Michael Jafari from Cheektowaga, NY won the grand prize for the Buffalo Bills All-Time Team Voting Contest presented by Tops Friendly Markets. The 25 year-old Jafari's prize was a five-minute shopping spree held June 3rd at Tops on Southwestern Boulevard in Orchard Park.
Jafari was randomly chosen from the nearly 500,000 votes cast during the Bills All-Time Team voting period that ended on April 19, 2009.
He was surprised and shocked that he was the grand prize winner. "I was working out at Pulse (Pulse Health and Fitness) where I work when I got the call that I won. I first thought it was about season tickets but then they told me I won the Tops shopping spree. Everyone thought I was crazy when I realized I won and started jumping up and down on the treadmill."
Jafari "bought" steaks, cheese, water, magazines, cereals, Bills 50th Season merchandise, diapers, patio furniture, women's magazines for his fiancé and more. "I went into Tops to make my wife happy, but at the same time get stuff we'll need in the long run," said a tired, but elated Jafari.
Bills kicker Rian Lindell "drove" the shopping carts while Jafari loaded up four total carts with all kinds of food and merchandise items. Lindell said, "I was just trying to keep up with Mike!"
Jafari threw food in the carts, Lindell ran the carts around shoppers and dodged displays, cameras flashed everywhere, and Billy Buffalo tagged along like a scene from some kind of funny reality show. The video person from buffalobills.com and other media outlets did all they could just to keep up.
The Jafari-Lindell team ended up with $1,237.45 worth of items. Tops also kicked in some additional Bills merchandise and other miscellaneous items.
Shoppers at Tops were excited for Jafari and joined in the final countdown as the five-minute time limit was running out. Jafari received a nice ovation from those in attendance and he had a good time. He stated, "I've never won anything before, so that was a lot of fun!"
Fans have also been awarded other great prizes during the Bills All-Time Team voting process and celebration such as 50th Season autographed merchandise and $50 Bills Store gift certificates.
The exclusive line of 50th Season merchandise is available at Tops Friendly Markets, The Bills Store locations in Orchard Park and Eastview Mall in Rochester, as well as online at buffalobills.com.
To see the amusing Bills and Tops shopping spree video, please visit the Media Lounge at buffalobills.com.
