Nix speaks

[Lori]

Lori, Isn't it standard practice for most normal teams (not Bills) that whenever a personnel transaction or even organizational change such as coaching change is made that the GM comments on that change to the press?

 

With respect to the Bills do they regularly meet with the press on certain days, as many other teams do, or do they do it on an ad hoc basis?

 

If you or Tim G or Jerry S or Allen W wanted some information from the organization who do you all talk to or what office do you call for information or a clarification?

 

In my view the Bills are a very opaque organization. They must be trying to hide the dysfunction which is very visible to most people.

Whoa, now -- don't lump me in with the guys who are actually accredited by the team. Doubt anyone in that building (outside the ticket office or Guest Services) would answer my call.

 

But to answer your question, VP/Communications Scott Berchtold is in charge of the PR staff -- when "the Bills" release an official statement, for example -- but I think Director of Media Relations Chris Jenkins and Manager of Media Services Matt Heidt handle most of the day-to-day stuff. Believe Jenkins was the one who discussed the training-camp sideline restriction with various members of the media, whose concerns led to the policy being revised to allow better access.

 

Add: Should also note that many GMs -- Bill Polian and Mike Tannenbaum spring immediately to mind -- make regularly-scheduled radio appearances. Guess we were spoiled by all those years of the "Polian (and later Butler) Show."

[Al Czervik]

I agree that we need to build thru the draft...but I would have felt better if he had said "build thru drafting correctly". At least acknowledging its not just the players on the field that need to be held accountable.

 

oh well...at least he made a public comment about things...

[BillsVet]

Amazing the power of Sullivan's columns. The guy writes an article and then blammo, Nix appears.

 

I know BN can't say much and won't yield that things are terrible, but the fact they jump when Sullivan says jump is hilarious. There's never been more uncertainty surrouding the team and someone at Nix' level doesn't have the answers nor can assuage the concerns of fans about the future.

 

The organization is totally reactionary, and it goes all the way from personnel moves to public perception.

[Delete This Account]

with all due respect, and to be fair to all, must point out that i was informed by the Bills at around 6 p.m. last night that Nix was going to be made available some time today.

 

jw

[Sisyphean Bills]

I happen to think Kelsay sucks just as much (if not more) than Edwards ever did. Bear in mind that both Edwards and Kelsay were Captains.

 

"The thing you don’t want to do is take your core guys and your leaders out of your system."

 

"We knew he had the ability. He’s willing. He’s intelligent. He did all the things we asked. We went through OTAs. We went through preseason, camp, the whole deal, and he did everything we asked him to do and there was promise there."

 

"Maybe not be great players but are good players that set the tone for what you want everybody else to be."

 

"He exemplifies what we want players to do and how we want ‘em to be."

 

One gets cut and the other gets a raise.

Edited October 7, 2010 by Sisyphean Bills

[Lori]

with all due respect, and to be fair to all, must point out that i was informed by the Bills at around 6 p.m. last night that Nix was going to be made available some time today.

 

jw

Thanks for the info. That certainly does cast his sudden reappearance in a different light.

[billsfreak]

http://www.buffalobills.com/news/article-3/Nix-Turnaround-will-take-time-but-it-will-happen/db9a58d3-e2b1-4710-8376-15206ff290d1

 

(so much for the Sully thread)

A few things to ponder:

 

1. Did Nix finally say something because of the media pressure? If so he is pretty spineless and not too sure of his moves himself.

 

2. If he does have this long term plan (I will believe it when I see it), and it does take 3 or 4 years (help!), then is Gailey just a body like alot of the players are to get to that point? A cheap hire to fill the position, since Nix knew we would suck beyond all expectations? Then when we get close, get a real coach?

 

3. Is he talking out his rectum to satisfy people? Try to cool the ever rising dislike towards the franchise, owner, coaches, front office and players by the normally super loyal fanbase?

 

My guess is #3, with #1 a close second.

Edited October 7, 2010 by billsfreak

[dpberr]

Nix is following the Butler/Nix blueprint of the Chargers, circa 2001. None of this should surprise anybody on this board. Bills West to Chargers East.

 

I know patience is low, especially with how this season began, but "the" plan worked in San Diego, and I don't see any reason why it won't work here.

[Punch]

with all due respect, and to be fair to all, must point out that i was informed by the Bills at around 6 p.m. last night that Nix was going to be made available some time today.

 

jw

 

It's interesting to note that Sully's piece was first "published" to the Buffalo News' website last night at 11:12pm. Is it possible he was not aware of Nix's availability for today or that the piece was written prior to 6pm and published by a BN web staffer? I'm not faulting Jerry Sullivan, just curious (I realize it would be pretty difficult to expect a columnist to completely rewrite a column when facing a deadline when his point would still remain valid at the time of publication).

[cmjoyce113]

“Buffalo has got people all over the league that have been here that are playing good for other people. I didn’t want to come in here and cut guys that could help us win. So then we got into the regular season and it didn’t work out. We didn’t have the production that we wanted. We decided that wasn’t the answer for us or for him so we made the change.”

 

I am glad fans aren't the only ones that see players all around the league producing that use to play for the Bills. We turn people in to good NFL players and then let them go when it's time to pay them. Hopefully that will change now.

[bowery4]

with all due respect, and to be fair to all, must point out that i was informed by the Bills at around 6 p.m. last night that Nix was going to be made available some time today.

 

jw

Thanks JW,

I thought that would be the case as nothing in the news world seems to happen w/o advance notice. Buddy said pretty much what I expected and now he will and is being flamed for it. Just as I thought would happen too. PPl are going to have to wait and trust 2 things that will be hard for them to do. I expect they felt they needed to do this but they really didn't IMO, 0-6 I guess ppl will or would be ready to riot. Not so sure that happens if he makes a statement or not.

[John Cocktosten]

The furor over Kelsay's extension is emblematic of the Bills fan base and their obsession with stuff that doesn't matter. You're right. Why he got extended is a mystery. What Kelsay gets paid doesn't affect anything right now except the talk shows and chat boards. It happened. Get over it. Move on.

Really? Or is that fans are absolutely sick of this organization making terrible move after terrible move. I know YOU, PTR, think you are much smarter than everyone else but the fans have spoken. There IS no sellout and there will continue to be blackouts because of moves like the Kelsay extension which ARE THE PROBLEM.

 

What you fail to realize is that the fans "furor" has a long history behind it which is based solely on the inability of the Bills to make one, JUST ONE MOVE WHERE THEY RESEMBLE ANYTHING BUT THE EAST COAST RAIDERS. Your arrogance and laissez faire attitude toward these FO debacles is based upon nothing but pure fantasy and wishful thinking as if the Bills have a history of success.

 

It is amazing how misguided you are post after post.

 

PTR

[birdog1960]

with all due respect, and to be fair to all, must point out that i was informed by the Bills at around 6 p.m. last night that Nix was going to be made available some time today.

 

jw

hmmm...sullivan likely was as well. do morning columns usually get written after 6pm?

[billsfreak]

I completely disagree. Kelsay is less than a good player. And extending him sent the wrong message. It said "We will extend players who aren't good." What Nix wanted to say was "We're not getting rid of our core leadership." However, since the first message was already sent before any others, everything else is damage control at this point.

 

People like Fitzy because he's a gamer. Chris Kelsay is not a gamer. He plays out of position, gets no pressure on the QB, and can't play in space.

Did you ever think that maybe they just wanted to see what it feels like to extend a player? Since going by your standards, there is nobody on this roster that warrants an extension. I guess since Edwards was released, Kelsay has become this boards whipping boy and the blame for almost everything going wrong with the team. If you wanna point fingers, point them at the man who had the press conference and the guy who signs his paycheck.

[Lori]

hmmm...sullivan likely was as well. do morning columns usually get written after 6pm?

No, unless they're written off an evening game or breaking news. In fact, I'm guessing Sullivan wrote it before he left One Bills Drive yesterday afternoon.

[billsfreak]

Really? Or is that fans are absolutely sick of this organization making terrible move after terrible move. I know YOU, PTR, think you are much smarter than everyone else but the fans have spoken. There IS no sellout and there will continue to be blackouts because of moves like the Kelsay extension which ARE THE PROBLEM.

 

What you fail to realize is that the fans "furor" has a long history behind it which is based solely on the inability of the Bills to make one, JUST ONE MOVE WHERE THEY RESEMBLE ANYTHING BUT THE EAST COAST RAIDERS. Your arrogance and laissez faire attitude toward these FO debacles is based upon nothing but pure fantasy and wishful thinking as if the Bills have a history of success.

 

It is amazing how misguided you are post after post.

 

PTR

Not defending the extension to Kelsay, but I seriously doubt that the reason that most of the remaining home games won't be sellouts is because they extended Kelsay's contract. There are going to be a ton of empty seats because Ralph has let this team go to crap, and is the joke of the league. Fans are finally waking up to this.

[bowery4]

No, unless they're written off an evening game or breaking news. In fact, I'm guessing Sullivan wrote it before he left One Bills Drive yesterday afternoon.

 

I wonder when it was seen first posted on the web as well, I first saw it around 12ish

[Cash]

I'm having trouble reconciling the Kelsay-specific quotes with these quotes:

 

“If a guy is not producing we’re not going to keep doing the same thing and keep losing with the same people doing the same thing,” Nix said. “...To be honest with you, nobody is safe, you’ve got to produce."

 

We keep losing with Kelsay as one of the "core" players, one of the "leaders" in the locker room, and a starter on the field. He's not producing. So... keep on rolling?

 

I very much believe the stories that have come out about the pettiness/vindictiveness of the Bills' front office. Guys like Peters get an FU from the Bills, and things go really sour. But guys like Kelsay, who always spout the company line, always play the good soldier, and never express negativity towards the team, those guys get rewarded whether they produce or not. I believe the Bills are hoping that other players will see the examples made of guys like Kelsay and Peters, take the hint, and fall in line. The problem with that logic is that the Bills don't pay any better than anyone else, don't play in any appealing city to live in, and have stunk for some time. Most players that are any good would rather just go to another team than become loyal company men.

 

Back to Kelsay for a bit, I love Chris Brown's feeble attempt to put a positive spin on the extension. (As an aside, I really sympathize with Chris Brown. The Bills are his employer. It's his job to spin everything in as positive a light as possible. That's an extremely difficult task right now, and I feel bad for him. In many ways, his job is a Bills fan's dream job, but there is definitely a downside.) He says:

 

"A forgotten part of what it’s going to take to turn around the Bills franchise is eliminating the culture of losing that exists in the locker room. In no way does any player in Buffalo’s locker room want to lose, but when a team loses games as much as Buffalo has it can become a self-fulfilling type thing. Even Nix said though players may not realize it, it can become an accepted thing."

 

He implies that Kelsay is one of those key guys who can turn around that culture of losing. But Kelsay is as big a part of the culture of losing as anyone. He's never made the playoffs. He's only played on one winning (9-7) team. He's been one of the most complacent players on the Bills after a loss. I've heard beat reporters talk about how under Jauron, the attitude in the locker room on Monday was the same after a loss as it was after a win. And Chris Kelsay was a captain on that team. If that's the sort of attitude that his leadership fosters, then count me out.

[DanInUticaTampa]

Looks like someone inside One Bills Drive read the paper this morning.

 

hahaha, my thoughts exactly.

[Green Lightning]

While I'd debate the not matter part, as I think that Kelsay is a fundamental weakpoint on our team, since we've got lots of them I'm willing to let a good locker room influence stay. We've been a losing team for a long time and it'll be difficult to shed that stink. He can still be cut in the future should we manage get three players that are better than him (two OLB + swing OLB). Right now, I think we have no OLB that are better than him which was why he was extended. Also IMO the fact that there's no better OLB than him is a significant contributing reason as to why we're 0-4.

 

 

Yep