Joseph Andreessen (born February 7, 2000) is an American professional football

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, pl ...

for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He played college football for the

Bryant Bulldogs The Bryant Bulldogs are the athletic teams representing Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island. As of July 1, 2022, the Bulldogs compete in most National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I sports as members of the America E ...

before playing his final year for the

Buffalo Bulls The Buffalo Bulls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University at Buffalo (UB) in Buffalo, New York. The Bulls compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I level as a member of Mid-Am ...

Early life and college career

A native of the

Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area The Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area is a metropolitan area, designated by the United States Census Bureau, encompassing two counties — Erie and Niagara in Western New York. It has a population of almost 1.2 million peo ...

, Andreessen played little league football before playing for Lancaster High School, where he was noted for his work ethic and won numerous accolades, including Defensive Player of the Year in Western New York. He enrolled at

Bryant University Bryant University is a private university in Smithfield, Rhode Island. It has two colleges, the College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Business, and is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. History Butler Ex ...

, the only school to offer him a football scholarship, before transferring to his hometown

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 1 ...

as a graduate transfer. In his final year at Bryant, Andreessen was named an All-American after setting a school record with 112 tackles, ranking 8th in the FCS in 2022, and finishing third in career tackles in Bryant Bulldogs history. He then started 12 games for Buffalo the following year, leading the Bulls in tackles.

Professional career

After going undrafted in the

2024 NFL Draft The 2024 NFL Draft will be the 89th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players. The draft is scheduled to be held in Detroit, Michigan. Host city Detroit was chosen as the host city on March 28 ...

, Andreessen was signed by his hometown

on May 11, 2024, after a successful rookie minicamp tryout. Andressen started the second game of the preseason after

Matt Milano Matthew Vincent Milano (born July 28, 1994) is an American football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Boston College. College career Milano attended and played college footbal ...

and

Terrel Bernard Terrel Bernard (born May 7, 1999) is an American football linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Baylor. Early life and high school Bernard grew up in La Porte, Texas and attended ...

were sidelined due to injury and precaution, respectively. Playing against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

' starters and second-stringers, he had a strong performance, finishing with a team-high 12 tackles, including two tackles for loss, one of which was a fourth-down sack of

Justin Fields Justin Skyler Fields (born March 5, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). Following a stint with Georgia, he played college football at Ohio State, where he twice won Graham– ...

. Quarterback

Josh Allen Josh or Joshua Allen may refer to: * Josh Allen (offensive lineman) (born 1991), former American football player * Josh Allen (quarterback) (born 1996), American football quarterback in the NFL for the Buffalo Bills since 2018 * Josh Allen (defen ...

nicknamed Andreessen "Buffalo Joe" following the performance, also paying homage to the latter's upbringing in Buffalo. Andreessen was named to the NFL's "All Preseason team" for his play in the preseason, later making the Bills' initial 53-man roster alongside fellow UB alumnus

Ja'Marcus Ingram Ja'Marcus Ingram (born September 2, 1997) is an American professional football cornerback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Utah State Aggies, later transferring to Texas Tech before ...

. Andreessen's number 44 has historically only rarely been issued to players, being reserved (but not retired) in honor of

Elbert Dubenion Elbert Dubenion (February 16, 1933 – December 26, 2019) was an American football wide receiver and running back who spent his entire nine-season professional career with the Buffalo Bills of the American Football League. He played college fo ...

, a key contributor during the Bills'

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...

era; the number has historically been only used in the preseason and granted to players not expected to make a regular season roster. Andreessen played mostly on special teams in his rookie season, occasionally playing defensive snaps as a reserve. He received extensive playing time during a week 17 blowout win over the New York Jets, finishing as the Bills' leading tackler in the game.

References

External links

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Bryant Bulldogs bioBuffalo Bulls bioBuffalo Bills bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andreessen, Joe 2000 births Living people American football linebackers Players of American football from Erie County, New York Bryant Bulldogs football players Buffalo Bulls football players Buffalo Bills players