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Alaina GetzenbergESPN
PITTSFORD, N.Y. — Ah yes, the joys of college dorm life. Small living quarters, twin mattresses and dicey bathroom conditions.
When Von Miller headed to St. John Fisher University for his first training camp with the Buffalo Bills, after signing a six-year, $120 million contract, he was reintroduced to all the ins and outs that come with staying on a college campus. For him, the changes that stood out when staying in a dorm were the beds, a lack of television and the typical dorm toilet paper.
“I’m 33 years old and toilet paper’s different, the beds are different,” Miller said on the first day of camp. “There’s no TV in the dorm room. It’s a little bit different. You’ve got to make up your bed and change it and do all of that stuff every day. It takes some getting used to but I’m all for it.”
Flash forward almost two weeks, and toilet paper is on Miller’s mind for a different reason. Namely, because he has been sent so much of it. After hearing the future Hall of Famer’s news conference, Bills fans sent toilet paper and wipes to Miller at the university. The amount he’s received has been overwhelming.
“I just said like, ‘Hey, the toilet paper’s different,’ and like, boom, like boxes on boxes on boxes of toilet paper and wipes and stuff,” Miller said Thursday. “Everybody’s just trying to make my stay here a whole lot easier, man. I just want to say publicly, man, I appreciate all of you guys and I’m grateful.”
Miller said he had zero expectation that toilet paper would actually be arriving at his door.
Packages that are sent to Bills players while at St. John Fisher are brought to players’ rooms. About 10 large boxes are delivered for the team daily. Gifts from players’ agents are common and items are sent from the facility and locker room in Orchard Park, New York, to the team on the college campus.
“They just send it to Von Miller, Buffalo Bills,” Bills football administration and operations coordinator Ryan Moore said. “My interns grab it, because they go through the mail every day, and deliver it out to the guys’ rooms. Simple as that.”
Moore said players also get a lot of fan mail that gets slid under the door to their dorm rooms.
As for the gifts that are piling up in Miller’s room, having enough toilet paper shouldn’t be a problem.
“The first one was like a four-pack, and then there was another eight-pack like the next day, then there was some wipes came in the mail from some Bills fans and it was plant-based and it’s just every day, it’s like toilet paper everywhere,” Miller said. “So, I appreciate these guys. … That just shows the power of Bills Mafia and the kind of fan base that we have.”
Source: www.espn.com