Archives for May 9, 2004

‘Ritcher is third on the Bills all time games played list with 222. He trails only Bruce Smith and Andre Reed.’

‘"I was a little undersized when I came into the league and in order to beat the lineman across from me I had to know where he was going before he started going there," Ritcher said. "Joe Devlin was a big reason I was able to do that. He took me under his wing and taught me how to watch film and helped me develop. Then you had Fred Smerlas across from me every day in practice. He made me a better player every day. I was blessed with good teammates."’

‘The only way Bledsoe would get cut after 2004 is if he and the Bills have as miserable a season as they did in 2003. The expectation is Losman will be starting in 2006, if not some time during the 2005 season. So the chances of Bledsoe seeing the 2006 salary are questionable.’

‘”We just had so many great people playing for the Bills, I didn’t think I’d stack up. There aren’t enough walls in that stadium to cover all the great players I was blessed to play with.”‘

‘Beginning in 1983, Ritcher started every game he played for 11 seasons … missing a mere four starts due to injury.’

‘“I know I’ve been around a long time,” said Bledsoe, 32, the No. 1 overall pick in the 1993 draft. “But I don’t feel like I am at the end yet. I don’t see myself playing another 10 years, but . . . if we are headed in the direction that I believe we are headed in, we are going to be competing for championships, then I will play it until they kick me out.”’