Greg Dortch’s trip to Orchard Park on Thursday night is about more than football. The Bills wide receiver was set to face the Detroit Lions at Highmark Stadium, and the game carried a clear homecoming feel for a player whose family roots trace back to Rochester.
Dortch said there were family members and people in the area he had not even met before. That made this week different from a normal regular-season stop, especially with roughly 50 Dortch relatives expected in the stands for the game.
A family connection that runs deep
The local ties go back years. Big Greg said he graduated from Brockport High School, and he explained that he would be in the stands with a large group of family supporting his son. He said there would be about 50 or so Dortch family members there, turning the night into something close to a reunion.
That support has been part of Dortch’s football story from the beginning. He said he has a picture from when he was about two years old, wearing a Green Bay Packers jumpsuit and holding a football. His father has been a constant presence through the journey from Wake Forest to the NFL.
“My dad’s always been in my backyard. He’s my right hand man,” Dortch said. He added that his father is always there when he needs someone to talk to and is “a text away.”
A long road to Orchard Park
Dortch’s path to this moment has included stops with seven teams: the Jets, Panthers, Rams, Falcons, Cardinals, Lions and Bills. Along the way, he has remained a familiar name to people who have followed his career closely, even though he stands just five-foot-seven.
Big Greg said the size conversation never told the whole story. “No comparison. Oh he’s gifted. You can see it,” he said, before joking, “Me? I was just like your JAG. They call it just a guy.” He also laughed that he “might have been a helicopter parent,” adding, “Well, you know, it’s all good though.”
For Dortch, though, the main thing this week was not the football journey or the roster history. It was getting the chance to play in Orchard Park with family nearby and a hometown crowd watching a player whose story started in Rochester and kept moving forward.
