Archives for December 30, 2018

‘Kudos to whoever it was on the Bills who convinced Williams to go public Friday with his plan to retire. It would have been a shame if fans missed an opportunity to salute the 13-year veteran on a stellar playing career. The ovation for Williams should be deafening Sunday. If the Bills get down to the goal line, maybe they can even send him out with his second career rushing touchdown. The first one came in the season finale last year against the Dolphins – a moment no Bills fan will soon forget. The same should be true of the scene Sunday.’

‘Bills 24, Dolphins 17.’

‘The Miami Dolphins have aggressive linebackers, and the Buffalo Bills will want to try to get them thinking with play-action passes and get them making quick decisions in pass coverage.’

‘The Bills obviously hope that’s a long time. From the moment he was selected with the 96th overall pick out of Stanford, fairly or unfairly Phillips has been viewed as Williams’ heir apparent. That has led to some humorous moments between the pair. Before Christmas, Pegula Sports and Entertainment had several Bills and Sabres recreate famous scenes from holiday movies. That included having Phillips and Williams spoof “Love Actually,” with the rookie delivering a holiday message to the veteran through a series of white cards.’

‘I’d agree that somewhere near the bottom of the top 10 is where he ranks on the all-time list. His five Pro Bowls is tied for ninth most in franchise history, although some of the names he’s tied with – Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and Hall of Fame guard Joe DeLamielleure – are clearly ahead of him. Pro Bowls aren’t the only measure of what makes a player great. I put more weight in the Associated Press’ All-Pro teams. Williams was never a first-team All-Pro. Neither were Andre Reed nor Ruben Brown. Kelly was just once. Williams is a no-brainer Wall of Fame candidate in my mind. He’ll definitely have my vote.’

‘It’s been fine. I think my wife does a fantastic job of kind of weeding everything out. The one thing when you’re in your hometown is there are a lot of people that you’re close with, whether it’s family members or friends that care about you and want to see you do well. And that’s been great. I’m very appreciative of the support from all those people.’

‘I’ve never met anyone who didn’t love Williams as a player and a guy. How many people anywhere can you say that about? Even his opponents loved him. Hell, the Patriot players loved him.’