David Edwards was behind the wheel of his car when he started thinking to himself, “I think I’m on the right side of the road.”
The Buffalo Bills offensive lineman was near Highmark Stadium, where the Bills play, Sunday night. He was about 1.5 miles from his house and the conditions were unfavorable for driving. Edwards had a good reason for the voyage. He was going to retrieve his wife, Karoline, and their newborn daughter, Margot – who entered the world around 2 a.m. ET Saturday. They had been discharged from the hospital as a winter storm peaked, bringing wind at 60 miles per and three feet of snow in some parts of western New York peaked.
The road started to bend. Edwards was going 5-10 miles per hour, he estimated.
“And I drove straight into a plowed snowbank on the left side of the road,” Edwards told USA TODAY Sports by phone Wednesday. “I was like, ‘Holy, crap.’”
Edwards’ car was trapped in a snowbank on the wrong side of the road. His wife, newborn and mother-in-law, Theresa, were waiting at the hospital. His other two children were at home with his mother, Pam. And he was suddenly stranded in the middle of a brutal storm with no method of transportation at his disposal.
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The fifth-year pro, playing his first season with the Bills, called the team’s vice president of security, Chris Clark.
“What can we do to, I guess, fix this?” Edwards asked Clark.
And this is where the hero of the story enters.
Luckily, Miller’s Collision and Auto, Inc. was close by on Abbott Road, where it’s been for decades. Dennis Miller now runs the shop his father opened.
“Business as usual. Just trying to help out people. That’s what we do,” Miller told USA TODAY Sports.
Miller has lent a hand to Bills players and staffers over the years when the lake-effect snow barrels through.
“I’d like to be at home sitting in front of a fireplace,” he said, “but unfortunately we don’t get to do that when weather’s like that.”
He is one of 14 siblings who were raised with that mindset. Nobody was more thankful in the moment than Edwards.
“He was a huge lifesaver for us,” Edwards said.
Miller picked Edwards up, pulled the car out and towed it the short trip back to the shop. Edwards called his wife and told her the situation.
Lake-effect snow means the conditions can vary greatly from one town to another. The storm wasn’t as bad by the hospital.
“I’m like, ‘OK, you’re being dramatic, but fine, come get us,’” Karoline said of her reaction to Edwards’ insistence that he would pick them up from the hospital instead of Theresa simply driving her car back. “Ten minutes later I get a phone call like, ‘Hey, I’m stuck in a snowbank.’ I’m like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
They debated whether he should join them at the hospital or go home. They chose home. So Miller and Edwards set out for his residence, only for Mother Nature to foil them once more. Over by the stadium again, county police redirected them and said they couldn’t pass through the intended route.
“It was that bad,” Edwards said.
So they went with Plan B. Miller took Edwards to the hospital. They made small talk in the truck. Edwards told him that his third daughter had been born Saturday. He and his wife decided to check into the hospital Friday night with the storm coming and the Bills set to play Sunday (until weather prompted a one-day postponement).
“We just talked about what he’s been doing to help Buffalo and Orchard Park and the situation that we were in during the blizzard,” said Edwards, a fifth-round draft pick by the Los Angeles Rams in 2019 and Super Bowl 56 champion.
Miller called his wife to tell her that he had a Bills player, “No. 76,” in his truck. She didn’t believe him at first, Edwards said. Upon reaching the hospital, Miller told Edwards to call him if he needed anything. Sure enough, two hours later, Edwards called to ask if the traveling party could use an escort with his machinery to make it home safe – as long as it was safe for Miller, and he didn’t have anyone on the call sheet requiring immediate attention.
Miller fired up the payloader. The nurses were hesitant to let the Edwards family leave. The foursome held their breath during the two-mile trek from the hospital to Miller’s shop, where he awaited. Karoline perched in the back seat with her newborn and begged the plow ahead to not turn off the road until they reached Miller’s shop.
“It was a very nerve-wracking car ride,” she said.
Like a fullback, Miller paved the way – literally – for the Edwards’.
“Can’t say how grateful or appreciative I am for him doing that for us,” Edwards said.
Margot has now been home with big sisters Charlotte and Lilly since Sunday.
“Without the payloader, (they) never would have made it through there,” Miller said. “With that precious cargo in the car, I had to make sure I had to get (them) home.”