Archives for December 2003

‘The top song in the country for the second straight week was I’m Sorry by Brenda Lee.’

‘”I think it makes all the sense in the world,” Miller said. “You’d replace one familiar voice with another familiar voice, and I know that Murph will do a fantastic job.”‘

‘”It is bedlam. It is pandemonium. It is fandemonium.”‘

‘How many people are surprised to learn that the Bills aren’t going to the Super Bowl, Tom Donahoe is not the NFL’s version of Red Auerbach, Drew Bledsoe is not a better quarterback than Tom Brady, and Bill Belichick is not an idiot? Come on, now. Honestly.’

‘The Bills said Bledsoe passed all neurological tests, including National Football League baseline testing. “The pros are paid incredible amounts of money to do what they do, and the quarterback is the team leader, but the brain is a bit unique compared to the knees and back,” said Cantu. “There’s just no question you should not be playing with a brain injury.”‘

‘Patriots fans frequently heard how Bledsoe’s problems were the result of a shaky offensive line, or the loss of Curtis Martin, or the decline of Ben Coates, or the play-calling of Perkins/Kennan/Zampese. The excuse-making isn’t nearly as pronounced in Buffalo, where the fans and media are mostly amazed at how long Bledsoe holds on to the ball and how much trouble he has against the blitz.’

‘”He’s a true professional,” head coach Bill Belichick said. Nobody works harder or is more diligent or puts more into it than he does. He throws himself across the tracks and he does everything he possibly can for himself to be a good player.”‘

‘”We all show leadership in one way or another every single day,” Belichick said earlier this week, while getting his 13-2 team ready for the regular-season finale against Buffalo. “You don’t just stand in front of the team and be a leader. The way you go about your job and the way you contribute to the team provides some degree of leadership. I think every single person falls into that category.”‘

‘But with the final game of the regular season and the postseason still ahead, having the NFL’s best record is small comfort unless they can do what the 2001 team did.’

‘”When I say team defense, it is that confidence both by the players and the coaching staff of knowing that pretty much everything is under control. I am not saying every play is a 5-yard loss, but every play is relatively under control, and you are not just holding on by your fingernails.”‘

‘Most lasting memory: “You’d have to go back to the ’64-65 AFL championship teams,” he says. “That’s the last time a major league team from Western New York or Buffalo ever won the last game of the season.”‘

‘”I knew that they were going to be a good team,” he said. “They are putting a lot of responsibilities on the corners, and the corners are really stepping up this year.”‘

‘”I don’t have any prediction with that, really,” Williams said of the chances of being back in Buffalo for the 2004 season. “Next week is next week. We’ll sit down as soon as possible. We’ll talk. We do that every year. We’ll start two days after the season, tearing everything down. We’ll go through every phase of it. [GM Tom Donahoe] and I have done that every year.”‘

‘”I think the depth on your team is important,” New England head coach Bill Belichick said. “You never know when you are going to need it. It is kind of like when you buy insurance, you never know if you are going to have to use it or not, but if you have it and you need it, it is a good thing to have.”‘

‘”I’m envious of anybody that has a chance to go and win a Super Bowl,” he said. “It’s not because the New England Patriots are my ex-buddies. It’s just because they are winning ball games. That’s what it’s all about for me.”‘