Archives for March 2004

‘The Buffalo Bills announced a list of important dates for their offseason camps.’

‘Brown’s status with the club has been up in the air since he was “excused” from playing the final game of the season at New England, with no reason being given by the team. Brown has said that he missed the game for disciplinary reasons after he had a disagreement over offensive philosophy with the team’s former coaching staff.’

‘Ultimately, though, Mularkey and new line coach Jim McNally made a determination that Brown’s play had slipped, and despite his leadership and team-record eight consecutive Pro Bowl trips, he did not fit into their plans.’

‘”I basically told him what our position would be, and if they are interested in our position, we can talk further, and if they’re not, maybe somebody will be interested in his position,” Donahoe said.’

‘”Here’s my feeling on it: When you approach somebody to talk with them about a contract and they have no interest, it’s usually a pretty good sign they want to go somewhere else.”‘

‘Ruben wasn’t eight Pro Bowls good; we all knew that. But he wasn’t as hapless as his worst critics suggested. He was flagged too often and the team surrendered way too many sacks, but it was no easy task pass protecting for the likes of Rob Johnson and Drew Bledsoe.’

‘”We saw the workout (in Houston). We had more people at the workout than anybody else in the league. We know what his abilities are. It appears there would be a lot of hoops you’d have to jump through to do the contract. Right now, from what we’ve heard, we wouldn’t be comfortable with it. I just had a talk (Monday) morning with Tom and told him what our position would be. If they’re interested in our position, we can talk further.”‘

‘Brown, who played in his eighth straight Pro Bowl last month, says he will continue to live and raise his family in Orchard Park. He thanked the fans for what he called “some of the happiest years of my life.”‘

‘Donahoe said the decision to release Brown was based on a number of factors and that to single out one area – his playing ability, absence from the final game, or the effect on the salary cap – would be incorrect. “I think the coaches did a very thorough job of talking about it and analyzing it and based on the fact that it was a new staff and we are trying to go in a different direction this might be the best decision to make,” Donahoe said.’

‘”We have released Ruben. We talked to him this morning. Coach (Mike) Mularkey spoke to him and indicated that we have decided to go in a different direction. Publicly I’d like to thank Ruben for all that he has done for the Buffalo Bills, things that he’s done on the field and off the field. I believe that our staff felt that coming in we wanted to go in a different direction. It’s probably best for both parties.”‘

”’We still have interest in Drew Henson, but we still have not been shown a way to do a contract that would make us comfortable,” Donahoe said. ”And until we can be shown that, it really doesn’t serve any purpose to bring him in (for a workout).”’

Buffalo cornerback Antoine Winfield (my guess: Cincinnati, which will throw more money at a quality cornerback than any other team).

This month’s wallpaper by TBD Alumni ‘Moose’ is starting DE Aaron Schobel (#94).

‘However, the move allows the Bills to save more than $4 million. Brown was due to make $2.7 million in 2004 and would have received a $1.8 million bonus if he was still on the Bills’ roster Wednesday, the first day of free agency.’

‘I know there were questions surrounding the way the season ended last year and I have chosen to keep those issues personal. Many of those issues have been resolved and my life has moved on from that point.’