It’s rare that one NFL team sends a gift to another, but a hard-fought Buffalo Bills win deserved a hearty meal. Sharing a story from his New York Jets head coaching days, Rex Ryan says he received a token of appreciation from Mike Tomlin and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I got a little story. We actually beat the Miami Dolphins when I was with the Jets to get [Pittsburgh] in the playoffs,” Ryan said Sunday morning on ESPN NFL Countdown. “Mike Tomlin sent a million of those things over there. I only had like, six.”
The only correction to Ryan’s story worth noting is that it didn’t appear to have occurred while he was with the New York Jets. Instead, it seems like this happened when he coached the Buffalo Bills in 2015. That year, Pittsburgh was fighting for a Wild Card spot heading into its regular-season finale. The Steelers handled business with a 28-12 win over the Cleveland Browns but needed help from Buffalo to clinch a spot. The 7-8 Bills had no playoff hopes but played spoiler, beating the 10-5 Jets, 22-17. Pittsburgh and New York finished with 10-6 records and the Steelers held the tiebreaker.
For the assist, the Bills’ organization experienced the joy of French fries and coleslaw on capicola. As the original story goes, the sandwiches were invented in Pittsburgh to make it easy for truckers to eat on the go, being able to hold the sandwich in one hand instead of having separate portions for fries and slaw.
Pittsburgh went on to beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 18-16, in a thrilling Wild Card Round game before falling to eventual Super Bowl champions Denver Broncos, 23-16, in the Divisional Round.
It’s a fun story that shows the fraternity of NFL coaches and teams. Despite the other 31 clubs being adversaries on any given week, the coaching circle is small and there’s mutual respect between anyone who holds the title. Pittsburgh appreciated the win, and Buffalo appreciated the free lunch.
