Archives for March 12, 2009

‘It’s unclear whether Hardy will be compensated by Owens to switch numbers. In the past, veteran players joining new teams have been known to pay for or provide compensation for the right to switch numbers.’

‘How ironic that Owens, a player who has given coaches headaches, could help save a coach’s job. It gets awfully cold in Buffalo. But for Jauron, the seat has become even hotter.’

‘Hardy wore jersey number 81 as a rookie for Buffalo in 2008, but had worn number 82 in college at Indiana University. The Bills announced that Hardy will wear jersey number 84 in 2009.’

‘If Buffalo had been willing to adjust that season and punish defenses by attacking the relatively open box with the run, it may have ended the playoff drought seven years ago. But the option of using Lynch as a counterbalancing attacker may be off the table this season because throwing to Owens fewer than 10 times per game will prove unacceptable to Buffalo’s brand-new diva.’

‘”I heard it from many sources, many credible sources: People have never or very seldom been around anybody that works as hard at his craft as this guy,” Jauron said Wednesday. “So that in and of itself is a big positive for us. We’re a hard working team as it is. We’ll become a harder working team. I think he’ll be a good example for a lot of our younger players in how he prepares and certainly once again, his stats speak for themselves.”‘

‘I know this will sound like a broken record, but when is a new contract for left tackle Jason Peters going to get done? This is an unpopular issue, judging from my e-mails, but if Edwards is going to keep Owens happy with a steady diet of passes, Edwards will need Peters to keep him upright.’

‘One thing’s for sure: It will make for an interesting year, and it will put Buffalo front and center in the consciousness of American sports.’

‘Wary Bills fans might wonder if it’s just a stealthy attempt by the Dallas Cowboys, responsible for 50 percent of Buffalo’s four Super Bowl losses, to roll another grenade under the tent in Orchard Park, N.Y. But this incongruous marriage makes sense. Here’s one case where you do put Tabasco sauce on a snow cone.’

‘History shows that the Bills are the ’27 Yankees compared with other teams through the ages. The nine — these losers don’t deserve a top-10 list — worst places to play. Ever…’.

‘Drew Rosenhaus can author all the agent-speak that he wants, but it’s obvious that no Super Bowl contenders were interested in T.O. and no team in the entire league was willing to give him a multi-year contract. After more than a decade of his tired act, Owens has officially become a loser.’

‘The Bills haven’t said anything officially yet, but it didn’t take long for Terrell Owens to get his familiar #81 with the Buffalo Bills.’

‘I got a lot of feedback about how crazy the signing was, but I am here to tell you as a guy who never misses a Bills game, I like it. I like it a lot, ‘cuz it’s time to shake things up. The search for affable, high-character players is admirable, but it has led the Bills to strange moments of inexplicable largesse. Nothing against a hard worker like Chris Kelsay, but four years at $23 million is a crapload of money for a guy who averages two sacks a season. Ditto the recently-jettisoned guard Derrick Dockery, who got the highest contract in team history at $49 million… only to get cut. For all that classy team building, we haven’t made it to the playoffs since 2000.’

‘"If you think that emotional outbursts don’t occur on every sideline on every Sunday, you’re sadly mistaken," said Jauron. "They do, between coaches and players and players and players. To the degree that he’s had them? Maybe. Do they get the publicity that he gets? No, because of his success and abilities as a player and to the degree of disturbance on the sidelines at times and the prominence of the people involved in them are. They happen all the time in our business, on the practice field, on game day and in the locker room."’

‘”Our relationship will grow from when we met in my office this weekend. That’s where our relationship started and it’ll develop from there,” Jauron said in his first comments since the Bills signed Owens to a one-year contract on Saturday. “I approach every guy that comes here as a unique guy.”‘