AJ Blum remembers the first time he saw Ed Oliver play football: a pick-up game as a seventh grader.

"There was a big dude running around with his shirt off and he was the running back, he was the quarterback, he was every player on defense,” said Blum. “Just to see him run around, his competitive nature is what stood out. Seventh grader, wouldn't stop talking trash, but at the same time was backing it up. It was like, ‘OK, this kid has got something in his neck.’"

A few years later, Blum was Oliver's defensive coordinator at Westfield High School, where the defensive lineman stood out again — so much so that the "Ed Oliver Rule" was born at practice.

"The offense needs to know what they can do and they also need to know that they're not going to be playing an eraser that plays in the middle of the field and goes sideline to sideline. So it went from a butt chewing session to it turned into the 'Ed Oliver Rule' because it originally was, Corby Meekins who was the head coach, would just turn to me and be like, 'Get him out. Get him out,’" said Blum.

It's a rule Blum saw carried over to the University of Houston, where he was Oliver's defensive line coach, continuing a connection the Bills rookie credits for in a big way for his football success.

"He's probably 49%. Not 50%, but 49% of why I'm the player I am today as far as a father figure, a coach, an uncle, a guy I can go to for advice. Just embodies what it means to be a coach on and off the field. I can remember him taking me down to U of H to go watch the spring practices and him staying and doing extra with me just to make sure I was prepared. He has a lot to do with the reason why I'm here in this position right now,” said Oliver.

Oliver came looking to Blum for advice again midway through his rookie year, a conversation driven by something Blum's never heard from Oliver before: doubt, as the ninth overall pick had just one sack through his first 10 professional games, losing his starting job.

"If you know Ed you know that getting a call or a text from him is sometimes rare. So when I came off the practice field and I had two missed calls from Ed I was somewhat concerned. So I talked to him about it. We just kind of just chopped it up about the whole situation and where he was mentally. What was going on, what he was fighting with. And at the end of the day I just told him, 'Let's not forget what got you to the NFL. You are a dynamic disruptor. It's what you do. Let's not forget that.’ You know I just think it was a culmination of maybe not the pressure, but not wanting to not do his job. But the conversation was just cut loose. It was cut loose. ‘What are we talking about, man? What got you here is what's going to keep you here,’" said Blum.

The words struck true, with Oliver finishing with five sacks on the season.

A season now playoff bound where it all began for AJ Blum and Ed Oliver: Houston.