Archives for July 2006

‘Now, the hero of every kid in Fayetteville and every Blue Raider fan is going through another obstacle. He must fight his way to the top of the depth chart again, this time with a new organization, the Buffalo Bills. His competition? Young quarterback J.P. Losman, whose performance thus far has been less than stellar. "I’ve already be through this before, so I don’t approach anything any different," Holcomb said. "These coaches are evaluating us on and off the field and in the classroom on who’s prepared. I don’t think anybody cares as long as we win and support whoever is our quarterback. We want to get the 5-11 taste out of our mouth. Regardless of what happens, I am looking forward to training camp."’

‘Helping his friend, former MTSU standout and current Buffalo Bills quarterback Kelly Holcomb, required him to fly from New York to Atlanta Monday and then catch a flight from Atlanta to Middle Tennessee Tuesday morning. But Pollard didn’t mind because he was traveling to compete in the Second Annual Kelly Holcomb Celebrity Golf Tournament at Stones River Country Club on Tuesday. "I enjoy playing golf," said Pollard, who was a teammate of Holcomb’s with the Indianapolis Colts. "The biggest thing’s to help Kelly. Anything like this I want to be a part of."’

‘But the biggest reason the Bills are being disrespected is their glaring uncertainty at quarterback. League observers don’t have a lot of confidence in J.P. Losman, Kelly Holcomb or Craig Nall.’

‘Was there ever a doubt as to what would be the greatest moment in Bills history?’

‘The Bills last made the playoffs in ’99. That streak isn’t going to end in 2006. The Bills could be out of it by October. Really.’

‘While the best punt returner might prove to be Parrish, if Smith and Williams are on the roster, April is sure to have some other tricks up his sleeve to utilize them during the season.’

‘Of course, there have been plenty of black days since the Bills’ inception of 1960, so it’s not an easy task to squeeze all of them into a countdown of five.’

‘The season starts and ends at the quarterback position for the Bills. With Willis McGahee ready to go and a group of mostly unproven or second-rate wide receivers, it will take a steady hand under center to guide this team to a playoff spot. Losman was given the job last year, but was pulled after badly struggling. Holcomb played his usual adequate role, but the team is fooling itself if they think this guy can take them to football’s promised land.’

‘Bills fans can get those tickets at buffalobills.com or through Ticketmaster, but they’re charged $1.75 "printing fee" per order. Printing fee?’

‘Fewell’s players say his system is low on volume, but high on details. So while there is a good amount of study involved to master the system, the players shouldn’t experience nearly the amount of breakdowns they suffered last season. That should lead to more consistent play, more opportunities for big plays and ultimately more stops in the red zone.’

‘Of course, this can only give me “warm” memories of such early Bills experiences. I guess they are my pieces of the Rock Pile, in addition to the new paperweight on the window sill. Yes, I also have a Bills button with a piece of championship Astroturf. But memories of simpler days have so much more value.’

‘Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills, was constructed in the suburb in 1973 because the Erie County legislature saw it as place with the potential for growth. It hasn’t happened. Orchard Park, a town of about 27,000, had no national profile before the stadium, and it doesn’t have much of one today. The area surrounding the stadium remains largely undeveloped commercially. So what’s Wilson Stadium worth to Orchard Park? "It’s very hard to quantify," said former town supervisor Toni Cudney. "In terms of the economy, most fans go tailgate in the parking lot and spend money at the stadium and none of that revenue goes into the local economy."’

‘As for Royal’s 2006, expect his catch total to end up between 15-30 with a few touchdowns thrown in for good measure. Those totals may not be earth-shattering, but the Buffalo Bills’ coaching staff would more than likely be content with them.’

‘When the Bills break camp in Rochester none of their quarterbacks is likely to bear the look of Kelly, but would it be too much to ask for another Joe Ferguson, Jack Kemp or Daryle Lamonica?’

‘"It was kind of a stressful draft," DiGiorgio said. "Leading up to the draft I had received about seven phone calls from various teams in the league, but didn’t know what was going to happen. The draft started at noon and Buffalo called me around 10 a.m. and told me that they might select me in the seventh round and I should be ready. If they didn’t select me in the seventh round, they wanted to sign me as a free agent."’