Bonding in Buffalo

By Ed Klajman, correspondent

TORONTO – The Buffalo Bills' road from NFL doormat to playoff contender heads straight through the heart of Iowa.

The team re-claimed first-place in the AFC East Sunday, following a 23-0 win over the Washington Redskins. Both of the team's touchdowns were scored by former Hawkeye tight end Scott Chandler, who now has six touchdown catches in seven games, tying the franchise record for most TDs by a tight end in a season. Meanwhile, Coe College grad Fred Jackson ran for 120 yards and had three catches for another 74. He became the first Buffalo running back since 2005 to collect five 100-yard rushing games in a season.

With nine games left to play, if both players remain healthy, they should end the campaign with a bushel load of season records between them – and possibly some playoff records too if the Bills keep playing this well.

“It's exciting – it's news to me,” Chandler said after the game, when told about his accomplishment. “That's something that's really fun to hear and hopefully we can continue to break records as a team. That would be the most important thing.”

Chandler and Jackson have become good friends, with much in common besides their Iowa connection. They're among the most unlikely of NFL stars. Chandler was drafted by the Chargers 129th overall in the fourth round of the 2007 NFL draft but was waived by the team in April of 2009. Coming into this season he'd had all of one catch for eight yards in his NFL career.

And yet that's a much bigger pedigree than Jackson had at the start of his professional career. Undrafted out of Coe, a Division III school, he played third-tier Arena Football and then went to play in Europe before finally getting a chance with the Bills.

“Fred wasn't getting quite the fans at his games that I was,” Chandler joked about how their collegiate experiences in Iowa were quite different. “He's probably had a tougher road to get where he's at than anybody in the league. I haven't had the easiest road either. I just think we're able to bond over that fact. And our wives are both from Iowa so they're able to get along and that works out great.”

Jackson's NFL debut came here against Washington in 2007. Sunday's game marked the first time the franchises had played in Canada since then, which was not lost on the 30-year-old.

“I thought about it a lot yesterday (Saturday) actually. It's kind of coming full circle,” said Jackson, who passed the 3,500-yard mark in career rushing Sunday, and now also has more than 5,000 yards from scrimmage in his 63 NFL games. “It's one of those things that I always felt if I got the opportunity to get touches, I felt like I can do some things with the ball. Every time I step on the field I say I've got to have a great game to help us win this football game. I try and help in any way I can, whether it be running the ball, receiving, I feel like I need to make plays to help us win.”

He's also a team leader in the locker room. His unlikely route to NFL stardom commands respect – so much that it's a common sight to see Bills' players wearing a special t-shirt. The front reads “Jackson 22” while the back refers to Jackson's time at “D3” Coe with the phrase: “Reppin' The Nation D3: Pledge Your Allegiance.”

The 6-foot-1, 215-pounder said he thinks about his long journey to the NFL “all the time,” explaining that “it's what keeps me motivated.”

He also said his personal history is a perfect fit for the Bills.

“It's a group of guys – unheralded out of college, so to speak. We've got seventh-round draft picks in Stevie (Johnson) and Fitzie (Ryan Fitzpatrick). We've got undrafted guys like myself, David Nelson, Donald Jones – all guys that have had to work and produce to get where they are. As a team, we're doing some tremendous things.”

 Another reason Jackson is so respected by his teammates is that despite being among the top five rushers in the league this season he refuses to rest on his laurels.

“I'll go back and look at film. I'm sure I missed some cuts today. I should have broken some tackles. I'm the hardest critique of myself when I go watch film,” said the two-time Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference MVP for the Kohawks, who added the Bills may be doing well now, and that the playoffs are a realistic goal, but it's premature to be talking too much about the post-season.

“We've got a tough road ahead of us. November's going to be a tough month for us,” he said.

Whatever happens, Jackson said he wants people in Cedar Rapids to join him for the ride.

“Keep watching. I'm trying to put Coe College on the map. Hopefully I'll continue to play well.”