‘”In order to survive this business, you’ve got to be able to adapt,” Darby said. “Me being in Buffalo, getting new coaches, learning a whole new defensive scheme and getting traded in the middle of camp, it was a lot. I had to go in and try to learn a whole other playbook in a few weeks. Then, I get hurt week one. Sit out two months and then, come back trying to catch up to the pace that (his teammates have) been playing on, guys that have been broken in. It was a lot. It taught me a lot. And we made it here, so it’s a crazy journey.”‘
Archives for January 2018
Bills hire John Butler as new secondary coach
‘Butler has a history with head coach Sean McDermott. The two played high school football together at LaSalle in Philadelphia.’
Bills STM of over 30 years adds 2018 Pro Bowl to list of great memories
‘Nominated by his daughter Chelsea, who is also a Bills Season Ticket Member, Langdon was selected as the Bills Season Ticket Member of the Game for Buffalo’s Week 15 matchup against the Miami Dolphins. Undenounced to Langdon, who was ecstatic to be chosen for the award, the Bills had another surprise waiting for him. Celebrated during the game’s first quarter break, Langdon was also named the winner of a trip to the 2018 Pro Bowl as part of Buffalo’s annual Fan Appreciation Day game. Shocked and excited by the news, Langdon, who’d never attended a Pro Bowl, was thrilled to share the experience with his son-in-law.’
Bills Today: Fan donations over $35K for Eric Wood’s foundation
‘Most donations have also come in 70-dollar increments.’
Pollock: An embarrassing press conference for Eric Wood’s exit
‘What if a professional sports team held a retirement press conference and the spotlighted player didn’t retire?’
Eric Wood says he can’t play again, but does not announce retirement
‘The biggest unanswered question would be why the two sides went through with a press conference given that there are obvious issues to work out. As is often the case in these situations, money is at the root of the discrepancy.’
Bills DL coach Mike Waufle retires; assistant Bill Teerlinck promoted
‘The 63-year-old former U.S. Marine who was known for his no-nonsense style decided it was time to retire because of chronic pain that he attributes to his playing days.’
Bucky Gleason: Eric Wood takes wrong turn after career ends with Bills
‘Wood took another wrong turn in another embarrassing moment Monday, when his family, friends, former teammates and the media assembled for a news conference that was designed to double as a retirement ceremony. It turned into an apparent dispute over money that made Wood look like another petty professional athlete.’
Sean Kirst: The reasons to ‘extra like’ Eric Wood had nothing to do with football
‘”You have to extra-like someone like Eric,” Flora said. “I think I’ll need to add him to my prayer list.”‘
Eric Wood’s friends, teammates reflect on his stellar career
‘”I told him there’s a number of different ways you can leave the league,” Wolford said. “And almost all of them are really negative, really bitter and not what you want. I said this one, it’s not what you want. But considering the woulda, coulda, shoulda involved with your neck, you’re blessed.”‘
What They Said: Read Eric Wood’s statement regarding his career-ending neck injury
‘After the season, as part of the exit physical, we got an MRI that revealed a disc that was dangerously close to my spinal cord at C2-C3, and that was alarming. As you can imagine, this news floored me as I was merely days away from the first playoff game of my career.’
What They Said: Sean McDermott, Brandon Beane, Ryan Fitzpatrick & Lorenzo Alexander on Eric Wood
‘It makes me feel job for Eric, his family, and the rest of his teammates. It really does. I’ll never forget the look on Eric’s face. You have still memories that stay with you for a long time and that’s one of them that I remember distinctly, when Eric came off the field from the coin-toss and the look in his eyes that he was in a situation he hadn’t been in before and he was excited for the opportunity.’
Rex Ryan back to being a Leafs fan
‘“As soon as I got fired by the Pegulas, I was like, no chance. I got rid of all my Sabres stuff. I had the (Roger) Crozier jersey, the French Connection jerseys … I got rid of every damn one of them.”’
Wood not ‘officially’ retired but illustrious career is finished with disc injury
‘Wood was on the phone with his agent as the news conference was set to kick off and when he did appear, he spoke for just 1 minute and 42 seconds, didn’t field questions and didn’t actually announce his retirement officially.’
Roth: Eric Wood’s retirement is no snap for Bills
‘He was a team leader in the truest sense, one of those “go-to’’ guys with character in the Kent Hull and Steve Tasker mold, the guy who faced the media not just in good times but in bad. And boy was there a lot of bad after he joined the club in 2009, a big, burly, friendly, always smiling guy with curly blond locks.’