Dunkirk girl returns to role as Bills reporter
Most kids look up to athletes and dream of meeting their idols someday. For many in Western New York, those idols play for the Buffalo Bills.
For Vida Lockett, a 7-year-old at Dunkirk School 7, she doesn’t just get to dream of meeting players on the Buffalo Bills — she actually gets to interact with them.
A year ago, the Buffalo Bills gave Vida the opportunity to act as the team’s Junior Reporter. This year, Vida is back at it again.
Presented by Fisher Price, the Bills Junior Reporter role allows for access to interview Bills players on camera for the team’s website and social media accounts. Vida was the first Junior Reporter for the Bills through Fisher Price last season and was asked back again this year to reprise her role.
“Hi, I’m Vida, and I’m so excited to be back this season,” she said in a recent video interview for buffalobills.com.
Before last week’s game against the Miami Dolphins, Vida interviewed Bills center Mitch Morse at the team’s practice facility in Orchard Park. She first asked Morse what his favorite thing about playing football is, to which Morse replied, “Well, besides meeting cool people like you, I get to hang out with awesome guys like my teammates and the people who work on the staff, and I also get to play a game for a job, so it’s pretty cool.”
Among other questions Vida asked Morse were how he picked his number, who he pretended to be when he was a kid, what the most fun game he ever played in was, and finally, Vida asked Morse if he had any superstitions or good luck routines. Morse then revealed he trims his fingernails before every game.
Vida told Morse she is 7 years old, to which Morse said was “remarkable.” He ended the interview with a fist bump.
“She’s so natural, she just goes out and does her thing,” said Elly Burgos, Vida’s mother.
Going back to when she was just a year old, Vida has worked with Fisher Price as a child actor. She has been featured in videos of Thomas & Friends and Jurassic World to provide “kid commentary”, as well as commercials, so when her parents got the call to audition for the Bills, it was nothing new for Vida. Although, when Vida was first called to audition, she and her family had no idea what they were signing up for. “When she auditioned last year, we had no idea it was for the Bills,” said Elly Burgos.
When she was selected for the role, Vida’s parents originally thought the team might rotate Vida with other children to share the spotlight. But Vida was such an instant hit, the Bills not only had her as the only Junior Reporter all season, the team also asked her to come back this year.
“It’s kind of surreal, because the athletes and her get along so well,” said Vincent Lockett, Vida’s father, who noted that Bills cornerback Tre’Davious White even gave the family tickets to see the Bills play twice.
Last year, Vida was featured in three video interviews — with Tre’Davious White, with Greg Rousseau, and with Dion Dawkins, shortly before the Thanksgiving game against the New Orleans Saints. Vida was shown on a toy telephone asking Dawkins questions while he holds his own toy telephone at the Bills practice facility.
Among the questions Vida asked Dawkins last year were which teammate can eat the most food, which teammate would be the most fun at the kid’s table, and if Stefon Diggs could catch a wild turkey. She concluded the interview asking Dawkins to ask her parents for permission to stay up late to watch the game, to which he obliged.
“It’s an awesome experience,” said Vincent Lockett.
Vida’s parents are hopeful that more interviews will be released throughout the season. Vida’s interviews can be found on the team website buffalobills.com/video and on the team’s official social media accounts.