On a recent episode of Fitz & Whit, former Buffalo Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, or “Fitzmagic” as he’s often lovingly referred to, and Andrew Whitworth, a former offensive tackle who spent a combined 16 seasons in the NFL between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, sat down to discuss the best fan base in the league. As anyone could have guessed, Bills Mafia was brought up in the conversation.
Both Fitzpatrick and Whitworth were in Buffalo for the Bills’ Thursday Night Football game
against the Miami Dolphins (another team Fitzpatrick played for) and found plenty to chat about for their podcast. In reflecting on their Week 3 shenanigans, Fitzpatrick stated that they “threw out an invite” for anyone who wanted to show up, and Wayland Brewing Company in Orchard Park, NY offered up their venue as host of the event.
Between the DJ, amazing beverages, and over 1,000 people attending the event, not only did the guys have an incredible time, but Fitz also believes that Andrew Whitworth is now an official member of Bills Mafia. Whitworth also attended some Bills’ tailgates a few years back.
“I really feel that way,” Whitworth responded when Fitz told him that he thinks he’s even more ingrained in Bills Mafia. He continued, “I’ve had the bowling ball shot, I’ve had Pizza Pete’s grub, I’ve met Pinto Ron…we’re basically family. We just hang out in Hammer’s Lot. I think I have like a lifetime pass to Hammer’s Lot.”
Whitworth then gushed about their time at Wayland Brewing Company. “That was awesome. What a freakin’ showing,” he said excitedly. “I think it was 1,000 people or somewhere close. It was insane.” He then continued, “Here’s what I would say, Fitz, that I’m dealing with now this week. Going cheese curds in Green Bay and wings in Buffalo back-to-back weeks has been TOUGH on a brother’s cholesterol. Like I am scared to know what my cholesterol is right now.”
After laughing about that little quip and how much food he had eaten in the past few weeks, Fitzpatrick asks, “Why are wings so much better in Buffalo?” We don’t think anyone can disagree with that.
Whitworth also described his excitement after seeing an LSU Tigers “big Whit jersey” in the crowd on Thursday night. “I am family,” he proclaimed. “People brought a Whit jersey to the Buffalo Bills celebration. So that was pretty epic.”
One thing Whitworth is disappointed in is the fact that they didn’t record their time at Wayland. Former Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson was there, retired NFL cornerback Richard Sherman said a few words, television host and sportscaster Charissa Thompson and Bills’ play-by-play announcer Chris Brown also both attended and Ryan Fitzpatrick was tossing around some footballs to the fans.
Moving on, Fitz discussed what the atmosphere before the Bills-Dolphins game was like. “Our producer came in and said, ‘Hey, they’re doing a Fitz look-alike contest before the game and we’re gonna bring the three finalists in.‘ And they all were beautiful men.”
Whitworth’s Fitz look-alike apparently had “great attire” but as Whitworth stated, “He got confused on the kids vs. the teams but he brought it. He had the chains, he had the jacket. I thought he did a good job.” Ryan Fitzpatrick actually played for nine different NFL teams but the look-alike had stated it was seven.
Of course, you can’t talk about the Bills without mentioning their new stadium, and Fitz had a lot to say about it after taking a recent tour there. “When I tell you it is going to be so epic, it literally feels like the Roman Colosseum, fans are straight up and down —- not a bad seat in the house —- everybody’s right over the field,” he gleamed. “It’s gonna be grass. They got all the UV lighting, and the drainage, and the heaters, and all this special technology. The place is gonna be really loud, they’ve got the cantilevers that cover 60% of the seating, they’ve got all the snow melt figured out on the roofs and the stands, on the field, and how they’re gonna do that. It was really cool to see and the coolest part for me walking around was (Bills co-owner) Terry Pegula has his hands all over this thing. There’s a lot of different things that he was like, ‘You know this HAS to be outside, we HAVE to have grass, we’ve got to have all these little things’ — taking input from (general manager) Brandon Beane and from coach McDermott… I thought it was really neat to be a part of that.”
Fitzpatrick then added with a chuckle, “They’ve also upgraded the visitors’ locker. The visiting locker room in Buffalo was… I think they had two toilets.”
Whitworth then interjected, “Listen, you know that that’s disgraceful. The visiting locker room… it’s unbelievable. One toilet doesn’t even have a door, you can’t even do your business with the privacy of a door. It’s disgraceful.”
Both guys had a good laugh about the visiting locker room, but the part that Whitworth loved was being able to ride into the stadium with Bills LT Dion Dawkins. “I got to ride in with him, to the fans and the energy,” Whitworth said with a smile. “It was really special to see what life as a Buffalo Bill is like. What a cool stadium, sad to see it go, but I think the new one’s gonna be quite some memories.”
He then had some incredible things to say about the fans. “What a fan base, what a place to be a player and have success,” he stated. “I mean, I don’t know if there’s a better one in the league. If you’re at the high-end of when they’re achieving and winning… uh… just for the love of that place and for their players. That was really cool to get to ride in and see the love Dion got on his way in the stadium.”
Of course because it’s Ryan Fitzpatrick, he had to mention beards. He said that between Wednesday and Thursday night, they were able to see a lot of beards. “There might not be a better fan base in the NFL with beards,” Fitz stated. “In just all kinds of different colors and styles. I will say though, this might be the first week that we’re gonna to award ‘Co-Beards of the Week’ — I know you know the two guys I’m talking about.“
Continuing, Fitzpatrick explained, “I think they were actually on the main broadcast too. The guy with the Buffalo hat on and the whole getup. Buffalo shoulder pads. I don’t know what those things were but we had one guy look like Santa Claus and the other guy you can tell, he’s just been a Bills fan his whole life.” He added, “He’s really dedicated to the cause, that mustache is incredible. But the other guy, he’s gonna get me with the ‘poof’. He had to have taken a pick that morning and just poofed that thing out. And I guarantee you he plays Santa at a mall in December. He has to. It was too good, he has such a warm demeanor, and I didn’t get to ask him but I wonder if they are brothers or if they’re just buddies?”
They then put a picture up with their Co-Beard Award winners of the week for everyone to see. “You’re great Bills Mafia members and it was really great to get to spend some time with you guys on Wednesday and see you on Thursday during the game,” Fitz added.
You can watch the full clip below but we’d say that the Bills Mafia is Fitz’s and Whitworth’s favorite fan base. Wouldn’t you?
