Lancaster native 'Buffalo Joe' Andreessen makes Bills initial 53-man roster

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Lancaster native and former UB Bull Joe Andreessen's childhood dream has come true, making the Buffalo Bills initial 53-man roster ahead of the 2024 NFL season.

Andreessen's unlikely path to the NFL began at Lancaster High School, where he led the Legends to some of their best seasons in program history. He then went to Bryant University for five years before finishing his collegiate career at the University at Buffalo. After a strong season with the Bulls, Andreessen earned a tryout with the Bills as an undrafted free agent in May and eventually signed with the team a few days later.

In the preseason Andressen shined, especially against the Steelers with a dominant 12-tackle performance. The game put Andressen on the map and some serious momentum toward making the roster.

"He was going against NFL starters," said Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich following the game. "It's really cool to see. I think you see the professionalism, how smart he is and obviously he showed some things in that game. But it's just one game. The true sign of a pro is consistency."

Andressen followed up his big game against the Steelers with another strong outing against the Panthers with eight tackles. After the game, much of the focus was on his future fate, where Andreessen explained what the last few months have been like for him.

"I've been working my whole life for this," Andreessen said. "I've sacrificed a lot of time towards football, not just me, my family as well, and it's been a blessing and hopefully it continues."

While it may be lofty to expect Andreessen to earn a significant amount of snaps on defense right away, he has the potential to become a key special teams contributor. Andreessen's willingness to do anything he can to help the team has been clear from the start and now that he's on the team that will only grow.

"(Being in the NFL) has always been something that felt so far away that was never going to come true in a way," Andreessen said. "So, when I finally got here, it's just football at the end of the day, it's similar to the football I've done in the past, so it was nothing different once I got here, just glad that I'm finally here."