ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) — All you need is a beard, Bills Mafia spirit and no shirt. That's the uniform for the Ryan Fitzpatrick lookalike contest at Big Tree Inn.
"He's Buffalo and he gets it, he's just loved by all of us," said Therese Forton-Barnes, Grand Poobah of the Water Buffalo Club, who ran the contest.
They put the call out on social media, and word of the Fitzmagic spread very quickly.
Eric Jones made a sand sculpture of the man of the hour, and fans registered for their chance to win the contest.
"I think it's fantastic, this is a fulfillment of a lifelong dream ever since I knew Ryan Fitzpatrick was a thing," said Kevin Baker, of Ontario, New York.
Baker says he's constantly getting told he looks like Fitz.
"It's one of the only things I'm actually good at," said Baker.
David Wittmeyer got the nudge from his girlfriend.
"The chest hair matches," she told me.
"She's got a t-shirt that has him on it and our littler daughters think it's me on there," said Wittmeyer.
He calls Fitzpatrick a local legend who pushed us through the tough years.
Ryan Conaughty found out about the contest hours before it happened and says he never gets told he looks like Fitzpatrick. But he has some cred.
"When I met [Fitzpatrick], he took a picture with me and I was ready to run through a wall then. So where's the wall?" asked Conaughty.
The top 3 contestants got a Water Buffalo 716 hat, the winner got some other prizes, a gift certificate from Big Tree Inn, 97 Rock merch and some autographed memorabilia from Fitz himself.
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