Archives for March 2014

‘Attendance for the series, which began in 2008 and was extended in 2012, has been poor recently. In a 34-31 overtime loss to the Falcons last season, the announced attendance was 38,969. Ralph Wilson Stadium has a 73,960-seat capacity.’

‘Recently released by the Baltimore Ravens, inside linebacker Jameel McClain made his first official visit and flew up to western New York to meet with head coach Doug Marrone and the rest of his defensive staff. McClain will next be on his way to the New York Giants for an official visit.’

‘There has not been an answer on what this means for the future of the Bills playing game sin Toronto, rumors that this is just a “one-year hiatus.” The Bills are 1-5 in games at the Rogers Centre and have yet it make the Rogers Centre feel like a home-field environment. The Bills do not want to lose its fans from the Southern Ontario area. The Bills offices have said that they attract more fans from the Ontario area than from Rochester area.’

‘”Aaron Williams is a versatile player who has grown into a key playmaker for our defense in recent years,” said Buffalo Bills General Manager Doug Whaley. “He had an extremely productive season for our defense in 2013. Aaron is the type of young, core player we targeted early in the process to retain for years to come and this will be our philosophy moving forward. By building on his improved play in 2013, we expect Aaron to continue to grow into a key contributor for the Bills organization.”‘

‘We are committed to continuing our partnership and have secured a robust sponsorship agreement for the 2014 season that will bring Canadian NFL fans visibility and access to the Bills. The sponsorship includes ticketing, merchandising, media exposure, and a newly created Canada House, near Ralph Wilson Stadium, that will serve as the official pre-game Canadian tailgate zone for all Bills home games.’

‘Just want to thank Russ (Brandon), Doug (Whaley) and Jim (Overdorf) for allowing me to sign long-term with the Bills. It’s been a great opportunity and I’m very blessed to have a great opportunity to be with a team like this. I know that Russ has a great plan to build this team in to a playoff team again and 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. I told them I accept the role of leading this defense to where it used to be and just blessed that they gave me that opportunity and they trusted me to be here long-term to get this team back to where it started.’

‘We have not played well up there. We have to take responsibility for that. We’re 1-5 up there and as Coach Marrone says all the time, it doesn’t matter where we play. I think I referenced Coyne Field earlier and that’s a practice field in Syracuse. It doesn’t matter if we play there, when you line up you play to win. We’re not using this as an excuse. I can’t say enough about the partnership that we have with Rogers, which is obviously continuing in a different facet for this year. The incredible leadership of Ed Rogers, Phil Lind, Keith Pelley. Everyone within that organization is first class and top notch. Quite frankly that’s why I’m standing here today and we were able to work through a very complex set of discussions.’

‘”Health-wise I’m 100 percent. That’s first,” McClain said. “Now I’m a veteran in this league. I understand what it takes to win games. I understand how you lose games. I understand what it is to prepare and go for a long haul over the season. That was different when I was a kid coming in. I didn’t know any of those things. So where I’m at in this game, I’m a professional within it and I’m going to treat the game like that.”‘

‘”I think it just sets up a more amicable negotiation, because last year — I wouldn’t say it was contentious, but as a player you always want to go out and see your true value, and we restricted that. So this year we said, ‘For the betterment of the Buffalo Bills, and to show you more or less good faith, we’re not going to use that option to restrict you from hitting the market. Let’s try to go full bore, with both of us focused on trying to get a deal done.'”‘

‘McClain, 28, started 10 games last season after being activated from the reserve-physically unable to perform list. He recorded 52 tackles and one forced fumble.’

‘He’s in 24-hour pain. He can’t feel the skin on the left half of his face. He says his lip feels like it’s constantly on fire. He has had his upper left jaw removed and all but two of his teeth — and those two have had six root canals. He admits he hasn’t been able to sleep in years without taking something. His back has two plates and 10 screws in it. His neck has a plate and six screws. He just had double hernia surgery. One day, he had to have a cyst removed under his nostril without Novocain. “I think they heard me three office buildings over,” he says.’

‘”We place a value on a person or player, they have a value they have in their mind, and we just have not been able to meet,” said Bills general manager Doug Whaley, referring to finding agreement on a deal with Byrd and his agent, Eugene Parker.’

‘”We valued Byrd as a very good player, one we want to keep, and we did everything we could to do that,” general manager Doug Whaley said. “We place a value on a player, they have a value in their mind, and we have not been able to work through it. We are very comfortable with the significant offer that we made to those guys.”‘

‘Earning $15.349 million over two years — guaranteed — would have been a pretty good deal even for an elite safety, which Byrd certainly is. But he rightfully is aching for a long-term deal, and deserves one.’

‘The Bills could lose their top defensive back on a unit that showed considerable improvement last season. Though Buffalo struggled against the run, the defense finished 10th in the NFL in yards allowed – its best ranking since a second-place finish in 2004. The Bills also finished second in the league with a franchise-record 57 sacks.’