Archives for September 2003

‘"As good as drafting McGahee was for the franchise, it obviously wasn’t going to be good for Olandis’ playing time, whenever Willis comes back," said Gary’s agent, Frank Murtha. "Olandis’ goal through all this was to go somewhere to get playing time. Detroit is an ideal situation. They have an immediate need."’

‘Cancer hasn’t killed Graves. If anything, it helped spring him back to life.’

‘Olandis Gary, we hardly knew you.’

‘In the three years since then, injuries and the Broncos’ ability to turn out productive running backs have worked against him. By the time he returned to health in 2002, the Broncos had uncovered two more productive runners — Mike Anderson and then-rookie Clinton Portis — and he became expendable.’

‘"Olandis Gary is a player we brought in in the off-season and considered signing him as a free agent. He’s a veteran who has played well in the league," Mariucci said.’

‘The Lions were desperate for a running back because starter James Stewart is expected to be out for six weeks with a dislocated right shoulder.’

‘The Bills already have an emerging star in the backfield in Travis Henry, a capable backup in fourth-year player Sammy Morris, and should be activating injured rookie first-round draft choice Willis McGahee later in the season.’

‘Buffalo parted ways with defensive ends Grant Irons and Marcus Jones, quarterback Jason Johnson, running back Ken Simonton, defensive back Scott Turner and wide receiver Rodney Wright.’

‘Gary has never been able to recapture that magical season and has been plagued by a number of injuries that led to his exodus from Denver.’

So, which teams will leverage their last-place schedules into a breakthrough season? The most likely candidates are a pair of 8-8 teams from the competitive AFC East and AFC West Divisions. Buffalo, at 8-8, was last in the AFC East, while Kansas City was 8-8, last in the AFC West. Some experts feel they both have the opportunity to execute an instant replay of the Baltimore Ravens, who went 8-8 in 1999, then won SB XXXV the next year.

The funny thing? Because they both finished last, the Bills and Chiefs play each other in one of their two positional games. In the parity-leavened NFL, that Oct. 26 game could be the difference.

On the trade for RB Olandis Gary: “Olandis Gary was a player that we brought in during the off-season and considered signing him as a free agent acquisition. He’s a veteran, he’s played in the league and he’s played well. Given the health of our situation at tailback, a trade was a possibility so we pursued it. Matt (Millen) worked on it for the last day or two and ended up getting it done. He gives us another veteran back on board. Shawn Bryson is really the only other one that’s played a little bit. Avon Cobourne is a rookie and we don’t know quite how long James will be out so we felt to sure up that situation a little bit, adding a back like Olandis Gary gives us a bit of a security blanket there.”