Bills Central

Just Buffalo Things: Ryan Fitzpatrick offers to pay fan-favorite Bills UDFA’s fine

Fan-favorite Buffalo Bills linebacker Joe Andreessen was fined by the NFL for a Week 8 hit, so Ryan Fitzpatrick came to the rescue.

Kyle Silagyi

Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
In this story:

It’s never ideal to hear that an NFL player was fined for a questionable offense, but the story hits a bit closer to home with regard to Buffalo Bills linebacker Joe Andreessen.

The undrafted rookie, who signed with the team after impressing its brass at a May tryout, endeared himself to the Buffalo faithful throughout the preseason with his stellar play and Hollywood-esque story. The Depew, NY native, who grew up just a short drive away from Highmark Stadium, played high school and (some) collegiate football in Western New York, overcoming all odds and obstacles to not only sign a rookie contract with his boyhood club, but earn a spot on its 53-man roster as a rookie.

It was an unbelievable story, and fans, thus, have taken a fast liking to the hometown kid. There's a bevy of players above him on the depth chart at linebacker, and Andreessen, thus, has only been active for four games thus far this year; he made the most of his scant opportunities during his most recent appearance, however, making an impressive tackle on Seattle Seahawks returner Laviska Shenault on one of his 16 special teams snaps in Week 8.

Related: Josh Allen, Keon Coleman welcome Scottie Scheffler's caddie to One Bills Drive

It was Andreessen’s most impressive regular season play thus far, a real “welcome to the NFL” moment that suggested to the Bills’ brass that he should perhaps be in line for a jersey on gamedays more often.

And the league tainted the moment with a $4,421.29 fine for unnecessary roughness, despite no foul being called on the play.

Joe Andreesse
Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK

Legality of the play and quality of the NFL’s decision aside, it’s a bit upsetting to see Andreessen—an undrafted free agent who has a team-low $795,000 base salary this season—be fined in just his fourth career game. It’s a nice salary when looking at incomes holistically, sure, but $4,400 isn’t chump change, either. This is a player who still lives at home with his parents—$4,400 could’ve been a few month’s rent in a new apartment.

Bills fans were, understandably, a bit peeved at news of Andreessen’s fine, with one, in particular, offering to pay the fee on behalf of the fan-favorite linebacker. It just so happens that said supporter started 53 games for the team at quarterback from 2009–2012.

Former Buffalo passer Ryan Fitzpatrick took to Twitter after news of Andreessen’s fine became public, asking Bills long snapper Reid Ferguson to send him the rookie’s information so that he could pay the fine on behalf of the linebacker.

Fitzpatrick, who threw for 11,654 yards and 80 touchdowns throughout his time in Buffalo, played for nine teams throughout his 17-year career, but he’s long said that the Bills were his favorite, noting a special connection with the fanbase and general region. An Arizona native who famously attended Harvard University, Fitzpatrick wasn’t predisposed to liking Buffalo—he just got it, and the fans understood him. Thus was birthed a mutually affectionate relationship that’s perhaps as strong today as it was over a decade ago, to the point that Fitzpatrick is still an outspoken supporter of the Bills and quarterback Josh Allen.

And that’s what makes his offer to pay Andreessen’s fine all the more humorous, if not unsurprising. Andreessen isn’t just a Bills player, he’s a Buffalonian, a fan at heart who likely grew up watching Fitzpatrick at the helm of the team; an adopted Buffalonian, Fitzpatrick doesn’t want to simply sit by a watch one of his brethren lose money. If that’s not an encapsulation of Buffalo, I’m not sure what is.

— Enjoy free coverage of the Bills from Buffalo Bills on SI —

More Buffalo Bills News:

Published
Kyle Silagyi
KYLE SILAGYI

Home/News