On the day that he lost his job as quarterback of the Bills, Ryan Fitzpatrick said the reason was simple: The NFL is a results business, and the Bills didn’t get results during his four seasons in Buffalo.
Asked on WGR 550 whether he has any regrets about his tenure in Buffalo, Fitzpatrick said he feels badly not only about losing his own job, but about not being able to save the job of the head coach who put so much faith in him, Chan Gailey.
“I don’t know if regret is the right word, but the biggest thing is the fact that we didn’t get it done the last few years,” Fitzpatrick said. “With Chan, his whole staff being let go after the season. That was a guy that gave so many people on this roster right now opportunities to play and to shine and guys have stepped up and took advantage of opportunities. The fact that we weren’t able to win, not only to win for the city of Buffalo because they certainly deserve it, but for a man like Chan, that’s probably something I was most disappointed that I couldn’t do a better job of that, a better job of bringing in more wins for a guy that put a lot of faith in me.”
Still, Fitzpatrick said there were good times as well, particularly the win over the Patriots in Week Three of the 2011 season, which made the Bills 3-0.
“I’ve got so many good memories,” Fitzpatrick said. “The first one playing wise that popped in my head is when we beat New England and just kind of the way the fans had reacted to that victory. The fever within Buffalo, I mean all that was really cool.”
Fitzpatrick also talked about his “FitzScream” after beating the Raiders in Week Two of 2011.
“That was just pure and utter joy. That was, I don’t know, unbridled enthusiasm,” Fitzpatrick said.
Unfortunately, after the unbridled enthusiasm of the Bills’ 3-0 start in 2011, they lost 20 of their next 28 games. That’s what led to Ryan Fitzpatrick’s downfall.