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Always played backyard ball with friends and cousins and whatnot. One summer some buddies of mine had to cut our game short so they could go to actual practice at the school. I decided to join then (10th grade, I think?) and found out relatively quickly that an undersized asthmatic who didn't hit his growth spurt until after HS wasn't gonna make it when the pads came on. So instead I became stats guy/clipboard guy/video guy, and announcer guy because I enjoyed being around it. Claim to fame, I guess, would be my little rinky-dink HS played against the HS of Jehuu Caulcrick. He was on another level and would go on to play at Michigan State and then hung around on practice squads for the Jets, Bucs, and 49ers for a few years before famously getting one regular season carry with the Bills in 2010. If you're not sure who he is, look him up, real interesting life story. My cousins both played QB in HS and then went on to different DIII schools to play, one continued as QB, the other was moved to TE. He played at Hobart which is where Ali Marpet, OG for the Bucs, played, but I don't think they overlapped. They have some interesting stories, though. The one who continued as a QB said he played with kids that definitely could've been DI and eventually pro but they instead wanted to party with friends more than play seriously which is why they ended up at a college in the middle of frickin' nowhere. Both of 'em had ACL/MCL tears. In fact, the younger on just had his surgically repaired this spring. My sport was bowling. If you can call that a sport. Won three division titles with my HS bowling team. What was cool is that my HS was super small so the different sports supported each other. Most of the football team came out to our title matches.

I'm not trading two first round picks unless I'm getting a Julio Jones-in-his-prime type of player.

Depends on who you ask, I guess, haha. I saw another thread where someone said tackling was a "yuuuuge" problem. I don't really see it. They rally up and tackle pretty well. Yeah, a runner bounces off them here and there but that happens with any defense.

Bills defense looked like they were a step ahead of Brady and McDaniels so, I guess I'm not too terribly concerned about Mariota and the Titans. They seem like a real inconsistent team this year. They blew out the Browns thanks to Mayfield's three picks, then they gave up nine sacks in a loss to Jacksonville, which was a game I watched and what I saw was if you get Mariota to hold onto the ball longer than the average 2.5 seconds, he takes some bad sacks. Secondary could play a large role in allowing the DL to get home. And I saw someone mention their screen game... NE has been one of the best screen teams for over a decade now and the Bills shut that down last week. They were stopping tons of NE staples we've all seen year after year that usually chew them up but not this time. I think this defense can pick up where they left off and shut them down pretty good.

My bad, Yolo. I started a new thread on this. I checked to see if it was posted but I must not have scrolled down far enough. You can merge my thread with this one if you want.

For a minute I was kinda like the Jon Stewart character in Half-Baked. I wanted to try random things...on weeeeed. I reeled it in a bit when I went to the movies and spilled nacho cheese all over the floor while waiting to get into the theater and didn't even notice. Oops.

It ain't that expensive these days. Also, he could've grown his own, who knows? Nowadays it comes in a lot of different forms besides flowers.

Dang, all I wanna do is sit down and veg out for a while. Of course, I "take my recommended dose" in the evenings because I have a sleep disorder. But I have tried to use weed and then partake in certain activities, just not in a long time. I'd rather use marijuana than drink alcohol. Booze always just makes me feel heavy and tired. I mean, I get like a fun little 15 minute buzz but after that I'm like a sloth, moving slow, thinking slow, and trying to find a place to nap. And for these athletes that choose to use it are better off with that than they are being fed opiates.

Subscription required to check out the whole article as it's The Athletic. Dane Brugler, a pretty good draft analyst who used to work for CBS (I think) and is now over at the Athletic, put together his All-Rookie Team after the first quarter of the season. Devin Singletary, Cody Ford, and Dawson Knox all received honorable mentions, while Ed Oliver was named as his top rookie DT so far. He did mention that Quinnen Williams has missed two games while other rookie DTs like Christian Wilkins, Jerry Tillery, etc. have gotten off to slow starts. An excerpt on Oliver: "...he has flashed the disruptive qualities that made him a top-10 pick. His quickness off the snap surprises interior blockers, either opening rush lanes or clogging up the run design." So far, so good with Beane's 2019 picks. Going back to the start of the McBeane era they have drafted the following players who have become starters or at least contributors: Tre White, Zay Jones, Dion Dawkins, Matt Milano, Josh Allen, Tremaine Edmunds, Harrison Phillips, Taron Johnson, Siran Neal, Ed Oliver, Cody Ford, Devin Singletary, and Dawson Knox. And I feel pretty good about their 7th round guys this year in Darryl Johnson and Tommy Sweeney. They've definitely hit more than missed.

I can't wait until everyone's dream of Duke coming up comes true followed by a game where he has two targets and one catch for four yards which will then inevitably be followed up with over half this board imploding and screaming, "Why did they even bother bringing him up?!" The way he's talked up on this board would make you think he's the second coming of Jerry Rice.

Unrelated note but I didn't think anyone else would use a name like "Poojer" haha. One of my cats is named The Poodge.

What cracks me up is how many people wanna cut Yeldon in favor of Marcus Murphy when that dude had ball security issues as well.

If the questions stay based around the game, he has no problem answering. It's when questions about outside distractions start getting asked that he gets grumpy. I forget who the reporter was but she asked about AB and he just stared daggers at her. Most reporters were peeved with this because they felt she had done her job and had no choice but to ask considering how big of a story the AB crap has been. He can just say "no comment" instead of trying to Jedi mind-slap her or whatever he was doing. But yeah, keep it about football and he'll talk. I've seen him go on for five straight minutes about the intricacies of the punting game and how lacrosse influences football, etc. etc. Super intelligent guy. Would definitely be a cool experience to talk football with him. He's funny too, you don't see it a lot but I recall a clip I saw from quite a few years back when Welker was still playing for them and Belichick says, "This kid is gonna take the returner job from you." Welker's career was winding down by then so he probably wanted to focus solely on playing WR, so he says, "Pff, dude can have it." Belichick just kinda shakes his head and says, "Way to compete, Wes!" That said, I do think he's a guy that has no problem not just pushing the envelope but burning the whole thing when it comes to finding creative ways to skirt the rules and gain a competitive advantage.

From what I understand, the dude is the same guy day in and day out. Has a real methodical approach and works very hard to keep the team level, so they aren't getting too high over a win and not getting too low over a loss. It also seems they've kinda changed their approach when it comes to facing the Pats. We've heard it all week from players about how they're not doing anything different or special, they're preparing like they would for any other opponent and most players have been like, "They're just the next team on the schedule for us." Also, last season I don't think anyone expected them to win six games. The fact that they had a patchwork OL, no real playmakers on offense and a rookie QB and stayed competitive in games, even when the playoffs were out of the question, is a testament to his ability to motivate. And people can bag on the culture stuff all they want but he's got this entire group playing for each other and understanding that no one is above the team as well as understanding their roles and responsibilities from game to game/play to play. And the dude doesn't seem like he ever "settles" for anything less than someone's best effort, and that's across the board. Players, coaches, etc. he's always got an eye on improvement even if it means moving on from a talented, well-liked, and respected player (i.e. Shady). I guess my only gripe on him might be some of the blowout losses. Those games kinda screamed "unprepared" to me. Or maybe it was an occasion where they just couldn't rally to overcome the adversity, I dunno.

Haha, I remember those days from my 20s as well, but it was typically in bars on Friday and Saturday nights. That's another thing, I have a cousin who lives out of state and on occasion when he comes home he'll go to a game, but he'll go out and party with his buds on Friday and Saturday and then keep it going straight thru Sunday. I just can't keep up with that. I agree with holding out until your boy is 10 for a game. It's kind of unfortunate that the crowd can get so rowdy that it becomes an unsafe environment for kids. A few years ago Tim Graham wrote an article about the family atmosphere kinda fading away in favor of the table dives and all that. It's been a minute since I've been to a game (I think the last one was the big win over Rodgers and the Packers in 2014, thank the foosball gods that Jordy Nelson dropped what would've been like a 70-yard walk-in TD) so I haven't seen if it's gotten less rowdy or not but if it has that's definitely a good thing.

Haha, he looks like Mario with the jumps there.

Most of the tailgate traditions covered in this article have been around much longer than the Bills Mafia thing. It's just grown in notoriety over the last few years given the nature of social media and things going viral and getting more attention. I think the Pinto Ron stuff is great. It's just a bunch of fans making food with really odd utensils and then dousing a dude in ketchup. (Is anyone else a little bummed that Kenny says he really doesn't look forward to it anymore? But still does it because it's just tradition.) I'm a complete spectator when it comes to tailgating. I have no idea how some of youse guys can start pounding 'em at 10-11 AM and then go sit in the sun (or snow, depending on the time of year) for another three hours and keep going through the whole day. I'd be passed out before kickoff. The worst is really the morons who get completely annihilated in the lots and then stumble into the game and start sh*t with people. Went to the 2013 home opener and a dude in the row behind us was plastered and constantly accusing a dude a few seats down for staring at his girlfriend (nobody was eyeing up that mongoloid, who kept egging on her drunk boyfriend). Some pushing and shoving later, my SO and I are doused in beer and this dillhole is getting thrown out before they even did the National Anthem. Crap like that is what makes the gameday experience less enjoyable. But hey, if people wanna do shots out of bowling balls and bust up a bunch of folding tables, go for it. The only thing I hope doesn't happen is some fans start trying to push things to more extremes and next thing you know someone's trying a table dive from the 300 section and they wind up getting scooped off the pavement with a spatula.

Yeah, I'm not real sure where all the love for Marcus Murphy is coming from. If he was as good as some fans on here say he is then he'd probably be a on a team, ya? Peeps be like, "Yeldon fumbled!" Yeah, Murphy fumbles too. Both guys have a bit of an issue with ball security. No one is going to scoop him up at this stage of his career. He's still very much learning the intricacies of the game and isn't experienced enough to jump into a completely different offense and be effective.

Has had quite the career. Good for him. All-time leading rusher for his high school, haha.

But still a fluke, haha. The write-ups will be, "Yeah, Buffalo is 5-0 but who have they really beat? They needed a comeback win over the hapless Jets. They beat an uninspired Giants team, and needed another comeback to beat the lowly Bengals. And then, lil' Tommy had the sniffles and decided he'd let them enjoy a victory. And despite their 58-9 destruction of the Titans, Josh Allen still threw two passes that were actually caught, but they were placed to where the receiver had to reach an extra inch and a half to reel it in, so, clearly his accuracy woes are still very, very legitimate and we just cannot crown this Bills team until they actually beat a real team. Power Ranking: 29th!"

Oh, interesting. I did not know that. He's a goofball, at first I was kinda like, "Yeesh, this dude's obnoxious" but he's kinda grown on me, haha.

He's a guy that's here for more than just on-field stuff. People like to get down on any players who aren't lighting up the stat sheet and wanna send them packing five minutes after they arrive. But guys like Smith, Pat DiMarco, etc. might not have a huge role on the field but they have major roles as locker room leaders and as guys who the coaches want other players to look at and emulate how they approach the game.

Man, does Kyle spike his morning joe with meth or something? I don't generate that much energy in a day let alone a five minute segment at 4 in the morning or whatever friggin' time they get started over there. Only got so many years left on Earth, gonna get real weird with it.

Well, I hope this "journalist" slams his toe off every stupid piece of furniture he owns AND gets the diarrhea from Taco Bell.

Not for nothin', but yesterday marked eight years since the big 34-31 victory over them in 2011. Let's hope history repeats itself. I mean, that specific part of history, no parts of history where it was like 56-10 Pats.