The odd couple

Are we all in agreement that teammates go out together after games?

Of course they do.

It’s a proven way to develop camaraderie and friendship. Jim Kelly’s house parties were legendary when he was the starter. Players would go in droves and bond and just have fun. Now, picture all the parties or night life festivities that the current Bills squad probably attend. Let your imagination run wild. You can picture which players are hanging out. You can picture them eating nat Buffalo Chophouse or going through their dollar bills at the Canadian Ballet (I kid).

Now, picture Ryan Fitzpatrick and Stevie Johnson in a Night at the Roxbury kind of moment..soak it in.

OK, you chuckled a little bit, didn’t you?

You can not find an odder couple. Flutie and Moulds used to play basketball together. Kelly and Reed are peanut butter and jelly. JP Losman and Lee Evans had a bromance going on. When you think of these duos, I can’t help but think that these are all alpha-male type of guys. However, with Stevie and Fitz, I don’t picture frats or a tough guy image. You couldn’t get two guys who were any more different off the field. Let’s be honest, and this is coming from someone who really likes Fitz, he is kind of a nerd.

Think I’m being harsh?

Well, #13 happens to agree with me. I mean, Fitzpatrick is such a dorky name, and to top it off, he went to Harvard. Sorry, but when the nerd from Facebook is the coolest dude who went to that institution of higher learning, enough said.

NERD!

Then you got Stevie Johnson. Not to get all, how I should I put it? US Weekly or Access Hollywood type, but he has the “It” factor. From one guy who knows how to dress (not ashamed to say it), he’s get the style thing down. He’s a cool dude who is down-to-earth and very popular. He’s the guy who makes the media rounds on Jim Rome and ESPN. If you say Buffalo Bills in a bar in Omaha, Nebraska, after the natives talk about OJ, Super Bowls and Jim Kelly, eventually, they will get to Stevie. In the (716), where we want the rest of America to know who we are when it comes to our sports teams, Stevie’s popularity is soaring as he’s the face of the Bills franchise today. He’s on WGR and he’s just the type of personality who is going to get a lot of love.

What makes this partnership so ideal is that even though on the surface both guys seem so different, once you peel away at their personalities like an orange, they are pretty similar. Both players had to claw and scratch their way to start in the NFL. Both guys were lucky to even be drafted. I think coming from obscurity to being the focal points of the Bills may have something to do with their bond. When all that hoopla was going down in April about whether the Bills should draft a QB or not, Stevie had Fitz’s back. He didn’t want Cam or Blaine. He wanted his QB, the guy he practiced with on the scout team when nobody cared about them.

I have this vision of 2009 when both these guys were an afterthought. I wonder if during training camp, both guys would just watch the first team offense and see Edwards complete a pass to T.O. or Evans. No one cared about these two guys. I wonder if there was ever a moment when Fitz or Stevie looked at each other and said, “You know what? One day, that is going to be us.”

You know, the classic Rudy tells the janitor guy that he’s going to run out that tunnel and prove to everyone who said that he couldn’t make it at Notre Dame, that he can.

I gotta say, if this team..gulp…really makes an impact this year, it’s going to be special to root for two guys who just seem like great people, who have such a great story. Hey, we all love the underdog story. Normally, I couldn’t care less if the team was likable. Win us games, fools!!

However, the element of surprise can really change the mindset of the fan. Maybe the 11 years of losing has me looking at different viewpoints, but you know what? While the team is 1-0, I’m going to marvel in it, damn it!!! (I’ll save the flame thrower for later.)

Whenever you hear both of these guys speak, I always come away thinking that they’re so down-to-earth and very likable. I have to say, when Stevie was on WGR this past week, he really blew me away with how happy he seemed with life. He even brought his entire family to the studio. Who the hell does that?

He’s living the dream right now, and why shouldn’t he be? That’s what makes this Bills squad kind of unique. They are a bunch of nobodies. From their coach to their QB to their WR.

You can tell by the way fans and media marvel at their personalities that there is an endearing quality to these guys that makes you not even think about how one guy was heading to Wall Street while the other guy used to rap. They both mix well together without the element of realizing who they are on the outside. The true underdog story. Two guys who, a year ago, were nothing more than benchwarmers. Now, the two guys who couldn’t start last year are very close to warming the hearts of Bills fans.