After putting on quite a performance in Baltimore last week, Ryan Fitzpatrick, in the eyes of at least some fans, has emerged as possibly being “the guy” to lead the Buffalo Bills out of the losing wilderness they’ve been in for a decade. The Bills’ front office, and coach Chan Gailey, have to be pleased with the way the entire offense has improved since Fitzpatrick took the reins from Trent Edwards. Whether or not the team gets the top pick in the draft, and whether they decide to use that pick to draft a “franchise” quarterback or not, will depend on how the rest of this season plays out. In fact, the remainder of the season will pretty much make the decision for them. If they wind up with the top pick, it will mean that Fitz’s play leveled out as the season went on, and he looks like the “career backup” that is the description that he’s had up to this point. If he continues to improve and the offense thrives and the team starts to win, it’ll mean that the draft pick the team winds up with won’t be a top 5 pick anyway, so the front office can concentrate on finding some impact defensive players. There’s also the possibility that the offense thrives, Fitzpatrick puts a stranglehold on the starting job, and the defense continues to be awful, resulting in a lot of 38-35 losses, and the Bills still wind up with the NFL’s worst record. In that case, the scouts will need to find the next Bruce Smith instead of the next Jim Kelly, or they could trade the pick to accumulate extra picks to shore up the roster. Fitzpatrick, a Harvard graduate who certainly is intelligent enough to run an NFL offense, has had ups and downs since regaining the starting job he actually won last year, but one thing is certain. His play has raised the level of play of the rest of his offensive teammates. Since he has been put in the lineup, the play of the offensive line has been better – or has he made them look better by making better decisions, getting rid of the ball quicker and avoiding sacks? The receiving corps, which looked weak at the start of the season, is suddenly making all kinds of plays. Lee Evans had one of his most productive games in years at Baltimore, Roscoe Parrish’s speed and talents are being utilized again and Stevie Johnson, who looked lost at the start of the year, is an emerging star. David Nelson has made big plays in limited playing time, and even the tight ends have been used in the offense – something the Bills never seem to do. The running game, expected to be the featured part of the offense, has been effective when used, and should be even better when opponents have to respect the pass. Even with an 0-6 record, the rest of the season will be interesting in Buffalo as the Ryan Fitzpatrick story plays out.
Fitzpatrick’s situation got me to thinking about players throughout the NFL’s history who’ve risen from obscurity to stardom at the QB position over the years. For every top draft pick superstar like Terry Bradshaw, Troy Aikman and Phil Simms, there’s a rags to riches story like Jim Plunkett, Rich Gannon, John Unitas or Mark Rypien, players who came off the scrap heap, or were considered “career backups”, who made the most of an opportunity to lead a team to a championship. There are 2 examples from the 1960s that mirror Fitzpatrick’s NFL career so far.
In the mid-1950s the NFL draft was 20+ rounds long, and Bart Starr was an afterthought 17th round draft pick out of Alabama in 1956 by Green Bay. When Vince Lombardi took over the Packers in 1959, he played Babe Parilli and Lamar McHan at QB with mixed results, and threw Starr in occasionally but was unimpressed with his play. Starr wasn’t a physically gifted athlete and was on the shy side. His best asset was intelligence, and when Lombardi tired of the mental mistakes being made by the other QBs, he gave Starr his opportunity, then committed to him as the permanent starter. Five championships, and 6 title appearances in 8 years, were Lombardi’s reward for trusting in Starr.
Dr. Frank Ryan, a PHD in mathematics, kicked around the NFL for 4 years as the Rams’ backup QB before being traded to Cleveland in 1962. Ryan, like Starr known for his smarts rather than his athletic ability and considered a reserve QB at best, was acquired by the Browns to back up starter Jim Ninowski. But when Ninowski broke his collarbone Ryan was forced into the lineup. He slowly gained the confidence of his teammates and the coaching staff and wound up keeping the starting job for 6 years before being forced to retire because of injuries. He threw for 25 touchdowns with 13 interceptions in 1963, and in ’64, led the NFL in TD passes and guided the Browns to a surprise 27-0 win over Don Shula’s heavily-favored Baltimore Colts in the league title game.
Bart Starr (left) and Frank Ryan.
