see. We'll see. I'm not a
big Hallmark. Movie guy a big Bill's guy. So
I'll tell you what though my wife's grandmother
when I told her about it. She is oh Dude Hallmark
movies to grandmothers are like You know tip
-tock to us. You know what I mean? Like it's
uh, it's exciting for them Yeah, oh, yeah, she
is like any news any news on the movie now grand
Yeah, that's awesome I'll get you out of here
on this. I wanted to do some rapid -fire questions
for you. Are you cool with that? Sure. Nothing
hard. Yeah, absolutely. All right. Let's do it.
So I've got about 10 rapid -fire questions for
Del Reed, co -founder of Bill's Mafia, CEO of
26 Shirts, 26Shirts .com. All right. First question.
Worst moment or experience as a fan in person
or watching? The... Lost to the Browns 2009 they
lost six to three here God and we did two passes
and they in the Browns won that game Is that
who was our quarter captain Cobb? No, Derek Andrew.
Who was there? Derek Anderson was the quarterback
for the Browns right the bit so that would have
been 2009 so that probably would have been Edwards
yeah, I'm listening. I'm blaming Chad Edwards.
Yeah, it's either him or Holcomb Tool I don't
know. Uh, yeah, that was come with hokum was
oh five. Oh, so it was picture on so Probably
Edwards. Yeah, I think you're right. I was there.
I reprised most that game. Yeah, it was definitely
pre -fits II Yeah, you're right. Didn't they
beat us like he threw for like a hundred yards
two for five Is that what he said something like
that? No, it's a two. It was like two for like
17 or something like that. Like you complete
to pass I remember how many yards it was. That's
right What a great pick. That was not what I
was expecting you to say. I'm so happy you said
that. Alright, how about favorite moment or experience
as a fan in person or watching? The playoff game
against the Patriots when they scored every time
they had the ball. I was there. I remember at
the game, my friend was with me, I'm like, they
have to score every time they have the ball.
I didn't think they were actually going to do
it. They heard me. Yeah, that was great. I was
there. That was my... I had season tickets during
the drought. but I'd never been to a playoff
game at home. Yeah, so few of us. So few of us
have, right? Right. Up to that point. And so
my wife was like, we're going. And her and I
went. I remember it was like zero degrees. Yeah,
it was cold. It was incredible. Favorite uniform?
I think I know what you're going to say, but
I'm curious. I like the Stormtrooper outfits.
They're white, head to toe. Really? Partly because,
first of all, they're clean. They're so clean
looking. I think part of it is that over the
years I had this love for that look. I think
what it is is that was the same year, 2011, that
they introduced those that Bill's mafia kind
of took off. And so this whole Bill's mafia thing
is growing and they're wearing those. They wore
those ways like a ton. So I think that's part
of it, too. Like that's kind of like it's like
very formative. But also they look super clean.
What a great answer, dude. Yeah, it's kind of
like nostalgia for you kind of represents the
birth of what what you started Yeah, you talking
about with the the standing Buffalo or still
the the newer Buffalo no throwback I like to
throwbacks too, but like I'm talking about the
new helmet new helmet You know with the white
helmet and like yeah the head to toe boy, so
so clean it is so clean I'm I'm I'm a hack. I'm
going chalk on this. I love the 90s the 90 the
red helmets, but All right, here we go. This
is not the Donahoe jerseys No. Visiting stadiums
that you would not go to. Or one stadium. I mean,
I feel like the Eagles is one of the easier answers,
right? Maybe the Patriots, but I would go there
while the Bills are still really good and the
Patriots aren't. Yeah, I don't know. I want to
go to all of them. I've only been to maybe like
six so far. You could get away with it. You're
respected within the football community. If I
go, they're just going to I don't know what's
going to happen. I'd get a hat because I hate
you all or something. Yeah, there you go. I hate
your team. I hate your team. I got to stay in
line with what I was saying earlier. I hate your
team. I hate the team, not the person. All right.
Most underrated Bills player all time, current
or former? Boy, wow. That's a good one. Most
underrated player. It took me a while when I
was thinking of mine, but cares about mine. Oh,
yeah. I'll tie him. I don't know. Well, Taron
Johnson's been an all pro, so I don't think he
counts. No, he's amazing. I don't understand.
People don't understand how important he is to
that defense. Yeah, dude. That's most underrated
player. It's tough. I went through it. I mean,
I'll help you out. Let me hear yours. Mine is...
Who did I pick? Let me make sure I have it here.
Eric Moldz would probably be mine. I mean, his
stats speak for themselves, but I think he kind
of gets buried in there because it was a time
when the bills weren't so good. Yeah, I think
Eric Eric molds is up there for me. Eric molds
would be my pick Honorable mention, you know
Lee Evans Maybe not a Lee Evans McGee It is like
who now I'm stumped on my own question There's
a lot of uh, I mean so many I mean I guess Puzzle
us 99 defense that they had like if they beat
the Titans in that game They go to the Super
Bowl dude like whatever team was when that game
was going through without it and without um Who
was the tackle there? I always forget Pat or
Ted Williams, which everyone was because they
a couple years later. They'd be other being The
defensive tackle Williams. Oh in that that night.
I see them. Okay. Okay. I like it Great choice
Two teams Gone tomorrow. They're out of the league.
I picked two because it got to keep it even.
We can get rid of two teams out of the NFL. Who
is it? Oh, I mean, you know, it is kind of mean.
My brain said Miami right away. But of course,
it's not true. You know, I want to be in Detroit.
It's kind of good now. So it's not like they're
just like hanging on like. Let's see. I go straight
expansion teams. I'm like Carolina, Tennessee,
goodbye. Or Tennessee, Jacksonville. They're
a falsehood, so I'll take Tennessee. They bring
out Warren Moon as a legacy player. For all we
know, he never steps foot in the state of Tennessee.
I could not agree more, because if you remember
- And they look like a UFC team. Yeah, we do
they do and and if you remember technically the
Ravens are the old Browns So that would be like
bringing out like a Browns player. I was a raven
Love that you said that because that's like my
Favorite troll to do when we played a ray with
the me to let them hogs on the old Browns. I
Love that you said that so I love it because
that's why I used to go I used to go whatever
you love that. I love it. You're the old Browns,
you know, yeah, they get so angry. It's like
No, all the all the history stayed in Cleveland
like that. Well, the GM didn't and the players
didn't and like you know, like Ozzy Newsom like
what he so multiverse He just switched over from
being the Cleveland GM to them Baltimore GM No,
it probably had they have probably had the same
employer identification number, you know, right?
I don't know probably the same Incorporated maybe
I don't know you could and you control both both
fan bases. I don't like the troll Cleveland because
if you remember when they lost the team, a lot
of those guys came over across the lake and would
support the Bills. So I always have a soft spot
for them. The Bills would have the Cleveland
day. I remember that. But I do. But I do. If
you want to troll Cleveland fans, you can be
like, you know, Lamar Jackson could have been
yours. You know, but I don't I don't want to
do that. How was that Super Bowl win in 2000?
All right. One move you would take back. Organizational
move you wish they never did. Again, this is
not about me, but while you're thinking, just
to get the brain thing. I said the Marchand trade.
That was my knee -jerk reaction. That was my
knee -jerk reaction. Huge hall of favor probably,
and he was on your team for three or four seasons
and just squandered. And they gave him away for
a fourth rounder. Alright, we're almost done.
Favorite tailgate spot at the stadium? Where
are you hanging out? What lot? It's a good question
because my wife and I, we kind of bounce around.
We stop at the Mafia house and then we'll head
over to Lori's lot and obviously Kenny with his
lot. Yeah, I don't know then we'll end up over
at like the hotel off of like Southwestern wherever
is because her cousin's up tailgate over there
world It's like an abandoned hotel now or something
like that or something. I don't know but like
um Yeah, dude That's it. All the places are great.
I got me. I've never I'm too scared to go in
the grass lot though. Yeah Remember when remember
when where the new stadium is is where the used
to be the bus lot that I used to tell people
like everyone's like oh the hammer lots crazy
I'm like listen Was like back in the day? It
was like a war zone over in the bus line because
it would be people who have been drinking since
like 4 a .m. When the bus left there's mounted
cops there was fights It was just it was but
I saw a rock band just start playing it was that
was a place was a Was it you was it your man?
What's that was it your band actually? I think
I did sit in it wasn't my band, but I did I sang
smells like teen spirit with them All right best
wings in Buffalo Oh, man. So I know. Here's the
thing. It's hard to find bad wings in Buffalo.
True. I've only had 9 -11 once, or maybe six
months ago, seven, whatever it was. I forget.
Those are really good. That's what I heard is
the new. That's what I'm seeing now. For a while,
I was saying it was Bar Bill and Gabriel's Gate.
And now on social media, especially the last
week, I've seen 9 -11 Taverns crushing it. Yeah.
So my one time going there was great. Sneaky
Choice is... I like Sneaky Choice. In Kenmore,
there's Mastachios. It's called Mastachios. And
their wings, they're not, no, it's just a pizza
place, but their wings are really good. So a
lot of times when friends are in from out of
town, they want to get wings or order in in my
house or whatever, I'll bring those in. And like
every time, you know, my guest or whomever has
been like, these are really good. I'm like, yeah,
I know. That's why I ordered them. but um so
and also a big shout out to wingnuts because
those aren't even like truly buffalo wings or
like their own thing they're like chicken forearms
anyway they're huge yeah right um yeah so there's
a lot of great choices in buff or entirely like
i don't want to die on any hill to be honest
i don't want to die on any hill when you come
with that stuff but we'll find the crappy ones
we'll shame them that's right you know you know
i guess the better question should have been
i should have said best like like you know, low
key underrated spots. So I like, would you say
mustachios? Mustachios on Elmwood and Kenmore.
I mean, who better to endorse it than you? People
see people focus on the sauce, which is obviously
important for me. It's like you got to pay attention
to the the wing itself. Is it, you know, is it
meaty? Is it coated? Is it, you know, crispy
like that? There's a lot that goes into wings,
which I will tell you. I live in Ithaca. The
Ithaca Ale House is. Other than wings I've had
in Buffalo are the absolute greatest wings I've
ever had in my life. If you're ever in the Ithaca
area, Ithaca Alehouse, check that out. They're
not paying me. They're not paying me. I'm just
speaking one Bill's fan to the other. All right,
and last question. This is the most important.
This has been trending on social media, but I
kind of made it our own question. A hundred gorillas
versus one Josh Allen. Who's winning? I love
Josh, but that's that's a lot of gorilla man.
I have a lot of growers. I think I think he would
agree. Have you have you had a chance to meet
any of the current player? Have you met being
McDermott Allen on any of the main players? Yeah,
I've met. I met Brandon Bean, a super nice guy.
Very normal dude, you know. Yeah, I met Leon
Dunwoody on and read Ferguson and I love, you
know. Yeah, he's a great guy. Everyone loves
Reid. Who doesn't like Reid Ferguson? He's the
best. Yeah. So those are the two that I've done
the most work with. And, you know, I've, you
know, we can go down the list with the players.
Like I've met, you know, Dawson and Josh and
stuff like that. Briefly, real briefly with Josh.
He's a busy guy, right? But yeah, I've had a
lot of cool opportunities to mix it up with,
you know, a lot of these players and over the
years now, 10, 15 years, you know, like Just
so many cool stories, you know, like Jerry Hughes,
great dude. Love that guy. Awesome. I mean, like
I said, I'm 49. So Thurman, Jim, Andre, the opportunity
to me to, you know, work with each of those guys
has been super surreal. Yeah, man. I never take
it for granted. I met Jim Kelly back in the day.
And the first thing I said was I was like. Jim,
I don't get starstruck very much. I just don't
know what to say. What do you say to one of your
heroes? And without a beat, man, he looked at
me and he goes, what do you mean you don't know
what to say to your heroes? You just say, hey,
how are you doing? How's your day going? Because
my heroes are my family, and that's what I ask
them every morning. And I was like, whoa, what
a Jim Kelly answer, you know? Yeah. But as fans,
we all dream of, like, imagine if Josh Allen
or Brandon Bean knew who we were. And you're
in the unique position. where they do know who
you are. And dude, it's well -deserved. You've
done so much. Oh my gosh. I gotta say, real quick,
Stevie. Stevie Johnson. I love that dude. Yeah,
dude. I love that dude. If there's one player
that's one of us, it's him. Oh, I love that dude.
Yeah, so he's the poor guy. Sorry to interrupt
you. No, no, this is your interview. I'm interrupting
you. No, but it's all the recognition, whether
you like it or not, is well -deserved because
not only did you give us something as fans, You
know, especially at the time you gave it to us,
right? We're coming out of the, we didn't know
yet, but we're, we're, we're on our, you know,
the last leg of the drought. You gave us something
to talk about, to be excited about, to, to feel
good about. And as a fan, I thank you for that.
But more importantly, what you do for the Buffalo
community and for other communities and charity,
it's, it's absolutely amazing, man. Uh, Dell
Reed, Bill's mafia, 26 shirts, 26 shirts .com.
Uh, before we go, any events or extra plugs you
want to get in? First of all, super kind words.
Thank you. I mean it, man. Very, I mean, like
it's just a bunch of weird, crazy accidents in
my life that have led to this point. But very
nice of you to say that stuff. And I got a great
team here at 20 Subchurch that with the fundraising
we do and everything. Great question. Literally,
just as we were going live, we announced Mafia
Khan 2025. So we started that last week. Did
you just fucking break a story on my show? About
an hour ago. Yeah, it's fine. I'll take it. All
right. So last year we did our first Mafia con
at the Western New York Heroes Event Center in
the city this year. It's going to be at Seneca
one, which is the tallest building in Buffalo.
So it's a big rectangle. Yeah. And that'll be
on July 19th. And we're partnering with TSE.
We're going to have, you know, Bills players
there and, you know, doing autographs and signings
with TSE and everything, or vendors, exhibitors,
live podcasts. It's going to be, it's going to
be a blast. So very much looking forward to it.
Last year was amazing. Super stressful going
into it. I'm not an event planner by nature.
Like I said, I have a great team, but I was so
nervous and I remember it wasn't until like the
day before we were finishing set up and I was
like, holy cow, I think. I think this is going
to go great, you know? And so everybody's walking
up to me today saying, congratulations. I'm like,
OK, I guess that means we did a good job. So
again, great team here putting it together. We're
looking forward to it. It's going to be a big
celebration of Buffalo football fandom and a
big event. Well, I can promise you I will be
there. I'll have to stay in touch. Maybe we'll
actually do a live show from there. Who knows?
But I will be there. I want to say, too, my friend
and I, we wrote a Bill's Mafia anthem. We recorded
it under the name The K -Gun. It's called Where
Else, Marv's Anthem. We shot it at the home opener.
And we just put it out there for fun. We're putting
like three or four more songs. Our next song
is going to be about beating the Chiefs. You
know, it don't mean a thing to win the East unless
you finally beat the Chiefs. So we've got some
other, we've got some other songs coming, but
I want to say, you know, I kind of threw it out
there. Like here's our baby. You know, if one
person listens to it before a game, then, then
we win. Like I don't care what happens with it.
You were one, I sent it to you and you were one
of the only people that, that wrote back, you
know, a higher profile within the Bills community
that wrote back and were like, Hey man, that
was really awesome. And I really appreciated
that. And I wanted to thank you for that, man.
Speaking truth. I really appreciate it. And that's
what's great about Bill's Mafia. Del, I've taken
up way too much of your time. Thank you for coming
on Good News York. 26 shirts, Bill's Mafia. Keep
doing what you do. Let's stay in touch, and we'll
see you at MafiaCon. Stay tuned for that. Let's
go. Yeah, it was a pleasure, man. We've been
talking back and forth on social. I think this
is one of the few times we've actually mixed
it up, like, you know, face -to -face, even through
a screen, right? Yeah, I know. I love it. You
and I kind of have crossed paths a little bit
on social media, but this is like our first...
Real conversation, and it was awesome. And I
can't thank you enough and say thank you to the
rest of the team there at 26 Shirts. And we'll
talk to you soon, my man. All right, take care,
brother. Thank you. All right, that was a special
edition of Good News York with the co -founder
of Bill's Mafia, CEO of 26 Shirts, Del Reed.
Absolutely love him. What did we learn? You need
to go to Mustachios for underrated wings, and
you got to go to MafiaCon. I am... Through the
Roof excited. I'm a little fanboy right now.
Have a great weekend. Good New York. We'll be
back Monday. GoodNewYork .com. We love you. Go
Bills.