Archives for September 13, 2015

'When he walks onto the field at Ralph Wilson Stadium, the 53-year-old Ryan will do so as a veritable demigod following an eight-month honeymoon that included eating wings and drinking beer with Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas; driving around town in a truck decorated with the Bills' red, white, and blue logo; jumping out of airplanes; throwing out first pitches in both Buffalo and Rochester; shaking hands, slapping backs, and kissing babies; showing off his knowledge of Bills history with lovable references to Cookie Gilchrist; reveling in taking digs at Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and the despised Patriots; and picking Tyrod Taylor to be his starting quarterback.'

'Is the Bills' offensive line any better than it was last year? One thing we know for sure, it can't be any worse. '

'"It's a team effort," Altomore said. "There's a whole team of us that get together and we look and see what the fans will like and what's moving in the restaurant scene in the Buffalo area and see what we can introduce from other areas. It's a lengthy process, it takes a couple months of testing recipes, then we have tastings with clients and then it's ready to go.'

'Mostly, the Bills need Taylor not to lose games.'

'"It's going to mean a lot," Edgerson said. "We were supposed to have done this last year but unfortunately (Bills founder) Ralph Wilson Jr. passed away. We definitely had to scrap this and do a tribute. Fortunately, we won the championship two years in a row, so it gave us an opportunity to come back this year and present the 50th anniversary of the championship years. And it means a whole lot."'

'Fluellen rejoins the Bills after being released Friday when the Bills added linebacker IK Enemkpali to the roster in advance of his four-game suspension. The Bills promoted Enemkpali from the practice squad because they were wary of losing him to another team while he is suspended. Fluellen, as a vested veteran, could be re-signed Saturday and not go through waivers.'

'Donna insists she and her family are “not bitter,” and “not mad,” and they’re just looking forward to seeing Richie play football again. Something she knew he’d do at some point because, as she put it, “my son was born determined. So I knew he’d be back. He trained for over a year. Day after day after day, never giving up his dream. Never letting anybody rain on his parade. I always told him, ‘it’s how you handle adversity in life, is what shows who you really are,’ and I’m very proud of him because I think he handled himself very well.”'

'The Bills have enough talent up front defensively, and a unique game plan for Taylor to start the season off with a victory, and despite Luck being one of the best quarterbacks in the game, the Bills have everything in their arsenal to get the job done.'

'We’d tell you to bring ear plugs, but long-term hearing loss as a result of the noise level inside Ralph Wilson Stadium is a cool story to tell your friends.'

'Fluellen rejoins the Bills after being released by the team on September 11. '

'“When we went into those championship games, we were such an underdog and we were supposed to be slaughtered, that kind of stuck in everybody’s craw,” McDole said. “We were not getting much respect. We had to do everything we could do to win and we did it. Maybe they got a little cocky. “'