Maybe I'm old fashion, but I find loyalty to be a very important quality. It means everything to me. If you are there through the good and bad times, you are A-OK in my book. I'm a pretty guarded person when I first meet someone and it takes me a while to warm up to you. However, once I feel you have earned my trust, I will pretty much do anything for you.
Loyalty for me starts with giving or getting a chance. From there, the trust and respect sets the foundation for our relationship. It is wanting for you to be able to believe in me which in essence, makes me believe in myself. I want to be able to raise my head high and just know everyone believes in me. Sure, you get knocked down on your ass from job to job or relationship to relationship to get that loyalty, but you dust yourself off and keep trying.
As viewing myself as someone with a chip on my shoulder because of confidence issues and wanting to prove everyone wrong, I know that if someone gives me a shot and shows confidence in me, I'll go through a wall for them because I'm hungry to please them. No matter how shitty that wall is, I'll go through it with all my heart. It is really boils down to remembering who was there for you when no one else may have accepted you to begin with.
We all know Ryan Fitzpatrick knows a thing or two about trying to be accepted.
It has been documented many times here how Fitz is such a great guy to root for. He's witty, he's been told multiple times he wasn't good enough, he's a leader, and he's just the type of guy you'd be happy to have your daughter bring home to meet the family.
Fitz's current home is what has brought him to this crossroad in his career. I'd be completely floored if the Bills decide to pay Fitz 10-million dollars this year. This isn't a franchise known to keep overpaying for someone who obviously has underachieved (Ignore Chris Kelsay). Drew Bledsoe was given the boot, not just because he couldn't play, but he had a 100-million dollar contract. Derek Dockery wasn't terrible, he just wasn't worth the money they paid him. Drayton Florence was cut and it was all about him not adding up to his 5-million salary.
Now, if it were up to me, I'd give Fitz his walking papers. You don't need two veteran QBs and possibly an incumbent (Rookie QB) to duke it out for one position. However, in terms of money, if you can get Fitz to restructure his deal and his salary for this year, I'm not thrilled with the prospect of him being here, but there are other things I can bitch about that are warranted.
Of course, when we start talking about restructuring or pay cuts, it takes two to tango and this is where Fitz's loyalty comes into place. Fitz is a bright guy. He knows that he's pretty much the garbage man who found the lotto ticket. He cashed in majorly because the Bills gave him a shot. They (Buddy and Chan) were loyal to him.
Their blindness in not bringing in sterner competition the past two years gave him complete carte blanche to be the main man. He's the guy who can say he was a starting NFL QB for three seasons and took home a nice pay raise. The Bills believed in a guy who wasn't suppose to get his chance in the NFL. Fitz was told he wasn't going to be any good and here he is.. a guy who has pocketed a nice cup of change and should have been working on Wall Street.
Maybe I'm a shill for a high moral story and I'm over football being a business as a cliche that can be used constantly, but loyalty from Fitz should come into play here. He's not worth 10-million bucks this year and is smart enough to know that. If he leaves, he won't be the clear cut starting QB for any of the other 31 teams. Maybe they will be the courtesy QB competition, but whether it is via restructure or taking a pay cut, he's not going to get close to the money he will receive from the Bills.
So, why not just stay?
Stay with the team that was loyal towards you. A team that gave you a chance and didn't throw you out when most fans believed you weren't good enough. Sure, the Bills may be making you do the walk of shame by being the backup and having to fight to start, but they did give you your first legit shot at being a starting QB.
Fitz needs to ask himself what Marv Levy said so many years ago…"Where else would your rather be?" The answer is simple for Fitz if given the choice: Stay with the franchise that took a chance on you and just bite the salary bullet.
Of course, loyalty is about acceptance and the question is whether the Bills would accept him back?
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