Archives for June 2002

The Buffalo Bills, United Parcel Service, The Library Foundation of Buffalo and Erie County, and the public library system will be hosting a pair of events to kickoff Hit the Books, the UPS/Buffalo Bills Summer Reading Program, in Buffalo and Rochester Tuesday, June 25.

buffalobills.com was picked as the fourth best team site according to a recent study designed by Street & Smith's SportsBusiness Journal. The study rated the 121 MLB, NBA, NFL and NHL team web sites.

‘But he always was a fairly shrewd one at gauging public opinion. He knew there was more upside to falling on his sword publicly even if he could have made a bigger difference by pointing that sword at the offending parties. But Bledsoe wasn’t one for confrontation.’

‘Former coach Marv Levy and former special teams standout Steve Tasker will be the television announcing team for two Buffalo Bills preseason games in August.’

‘It reinforces the opinion that the Bills should have pursued a "Rustbelt Division" with Pittsburgh and Cleveland rather than insist upon keeping the rivalry with Miami.’

‘"We have a Hall of Famer (Levy) and a guy (Tasker) who should make the Hall of Fame," said Scott Berchtold, Bills vice president of communications. "The chemistry will be good. And from the football standpoint, the fan will get a heckuva lot there."’

‘An eight-year NFL veteran, Johnson had 14 catches for 133 yards and one touchdown in two starts last season, all career lows.’

Initially selected by the Steelers in the first round of the 1994 Draft (17th overall) out of Colorado, Johnson went on to play five years for the Steelers. He signed as a free agent with Philadelphia in 1999 and played two seasons for the Eagles before joining the Patriots last May.

The Bills took Bannan in the fifth round of the 2002 NFL Draft out of Colorado with 139th selection overall.

Plus, president and general manager Tom Donahoe didn’t draft Bryson; he drafted Henry, the leading candidate to start. Stay tuned.

Chosen with Buffalo’s second pick in the first round of the 1986 draft, as it would turn out, the Vanderbilt star couldn’t have joined the club at a better time. Only six days after signing with the team, a quarterback named Jim Kelly also made his way to Buffalo.

Photos of Bills taking batting practice before Tuesday night's Rochester Red Wings games.

The Bills completed their third and final off-season camp on Friday, June 13. The next time the Bills take the field, the 42-year old franchise will be in Rochester, NY, for their third Training Camp at St. John Fisher College, which begins on July 24.

The Buffalo Bills, for example, have 10 draft picks to sign; at the very least that’s $160,000 of extra cap space to make up.

“It’s very different,” said Johnson, the former Bills Quarterback. “We kind of ran the remedial version of the West Coast up in Buffalo. Down here, it’s a lot more advanced. Coach Gruden coaches it very well. He’s very detailed, and knows where he wants everyone and what to do. He’s a very good coach that way and it’s nice to be in this type of system.”