‘This was early in the Buffalo Bills’ training camp. A well-known football annual had reached the newsstands and it was the talk of the St. John Fisher campus. The magazine included a feature story that rated all 31 NFL teams by units. The Buffalo defense, which had finished No. 1 in the league less than six months before, was ranked 16th in the story. The defensive backfield, which lost two starters, was rated 26th, somewhat understandable. But the linebacking, with three young starters returning, got a rating of 23. The most startling number was the 28th ranking, just three from the bottom, awarded to the defensive line. "I read it to our defensive guys," said Ted Cottrell, their coordinator. "They were angry. Really mad."’