Hallmark Sets 2nd NFL Countdown to Christmas Movie With ‘Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story'
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin shared the news in a video message with 'Today' on Thursday, months after the companies' first collaboration 'Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story' aired in late 2024.
'Hallmark Channel and the NFL have selected the Buffalo Bills in the 2025 Countdown to Christmas movie draft,' the pro athlete teased. 'We're so excited to celebrate our team, our fans — and shout out to Bills Mafia — and our shared love for football and Hallmark Christmas movies. Go Bills.'
Production is set to begin later this year and will film entirely in and around Buffalo, New York, including at the team's Highmark Stadium. The cast will be revealed at a later date. Skydance Sports also serves as an executive producer on the project.
'The incredible success of last year's partnership with the NFL and the Kansas City Chiefs far exceeded our expectations,' Hallmark's chief brand officer Darren Abbott said in a statement. 'We are thrilled to team up with the Bills this year for a new holiday movie filled with heart, family and the classic Hallmark storytelling that our fans know and love, all set against the special community the Bills franchise has nurtured throughout its storied history.'
'We were honored to be approached by Skydance Sports to participate in this amazing project that will showcase two powerful brands – Hallmark and the Buffalo Bills,' the Bills' chief operating officer Pete Guelli added. 'This is just another example of how the Bills brand and our amazing fan base continues to grow across the sports and entertainment landscape. This is an incredible opportunity to feature Western New York and Bills Mafia on the Hallmark platform. It is a privilege to be part of this project, and we hope this film will be a hit during the holiday season!'
'Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story' premiered Nov. 30 on the Hallmark Channel. It starred Hunter King, Tyler Hynes, Ed Begley Jr., Megyn Price, Diedrich Bader, Christine Ebersole and Richard Riehle and featured a cameo from Donna Kelce, as well as multiple Kansas City Chiefs players.
The post Hallmark Sets 2nd NFL Countdown to Christmas Movie With 'Holiday Touchdown: A Bills Love Story' appeared first on TheWrap.
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In a video posted to YouTube in 2015 by Los Angeles Daily News Prep Sports after his team won a game, Tamura answered questions from an interviewer who called him a 'standout running back.' 'We just had to stay disciplined and come together as a team,' Tamura said. 'Keep playing, keep fighting through it, and just hold our heads up high, and a good result's going to come.' Another friend and former teammate also told CNN that Tamura never mentioned a head injury or any kind of mental illness. 'We were kids back then, so mental illness — we don't really pay much (attention) to that topic,' the teammate said. He said Tamura was one of his closest friends, but they lost touch after high school. Tamura reached out to him a few months ago on Instagram just to say hello, but before that, they hadn't spoken in more than 10 years. It's not clear whether Tamura played football after his high school years or if he was ever diagnosed with any brain injuries connected to his athletic career. CTE, which has been associated with head impacts suffered by some football players, is generally only confirmed after death. Tamura's death echoes at least one previous high-profile CTE case: Former NFL player Dave Duerson also shot himself in the chest and left a note asking for his brain to be studied. The NFL has acknowledged a link between football and brain disorders like CTE, and has said in recent years that it has made changes to eliminate some unnecessary contact to the head and neck areas during practice and games. Tamura was put on a psychiatric hold in 2022 and 2024, according to a law enforcement official briefed on the situation. In 2022, a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police officer encountered Tamura on the street and observed behavior that made them believe Tamura might be a threat to himself, the official said. Police took him to a hospital where he was put on a psychiatric hold for an unknown period of time, the official said. Tamura worked as a 'surveillance department employee' at Horseshoe Las Vegas, a hotel and casino, a spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday. He received private investigator licenses in California and Nevada in 2019, both of which later expired, according to public records. Court records show that Tamura was charged with misdemeanor trespassing in 2023 in Clark County, Nevada. According to a police incident report, Tamura refused to leave a Las Vegas casino after attempting to cash out about $5,000, and security called police, who handcuffed and arrested him. A court database suggests a district attorney declined to pursue the case. Police said Tamura drove his BMW across the country from Las Vegas over the last few days, and that he double parked it in front of the Park Avenue office building before walking in with a rifle. He opened fire in the lobby, killing off-duty NYPD officer Didarul Islam, who was working as a security guard, and then took an elevator to the 33rd floor. Tamura gunned down several other people at a real estate office before fatally shooting himself in the chest. The NFL's headquarters are on the building's fifth floor, but Tamura 'mistakenly went up the wrong elevator bank,' Mayor Eric Adams told a local news station. CNN's John Miller contributed reporting.
