Archives for August 2, 2014

‘Overall, I see the Bills finishing 7-9 this season.’

‘”I have friends and family members that inform me on some of the things that are being said with the trade rumors and stuff like that. I’m not oblivious to that stuff. I’m not living on Mars or anything,” he said. “I can’t control what happens. My response to them is ‘don’t worry about it.”

‘”It’s still crazy. Every day I think, ‘Wow, am I really on the Bills?’ It’s a childhood dream,” Gaines said. “The first practice I had jitters, then the first practice with pads I had jitters. Now coming up to the first preseason game, I’m sure I’ll have them too, but I’m having fun with it. It’s been a great experience.”‘

‘”It felt like I was in the ‘Wizard of Oz’ or something,” Reed said. “I’ve been trying to get to the Emerald City, and the Emerald City was right in that room. You can’t pay your way into that room.”‘

‘”I have nothing against Bon Jovi. I’ve got nothing against Johnny Manziel. I don’t even know him. But, on the other end of that, Johnny Manziel is a rookie. He hasn’t done anything yet. And people in Buffalo don’t want Bon Jovi to buy the team and move it.”‘

‘Greatest QB in franchise history led the parade of Bills “Glory Days” players into Canton. Epitomized the mental toughness of those teams with his “linebacker’s mentality,” a trait that remains prominent during his ongoing battle against cancer.’

‘”We are absolutely thrilled with the results of our negotiations,” said Charles “Chuckie” Sonntag, a double amputee and cancer survivor, and one of four co-founders of the group.’

‘”It’s sweeter, there’s no doubt about it,” Reed said last week, reflecting on his entrance after such a long and sometimes frustrating wait. “If it would have happened four or five years ago, it would have been sweet. But I think the longer you wait, believe it or not, I think it’s better because you really appreciate it, to a certain point, what it means. It really means more after all these years, because it seems like it’s even more deserving when you wait that long.”‘

‘”Those comments were off the record,” Reed said. “This guy from the magazine ended up printing what I said. I would not say that to be printed in a magazine. I said that stuff, thinking the guy wouldn’t put it in there. He was looking for a story, and he put it in there. I have nothing against Bon Jovi. I’ve got nothing against Johnny Manziel. I don’t even know him.”‘

‘When I was six, which coincided with Kelly’s last year in the NFL, I remember being given my first Bills jersey, a Jim Kelly jersey. I wore that number 12 jersey proud. Even though I was so young, I remember the 1996 Bills like it was yesterday.’

‘Marrone also wants the players to realize how long it has been since the Bills meant that much to league. When Marrone visited the Hall of Fame with the Saints, there wasn’t much there representing the organization, and the players wanted to change that. He wants his players to get that same feeling.’

‘”You can’t even describe it,” Reed told NFL Network after the ceremony. “Like (fellow inductee Michael Strahan said), all those yellow jackets out there, you’re a part of their fraternity, and they embrace you that way. That’s what the Hall of Fame is about. To a certain point it’s about what you did on the field, but when you go out and see that and you’re wearing one of these (jackets), it’s a different feeling.”‘

‘”I spent half of my life up there, and that team is really important to me,” Reed said. “The city is important to me. The region’s important to me. And I would do anything to have a voice in keeping the team there.’

‘”That’s something I always do,” Dixon said. “I’m a guy with some personality. I play this game with a loose focus. At the same time, I always tell the guys, ‘I’m definitely focused.’ I’m definitely loose at all times. I’m having fun, man. I love it.”‘

‘Golisano, the former owner of the Buffalo Sabres, would be the fourth bidder for the NFL franchise – which is expected to set a league sales price record at north of $1.2 billion.’