Archives for July 2012

‘”I lived downtown when I played there and I really love the city of Buffalo. People who don’t know Buffalo, I tell them all the time, it’s a dynamic, exciting place with a historically significant downtown. They look at me like I need to be committed, but I miss it a lot.”‘

‘How is denying hundreds of thousands of fans in the region the opportunity to watch on TV smart marketing? Particularly when the team isn’t doing well? Cynics call it a blessing. But for the Bills, out of sight means out of mind.’

‘”All I know is I’m on an NFL team and I want to stay active or be one of the two guys on the practice squad,” Sanders said. “All I know is I have the opportunity. Coach (Chan Gailey) told all of us that nothing is promised. I’m not playing like I made the team or playing like I got kicked off. I’m playing to get better. I’m trying to live out my dream, but there is still a long way to go.”‘

‘Since the ’99 season, Buffalo has posted just one winning division record. That came in 2007 when the Bills posted a 4-2 division mark, but finished 7-9 overall. The low water mark came the following year when the team did not post a single division victory going 0-6.’

‘”That gave me a big shot of confidence to know I came out and did well enough to have (Nix) say those words, but that didn’t put anything in stone,” said Hairston of Nix’s comments. “This league is ever changing, the roster is ever changing, and things aren’t set in stone. I just have to do my best to solidify myself in a position.”‘

‘The point is, our tax dollars pad Wilson’s profits. We should, by rights, at least have access to the product. Particularly when eyeballs on the TV screen equal advertising dollars for the league and, consequently, for the Bills. The take from the league’s multibillion-dollar broadcast rights fees are split equally among the 32 teams – and is, by far, the largest revenue stream for each.’

‘”I feel great. I’m in great shape,” Wood said before the Bills broke for the summer. “Obviously I haven’t tested it in any practice or anything, but a lot of that is just being cautious. We don’t want to do anything now that’ll set me back. The goal is to be back for the first game. I trust the guys in the training room to get me back to that.”‘

‘"With the pieces we have, it’s going to be fun,” Edwards said. “Having a guy like Mario Williams out there next to you, he’s obviously going to draw a lot of attention and force a quarterback to do stuff. It’s going to make us all better. I’m looking forward to being around guys that really make everyone better."’

‘”I want to talk with the youth about getting an education and staying with the right people and being in the right situations,” said Spiller in an interview with The Gazette. “I just want to tell my story to them. I want to be real with them, that’s important with young kids, you have to be the real you.”‘

‘That really is the bottom line. In the end, it’s a financial issue. The Bills are already doing creative things to bolster their finances, including games played in Toronto. The teams may harbor legitimate concerns about the potential costs of the new blackout policy, but without that devoted fan base, the team would be nothing. It would be the sound of one hand clapping.’

‘”Every year you have to,” Jackson said of making schematic changes. “You can’t stay stagnant or defenses will pick up on what you’re doing. We make tweaks every day. We’ll come in and run a play one way and come out the next day and run it a completely different way. You’re not just training your body you’re training your mind as to how you’re going to make game plan changes all 16 weeks. It’s what you’re trying to do at the same time.”‘

‘"It was a little bit frustrating at times just because you are going in with a lot of unknowns," said Gailey of what last year, his second in Buffalo, was like. "It was not like we had everything in place going into it. We had a few things in place but not a lot of things in place. We needed the work. We were a team in transition, in progress and we needed the work and did not get it. (So) I think we are ahead. I do not know how much quantum is – I am from south Georgia (laughing) – but we are ahead for sure."’

‘DE Spencer Johnson has been dealing with a knee issue but did return to action during minicamp.’

‘"It would not have been as hard two years ago, but we are in so much more of an advanced stage now than we were two years ago. He is trying to learn what the base concepts are and how we have advanced to where we are today without the benefit of going through the baby steps."’

‘"They (The Bills) want more than I think they know they’re going to get," Poloncarz told WGRZ-TV. "But but we’re not going to give away the store to keep the team here. We’re going to ensure that this team is economically viable and is kept here for many years. But it’s my goal that the Bills contribute to part of the construction costs associated with the stadium. They know that, because they heard that directly from me, and I feel confident that when all is said and done that we’re going to get a lease that is fair for all, and keeps the Buffalo Bills in this community so that they’re the Buffalo Bills, not the Los Angeles Bills."