McDermott's "Come to Buffalo to be the best version of you that you've ever been" echoed by players

[Don Otreply]

And for “some” the tin foil hat never gets taken off, what a Chooch. Must be hellish being in a state of constant disappointment, oh well,  losers gonna lose. 

 

Go Bills!!!

[Chicken Boo]

Great quote!  If I were a player, it'd make me think twice. 

[GoBills808]

5 minutes ago, BillsVet said:

 

There's more than the obvious reason why McD is making this statement.  The dude is always planning his approach and uses his statements to the media to achieve a purpose.  He's not just spouting off on how he feels at the moment.  

 

For example, at the combine last year the first thing he talked about with the media was a need to score more points.  This happened without even being asked about it because he's knew what he'd be asked about.  It's a way to get out in front of something before it gets worse. I used the example from after the Cleveland game to illustrate this. 

 

The question is why would a NFL HC play recruiter just prior to UFA beginning?  I get that people live at the surface level and want to make the obvious determinations.  But I'd love to know why he said what he did today because there's more going on here than simply him playing recruiter. 

[Call_Of_Ktulu]

My uncle back in the 90’s when FFL was on paper and you basically had to do most of your own homework always picked Kelly, Thurman and Reed and always won. I would play him in Madden and he would always be the Bills, in that game you couldn’t stop Thurman or Reed and Bruce Smith was an unstoppable machine. Being from Chicago I liked the Bears but had no passion for the team. When the 90’s Bills went to that first SB I knew what team I was going to be rooting for the rest of my life. Since then we have traveled up to Buffalo 7 times and have been doing it every year. Amazing city, amazing fans and amazing people.

[BringBackOrton]

10 minutes ago, GoBills808 said:

It is truly a mystery.

 

I also wonder why Nick Saban starts playing recruiter during college recruitment season.  WHAT IS HE HIDING???

[BillsVet]

1 hour ago, IDBillzFan said:

Because he wants players to come to Buffalo. It's just that simple. It's not like this team has a long history of winning, so he needs to let players know that if the Bills want them and they're willing to come to the Bills, the team will do their best to make that player the best they can be...on and off the field.

 

Have you never been recruited to work for a company? Or recruited to attend a college? People put their best foot forward to recruit the best people they can.

 

It's really no more or less than that. Unless you don't like McDermott. In which case he's clearly covering for something nefarious! 

 

Then why didn't McD make that statement last year?  A year when they had every intention of being aggressive in UFA?  A year when expectations were going to be high?  

 

I get that most fans aren't capable of putting themselves in McD's position and their proclivity is to laud anything the team does.  My belief is McD said this because he's entering the fourth off-season as HC and this year is critical to his rebuild.  He also knows the schedule promises to harder than the 3rd easiest in the NFL. He recognizes a need for more talent and they've got money to spend even if they re-sign Tre, Dawkins, and Milano.  He also knows that many of his contemporaries are or close to getting to the SB.  

 

McD ain't a surface-level thinker like a lot of fans are.  

 

[zonabb]

3 hours ago, Logic said:

 

 

 

 

If anyone out there still doesn't think team culture matters, or wants to see an illustration of what is so special about what Buffalo is currently building, look no further than McDermott's original quote and the fact that multiple players and family members have validated the truth of the statement.

Awesome stuff.

I've been saying culture matters forever and was happy with the early things I heard from McD and Beane. Unfortunately, we have two types of non-believers on this. First are the dorks on the radio and others who use descriptive statistics and treat every player as a monolithic robot, absent any human psychology or emotion. These folks, who spew descriptive statistics (not inferential, which means they predict something) believe they are measuring a machine. Simply put, find the 11 individual machines with the best descriptive statistics and make them into a new machine with a new operator (coach). Nothing about the individual parts (the description) tell us anything about how they all will function when acting as one and being coached. It's laughable how much a bunch of journalism graduates have falsely fallen in love with and overstate the importance of analytics, which they are both under-skilled in and misrepresent what it is constantly. The reality it, only measuring quantifiable measures and ignoring completely qualitative measures leads to false findings, outcomes, and results. Again, it goes back to a key assumption in this thinking, which is that all players perform equally under given circumstances. That they are unaffected by poor leadership (disengaged, unmotivated) or impacted by positive leadership and coaching (engaged, motivated, feel valuable).

 

And then there is the other kind, the neanderthal. These are the guys out there who act like toughness is what a football player must be and anyone who can't take being yelled at is a wuss. These are the guys who probably got emotionally and/or physically abused by a father or father figure and because they endured it, so should anyone else. These people are a lost cause, whereas the empirical and quantitative folks are misguided and lack the understanding of what's being measured and how it contributes. 

 

And I'll leave it with an example. I know someone who worked hard for years at a company. One where the CEO was more concerned about the stock price than the workers. And those are not mutually exclusive, you can care as passionately about both, and should since the workers create the stock's value. He worked in this office, corporate headquarters for a national firm. CEO never walked around and said hello to anyway. Anyway, my friend made a significant promotion after a number of years and was invited to lunch with some others who were promoted...with the CEO. The CEO introduced himself at the table, as if no one knew who he was. This is a class power move, let everyone at the table feel small but also grateful to be in his presence. He then says "Please tell me who you are and what you do for me." Not for "us" but "for me. Lots of crushed souls at that table and lots who left as soon as they could. Working your ass off only to be dismissed, minimized, and anonymized by leadership is deflating for some, I'd say for most.

 

But here's the main reason it matters. People don't have to accept bad leadership and bad culture. Those who prefer it and thrive on it, will leave. And you want them in your organization. You can work you ass off for anyone, but why do it for someone who treats you like garbage? 

 

So culture matters, just because it can't be measured doesn't mean it doesn't matter. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, BillsVet said:

Then why didn't McD make that statement last year?  A year when they had every intention of being aggressive in UFA?  A year when expectations were going to be high?  

 

Are you seriously asking this?  OK, I'll spell it out.

 

McDermott understands that as the coach of a 6-10 team, any "come be the best version of yourselves in Blo"  talk would look somewhere between empty hype and foolishness.

 

As the coach of a 10-6 playoff team with 3 probowlers, an all-pro, a couple thought-to-be-slipping FA WR who just equaled their career best years, and a couple players who had career years rolling into FA, saying what McDermott just said has enough basis behind it to have some cred.  A bit anyway.

 

 

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

...is this an OBD Geico commercial?..........

[Buffalo716]

If you are a defensive player and you want to reach your potential

 

You should seriously consider coming here

 

McDermott is a defensive guru. I have no doubt his scheme is a genuine masterpiece and is a well oil Machine

[3rdand12]

oiled. not oil.

do your job please

43 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

If you are a defensive player and you want to reach your potential

 

You should seriously consider coming here

 

McDermott is a defensive guru. I have no doubt his scheme is a genuine masterpiece and is a well oil Machine

:  D

 

 

 I agree with your point btw.
 

Edited February 28, 2020 by 3rdand12

[Buffalo716]

1 minute ago, 3rdand12 said:

oiled. not oil.

do your job please

 

Im not an English Major! I've had 12 concussions! Idk what I even ate yesterday

[3rdand12]

2 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

Im not an English Major! I've had 12 concussions! Idk what I even ate yesterday

we are painfully alike.

[Augie]

1 minute ago, Buffalo716 said:

Im not an English Major! I've had 12 concussions! Idk what I even ate yesterday

 

YESTERDAY? What, are you in the advanced class? Sometimes I have to look for receipts to tell me what happened today!    

 

 

Obviously hoping for all the best for you. I think I may have had a total of one concussion, from my college rugby days, and even that was not a sure thing. It sure did suck, though.....

[Buffalo716]

1 minute ago, Augie said:

 

YESTERDAY? What, are you in the advanced class? Sometimes I have to look for receipts to tell me what happened today!    

 

 

Obviously hoping for all the best for you. I think I may have had a total of one concussion, from my college rugby days, and even that was not a sure thing. It sure did suck, though.....

 I'm fine buddy we all live life

 

I made football my #1 and I took a lot of hits. I'm happy and love life

 

I just lose my car keys and wallet 13 times a day

 

[Augie]

6 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

 I'm fine buddy we all live life

 

I made football my #1 and I took a lot of hits. I'm happy and love life

 

I just lose my car keys and wallet 13 times a day

 

 

Anything less than a dozen may mean we need to consider OCD, so I think you are in the safe zone. 

 

Side note: I sure did love leading with my helmet in football. I may go to a hot place after death for this, but I could often see the dazed look in guys after we “shared helmets”. I had no idea of the implications back then, of course. As it turns out, my wife had two C-sections because my gene pool has giant (and apparently THICK) noggins. We were the family wearing different color helmets while white water rafting or zip lining. For HS football they had to dig around in a back room to find my son a helmet. Not a huge person, but.....”that head is deceptively large!” Classic family quote. Ahh, good times. 

[Buffalo716]

1 minute ago, Augie said:

 

Anything less than a dozen may mean we need to consider OCD, so I think you are in the safe zone. 

 

Side note: I sure did love leading with my helmet in football. I may go to a hot place after death for this, but I could often see the dazed look in guys after we “shared helmets”. I had no idea of the implications back then, of course. As it turns out, my wife had two C-sections because my gene pool has giant (and apparently THICK) noggins. We were the family wearing different color helmets while white water rafting or zip lining. For HS football they had to dig around in a back room to find my son a helmet. Not a huge person, but.....”that head is deceptively large!” Classic family quote. Ahh, good times. 

My head isn't huge but it sure is hard! I'm not gonna say I loved leading with my helmet but I've had many collisions where I can see the opponent took the brunt of it and didn't want any more

 

And they say stop leading with ur helmet.. and I just said I got under you man get lower

[Logic]

 

To me, the cumulative weight of having state-of-the-art facilities, great ownership and front office, great coaching, recent playoff appearances, a potential franchise QB in place, the best fans in the league, and players all over the roster raving about the family culture here....It's huge. 

Free agents are going to see it. Rookies are going to see it. We're seeing it already with how draft prospects are replying to Bills-related questions at the combine the past few days.

This stuff matters.

[Augie]

2 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

My head isn't huge but it sure is hard! I'm not gonna say I loved leading with my helmet but I've had many collisions where I can see the opponent took the brunt of it and didn't want any more

 

And they say stop leading with ur helmet.. and I just said I got under you man get lower

 

I never played at that level, but I’m sure I did some damage with my head. I’m not sure that meant I was the winner, but maybe I “lost less”. I’ll never forget slipping on an icy sidewalk one night in 3rd grade, falling on the back of my head and seeing the starburst! WOW! Despite my best efforts in college, I never saw anything g like THAT! It may explain some things.....  

[Buffalo716]

1 minute ago, Augie said:

 

I never played at that level, but I’m sure I did some damage with my head. I’m not sure that meant I was the winner, but maybe I “lost less”. I’ll never forget slipping on an icy sidewalk one night in 3rd grade, falling on the back of my head and seeing the starburst! WOW! Despite my best efforts in college, I never saw anything g like THAT! It may explain some things.....  

Well concrete is hard my friend.. and I'm sure we didn't win in the end lol

 

Getting trucked by ice and concrete at 9 is totally equivalent to Ray lewis taking your head off lol no wonder you never got hit harder