Kirby Jackson Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 is the issue people had with Brandon that they didn't want a marketing guy to make decisions for what's on the field, now they say the marketing department should be in lockstep with the football department so they don't have a cut or traded player as part of a marketing campaign? That is not what is being said. They need to be aware of what is going on at the Sr. level because there are a LOT of things effected by every move. The decision to cut a player is Whaley's. It is also Whaley's job to make sure that Russ and his sr. staff know what is on the horizon. That is the way that it works.
eball Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 In this day and age, I think it's more dangerous for your marketing department to imply to MT Bank in the spring that Fred Jackson may not make the team in the fall when they want to use him than it is to risk him not being here when chances are good he is going to be. Yep. The team's marketing department has to stay silent on prospective player departures. 100% of the risk is with the company doing the promotions. In this instance the bank likely took the perspective many fans did -- not a chance in the world "Mr. Buffalo Bill" Fred Jackson wasn't going to be on the roster. They may be embarrassed but it's all on them.
Kirby Jackson Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 In this day and age, I think it's more dangerous for your marketing department to imply to MT Bank in the spring that Fred Jackson may not make the team in the fall when they want to use him than it is to risk him not being here when chances are good he is going to be. Maybe, but if we knew that he might be released there is no danger in telling someone that you are entrusting to oversee your revenue and paying $500K a year to (or whatever). It is pretty common and can be done without leaking the info. It really is not as difficult as it may seem.
PromoTheRobot Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 (edited) Just to be clear I am talking about Sr. Management. That is 100% the situation in any place that I know of.In sure it's upsetting but if they know their jobs at all they know it's part of the package. S##t happens. And there is no proper way to have prevented this.Maybe, but if we knew that he might be released there is no danger in telling someone that you are entrusting to oversee your revenue and paying $500K a year to (or whatever). It is pretty common and can be done without leaking the info. It really is not as difficult as it may seem. So has it been determined that Brandon was out of the loop? Even if Brandon knew it would be stupid to even hint to M&T or the rep in charge that Jackson might be a goner. Edited September 2, 2015 by PromoTheRobot
BrooklynBills Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 @spotrac: Most Cap $ Cleared Since Monday: #Bills: $8.8M #Colts: $8.5M #Raiders: $7.2M #Rams: $6.9M #AZCardinals: $6.5M #Texans: $6.4M #Broncos: $6.3M #doinghisjob #rogue #dareu$$ Thank you.
Kirby Jackson Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 (edited) In sure it's upsetting but if they know their jobs at all they know it's part of the package. S##t happens. And there is no proper way to have prevented this. All that I am saying is that with the proper communication this could have been prevented. There should not be any decisions made with communicating to the appropriate people. Maybe Whaley did this and Russ didn't tell his Sr. Management? We do not know the details but I promise, promise, promise that is the protocol pretty much everywhere that I know of. Each and every decision impacts the other departments. If the Bills have a player pull a Ray Rice situation tonight the entire Sr. Management team will be made aware of it. It may be no more than 6 or 7 people but they need to begin game planning. The way that the Fred situation probably should have been handled is like this at a Sr. Staff meeting, "there is a chance that Freddy may not be on the roster this year. Please plan accordingly." That is all that it would have taken and it would have been handled. You would not have seen him on tickets, new commercials, etc.... Edited September 2, 2015 by Kirby Jackson
DC Tom Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 Did I miss something? "Common man" is a long-standing board meme.
RyanC883 Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 it's not the Bills responsibility at all with the sponsors. It's a risk that companies take using athletes to market their brands. Anyone can be moved, even Gretzky was traded. Teams can't have to worry about who sponsors have chosen to represent them. It's a risk they have to weigh themselves when they plan their marketing campaigns. In Washington they have RG3 on the home opener tickets where Cousins will be the starter, and that's coming from the teams front office. Should RG3 have to start the game because they front office used him on the ticket? exactly. I think a MLB player was traded this year on his bobblehead night or something. I'm glad Whaley made an unpopular move, something prior GM's would not do. You can only keep 53, doing it now allows Fred to find another team. Lots of great RB's who wanted to keep playing "past prime" ended their careers with other teams.
Lurker Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 They wouldn't know. You sell them on the benefits elsewhere and the drawbacks. "With all of the optimism of the team moving forward I would think that you want to use someone that will be a big part of the team for years to come. As much as we all love Fred, he is 34 and closer to the end than the beginning of his career. It makes much more sense to me to start featuring Sammy Watkins and the future of the Bills. You want your brand to be associated with what is next." And what's Fred going to say? "They're pushing me out the door." Or the typical 'drunk on a barstool' fan (Sully's target audience)? "FJ's a gonner--how can they do that to a beloved guy like him?" You can see the depth of emotion around FJ from this board. I can't see M&T changing horses in midstream being a good fit for their corporate image as long as Freddie was on the roster...
Kirby Jackson Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 (edited) In sure it's upsetting but if they know their jobs at all they know it's part of the package. S##t happens. And there is no proper way to have prevented this. So has it been determined that Brandon was out of the loop? Even if Brandon knew it would be stupid to even hint to M&T or the rep in charge that Jackson might be a goner. Not saying that at all. What I am saying is that the communication fell short somewhere along the way. For all that we know it could have been his fault. EDIT: maybe the communication was there. I guess that I don't know. If it was than it was the execution that fell short. Edited September 2, 2015 by Kirby Jackson
Kelly the Dog Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 All that I am saying is that with the proper communication this could have been prevented. There should not be any decisions made with communicating to the appropriate people. Maybe Whaley did this and Russ didn't tell his Sr. Management? We do not know the details but I promise, promise, promise that is the protocol pretty much everywhere that I know of. Each and every decision impacts the other departments. If the Bills have a player pull a Ray Rice situation tonight the entire Sr. Management team will be made aware of it. It may be no more than 6 or 7 people but they need to begin game planning. The way that the Fred situation probably should have been handled is like this at a Sr. Staff meeting, "there is a chance that Freddy may not be on the roster this year. Please plan accordingly." That is all that it would have taken and it would have been handled. You would not have seen him on tickets, new commercials, etc.... Right, and that all makes sense. And you have constantly provided terrific insight into the marketing and PR aspect of the pro sports world. So many thanks. Just not sure there is blame to go around in this particular unique situation with what we know and don't know. What, for instance, do you do if you did the "please plan accordingly" like above and your guys tell M&T what about Sammy and they say, "But Fred IS Buffalo. He's perfect. He's everything we want. Sammy is a little too soft spoken."
PromoTheRobot Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 (edited) All that I am saying is that with the proper communication this could have been prevented. There should not be any decisions made with communicating to the appropriate people. Maybe Whaley did this and Russ didn't tell his Sr. Management? We do not know the details but I promise, promise, promise that is the protocol pretty much everywhere that I know of. Each and every decision impacts the other departments. If the Bills have a player pull a Ray Rice situation tonight the entire Sr. Management team will be made aware of it. It may be no more than 6 or 7 people but they need to begin game planning. The way that the Fred situation probably should have been handled is like this at a Sr. Staff meeting, "there is a chance that Freddy may not be on the roster this year. Please plan accordingly." That is all that it would have taken and it would have been handled. You would not have seen him on tickets, new commercials, etc.... Kirby I have the utmost respect for you as a TBD member but I have to strongly disagree with you. I cannot see how you could even float the notion that Fred Jackson might not be on the team to a client without risking a raging s##t storm. All it would take is one person to leak that information to Timmah or Bucko. I can imagine the tweets and headlines. "Bills clients steer personnel decisions!" "Russ Brandon still calling the shots!" Talk about embarrassing. Edited September 2, 2015 by PromoTheRobot
AdamK Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 "Common man" is a long-standing board meme. Before or after "ground up in the freezer"?
NoSaint Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 Here's a question. I was not on this board when Thurman was cut. Was the reaction the same? I would guess not, because everyone knew it was time. This is different. FJ was cut when most of our backfield is injured. We are told they will be fine, but we haven't even been told what Karlos's problem is. I'm just not buying everything I hear from official sources. I think the Bills are better with FJ this year. I don't know about next year, but I think this move will not strengthen the team, especially on passing downs. youre right, they probably cut him with no idea what is going on with anyone elses health.
Kirby Jackson Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 And what's Fred going to say? "They're pushing me out the door." Or the typical 'drunk on a barstool' fan (Sully's target audience)? "FJ's a gonner--how can they do that to a beloved guy like him?" You can see the depth of emotion around FJ from this board. I can't see M&T changing horses in midstream being a good fit for their corporate image as long as Freddie was on the roster... I hear you and I am not saying that it isn't M&T's problem. At the end of the day they are responsible for their marketing. There is no doubt about that. All that I am saying is that if the Bills would have properly communicated this POTENTIALLY could have been prevented. I guess that we don't know whether or not they communicated properly but we do know that the execution wasn't there. It is just a learning experience for all of them and the type of thing that they can tighten up. It isn't the end of the world but it wasn't done well either.
NoSaint Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 Kirby I have the utmost respect for you as a TBD member but I have to strongly disagree with you. I cannot see how you could even float the notion that Fred Jackson might not be on the team to a client without risking a raging s##t storm. All it would take is one person to leak that information to Timmah or Bucko. I can imagine the tweets and headlines. "Bills clients steer personnel decisions!" "Russ Brandon still calling the shots!" Talk about embarrassing. i can buy it being done after the players been informed but before the public, but thats as far as i could imagine being reasonable/feasible
AdamK Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 (edited) http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2015/09/02/report-bills-concerned-lesean-mccoy-wont-be-healthy-for-week-1/ Awesome. Let me throw some gas on the fire. #Re-signFred Edited September 2, 2015 by AdamK
Lurker Posted September 2, 2015 Posted September 2, 2015 All that I am saying is that with the proper communication this could have been prevented. The only thing that might have been prevented is giving TG the opportunity to piss in the punchbowl by saying how 'embarrassing' it is. No one but Timmeh has indicated that it was a significant problem for M&T or the Bills management...
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