‘”Since he was an old center and I was about 33 years old at that time, I thought he would understand my concern. We weren’t even talking money, I just wanted another two years. I’d never been hurt, never missed any games, never caused any trouble. I told Ringo I was concerned if it didn’t go well and he got fired, I would be a 34-year-old center and a new coach would come in and the first thing he’d say is ‘we’ve got to get rid of these old guys.’ I just wanted a little assurance. I thought Ringo would say, ‘Sure, Mike. I understand. I’ve been there before.’ Instead he said, ‘You’re playing here or you aren’t playing anywhere.’ So I just told him ‘I retire.’ Then later in training camp, he ended up trading me to Denver. I never figured that would happen, and then Denver winds up going to the Super Bowl. Outside of getting caught up in politics, I loved playing in Buffalo. The fans, the people. You just couldn’t get a better atmosphere for football than what they have in Buffalo.”‘