In the wild card round last weekend, the Bills Legend of the Game was former defensive lineman, Kyle Williams. The Legend of the Game’s job in Buffalo is to pump up the crowd before the game. Right before the kickoff between the visiting Denver Broncos and the Buffalo Bills, Williams’ speech was an oldie but a goody for the Bills Mafia.

Kyle Williams delivered as he screamed through the microphone as every Bills fan even not at Highmark Stadium around the nation had that ringing through their ears sending goose bumps in a feeding frenzy on their arms. Kyle used the Bills former legendary head coach Marv Levy’s line. “Where else would you rather be as the crowd screamed… BUFFALO!”

The Bills went on and won that game with the second half slaughter of the ponies from Denver. Now the Bills brass turns the Legend of the Game to former Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick as the Legend of the Game in the divisional round on Sunday night versus the Baltimore Ravens. The Bills Mafia are excited as Fitzpatrick has been a fan favorite and they are hoping to have the luck of the FITZMAGIC paying off dividends in this clash of titans match up between the visiting Ravens and Buffalo.

Ryan Fitzpatrick was originally drafted by the LA Rams back in 2005 in the 7th round of the NFL draft from Harvard University. He has played for nine different teams in the NFL. The list starts with the Rams, Bills, Jets, Dolphins, Bengals, Buccaneers, Titans, Texans, and the Redskins. Fitzpatrick played in 166 NFL games and had a record of 59-87-1 with 34,990 passing yards. He threw 223 touchdown passes and was always a gunslinger at heart. When you’re a gunslinger, you are going to throw interceptions and he had 169 of them. Fitzpatrick’s 17 year NFL career he played with the Bills the longest which was 4 seasons. During those 4 seasons he had a 20-33 record completing 59.8% of his passes for 11,654 passing yards with 80 touchdown passes and 64 interceptions in 55 games. The Bills went through a 17 year post-season drought and during that span Fitzpatrick was probably the team’s best QB. After Buffalo, Fitzpatrick and his beard became a mercenary, a QB for hire, and went team to team. He never guided a team to the post-season but came close. During 17 years in the NFL, his 223 touchdown passes were the most thrown ever by an Ivy league graduate. In 2018 wearing a Buccaneers uniform, he threw over 400 passing yards in 3 consecutive games which is a NFL record he has to himself. He has thrown 4 total games with 400 or more passing yards in his career which is tied with the great Dan Marino and Peyton Manning for the most all-time in NFL history. Being QB for hire has set some other NFL records. He is the first ever QB to start for 9 different teams. He is also the first QB to throw at least one touchdown pass for 8 different franchises. The Redskins were the only team he played for that he did not get that touchdown pass.

Ryan Fitzpatrick has a 17 year career in the NFL and is now an analyst for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime video. Obviously still saving that Harvard education for a rainy day. In 17 years in the NFL with multiple teams, he probably had great memories at each place. His home was where he played the most games. The place he became a bonafide NFL quarterback wearing a Bills uniform. Wearing that number 14. As he built up a relationship with one of the best fan bases in sports, the Bills Mafia which never forgets. In January of 2022 when the Bills were at home for a playoff game against the hated Patriots, guess who was shirtless in the crowd with his sons rooting on the Bills.

Ryan Fitzpatrick was. The Bills won that game against their archrival that night. Fitzpatrick as an Amazon Prime analyst always shows the love of the Bills over the years. After one of the Thursday night games, Josh Allen met with the post-game show which included Fitzpatrick wearing one of his old number 14 jerseys. Then this past season Fitzpatrick went shirtless on the set after a Bills win during the post-game show.

That night Josh Allen was the guest once again and Fitzpatrick finished the show shirtless. So obviously Fitzmagic is a great pick for the Legend of Honors guest this weekend when the Bills will need that crowd pumped up and more versus a great Ravens team. The biggest question of the day: Will Fitzpatrick be firing up this crowd shirtless in single digit weather this Sunday night or will he be covered from his waist and up? If you’re a Bills fan, your pecking order of favorite QB all time might be Josh Allen Jim Kelly flipped either way at 1 and 2. I was not around for the 1960’s or the 70’s watching the Bills quarterback play back then. Number three could be Doug Flutie or Ryan Fitzpatrick. You could flip those two choices either way as well. We know Fitzpatrick pumping up the crowd will be legendary and “must see” television. If the Bills win, Fitzpatrick may be a staple at the Legend of the Game status for years to come. Let’s hope they do win. Nothing wrong with a little luck of the FITZMAGIC for the Buffalo Bills and the Mafia.