San Jose Bills Fan

LOL! How 'bouts Haloti Ngata? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Tongan_players_of_American_football BTW, Tonga produces MANY of the best rugby players in the world also. edit: And 31 Tongan NFLers is pretty good for a small island nation. There's only 100,000 people in all the islands apparently.

I almost posted this. Good job.

Since "The Kick is Good's" piece on Nesbitt, I'm intrigued by the guy too. Seems like a really exceptional athlete and a pretty smart guy. His inexperience might work against him though.

IMO, Gilbride's best results have been when he's had a strong head coach reigning in his propensity to throw the ball too damn much… Cowher and Coughlin actually told Gilbride what to do rather than simply hand over the offense to him.

If I was a Panthers fan, I'd love it.

Would you settle for a Tongan?

The thing that's changed is the recent revelation that the Jauron locker room was highly dysfunctional. No one here knew that or if they did, they didn't say a peep. It was always assumed that Jauron's teams consisted of good, high-character, hard-working guys who just lacked talent. NO ONE knew that there were problems with team chemistry.

These above moves are equivalent to the moves that Daniel Snyder and the Redskins have been making for over a decade. They almost never work. The Cheatriots**** need to get it together again personnel-wise. Since losing Pioli and Dimitroff they've sucked at player acquisition using the big-name/aging vet/lazy scouting approach to pro scouting and bombing in their drafts. They USED to be good at player acquisition. The've had Addai since signing him in March. That's a long time to get a feel for a player. Maybe they don't think he has anything left in the tank? Just a thought.

I think it stems from Williams and Gilmore getting the majority of first team snaps during the OTA and minicamp. McGee's been rehabbing and apparently he's getting close. However I have almost no confidence that McGee can stay healthy. He's played a lot of games in this league (90) and he's missed a ton of games. He's pretty old, very injury-prone, and not terribly big. A marvelous player in his time and I hope he can give the Bills a good season… something he hasn't done in awhile. As for McKelvin the Bills said last week what a great attitude McKelvin has and how even after he was demoted last year that he approached the coaches and asked to return kicks and punts and continued to work hard in practice. Leodis has some shortcomings but he seems like a good kid. On top of that he's talented and in the last year of his contract. I think/hope that Leodis has an exceptional year for us. Rogers and Brooks look like players so I won't be surprised if McGee doesn't make it.

I'm gonna treat the issue as if I was in the dugout while my teammate was pitching a no hitter.

McGee is still not 100% from his injury. I think he and Moorman are virtually bubble players. Lindell and Kelsay are solid to make the final roster, IMO.

Yep. That kid's parents didn't raise him right… or they did but he came out wrong for some biological reason. I'd hold him on the ground and tickle him for awhile… give him a couple of noogies… Then I'd fart on him a few times. Dumb punk.

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-2/Transcript-Nix-Williams-Gilmore-at-Training-Camp/2d4cf4ec-5a7b-4cd9-81b8-8c32f40e768c

Not only 2nd and 3rd year players but 2nd and 3rd round draft picks. It's good that Nix is publicly calling out these guys. Nix is definitely straightforward for an NFL GM. And I think we all appreciate that.

Firstly, you put a LOT of work into this one and I appreciate hard work. Secondly there was a ton of useful information (the site plan was cool) AND opinions in the piece and your usual nice mix of fun and funny talking points. Great job on this one.

BTW, besides the subject matter, I was in a grumpy mood for some reason yesterday morning. Sorry, Bill. Anyways I agree with your points on the Dareus effect and team building. I love that Gailey has a Pittsburgh history and that the Bills plucked Kraig Urbik after the Steelers cut him. I feel like we have a front office now that doesn't have to have an inferiority complex when measuring themselves against other organizations.

Thanks for the great topic. For every post you want to reply to (in one reply) click the "multi-quote" button. Once you've clicked on "multi-quote" for each post you wish to reply to, hit the "add reply" button on the bottom. Hope that helps.

First let me say that I don't have a clue as to Lee Evans' true character. I would say though that just because someone is mild-mannered doesn't mean that the person is a model teammate or a classy guy. The people who criticize Evans' behavior (QB controversy role, etc) have just as much ammo as those who defend him. Kelsay's extension makes a LOT more sense in the context of this article. Great point. Hmmm… you don't find this to be an interesting subject… a revealing glimpse into the recent culture at One Bills Drive just before Chixley took over? Certainly more interesting than a topic about whether Fitz is a franchise QB or not. Actually I have that person on "ignore" but saw the bush league comments in someone else's reply. I usually don't feed them and my ignore list is sadly up to about 20 people.

That's ironic. You of all people accusing someone else of making a "punk move." LMFAO!!! Tim's "Press Coverage" blog is outstanding… the best regular Bills coverage we've had in a very long time. It's absolutely possible Evans brought the same reticence to run the whole route tree with him to Baltimore. Agreed. I couldn't disagree more with the criticism of David Nelson. I've said it numerous times here… as a rule the Bills do not talk about character… they only acquire it. Donte's ego seemed fueled by insecurity though… or as the article describes it, "false bravado." The only other person Nelson could have been implicating would be the WRs Coach. But I don't think so. Nelson's not a great receiver but he's a good one and will be second on the team in receptions again this year.

I want to temper some of the things I said earlier in this thread. The more I catch up with the topic, the more I realize how complex an issue it is and how I might be a big out of my depth on this because of the breadth and depth of the story and my time constraints. For one thing this story covers a very long period of time starting with complaints and investigations in the 90s and then the McQueary witnessed incident in 2002 and the years following that. There is a separate discussion about the NCAA's proper role in all of this and there are good arguments on both sides of that issue. Then there's the aspect that the punishment hurts people who had nothing to do with what happened… also the complex and surreptitious politics which are a big part of the university culture. There are MANY unknowns as Haplo pointed out… who did and said what… and while there is a natural tendency to sensationalize and demonize Paterno, in the overall apportionment of blame, we may likely never know who is most or least culpably. I only know a few things for sure. 1) Sandusky can rot in hell. 2) A bunch of very powerful men hid their heads in the sand and none of those principals had the courage to do the right thing… which was to make a very public issue of these complaints. The many other sub-issues I still haven't made my mind up on yet.

Haven't read the article yet (gotta run off to work) but it seems there was a lot of divisiveness back then. Jauron vs Schonert was another one. I disagree with you guys. I'd bet Nelson's teammates are good with him being a spokesperson for the team. He's a bit young to be a team leader but like other team leaders around the NFL, he's a guy who can be honest and frank, but diplomatic at the same time. There's a fine line there and I don't think Nelson has ever crossed it. Yes, that was my recollection too. Also Evangola State Park. Looking forward to reading the article when I get home. Sounds like it's quite revealing.

I think he already is. Quite frankly I'm concerned about him keeping his fluid levels up for week one. I'd hate for him to be cramping up in the second half.

No. Muffy things aren't around anymore. They went out sometime in the late 90s.

By saying he was the most powerful man at Penn State does not mean that he ran the school or that he exercised this power at all times. However the accounts I've read of what happened at Penn State suggest to me that Paterno had unchecked power and did what he wanted when he wanted to. His sway with the student body and the alumni is legendary. The guy was a sacred icon who could work as long as he wanted to even after it was clear that he shouldn't be coaching anymore. There are different accounts of his involvement in the cover up. Most of them paint Paterno as willing to go along with what the group suggested which is a crafty way of absolving oneself of responsibility. Paterno let others take the lead in this matter instead of simply reporting it to law enforcement. Penn State President Graham Spanier didn't fire Paterno because he knew he couldn't. Paterno did what he wanted right up until the moment he was fired by the Board of Trustees. The irony is the fact that Paterno chose not to wield his power when he had an opportunity to do so… when doing so would have prevented further abuse of victims. This is all my opinion as your account is your opinion. Agree we disagree and agree that the Bills whup ass this year. In any scenario mentioned so far in this topic, the players are penalized… to what extent is certainly debatable. I personally feel for them. It's really hard to say what an appropriate penalty is. I do think it had to be severe but ideally only to the institution. Like I said earlier, the collateral damage is a shame. I like someone's earlier suggestion that the perfect (possibly impossible) penalty would be one in which the players aren't punished for something they had no guilt in. I understand your point that nothing in life is guaranteed.

I'll trust you on this one.