Archives for December 30, 2008

‘Buffalo Bills punter Brian Moorman was presented with the prestigious Buffalo Bills/NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year award at the Monday Quarterback Club’s (MQC) annual Player Awards luncheon held at the Millenium Hotel in Cheektowaga.’

‘Before leaving for the airport, Jauron met with Bills chief operating officer Russ Brandon at the team’s Orchard Park headquarters, a person familiar with the meeting told The Associated Press. Jauron and Brandon then flew together to Detroit, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss it.’

‘Ralph Wilson is 90 and stuck in his ways, so it may not come as a surprise he runs the organization the way he does, but the time has come for him to take a step back and trust other people to push the buttons.’

‘The “Steve Tasker Special Teams” award (George Wilson), “Special Teams Kick Coverage” award (Jon Corto), “Eddie Abramoski Unsung Hero” award (Fred Jackson), “Rookie of the Year” award (Leodis McKelvin) and “Man of the Year” award (Brian Moorman) were handed out along with a caricature drawing of their likeness from John Riordan.’

‘The Bills averaged 68,996 fans for their eight home games – seven at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park and one at Rogers Centre in Toronto.’

‘”This is very difficult for me to evaluate the entire season,” Edwards said. “I haven’t really had time to settle in, look it over and tell you guys my honest opinion of the entire season. Obviously, we started off the way we wanted to and we didn’t finish the way we wanted.”‘

‘With special thanks to team statistician Mike Haim, here are some of the more notable record-breaking accomplishments from the 2008 season.’

‘"He said he doesn’t have any hard feelings," said Crowell, a free agent. "He knows that I’m not a quitter. He knows the work I’ve put in and he feels good about me. That’s the main thing I wanted to make sure, is that me being put on IR wasn’t done out of anger. He said it was just a timing situation."’

‘”This season’s Playbook Promo received a lot of positive feedback from fans,” said Marquett Smith, the president of Verizon Wireless’s Upstate New York region. “Verizon Wireless wants Bills fans to have fun, test their knowledge about the Bills and win a host of cool Bills prizes. We look forward to introducing our next online game with the Bills around Draft Day which will provide fans with some unique interaction with safety Donte Whitner, lots of prizes and a chance to meet Donte himself. We appreciate the support of the Bills in helping give Verizon Wireless customers and Bills fans the opportunity to have some fun at the team’s site several times a year.”‘

‘There’s speculation he’ll order Jauron to fire one or both of his coordinators to appease the masses. But there’s no way Wilson should get away with that. I can’t see Jauron going for that sort of deal. He’s supposed to be a man of dignity and principle. If he sacrifices an assistant coach to save his own skin, he’ll lose all remaining respect with Bills fans. He has to be bigger than that.’

‘”A play here, a play there and we’re sitting at 10-6, maybe 11-5 even,” said safety Bryan Scott. “It’s kind of tough. I can’t pin it on one thing. You can only self-reflect and say ‘What could I have done better? What play maybe did I leave out there that I could have made?’ That’s what hurts.”‘

‘”I just knew that I just couldn’t go out there,” he said. “Playing [in games], you can take some things to help you through the pain, but practicing, you’ve got to get through the week and I’m just one of those guys who practices the way I play. I practice at the same speed I play the game. You’ve got to be able to do those things at this level to know that you can make the play, and even have the confidence to even make the plays in the game. If you can’t do that in practice you’re wasting your time. You’re fooling yourself.”‘

‘Law enforcement officials logged 19 arrests before, during and after the game. That was the second-lowest number of arrests this season, trailing only the 16 arrests logged at the San Diego game Oct. 19, and that game was marred by a blackout.’

‘"Nine years without a playoff team and three years in a row at 7-9, that’s frustrating. It’s frustrating for us and it’s got to be more frustrating for the fans because we have a say in it, we’re doing it."’

‘”Russ said the door wasn’t closed; he just obviously wanted to see where I was in my rehab and what’s next for me. He said he would definitely be talking to my agent and the door is definitely not closed.”‘