Ex-Harvard mates recall Ryan Fitzpatrick
Buffalo Bills' Ryan Fitzpatrick throws against the New England Patriots during the second half of an NFL football game in Orchard Park, N.Y. (Sept. 25, 2011) Credit: AP
Tucked away on a remote patrol base within the desert of Afghanistan's Helmand Province, Lt. Corey Mazza kept tabs on his former college teammate. Every Monday morning he'd contact the command post over radio and await the Buffalo Bills' score. But with that information came the inevitable punch line.
"They were like, 'The Bills?' " Mazza, a platoon commander in the United States Marine Corps infantry, wrote in an email Friday as he waited to board a plane back home from Afghanistan. " 'Who likes the Bills?' "
Here in the states, the legion of Ryan Fitzpatrick fans has grown with each passing week as the surprising Bills (4-1) continue to turn heads. They not only have the best record of any "New York" team (the Jets are 2-3) but are tied with New England and San Diego for the best record in the AFC heading into Sunday's matchup with the Giants (3-2) at MetLife Stadium.
Stops in St. Louis and Cincinnati proved to be short-lived for Fitzpatrick, the consummate career backup in the eyes of many. The Harvard quarterback later landed in Buffalo, where he was promoted over Trent Edwards during the 2009 season by then-interim head coach Perry Fewell (now the Giants' defensive coordinator). Fitzpatrick again won the job after two games in 2010.
"I don't think I would have predicted it, but I don't think I was ever surprised," said John Bechdol, a former Harvard offensive lineman who played all four years with Fitzpatrick. "No one worked harder than this kid. He pulled off some crazy stuff when we were playing in college."
Said Mazza, a former Crimson wide receiver who played two seasons with Fitzpatrick: "He plays the game the way a fan wants to see it played. All heart and guts."
Buffalo, which hasn't had a winning season since 2004 or a playoff team since 1999, still is trying to prove it belongs in elite company. In some ways, so is its quarterback.
"When I came into the NFL, there were a lot of questions about where my passion was and if this is something that I really wanted to do," said Fitzpatrick, 28, who scored a 1580 on the SAT and a 48 out of 50 on the Wonderlic football I.Q. test. "And I think that I've proved that it is. And it's just funny to have to prove that it is, only because I went to Harvard."
The ultimate "goofball" in college, according to former Harvard wide receiver Brian Edwards, Fitzpatrick could put newcomers at ease with his affable disposition, yet amuse with his sharp and quick wit. He was the guy who, as a freshman, led Harvard to a 21-point comeback over Dartmouth and, as a junior, let a "no-name freshman" named Mazza move in with him in the summer of 2003 so he could learn the offense.
"My first night out at school, he took me out to introduce me to people," Mazza wrote. "He pointed across the room and said, 'You see that girl? I am going to marry her.' I asked him if that was his girlfriend. He said no. I didn't think much about it till he was dating her later that year and I went to their wedding a couple years later. That's just the kind of guy Fitz is."
But above all else, Fitzpatrick was driven. Though he was drafted in the seventh round by the St. Louis Rams in 2005, he was determined to make a name for himself.
The Bills, the third-highest- scoring team in the NFL at 32.8 points per game, already have matched their win total from last season, thanks in large part to Fitzpatrick. He has completed 65.7 percent of his throws with 1,233 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions and recorded a 119.0 passer rating in the second half of games this season.
"He throws the ball very, very fast. Like 1.5 seconds," said Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who has four of the team's league-leading 18 sacks. " . . . It's not going to be a big sack game. But I think we should be able to get some sort of pressure on him, hopefully."
The Bills have allowed the fewest sacks (four) in the NFL, but it's not because of their offensive line, Umenyiora said. "On set plays, nobody's getting to him," he said of Fitzpatrick, who was the first player drafted out of Harvard since Seattle selected Isaiah Kacyvenski in 2000.
To some, Fitzpatrick's success is viewed as a collective victory, not only for those who share the Crimson connection but for those who competed in the Ivy League.
Brian Edwards, Fitzpatrick's former teammate, proudly sports his Bills paraphernalia in San Francisco despite his allegiance to the 49ers.
"A lot of people ask why I'm a random Bills fan and I actually like talking about it 'cause I'm like, 'Oh, yeah, I know the quarterback,' " said Brian Edwards, who also played with Trent Edwards (no relation) in high school. "Ryan was drafted by the Rams, so I went through a Rams period and a Bengals period. So now I'm in the Bills phase. I can't afford any more gear."
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