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It certainly sounds that way. But the attorneys work for the victim and are not objective. For example, the press release mentions the assailant asked for jewelry that McCoy has requested for in the past. The assailant asked for cash, too. What we don't know is if the intruder asked for a numbers of things, including a couple of jewelry items McCoy wanted returned. Maybe those jewelry items were obvious because they were being worn and the intruder demanded them because they looked valuable. He might have demanded 10 different items - only a couple of which were items McCoy wanted returned. Did McCoy want cash, too? While I'm troubled and worried, we certainly don't know all the facts and the press release is bound to be one-sided.

So would he have the legal right to send someone into the house to retrieve his belongings?

DC Tom, you're absolutely right - even when you're disagreeing with me. There's no damning evidence in the public record. The victim hasn't said anything publicly. The friend blames Shady but offers no proof. Shady denies wrong-doing. The tidbits coming from the police don't tell a complete and compelling story. With the little we know right now, Shady could be completely innocent or completely guilty or something in-between. I'm hoping for the best, guessing the in-between, and fearing the worst.

Her side? That Shady had thugs beat her up? It's possible but it would be incredibly stupid when he's already in the process of having her evicted. Then again, athletes have done dumber things and no outcome to this story would shock me. But if I had to bet, I'd bet on a middle ground. Shady didn't have thugs assault her but he's not completely uninvolved either.

Certainly possible. Shady doesn't live there any more. Security cameras reportedly gone. Electricity reportedly off. It could make the place a target.

How am I an apologist? I don't know enough to convict or defend the guy. I'm merely musing aloud.

I wonder if Shady's lawyer has already talked to the assailant to negotiate a bargain. Maybe financial help for his statement that he was only sent to get something, not rough her up.

Shady is evicting her legally. But he may also have items in the house that she's threatened to take or destroy. And so maybe he sent a guy to retrieve the items, not rough her up. But a confrontation ensued. I hope Shady's not involved in any way. But I'm not convinced.

Is it breaking and entering when Shady owns the house? It's possible McCoy just sent him to get some items. But the gf got belligerent and the errand boy lost his cool. In this scenario, what's Shady's culpability?

It's human nature, I think, to make the best guesses we can with the information we have. But my mind is far from made up. Given our uncertain QB situation, we were looking at a Shady-centric running offense this year. Shady's our only legit offensive weapon. We can't afford to lose him. I'm hoping he's completely & entirely innocent. But the fact that the assailant was looking for specific items has me worried about McCoy's possible involvement. I think it's a reasonable worry.

Sadly, it's starting to seem like Shady sent someone to retrieve some of his possessions. The ex gf didn't cooperate and the confrontation turned physical. Hope I'm wrong.

True. Maybe a more interesting question is: Who is the worst Bills starter of all time? Or: Who was the worst Bills draft pick of all time? Many of the names offered - sadly enough - were starters and/or high draft picks.

That's good Bills football knowledge. And a truly bad pick.

Gil has forgotten more about football than I'll never know. But even acknowledging that, I have to say this list is bad. OJ at #10 is indefensible. Watching OJ and Jim Brown play was like watching a NFLer play against a JUCO team. They were men among boys. Gil rightly has Jim at #1 but then puts 8 other backs ahead of OJ. This is plain insane - or else Gil is letting OJ's extracurricular exploits shade OJ's ranking. Because of rule and scheme changes, it's hard to compare backs of different eras. But let's look at 1973 when OJ nearly doubled the production of the next best back. No other RB has ever been so dominant. Other questionable choices: Bo at #4? No way. LDT at #5? Good but not that good. Dorsett at #9? When watching Barry Sanders (#7) or Earl Campbell (#8), you knew you were watching a special talent in action. I never felt that way about Dorsett (#9). John Riggins at #18? 3.9 yards per carry in his career. Oddly better as an old man then a young one. Not in my top 25 though. Probably not in my top 50. This is an odd list by Gil.

The smartass in me wants to predict the Bills winning the division every year. Eventually one year I'll be proven right and then gloatingly tell everyone, "See! I told you!" But the realist in me predicts that the Pats will win the division this year and every year. There's no glory in this prediction since it's the same prediction almost all other sane NFL fans make. But until the cycle in broken, it's the prediction that makes the most sense. There's just too many if's on this year's Bills squad: If one of the QBs emerges as a star... If the OL - with 2/3 new starters - gels... If the WR corps isn't terrible... If Star Lotulelei returns to form... If the top rookies are as good as we hope... If Daboll proves to be better than Rico... And so on. Some of those ifs will work out the way we want. Some won't.

Exactly. No GM bats 1.000 with their draft picks. No GM bats 0.000. One pick doesn't define the GM - rather it's their entire body of work. Beane's only been here a year and his body of work is just too small to evaluate. I'm really hoping Allen works out but if he doesn't that doesn't mean Beane is a bad GM. How he handles that failure, though (assuming Allen doesn't develop into a good starter) would tell us a lot about Beane. Beane joined a team that hasn't had a franchise QB since Kelly retired. He took a year assessing Tyrod - mostly because he didn't have much of a choice - and decided he couldn't build a championship offense around TT. So he signed a veteran backup with some promise and drafted a kid with a lot of upside. In other words, he's doing the kind of things a good GM ought to do.

A few years ago, I interviewed a guy for a managerial position with our company. Noticing my Buffalo Bills iPhone case, he mentioned he once played DI football and took handoffs from a QB who went on to be the starting QB for the Bills (I'll leave names out). Well, I thought, I'm not hiring this guy. He's full of tall tales. Integrity is important to me and this guy's clearly a bull-sh*tter. Then I looked up his name on YouTube and, sure enough, there he was breaking tackles and running for touchdowns. He was actually a pretty dynamic player in college.

Fire the cannon hard and often!

PFF grades the Bills roster as the 16th best in the NFL. It seems a little high given that we lack an established QB, have new starters on the OL, and a lot of questions at WR. Curiously, PFF only talks about our defensive concerns. I'm wondering how others would rank us? Biggest strength: Tre'Davious White is one of the league's best young cornerbacks, and he took home our Rookie of the Year award in 2017. White ranked second among all cornerbacks with a 92.0 grade and led the position with 1,093 defensive snaps, finishing 14 of 17 games (including the playoffs) with a grade of at least 70.0. Biggest weakness: The Bills have a handful of issues on their roster, but their biggest is with the cornerbacks after White. Phillip Gaines ranked 119th last season with a 35.9 grade, which was actually a slight improvement over the 34.8 he posted in 2016. Vontae Davis, who was released by the Colts midseason, was just ahead of him with a 45.2 grade, his second consecutive season in the 40s. By the numbers: Buffalo's defense ranked last in the NFL in 2017, generating pressure on just 29 percent of opponents' passing plays. The Bills are hoping that Trent Murphy -- who still hasn't been fully cleared after tearing his ACL last August -- can bring some life to the pass rush after signing him away from Washington this offseason. Murphy ranked 10th among 3-4 outside linebackers in 2016 with an 11.8 pass-rushing productivity rating, and he ranked 11th with 55 total pressures; Jerry Hughes -- Buffalo's most productive pass-rusher of late -- has averaged 47.5 pressures over the past two seasons. https://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2018/06/pff_ranks_2018_nfl_rosters_where_do_buffalo_bills_land.html

We need 20 picks from our D to compensate for the 20 picks we'll throw this year.

In honor of The Senator... Week 1 at Baltimore: We outplay them and win. Week 2 LA Chargers: We outplay them and win. Week 3 at Minnesota: We outplay them and win. Week 4 at Green Bay: We outplay them and win. Week 5 Tennessee: We outplay them and win. Week 6 at Houston: We outplay them and win. Week 7 at Indianapolis: We outplay them and win. Week 8 New England: We outplay them and win. Week 9 Chicago: We outplay them and win. Week 10 New York Jets: We outplay them and win. Week 12 Jacksonville: We outplay them and win. Week 13 Miami: We outplay them and win. Week 14 New York Jets: We outplay them and win. Week 15 Detroit: We outplay them and win. Week 16 New England: We outplay them and win. Week 17 Miami: We outplay them and win. 16-0!!!

We can nitpick his decisions but I like a GM who has a clear vision of what kind of team he wants and then aggressively goes out and gets the players he needs, jettisoning the players that don't fit his vision. And so far, McD and Beane seem to be working together for a shared vision. I'm cautiously optimistic about this duo.

You make valid points. But the Emory study uses stats that favor large market, affluent fan bases with relevant teams. So I cherry picked a stat that favors small market teams.

It's one decision. The sum of all of McDermott's decisions is that the Bills achieved a winning record and a playoff birth - despite a roster largely devoid of star players.

Every coach makes a mix of good and bad decisions. The best coaches aren't timid. They're not afraid to make mistakes. That was certainly a mistake.