Though the moms of this year's Buffalo Bills rookie class won't be able to spend the day with their sons, their Mother's Days will be far from forgettable.
Sunday marks the third and final day of Bills Rookie Minicamp and their sons' third day of work in the NFL; pride will assuredly overcome any sadness about a Mother's Day without them.
"My mom said that her baby is finally leaving home, but it's going to be a good Mother's Day for her," said safety Jonathan Meeks. "She's proud of me. She knew the business I was on this weekend and she respected that."
"I think the draft was kind of an early Mother's Day for all of us," said QB EJ Manuel. "I'm happy my mom was able to enjoy that with me. But I'll definitely send her a card. Obviously my dad and sister who are home will take her out to dinner. She knows I'm at work, so she understands."
And not to worry, Bills rookie moms – like Manuel, many of these rookies have worked out a backup plan to make Mother's Day special from Buffalo.
"I'm going to give her a phone call, and I might send her something nice," said DB Duke Williams. "We'll talk over the phone and she likes the little things, so just me calling her, she'll go crazy. When I was little I could just write Happy Mother's Day on a piece of paper and she would go crazy. I'm her only son so she's really ecstatic about everything."
"I have my little brother at home and we're going in on a gift for her," said TE Chris Gragg. "She's going to be happy about that. Maybe a purse or something, she likes that."
"I'm somewhat of a mama's boy so I'll make sure I send her some roses and tell her I love her and I miss her," said Meeks. "I'm a flowers guy because that's what she likes. I'll make sure I send her some from up here and give her a picture of me practicing to show her the mission I'm on and that she raised me right."
Reflective during their first few days in the NFL and with Sunday's holiday on their minds, Meeks and his 2013 rookie compatriots were effusive in their praise for their mothers.
"She's been there for me since day one, through thick and thin," said Gragg. "When I was young playing sports she was the one taking off work to take me to practice early, traveling all over the place on the weekend for me."
"My mom raised me and my two sisters our whole lives so we're really close with her," Williams said. "There are only three women in my life. My mom is a strong women and she really helped us out and supported us, and it's a great feeling to finally get drafted and be able to give back to her now, kind of as a thank you."
Williams, perhaps feeling the most ambitious of the rookies on Mother's Day in appreciation for the sacrifices his mom has made in his journey to the Bills, has more than just the traditional gifts in store.
"I'll send her some flowers or something, but I think I want to get her a puppy. Flowers are not original enough," he said. "I want to try to get her a dog. I don't know how I'm going to do that from Buffalo but we'll figure that out."
Canine logistics aside, one thing is certain - that while the Bills rookies are hard at work in the early stages of their NFL careers, their mothers won't be far from their minds this Mother's Day.
