During the off-season, the Buffalo Bills said goodbye to multiple veteran players. Many of these moves done by the Buffalo front office were to get under the salary cap. They had to remove talented pieces on both sides of the ball to keep some of the other talented pieces from leaving the team through free agency. The Bills would rework some of the guys’ contracts to be able to sign some free agents as well. The Bills are hoping that they patched up the roster with guys they drafted to replace some of the guys that had to leave town. Sometimes you find that diamond in the ruff with the multiple undrafted free agents you bring in to fill out the the 53 man roster. You hope maybe one or two guys stick. Most of these guys can chip in on the special teams while developing their natural positions. The Bills have had some injuries at the line backing position and may count on the local kid, Buffalo Joe Andreessen, to give this team the depth it needs.

Joe Andreessen is a 24 year kid from the Buffalo/Niagara Falls area. Nicknamed Buffalo Joe by quarterback Josh Allen after he turned some heads during these three pre-season games. Joe played his high school football in Lancaster, New York. Then he played 5 seasons of College Football starting with Bryant University, a small division II school in Rhode Island that popped up in 1999. Buffalo Joe then would play his 5th year at the University of Buffalo. His play with the Bulls would get Buffalo Joe a tryout with the Bills, a team he grew up watching. In three pre-season games, Buffalo Joe got the nod and started at linebacker where he tallied up 24 tackles. He had the team high in tackles versus Pittsburgh as he collected 12 of them. He earned a spot in the Sporting News All Pre-Season team. Is that enough for Buffalo Joe to earn a spot on the 53 man roster? Local kid suiting up for his city’s team with the following of the Buffalo Mafia who have fallen in love with the idea of one of their own playing for the Bills on Sundays. It has that Rudy feeling or perhaps a Kurt Warner feeling of an underdog finding a way to make his dream come true.

What makes this kid special is his work ethic which started at Lancaster High School. Joe Andreessen was the defensive player of the year in Western New York. He went to Bryant University because it was the only school to offer him a scholarship. Buffalo Joe in his final year as a Bulldog at Bryant was named All American setting the school record with 112 tackles. He is third all-time in Bryant’s school history in tackles. Then Buffalo Joe transferred to University of Buffalo. The lone season as a Bull he played in 12 games and led the team in tackles. Let’s face it that Buffalo Joe is a tackling machine out on the field which you’ve got to like. He has shown that he has strength and speed on the field to compete with the big dogs of the NFL. The way he shoots through the gap is very impressive.

Last year, the Buffalo Bills lost their star linebacker Matt Milano to to a leg injury in week 5 in London, England playing the Jaguars. The line backing core was very thin in the playoff loss to the Chiefs. The Bills could not get Patrick Mahomes off the field in that one. Now the Bills have the injury bug hitting them in pre-season as Milano will miss the first 12 games of regular season due to a bicep injury. Last year’s replacement for Milano, Terrel Bernard’s play was magnificent. Bernard was also injured in pre-season but nothing to keep him out for the start of regular season. With Bernard’s injury it opened the door for Buffalo Joe. Joe Andreessen right now is on the bubble of making this Bills team. One thing that Head Coach Sean McDermott knows is line backers and the safety position he played during his college days. I have a feeling they really like this kid. Perhaps down the road this season he will get his chances on this Bills defense for whatever reason. The work ethic since high school and the path he has taken to get to this point… you want guys like this on the roster. The undrafted free agents especially from smaller schools are like rooting for the 16th seed to take down the number one basketball school. If Buffalo Joe becomes a solid linebacker for the Bills, the Mafia will write folk songs about this guy. He could be a legend in the making as we hope he makes the 53 man roster and goes beyond that to make this kid’s dream come true. This is a great story and it’s still in the making.