Sunday was the toughest night of Baltimore Ravens kicker Tyler Loop’s NFL career, but it became an opportunity for his team’s fans — and their rivals — to come together to support him.

Loop’s 45-yard field goal in the closing seconds of Sunday night’s game missed wide to the right of the goalposts, giving the Pittsburgh Steelers a 26-24 win over the Ravens in the final game of the regular season. The Steelers clinched the AFC North title and a playoff spot, while Loop and the Ravens were sent home.

While the Steelers were in their locker room celebrating their first division championship since 2020, Loop was talking with reporters about what went wrong. But even in defeat and disappointment, Loop thanked the Ravens and fans for supporting him.

“I’m here to try to have their back, be a good teammate, be a good representative of the organization and steward the gifts I’ve been given because it’s a fortunate thing to be here,” he said Sunday night.

In the hours following the game, Loop received a swelling of online harassment from fans, including death threats toward him and his fiancee. However, other fans decided to support Loop by donating to his favorite charity, the John S. Mulholland Family Foundation. 

“One guy posted on Reddit: ‘We ought to do something for the guy,'” said Brian Mulholland, the foundation’s board chairman. “‘He must have a favorite charity. Does somebody know where it is?’ And then just as soon as he asked that question, somebody came up with the right answer.”

The foundation supports 11 food pantries in the Washington, D.C. area. Its relationship with Loop began when he helped to support a food drive over the Thanksgiving holiday.

“He went out to one of the food drives to sign autographs for people making donations,” said Mulholland. “He’s a good Christian fellow who believes in taking care of your neighbors in need.”

Within two days, the foundation received hundreds of donations, and its website had more than 8,000 visits.

“I always prided myself that I personally respond to every donation, but I’ve never had 600 in a 48-hour period,” said Mulholland. “It’s nuts. Just amazing, people checking us out.”

It started with Steelers fans donating $26.24, evoking the final score of the game. Ravens fans countered with $30 donations in honor of the 30 field goals Loop made during the regular season. Some took it even further with $33 donations in honor of Loop’s jersey number.

“It’s about like-minded people, bitter rivals allegedly, coming together for a cause and saying, ‘Let’s do something nice here for our neighbors in need and put this aside,'” Mulholland said.

Besides the donations, Mulholland said fans have also sent personal messages for Loop, the vast majority of which were positive. He plans to pass them along to Loop at a later date.

“He’s going to be around a long time, and he’s going to look back on this 10 years from now with a little chuckle,” Mulholland said. “I look forward to that day for him because he’s a good athlete and he’s a good person.”