Archives for June 2013

‘Buffalo allowed 13 more touchdowns than it scored (53 to 40) and committed 13 more turnovers than its opponents last season.’

‘”Everybody wants to see if you can duplicate what you did the previous year,” Spiller said. “I’m working extremely hard to try to better myself and try to help my team win. If I’m able to duplicate what I did last year that’d be great, but if I don’t and we still make the playoffs, that’d be even more wonderful.”‘

‘That will hit especially hard in Buffalo. Thousands of such cushions could be seen at every game, sporting the logos of the Bills, the team’s four Super Bowl appearances or fans’ favorite schools.’

‘The Bills are at the start of yet another rebuilding plan, and while I like the hiring of Marrone and am intrigued by their surprising selection of Manuel, the Bills aren’t likely to be contenders this season. With this game being played in the first month of the season, the Bills will still be finding their way when the Ravens come to Buffalo.’

‘”It’s an emotional ride,” he said. “My kids are used to hearing daddy say, ‘Don’t worry I’ll be fine.’ Sometimes you start wondering if they believe me now, because I keep saying, ‘Oh, I’ll be fine’ and something else pops up. But they’re strong, they’re Kellys and they understand the part of being Kelly tough.”‘

”’From what I’ve been told, everything that they did in surgery, if I had to do radiation or chemo it would put me way back,” Kelly said.’

‘”It’s very, very sore, but it takes time,” Kelly said. “I know when you have knee surgery or shoulder surgery it’s sore for a small period of time, and rehab and everything is good and you just take your time. This is just constant pain for now, but it’s a small price to pay for where I’ll be later on down the road.”‘

‘”There are not enough words to describe the feeling in my heart and in my family’s heart how much it means to me that people took the time to write me hundreds and hundreds of letters,” Kelly said.’

‘”Big time relief,” he said. “Trust me, prayers definitely have a big part in it. I’ve received so many letters and emails from people that have had similar circumstances as I did and some of them were not very good and some of them were very good. You’re encouraged on one hand and discouraged on the other. To find out where they’ve been and the prognosis of where I’m going I’m very excited. I’m happy."’

‘It will make for an exciting training camp and pre-season as we see how Marrone splits the time/reps for the pair in both practices and games. Manuel is said to be a pretty quick learner so we will see how or if that translates to early success on the field.’

‘"It’s home," Smith said. "It means a lot. I was in these kids’ shoes. I was in a lot of tough situations at times, and it was football and coaching and my teammates that helped me to learn how to persevere through it, learn how to become a man out of it."’

‘”It’s always exciting for me to return home and spend quality time with the kids from our area, especially on such a beautiful day like today,” Brad Smith said. “Over 20 area coaches and a number of volunteers have given so graciously of their time in order for us to provide instruction on the fundamentals of football.”‘

‘”But if you have a cause and Joe is behind it, he’s going to be a motivating force. He goes 100 percent just like he did in football.”‘

‘”It seems like every year it’s something different,” Smith said. “I’m glad I can do other things. Bottom line, I want to get on the field and make plays to help my team win.”‘