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Ryan Fitzpatrick made a promise and fulfilled it on Thursday
Speaking on the QB Room podcast that morning, he promised to host (and Bills backup QB Kyle Allen) that he would bare his chest if current starter Josh Allen showed passion during the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers later that night.
Fitzpatrick said:
“...I want to see him fired up on the sideline. I don’t want to see him just sitting there, even after a good play. He’s just become a little too calm for me and calm is like not Josh. That’s not where he needs to be. Just get the guy fired up a little bit.
“I would love to see ( Josh Allen) run somebody over and give a first down signal. And chest bump a lineman and just see the Bills fans go crazy and I will take my shirt off on set.”
Come the night, the Bills won 24-18, with Allen throwing for two touchdowns against an interception. And as promised, Fitzpatrick shed his coat and shirt, then chest-bumped the team mascot and hugged Allen:
Recalling the last time Ryan Fitzpatrick went shirtless in Buffalo
Surely, Ryan Fitzpatrick loves Buffalo and the Bills very much. It was there that he had the longest stretch of his 17-year journeyman career - 2009 to 2012, although all those seasons ended in last-place finishes in the AFC East.
And shortly before he retired, he got to repay that faith by attending their 2021-22 Wild Card game against the New England Patriots. At some point during the rout (the Bills won), he shed his shirt:
Fitzpatrick would later recall the experience on Adam Schefter's podcast:
“We flew up that day, went to the game, and the whole time from the car through the parking lot to the game my boys were like, 'We’re taking our shirts off, dad.' I was like, 'OK, it’s negative-3 out, just relax.' It was after the seventh touchdown. It was such an amazing energy and feeling in that stadium, I felt like it was time. Me and my boys threw the shirts off.
“I lasted maybe three or four minutes, and after about 10 minutes I had to tell my boys to put the clothes back on because the frostbite was coming soon. It was a great experience and one to share with my boys I’ll never forget."
The Harvard graduate holds the NFL record for most passing yards and touchdown passes without ever making the playoffs.
