Archives for May 9, 2003

The Bills are the greatest team from the greatest city in America. I joined the fans as a six-year old in 1965. I was the youngest child of a Montana family that moved around a bit, Buffalo was home for a while and the Bills made it stay my home, thirty years after leaving. Thanks to the Bills, Western New York has much more to cheer about. The team and the city will always have a special spot, a very large spot in my heart.

‘Berman recalled how when the Bills got on the clock during draft day, he would become uncannily accurate in his prediction of their selection. "The best part was it took Mr. (Ralph) Wilson, the owner of the Bills, about seven years to figure it out. It confounded him," Berman said. When asked about his success in picking Buffalo’s top choice, Berman had a stock answer. "All I would say is that I was in Buffalo recently and a cab driver told me," he said. Berman said it was Butler’s way of putting one over on the owner.’

‘Levy recognized that Butler could be a demanding administrator. “Yes, he demanded excellence,” Levy said. “He demanded it in himself and he inspired it in others. John was a magnificent leader if being a leader is the ability to get other people to get the best out of themselves. Not by getting them to follow you, but by getting them to join you.”‘

‘As Marv Levy, a Hall of Fame Coach that took the Buffalo Bills to four Super Bowls with Butler, said, "What kind of a man is John Butler? John Butler lives on. His legacy inspires us," Levy said.’

The Buffalo Bills Youth Foundation Flag Football Tournament will be held on Saturday, June 7 and Sunday, June 8 between 7 AM and 8 PM. The tournament games are played on the Buffalo Bills grass practice field behind Ralph Wilson Stadium.

‘“He was devoted to the four F’s — family, friends, football and food,” Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy said Thursday at a memorial service…“What kind of a man is John Butler? And the reason I ask, is because John Butler lives on. His legacy inspires us,” Levy said.’