BUFFALO, NY. (WKBW) — While so many of us celebrated 716 Day, West Seneca native Jason Guenther was stuck at the Atlanta airport dealing with a major travel headache.
“My flight kept getting pushed back and pushed back. And then eventually it got canceled," said Guenther.
A familiar face was also supposed to be on that flight, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott.
“He said 'if you grab a flight to Pittsburgh we can grab a car and head to Buffalo'," said Guenther.
And that's what they did. Jason, Sean, and Sean's daughter Maddie all flew into Pittsburgh and then grabbed a rental car together.
“I sat there and I told him I did not expect to be sitting in a car with Sean McDermott on the way home," said Guenther.
During their three-and-a-half-hour drive, coaching became a focal point of their conversation.
Guenther is a hockey coach at Nichols and says McDermott acknowledged his work on the ice and the direction he’s trying to steer his players.
“It was humbling because here’s a guy who’s a head coach in the NFL telling me that my coaching style works, and at my age to understand it and apply it, he just said it’s great for what you’re doing," said Guenther.
Guenther said he had conversations any Bills fan could only dream of having with McDermott and along the way he gained a whole new level of respect for the head coach.
“One of the biggest talking points, and I haven’t said this to anyone else I’ve spoken to, he said once you learn to eliminate your ego you will go so far in coaching and sports," he told 7 Sports. "And I think that’s why I like and respect him so much is because he doesn't have an ego.”
Guenther says he was able to see the human side of McDermott we rarely get to see during the season making for a once-in-a-lifetime experience he’ll never forget
"I think he dropped me off at my house around 2:40 a.m. which I never thought in a million years I’d get to say Sean McDermott dropped me off at my front door, but it happened," said Guenther.
