Von Miller’s path to Bills in first foray into free agency: ‘Buffalo just chose me’

[Shaw66]

9 hours ago, chongli said:

Your post made me go look up the size of NFL cities/markets. I was quite surprised one site listed New Orleans as smaller than Buffalo! Also surprised that Pittsburgh is bigger than 10 NFL markets:

 

Charlotte

Cincinnati

Las Vegas

Kansas City

Indianapolis

Nashville

Jacksonville

Buffalo

New Orleans

Green Bay

 

This above is according to a Packer's wiki:

 

https://packers.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_NFL_cities_by_number_of_major_professional_sports_franchises

 

This list doesn't jibe with largest US cities by population (where Jacksonville is the 13th biggest city, for example but 29 of 32 on the Packer's wiki list above):

 

https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities

 

So I am not sure how their totals were comprised. Maybe market size instead of city population. I don't have the time to do all the research.

 

But, I have to agree, Pittsburgh is small, by any numbers, and they are lucky to have that franchise.

What matters is TV markets.   The NFL wants cities in the biggest TV markets, because that's where the revenue is.   Wikipedia says Buffalo is the 53rd largest TV market in the US.  Milwaukee is 37 and Green Bay is 69, so even Green Bay is a better market than Buffalo.   Las Vegas is 40 and New Orleans is 50.  

 

However, Bills fans are so rabid that NFL ratings in Buffalo (based on percentage of households) are higher than the market size would suggest.  That's been Buffalo's saving grace., but that's only because the Bills are there.  If the Bills were to leave, the percentage would drop.  And there are several cities with much better TV markets, and even with a lower percentage of households, those bigger TV markets would be more attractive than Buffalo.  

 

Fact is, ten years ago the Bills were at risk of leaving Buffalo.  They needed a committed owner and a new stadium.   Thankfully, both came along. 

[Rigby]

As long as he gets sacks and helps us win games, he can get a damn tattoo of Jerry Jones on his face fore all I care.

[Billy Claude]

8 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

What matters is TV markets.   The NFL wants cities in the biggest TV markets, because that's where the revenue is.   Wikipedia says Buffalo is the 53rd largest TV market in the US.  Milwaukee is 37 and Green Bay is 69, so even Green Bay is a better market than Buffalo.   Las Vegas is 40 and New Orleans is 50.  

 

However, Bills fans are so rabid that NFL ratings in Buffalo (based on percentage of households) are higher than the market size would suggest.  That's been Buffalo's saving grace., but that's only because the Bills are there.  If the Bills were to leave, the percentage would drop.  And there are several cities with much better TV markets, and even with a lower percentage of households, those bigger TV markets would be more attractive than Buffalo.  

 

Fact is, ten years ago the Bills were at risk of leaving Buffalo.  They needed a committed owner and a new stadium.   Thankfully, both came along. 

 

 

Exactly, Buffalo is the smallest TV market in the NFL, even if you include Niagara County Ontario, it would just get Buffalo past New Orleans.  There's a lot of much bigger markets without NFL teams.

 

 

 

[SCBills]

Also found it interesting that LA offered him more than we did, but without the Year 3 guarantee.

 

Of the three teams he was considering:

 

LA offered the most money over 2 years

 

BUF offered a 3rd year guarantee 

 

DAL was his preferred hometown destination, but couldn’t/wouldn’t match LA/BUF

 

As we all know, the guaranteed money is what matters. 

 

 

[bigduke6]

not a fan of Von saying he would have taken less to play in Dallas when its his first season with a new team.   he better ball out and not just be here for the $$$.    makes him look like a Merc.   we dont need those kind of players here.  like i said,  ball out.

[nucci]

25 minutes ago, bigduke6 said:

not a fan of Von saying he would have taken less to play in Dallas when its his first season with a new team.   he better ball out and not just be here for the $$$.    makes him look like a Merc.   we dont need those kind of players here.  like i said,  ball out.

They're all here for the money. No reason to be upset...pretty much everyone here would do the same. 

[Augie]

11 hours ago, chongli said:

Your post made me go look up the size of NFL cities/markets. I was quite surprised one site listed New Orleans as smaller than Buffalo! Also surprised that Pittsburgh is bigger than 10 NFL markets:

 

Charlotte

Cincinnati

Las Vegas

Kansas City

Indianapolis

Nashville

Jacksonville

Buffalo

New Orleans

Green Bay

 

This above is according to a Packer's wiki:

 

https://packers.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_NFL_cities_by_number_of_major_professional_sports_franchises

 

This list doesn't jibe with largest US cities by population (where Jacksonville is the 13th biggest city, for example but 29 of 32 on the Packer's wiki list above):

 

https://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities

 

So I am not sure how their totals were comprised. Maybe market size instead of city population. I don't have the time to do all the research.

 

But, I have to agree, Pittsburgh is small, by any numbers, and they are lucky to have that franchise.

 

There are countless ways to do the math and skew the numbers. Jacksonville, for example, is the county seat for Duval county and it is the largest city in the US in terms of land area. The whole county is included in the population. Atlanta can be measured by the incorporated city area, or the 5 county metro area, or the greater Atlanta area because, unlike Jax, we are surrounded by more people than cows. 

 

Measuring these markets can be tricky and at times deceiving. 

[Warcodered]

3 hours ago, That's No Moon said:

Yeah, he needs to be lights out because I dislike him already after these interviews. If he comes out with a four sack season after saying he didn't want to be here and came because of the money, and then repeating it several times, it's not going to go well.

He's never said that.

[BuffaninSarasota]

14 hours ago, Giuseppe Tognarelli said:

😂 Come on, man.

Not as good as Taco Bell

 

so far you've given the nod to Arby's & Taco Bell ..... not sure about your culinary bona fides

[Augie]

40 minutes ago, BuffaninSarasota said:

 

so far you've given the nod to Arby's & Taco Bell ..... not sure about your culinary bona fides

 

When it comes to fine seafood, he’s down on Owen’s Fish Camp* and is torn between Captain D’s and Long John Silver’s. 

 

Edited for the Sarasota poster* 

 

 

. 

Edited July 9, 2022 by Augie

[chongli]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

There are countless ways to do the math and skew the numbers. Jacksonville, for example, is the county seat for Duval county and it is the largest city in the US in terms of land area. The whole county is included in the population. Atlanta can be measured by the incorporated city area, or the 5 county metro area, or the greater Atlanta area because, unlike Jax, we are surrounded by more people than cows. 

 

Measuring these markets can be tricky and at times deceiving. 

 

Thanks for this info. I did not know that about Jacksonville.

 

The same is true with San Francisco (I used to live there). The city itself is considered a county. But the 49ers play in Santa Clara, next to San Jose, which is an hour away from SF. Both cities are over 900,000 population-wise. [You actually could call the 49ers the "San Jose 49ers", like the NHL San Jose Sharks, lol] Then you can also include Oakland, 10 minutes away, across the bridge from San Francisco, which has around 400,000 people. Each of the three cities has their own pro teams. And then to complicate matters even further, the NBA's Golden State Warriors moved from Oakland to SF a few years ago.

3 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

What matters is TV markets.   The NFL wants cities in the biggest TV markets, because that's where the revenue is.   Wikipedia says Buffalo is the 53rd largest TV market in the US.  Milwaukee is 37 and Green Bay is 69, so even Green Bay is a better market than Buffalo.   Las Vegas is 40 and New Orleans is 50.  

 

 

Green Bay is so lucky they have the support of the entire state, including Milwaukee, even though Milwaukee is much closer to Chicago. The same can't be said of Buffalo. They don't even have all of upstate NY, thanks to Albany being Giants fans.

[ColoradoBills]

So, Von hasn't even taken a snap and some fans are on him for being honest about his FA thoughts.

Got it.

 

🙄

[Augie]

18 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

So, Von hasn't even taken a snap and some fans are on him for being honest about his FA thoughts.

Got it.

 

🙄

 

Here’s a nice rule of thumb to keep in mind: Super Bowl MVP’s are given all the love in the world from fans with short memories. 

 

Let the football begin!!! 

[Chicken Boo]

On 7/7/2022 at 1:54 PM, Royale with Cheese said:

 

That's not what I said Senor Dramatic.

 

I will 100% acknowledge Buffalo is towards the bottom of cities that most players would want to play in.  But to say that "not one single player has/had a dream to play here" is something I don't agree with.

 

Why even have this discussion anymore?  You've made up your mind.  I could quote a player, like Jones, who said they really wanted to be here and you can always use the "they aren't honest with the media" jibberish.  

 

I happen to believe that some are honest but that won't even cross your mind.  

 

You were pretty accurate with your first post.  Not sure why people get so touchy about it?

 

I often wonder why the Wizards aren't an attractive destination for NBA free agents?  The DMV area is affluent and diverse with plenty to do, plenty of 5 star restaurants and close to various bodies of water.

 

I never take offense to it.

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, ColoradoBills said:

So, Von hasn't even taken a snap and some fans are on him for being honest about his FA thoughts.

Got it.

 

🙄

I also think people are twisting his words around.   When I read the article I thought these things:

 

1.  He's a veteran, so he's a little more comfortable talking about the whole experience.

2.  He's talking about a lot of different thoughts he's had at various times as he's trying to decide what to.    Other than getting married, most of us never have big choices like that.   It's big dollars, personal happiness, career path, chance for championships, friendships, family, etc.   A lot of things to consider, and at various times in the process, he's thinking different thoughts.   We're collecting all the things he's said, and some of us are looking for contradictions, or implications that aren't really there.   He thinks different things at different times. 

3.  What I heard him say is that career was most important.   Buffalo was the place that was offering the combination of best chance of winning, best chance of extending career (he liked the 6 year deal), guys he wanted to play with, and a team with a plan for him.   Nobody else was offering all of that. 

4.  Was money important?  He didn't say that.  He said he was interested in Dallas because it meant he could be at home, but in order to go to Dallas, he needed to see money that was at least close to what he could get elsewhere.  That is, he was willing to give Dallas a hometown discount, but not as big as Dallas wanted him to take.   

5.  Sounds like he didn't have a lot of interest in going back to Denver.  Reading between the lines, his heart said maybe but his head said they don't have a quarterback, and winning was important.  

6.  I suspect LA was offering money that would compete with Buffalo, but again between the lines I'm guessing that he was weighing Allen vs. Stafford, Aaron Donald (who may hang it up before Miller) against Oliver and McDermott, etc.   

 

Bottom line, so far as I can tell, Miller is in Buffalo for the same reason that McDermott, Diggs, Hyde, and lot of other guys are there:   There is nothing they care more about than being great at football and winning.   That's why the Bills went all in on him.   He has a reputation for professional excellence, and commitment to team and to winning.   The Bills wanted his sacks and the pressures he can create, for sure, but his total commitment to excellence is what they really wanted.   And he wanted to be someplace that valued that attitude. 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2022 by Shaw66

[Chandler#81]

On 7/7/2022 at 1:53 PM, TBBills Fan said:

Id work for @Gugnybt no less than 250k annually.  

So yer sayin’ yer cheap. I wouldn’t work for Gugny for less than $1M

On 7/7/2022 at 5:32 PM, The Wiz said:

The last time I flew from Vegas to Rochester, we stopped in NYC and people got off and we continued to Rochester. Probably 3 years ago it was. 

Yep. Still do it. 1st time we flew our son back to Buffalo solo, his flight stopped at LaGuardia. He thought he got on the wrong plane. “Dads gonna KILL me!”

[TBBills Fan]

On 7/10/2022 at 2:45 AM, Chandler#81 said:

So yer sayin’ yer cheap. I wouldn’t work for Gugny for less than $1M

Yep. Still do it. 1st time we flew our son back to Buffalo solo, his flight stopped at LaGuardia. He thought he got on the wrong plane. “Dads gonna KILL me!”

 

 

damn

[Big Turk]

Not sure if this was ever talked about....

 

Von Miller's Dad telling him to go to Buffalo and broke it all down as to why he should come here.

 

Is Von Miller's Dad the one who really sealed the deal?

 

 

Edited October 4, 2022 by Big Turk