KOKBILLS Posted May 11, 2008 Posted May 11, 2008 Thanks for that Lori... Great read... Congrats Bruuuuuuce! Well deserved no question...
Bleed Bills Blue Posted May 12, 2008 Posted May 12, 2008 Yes, great read. I was surprised and touched by some genuine humility expressed by Bruce, here and elsewhere, sprinkled in with the usual matter-of-fact statements about his own greatness. Nice to see him credit his teammates, Ted Cottrell, Rusty Jones and Marv Levy. I was especially gratified to hear him say he was glad his name would be up near the 12th Man. He (correctly) acknowledged the edge over his opponents the noise we made gave him in amassing his sack total. Too bad it's rarely quite that loud these days (the Dallas game showed it can still be, though). Should be a fantastic homecoming. I'm so proud one of the NFL's greatest players of all time was a Bill!!
WWVaBeach Posted May 12, 2008 Posted May 12, 2008 Ran into Bruce recently at the Norfolk airport in the security line. 6 in the morning had only had one cup of coffee and all I could think to say was Go Bills! He smiled shook my hand and kept the line moving. BTW other than a few gray hairs he looks like he could still strap on the helmet and terrorize some QBs.
R. Rich Posted May 12, 2008 Posted May 12, 2008 Sorry... it's the Oakland game, September 21st. I'll miss this one, but I definitely will be there for the Canton enshrinement.
dib Posted May 12, 2008 Posted May 12, 2008 A number of years ago my wife and I went to greet as they arrived at their hotel down here. I handed her the camera to get photos while I hunted autographs. When the film was developed I had 30 pictures of Bruce and 6 pictures of other players.
ChevyVanMiller Posted May 12, 2008 Posted May 12, 2008 Exquisite work as always Lori. Thanks, that was a great read. I'd forgotten about the big Denver brouhaha. 5 years, $7.5 million. Seems like chump change now. It's funny how quickly the $$$ escalates. You can't even get a good punter for that kind of scratch these days.
muggins Posted May 12, 2008 Posted May 12, 2008 Oh man I think I'm going to get tickets to the Oakland game if that is the date
Chandler#81 Posted May 12, 2008 Posted May 12, 2008 Lori, I gotta ask: What are you doin' wastin' time in QC? (I've been managing QC groups for 17 years-LOL!) Granted, reporting is a major aspect, but you're missing your calling! Your 'articles' are always well written, mixing humor, fact and poignancy. You set the bar high. Thanks!
BillsPride12 Posted May 12, 2008 Posted May 12, 2008 Yes, great read. I was surprised and touched by some genuine humility expressed by Bruce, here and elsewhere, sprinkled in with the usual matter-of-fact statements about his own greatness. Nice to see him credit his teammates, Ted Cottrell, Rusty Jones and Marv Levy. I was especially gratified to hear him say he was glad his name would be up near the 12th Man. He (correctly) acknowledged the edge over his opponents the noise we made gave him in amassing his sack total. Too bad it's rarely quite that loud these days (the Dallas game showed it can still be, though). Should be a fantastic homecoming. I'm so proud one of the NFL's greatest players of all time was a Bill!! Now that is exactly what I want out of a football player, in your playing days you should have that cocky and brash feeling that you are number 1, that is as long as you go out there and back it up, but once its all said and done you have the class to give credit to your teammates and coaches...congrats on a great career Bruce, well be seeing you on September 21
Patience Posted May 12, 2008 Posted May 12, 2008 Exquisite work as always Lori. Thanks, that was a great read. I'd forgotten about the big Denver brouhaha. 5 years, $7.5 million. Seems like chump change now. It's funny how quickly the $$$ escalates. You can't even get a good punter for that kind of scratch these days. And we'll be looking back ten years from now, to the money being agreed to nowadays, and think that was cheap as well.
Lori Posted May 13, 2008 Author Posted May 13, 2008 Lori, I gotta ask: What are you doin' wastin' time in QC? (I've been managing QC groups for 17 years-LOL!) Granted, reporting is a major aspect, but you're missing your calling! Your 'articles' are always well written, mixing humor, fact and poignancy. You set the bar high. Thanks! These days, there's something to be said for a steady paycheck ... Thanks again, everyone. Glad you thought it was worth reading.
Steely Dan Posted May 13, 2008 Posted May 13, 2008 Great job Lori. Here's one of my favorite parts... For the record, one scouting service tabbed the 6-3, 275-pounder as the best DE in the draft and rated only four players higher overall: running backs Herschel Walker (in the USFL) and Ethan Horton (North Carolina) along with wide receivers Eddie Brown (Miami) and Al Toon (Wisconsin) Excellent work, Lori. Bruce certainly was an original, and the Wall honor is certainly well deserved. His comments on BB.com about Rusty Jones' impact on his career are really telling, given the transformation from the 310 pound chubster that arrived in Buffalo to the 265 pound wasp-wasted athlete he became. Still, I suspect that much of your retrospective will be red meat to the 'contrary' contingent of TSW who'd rather focus on Bruce's personality than his performance between the sidelines. Bruce used to burn out the stair climbing machines in the Bills weight room. Ralph was quoted as saying something to the effect of "As long as he wants to break 'em I'll keep buying them." I remember one game against Miami when they put Bruce in the NT position and when the Poorpiss Center looked up he his pants and got a false start penalty. I think Smerlas said in his book that when the guy looked up Bruce just said "Hello whatever the guys name was." If Bruce played in a 4-3 he'd have smashed the sack total before his last three seasons. That guy did things that made my jaw drop to the floor. I remember one game when a RB was running away from Smith's side and Bruce just manhandled the OL and got into the backfield and tackled the kid before he'd taken three steps. I had recorded that game and when I played it on slow mo Smith still looked fast. Yes, great read. I was surprised and touched by some genuine humility expressed by Bruce, here and elsewhere, sprinkled in with the usual matter-of-fact statements about his own greatness. Nice to see him credit his teammates, Ted Cottrell, Rusty Jones and Marv Levy. I was especially gratified to hear him say he was glad his name would be up near the 12th Man. He (correctly) acknowledged the edge over his opponents the noise we made gave him in amassing his sack total. Too bad it's rarely quite that loud these days (the Dallas game showed it can still be, though). Should be a fantastic homecoming. I'm so proud one of the NFL's greatest players of all time was a Bill!! I'm glad he was forced to stay and learn that the vast majority of Western New Yorkers are not like the A-holes who wrote him. A number of years ago my wife and I went to greet as they arrived at their hotel down here. I handed her the camera to get photos while I hunted autographs. When the film was developed I had 30 pictures of Bruce and 6 pictures of other players. What did she say when you pointed that out? BTW, if Smith and Reed end up in the HOF they will represent one of the very few drafts that had more than one HOFer in them.
Steely Dan Posted May 13, 2008 Posted May 13, 2008 One thing I'm 95% sure Marv Levy said on his radio show with Bob Matthews a couple of years back when talking about Steve Tasker was that Bill Parcells told him that when they played Buffalo the guy they most payed attention to in game planning was Tasker. That's a high compliment when Kelly, Reed and Smith are on the team too.
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