Archives for May 23, 2023

‘“You want to fix everything for your children,” Johnson said. “And so, I felt helpless. I mean, there were times that I’m the closest thing to him, so I took the brunt of everything. And sometimes it was very, very hard for me, to just see him turn into himself, not have any belief in himself.”’

‘“Now that the one-year anniversary has come and passed, what I stated last year was, when the national media leaves, the national activists have moved on to other issues we’re having around the country, it’s just us,” Smith said. “It’s up to us to support those who have been impacted by this horrific tragedy. It’s incumbent upon us to continue to support these families, because they are going to have a lifetime of grief and pain.”’

‘“We’ve been on several different teams, and nobody has ever made him feel wanted and welcome like Buffalo,” said Dean Marlowe’s wife, Marlana.’

‘Perhaps no other athlete in Buffalo pro sports history made a bigger splash in just three seasons than Gilchrist did. He was 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, with a legend larger than life. He clashed often with coach Lou Saban and owner Ralph Wilson, but Bills fans loved his Brown-like run-over-and-through-you style. Billy Shaw, the Hall of Fame guard, once told The Buffalo News: “I have scars in my back from when somebody would stalemate me at the line, and here comes Cookie from behind me. He didn’t care what color jersey you had on, he was going forward.”’