Ryan Fitzpatrick offers to pay fan favorite Bills UDFA’s fine

It’s never ideal to hear that an NFL player has been fined for a questionable violation, but the story hits a little closer to home regarding Buffalo Bills linebacker Joe Andreessen.

The undrafted rookie, who signed with the team after impressing the brass during a tryout in May, 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 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 youth club, but earns a spot on the 53-man roster as a rookie.

It was an incredible story, and fans have quickly come to appreciate the hometown kid. There are a bevy of players above him on the depth chart at linebacker, so Andreessen has only played four games so far this year; However, he made the most of his few opportunities in his most recent outing, making an impressive tackle on Seattle Seahawks returner Laviska Shenault during one of his 16 special teams snaps in Week 8.

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It was Andreessen’s most impressive regular-season performance yet, a true “welcome to the NFL” moment that left the Bills brass thinking he might have to line up for a jersey more often on game days.

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

Putting aside the legality of the play and the quality of the NFL’s decision, it’s a bit troubling to see Andreessen — an undrafted free agent who has a team-low base salary of $795,000 this season — being fined in just his fourth career game. It’s certainly a nice salary if you look at incomes holistically, but $4,400 isn’t pocket change either. This is a player who still lives with his parents. $4,400 could have been a few months’ rent on a new apartment.

Bills fans were understandably a bit irritated by the news of Andreessen’s fine, with one in particular offering to pay the fee on behalf of the fans’ favorite linebacker. Coincidentally, said supporter played 53 games for the team at quarterback between 2009 and 2012.

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

Fitzpatrick, who threw for 11,654 yards and 80 touchdowns during his time in Buffalo, played for nine teams during his 17-year career, but he has long said the Bills were his favorite, noting a special bond with the fan base and overall region. Fitzpatrick, born in Arizona and famous for his studies at Harvard University, was not inclined to like Buffalo; he just was received it, and the fans understood him. Thus was born a mutually loving relationship that is perhaps as strong today as it was over a decade ago, to the point that Fitzpatrick remains an outspoken supporter of the bills. and quarterback Josh Allen.

And that makes his offer to pay Andreessen’s fine all the more humorous, if not surprising. Andreessen isn’t just a Bills player, he’s a Buffalonian, a fan through and through who probably grew up watching Fitzpatrick at the helm of the team; Fitzpatrick, an adopted Buffalonian, doesn’t want to just watch one of his brothers lose money. If that isn’t an encapsulation of Buffalo, I don’t know what is.

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