NFL Player Takes $932 Uber from Chicago to Buffalo After Missing Flight

Making Shareece Wright the only man who's ever wanted to get to Buffalo that badly. (*rimshot*)
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Uber has been taking a beating in the court of public opinion these days—and for good reason—but even if something is rotten in the state of Denmark, there are still good people on the ground driving for the company every day. So when driver Hadi Abdollahian realized his late-night passenger at Chicago O’Hare Airport wanted to go to Buffalo, New York, and not a nearby Buffalo Wild Wings, he didn’t think twice.

“I promised him on the phone,” Abdollahian told The Washington Post, “so I said, ‘let’s hit the road.'”

That decision continues to pay off for the 26-year-old Iranian refugee. His fare was none other than newly-minted Buffalo Bills cornerback Shareece Wright, who was desperate to make it to his new team’s first voluntary off-season practice the next morning after missing his connecting flight in Chicago. He had already been turned down by two other Uber drivers, but the third time was the charm for the NFL veteran.

The odd couple left the airport at approximately 11 p.m. on Sunday night and drove in Abdollahian’s Nissan Altima for almost eight hours and 500 miles along I-90, arriving at the Bills’ practice facility in Orchard Park, New York with just minutes to spare before the team’s 7 a.m. meeting. Wright managed to catch some shuteye, but the two also spent hours getting to know each other.

“He introduced himself and said he was a football player,” Abdollahian said, according to ESPN. “He starts talking about his family and kids. He was really an amazing guy. I loved his company. We had a great time.”

As you might expect, the door-to-door service didn’t come cheap—Wright tweeted a picture of the receipt showing a $632.08 charge, and he was so thankful for the lift that he added a $300 tip on top of that. Once the story started to spread, Buffalo Bills sponsor BlueRock Energy decided to send Abdollahian a check matching the entire $932.08 fare, and Nissan reached out to offer his trusty Altima a free full service.

Abdollahian, who will use the money to help pay off student loans, is just grateful for the experience.

“Honestly, I’m more excited…because of Mr. Wright,” Abdollahian told ESPN. “I’m his friend just for taking him to New York. This is more than enough for me.”