Archives for February 2009

‘Brown also is one of my favorite barroom topics in Buffalo because every fan there seems to have a strong opinion of him. He went to eight straight Pro Bowls for the Bills, but many thought he was overrated and found his untimely penalties insufferable.’

‘A defensive line coach for about half of his 30-year coaching career, Buffalo’s new defensive line coach Bob Sanders has helped to maximize the talents of quite a few players in his time. Some of the more notable examples are still playing in the league now.’

‘”My pitch for Wilson was, ‘Keep an open mind,’ ” Felser said. “Treat him like a ballplayer. With most players, you’re dealing with the first three-quarters of their career. Wilson was a pretty good owner for the first three-quarters. The last 10 years was the black hole, like Johnny Unitas limping to the end.”‘

‘All due respect to Marv Levy and his four trips ton the Super Bowl, but no former coach of the Bills more deserves a spot on the Wall of Fame than Saban.’

‘Is he cheap? Or is he financially prudent? Don’t think there’s a good reason the Bills have the cheapest ticket prices of all 32 teams in the league? He’s given millions to various charities, including some in western New York like Hospice, without wanting to make a fuss about it. He’s always been a great supporter of local high school and college athletes in the area both financially and otherwise.’

‘Though he refused to presume anything, Smith’s election to the hall apparently was so automatic, according to reports on the voting, that his advocate was interrupted and told that nobody in the room needed convincing.’

‘Lots of Bills talk at my buddy Scott’s Super Bowl party, and most of it centered around wanting Trent Edwards to succeed next year. Now that Roethlisberger has two rings, how many blase quarterbacks have won a title since the Bills last danced? Brad Johnson and Trent Dilfer, and they were backed by two of the most advantageous and skilled defenses in their era. It’s Aikman, Young, Elway, Favre, Peyton Manning, Warner and Brady. You don’t need first names for that group.-

‘”We had a house full of Steeler fans here,” said Van Pelt by phone from his home. “We were loud, there were about 20 of us and there was a lot of yelling and screaming. We had the Terrible Towels going. It was good.”‘

‘My most vivid memory of Smith? It involves a small vanilla ice cream cone.’

‘Then came that first season — when Smith had registered 6.5 sacks — and it seemed as if there wasn’t anything particularly special about the kid who, at 300 pounds, seemed too heavy to be a consistently dominant NFL defensive end. Hank Bullough, Buffalo’s coach at the time, didn’t think so and the two quickly formed an unhappy relationship on the way to Buffalo’s second consecutive 2-14 season. A year later, however, Jim Kelly became the Bills’ quarterback and nine games into the season, Marv Levy became their coach. And even though the Bills only won two more games, Smith’s sack count soared to 15, which quickly washed away any thoughts that he might become a "bust."’

‘On the other hand, the Bills should note that the naughtier team lost. The Cardinals lost over three times as much ground to penalties than they gained on the ground, as they were set back 106 yards by fouls compared to the meager 33 for which they rushed. Particularly, left tackle and former Bill Mike Gandy, who had three flags thrown at him for holding, proved unworthy of wearing a Super Bowl patch, something Buffalo could have told anyone by mid-2005.’

‘The Buffalo Bills had better results among Hall of Fame voters than they did on the field this season.’

‘All that was missing was a hall of fame triple-play, after former Bills receiver Andre Reed, one of 17 finalists, failed to make the cut when selectors pared the list to 10 earlier in the day.’

‘From a sloppy-fat, 300-plus pounder as the first overall draft pick in 1985, known to eat 50 chicken wings in a sitting, Bruce became a well-sculpted sack machine who played ferociously in the 260s.’

‘"I have really great memories," Brammer said. "Before I knew it (in 1980), our team was 5-0. We were coming back from a game in San Diego after we had beat them and we pulled into the airport early in the morning from the West Coast trip. It was two in the morning and there were five thousand people at the airport waiting to cheer us on. I didn’t totally understand it, but the Bills had been on a long dry spell in the ’70s and it was just an incredible, excited fan base around here, and they wanted to show their appreciation. That was unheard of."’