Archives for March 6, 2014

‘”I’m very blessed to have a great opportunity to be with a team like this,” Williams said. “We talked at the end of the season that they’re going to give me the responsibility of leading this defense to where it used to be; that’s a dominant defense and being aggressive and being nasty out there and making plays.”‘

‘After six years, not only weren’t the Bills building on their fan base in Toronto, they were watching it grow more apathetic.’

‘”I think it’s been a roller-coaster from the standpoint of just the losses,” Brandon said. “That’s on us. We have not played well up there and we have to take responsibility for that. We’re 1-5 up there. We’re not using this as an excuse.”‘

‘I mean, what’s a little bad PR and another year of missing the playoffs when you can’t sell out Ralph Wilson Stadium late in the season but you’ve got sellout money in the bank in Canada?’

‘A source in the position to know told QMI Agency that the Toronto series will resume in 2015, and that all four remaining regular-season games contracted in the five-year extension signed in January 2013 — plus one preseason game — will still be played.’

‘In exchange, the Bills earned more than double what they usually generated from hosting games in Buffalo. The value of the most recent deal has not been revealed, but the price tag was expected to be lower after Rogers officials expressed concerns over the value of the series.’

‘The flacks can call it a postponement or a hiatus or whatever else they like. What it really is is a temporary stay of execution.’

‘”We’re going to go through a detailed full analysis. Most of our analysis that we’ve been through over the past few months has been more top line,” he said. “We’re going to look at every aspect that if we do come back we have a more robust fan experience and try to create more of a home-field advantage for us. Right now, that was not the situation and that was one of the reasons we’d rather get into a lot of detail with our partners up there and see if that’s viable moving forward.”‘

‘Football at the Rogers Centre in general appears to be coming to end regardless. The CFL’s Argos only have a lease to play there through 2017. It is believed baseball’s Blue Jays, who are owned by Rogers, will become the sole tenant and a natural-grass field will be installed.’

‘The Bills and their Toronto partner, Rogers Communications, announced in a release Wednesday they have “postponed” the series for one season. The postponement will allow both sides to work on enhancing future games, the release said.’

‘The move was announced Wednesday, and provides the Bills at least some long-term stability in their defensive backfield. Williams’ signing came at a time when Buffalo stands to lose starting safety Jairus Byrd, who is preparing to test free agency next week.’

‘”Some of that had to do with how we played over the last six years, (that) has really not been conducive to building a lot of fans that were NFL fans, but we’re trying to make them Bills fans. We’re going to continue to try to do that through a variety of initiatives that we will be working with Rogers over the next year in a very robust sponsorship and partnership that we will have that will cater to fans above the border.”‘

‘Williams made the move from cornerback to safety in 2013, recording 82 tackles with 11 pass breakups and four interceptions in 14 starts.’

‘There was no reason given for the decision to suspend the series.’

‘A second-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, Williams had trouble at cornerback in his first two seasons but stepped up his production last year after switching to safety. He has 144 career tackles (111 solo), five interceptions, 23 passes defensed and two forced fumbles.’