Archives for June 9, 2002

‘The French Open is next, but the big sports news: The Buffalo Bills have new uniforms, unveiled yesterday. New aggressive, and there’s the new secret weapon. We’re going back to the Super Bowl. Drew Bledsoe, bring it home one time.’

‘Despite filing a logo for trademark – a “B” folded into the head of a buffalo – the team did not include it. The Bills remain one of only 9 NFL teams to feature jersey numbers on the sides of their shoulders instead of on the tops of them. Many teams have put numbers on the tops so they can include a secondary logo on the sides. The fact remains that the Bills have a secondary logo registered to them, but have decided not to use it.’

"The hemorrhaging hasn’t quite stopped yet," said agent Jack Wirth, who represents Jay Riemersma, the Buffalo tight end whose continued tenure with the franchise remains an iffy proposition. "There still could be a little more blood before camp."

Complete coverage of Saturday's unveiling: video, audio, photos, uniforms for sale, etc.

On this morning's "Meet the Press" program on NBC, host and Buffalo native TIM RUSSERT closed the show by holding up his brand new Bills jersey, a dark blue home version.

The Rhein Fire will play in World Bowl X after beating the Galaxy 3-0 in front of an NFLEL-record crowd of 58,572 in Frankfurt’s Waldstadion. Curtis Alexander had 15 carries for 69 yards plus 3 catches for 17 yards in a defensive battle between top rated Rhein Fire and Frankfurt Galaxy. Backup QB Hendricks was able to make only 9 completions in 30 attempts, many of them overthrown, underthrown (including one of the receptions to Alexander who dived for the catch) or otherwise off target. World Bowl X will be an all German matchup..

‘"I enjoyed the whole time I was in Buffalo," he said. "The owner made a decision. He’s allowed to do that. The disappointment for me was I still wanted to be there. I had a successful career going, and it got derailed. I did a good job and won a lot of games. I’d still rather be the head coach of the Buffalo Bills."’

‘The Texas A&M product weighed between 285 and 290 pounds and saw limited action in seven games as a rookie. He’s up to 305 pounds at the team’s minicamp this week.’

The Bills unveiled their new uniforms during a rally Saturday at Ralph Wilson Stadium. While the traditional red helmet and charging buffalo logo remain unchanged, the team will be sporting new navy blue uniforms trimmed in red, silver and royal blue for the 2002 season. Picture is shown of Jim Kelly holding the jersey with his son Hunter’s name on it.

‘So the idea is to pound the football. Travis Henry is a pounder, although not in the mold of Bettis, so Huntley may be the second prong of a two-pronged pound attack, just as he was for a while in Pittsburgh.’

‘"It gives us a more aggressive, dynamic look on the field, but it doesn’t drastically alter the look," Donahoe said. "Everyone in this building recognizes the great tradition of the Buffalo Bills. We didn’t want to change the logo. We even dipped back into the history of the franchise and added some gray."’

“Belichick does a great job with the fundamental teachings that has to go on throughout the whole team — special teams, defense and offense,” says Buffalo’s Williams. “It’s the way he gets them all playing under one roof, the way he gets them to all play together.”

‘An hour after the unveiling, a long line snaked outside the team store at the stadium.’

‘Dark navy blue, vivid red, a touch of royal blue, some eye-catching silver, a white road jersey with navy on the shoulders, red helmet with new stripe and same charging buffalo logo. Old yet new. In the words of Dolce & Gabbana, "Me likey."’