Buffalo Rumblings
It’s been a rewarding week for Buffalo Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins. Reports this week revealed that Dawkins is set to receive the Key to the City of Buffalo on Friday, November 14 due to his incredibly selfless nature and using a prominent platform to help disadvantaged youth in and around Buffalo, Western New York, and elsewhere that he has established roots.
Dawkins is an all-timer whose heart knows no boundary — a certain future Bills Wall of Fame entrant, and one of the league’s best blindside protectors. Most recently, Dawkins has been named the Week 10 NFLPA Community MVP for his charitable efforts in “treating three different classes of students to all-expenses paid educational outings through his ‘Shnow Day’ field trip program,” per the NFLPA news release.
What makes up a “Shnow Day” field trip with Dion Dawkins, you might be wondering? Fun! So far in 2025, more than 50 students have been invited to participate in the field trips made possible through Dawkins’ charitable foundation, Dion’s Dreamers, where:
“Between September and October, a fourth-grade class from Hyde Park Elementary School went to the Penn Dixie Fossil Park & Nature Reserve; an eighth-grade group from Dunkirk Elementary School toured the Bills’ Highmark Stadium; and for the most recent trip, a kindergarten group from Charter School for Applied Technologies (CSAT) visited the Aquarium of Niagara with Dawkins. The fourth and final “Shnow Day” will be held in December, when a sixth-grade class from Harvey Austin Elementary School will attend the Buffalo Battleground arcade park.“
The NFLPA article goes on to list the numerous initiatives that Dawkins has either spearheaded or supports, including significant donations of sports gear to Rahway High School, much-needed funding to the Buffalo Bills Huddle for Hunger drive, and innumerable continued personal connections he’s made with at-risk youth in places such as BPS #131, The Academy School.
Dawkins is a man of his word, and he’d sooner lead by example, which has served him well in adopting Western New York as his home. He’s a three-time Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee (2022-2024), annually his team’s top choice to contend for the NFL’s most prestigious personal award.
As an NFLPA Community MVP recipient, Dawkins’ nonprofit of choice will receive a $10,000 donation on behalf of the NFL Players Association. His selection also has him eligible to receive the Alan Page Community Award. That award, which annually includes an additional $100,000 nonprofit donation, is the NFLPA’s highest honor bestowed on players.
New during the 2025 NFL season, the NFLPA has partnered with GoFundMe, allowing fans to make direct donations to each NFLPA Community MVP’s chosen nonprofit. You can add your support to Dion Dawkins’ charitable initiatives by following this link to make a tax-deductible donation.
Previously, other Buffalo Bills players to have been named NFLPA Community MVP include running back Ray Davis (2024, Week 9), linebacker Tyrel Dodson (2023, Week 16), and safety Damar Hamlin (two-time recipient: 2022 season, Week 18; 2023 season, Week 18). Hamlin...
