Buffalo Bills’ Reid Ferguson embraces Grills Mafia

Adam Ringner, the team’s Super Bowl-era long snapper, once had his own radio show.

Now Bills long-snapper Reed Ferguson is active in philanthropy in western New York and has had his eponymous Mr. Nice New England IPA made by First Line Brewery in Orchard Park.

Ferguson has also become famous for his love of grilling over the past year or so, embracing it on social media via the hashtag #GrillsMafia.

Today, Ferguson takes grilling to a new level, partnering with a Buffalo-based company called Que 42, which makes acclaimed barbecue sauces and rubs.

Perhaps only in Buffalo has this long snapper been able to create a viral community that has its supporters going wild with catchy team-related slogans.

“Maybe in the spring of 2021, when I was grilling a lot at home, it happened pretty naturally,” Ferguson said. “That offseason I was in Buffalo. We were expecting our first child. That’s when I got into the social media side of things and started posting every time I made something and the fans in the Buffalo community started sticking to it. I started using a lot of hashtags. I started creating a little BBQ community of Bills fans. It’s great to see how it takes off.”

Join the husband-and-wife tandem of Eamon Azizi and Bridget Thornton, who immigrated to South Buffalo in 2020 and quickly became fans of tailgating with the Buffalo Bills.

He’s a pitmaster and in 2017, while living in St. Louis, he competed and won a major barbecue sauce competition in Kansas City.

“That inspired me to create my own flavor and create my own love from scratch,” said Azizi.

Ferguson met and kept in touch with Azizi and Thornton at the summer tailgate event at Gallagher Beach last summer.

“They asked me if I was interested in joining Que 42 and expanding the business a bit,” Ferguson said. “I jumped over it. I love the idea.

Cue 42’s KC Style Gourmet BBQ Sauce is a 2017 contest winning product. Cue 42 Sweet BBQ Rub ranked 14th out of 259 entrants at the 2023 American Royal World Series Barbecue Mild Rubs Contest in Kansas City, Missouri.

Sauces and rubs are made in small batches and are available online at cue42bbq.com. Also available at Premier Gourmet’s two of his WNY locations.

Through Ferguson’s Grillz Mafia organization, Ferguson and his partners aim to promote barbecue events, develop the WNY Barbecue Association, host workshops and support local charities. Ferguson sells Grillz his Mafia t-shirts to support his favorite charities, including his Veterans One Stop Center at WNY and his FeedMore WNY.

Cue 42 will host a Backyard BBQ Throwdown Contest in Lancaster Village on August 5th (when the village hosts the Renaissance Street Fair). The registration fee is $100. Up to 15 teams compete while grilling ribeye steaks and Italian sausages. At 5:15 p.m., Ferguson will hand out the awards for Grillz Mafia Grill Master 2023.

Ferguson won’t be competing in the tournament, which could be good news for contestants.

When asked about his preferred method of grilling, Ferguson said: Between his two locations in Buffalo and Texas, he has two each: a charcoal grill, a gas grill, and a tregar (wood pellet grill). His wife bought me a Blackstone (griddle grill) for Christmas and I really enjoy using it for breakfast, hibachi, grilling steaks on top of it, smash burgers, and many other recipes. “

Ferguson’s favorite meats: pulled pork, smoked pork butt, and steak.

He said his hobby of grilling and connecting with fans is one of the great benefits of playing for the Bills.

“This is going to prove that Bills fans really are the best,” he said. “Whenever we have a community event in western New York during the season, or even the off-season, it gets a lot of attention. People show up. may not have as much access to.”