By Tim Schmitt
ORCHARD PARK — The saddest thing about Sunday’s season finale at Ralph Wilson Stadium is how wintery conditions could have made any meaningful game simply magical.
Slick turf meant tacklers had to recalculate their angles. Thick snowflakes moving vertically added the challenge of finding yard markers and the out-of-bounds stripes. Watching players and fans try to stay warm through a series of jumping jacks, beverages and ear muffs added further drama. And comedy.
It had all the makings of a playoff masterpiece, or could have transformed a pivotal late-season clash of AFC titans into one the grandkids would eventually ask about.
Instead, as has been the case for what seems like an eternity in these parts, the Bills didn’t have much to play for.
Aside from Fred Jackson.
People in Buffalo know all about Jackson’s rise from a Division III kid at Coe College through stints with the Sioux City Bandits of the United Indoor Football League and the Rhein Fire of NFL Europa, and into a surprisingly vital role with the Bills.
Few others do, however, aside from the fine he garnered by touting his D-III pride in eye black. Most around the league have been patiently waiting for Marshawn Lynch to reclaim the starting job he gave up through suspension, and while Jackson’s story seems syrupy enough, it hasn’t had much national clout.
But just maybe, in a game only made meaningful by the weather it was played in, Jackson might finally get some of his due.
With a sweep around left end that went for 20 yards, Jackson became the 11th Bill to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. He finished with 212 yards on the day, making him just one of six players in franchise history to turn that trick.
And while it wasn’t the kind of magic season-ticket holders had in mind when the year started, when a team galvanizes around a single cause — and getting Jackson past the milestone was a common theme in postgame interviews — it makes the game seem somewhat worthwhile.
“That was the goal, and I thought the offense did a nice job. The offensive line, I’ve got to give them a lot of credit, they wanted to block for him,” interim coach Perry Fewell said. “(Ryan Fitzpatrick) wanted to block for him. Terrell (Owens) wanted to block for him. Lee (Evans) wanted to block for him.”
Unfortunately, Jackson’s accomplishments have been tarnished by his team’s inability to get him into an important game. In last year’s purposeless finale against New England, Jackson rolled off 136 yards on 27 carries. It was the only time he got more than a dozen rushes all season.
And the lone time Jackson was given more than 20 carries this year — against Tampa Bay in Week 2 — he had his only 100-yard game of the season, finishing with 163 yards on 28 carries.
When the Bills ride Jackson, he usually takes them somewhere. Unfortunately, they’ve rarely given him a chance to be a workhorse. Or a reason to even need a workhorse.
Jackson rarely complains, keeping his nose to the proverbial grindstone while deflecting praise. On his few trips to the postgame podium, he’s made sure to mention the camaraderie he and Lynch share. And he’s rarely gloated about personal stats, even if they’ve often been better than anyone expected.
The same went for Sunday, when his 212 rushing yards put him on a short list of single-game Bills outings that include O.J. Simpson, Cookie Gilchrist and Thurman Thomas.
“I think more than anything, it’s (about) the win today,” he said. “A lot of guys can feed off of this and going into the offseason, with so much speculation into what’s going to happen, it was good to go out and get a win as a team.”
Fred Jackson’s 1,000-yard season and his 212-yard game make for a feel-good story. In another era, at a time when the franchise was challenging for division crowns, it might be a feel-great story.
Unfortunately, fans have lost most all their feeling.
Contact sports editor Tim Schmitt at 282-2311, ext. 2266.
