Archives for May 2004

‘Q: Favorite vacation spot?

TA: I’ve never been on vacation.’

Paup’s first year with the Bills could have been a television program on the Discovery Channel called ‘Monster Season.’ In the third game, he sacked Colts quarterback Jim Harbaugh three times,had 14 tackles and forced two fumbles. That effort earned him the first of two AFC Defensive Player of the Week Awards. He was also later selected as November’s AFC Player of the Month.

‘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.”’

‘On another note, Koshinski took issue with the industry perception that the Buffalo market couldn’t support two sports-talk radio stations. He said the long-term plans for WNSA were disrupted years ago when former Adelphia executive Timothy Rigas made a last-minute decision that prevented the station from bidding for the Bills contract. "Our game plan was to carry the Bills games," Koshinski said. "We were 55 minutes away from doing that. Timothy Rigas pulled the plug then. We felt it was a very strong, competent bid. What we formulated as a business plan became flawed."’

”’I felt I had at least another year or two left to play in the right situation,” he said. ”But I didn’t get the right situation and I wasn’t going to go way out of my way just to prove to somebody that I could play another year or two. I left the game on my own terms, which is what you want as a player.”’

‘”I think people are starting to realize now what we accomplished,” he said. “Two years ago (former Bills head coach) Marv Levy got into the Hall of Fame, and Jim Kelly got in, too. We had some great players on those teams and that’s starting to get noticed, too.”‘

‘In the end the Buffalo Bills signed the former Arkansas tight end as an undrafted free agent and will keep him at that position initially. However, some in the league believe he could be, with some work, a quality left tackle.’

The three-year contract is worth $18.5 million and drops Bledsoe’s cap charge for 2004 from $8.33 million to a much more palatable $4.147 million. Bledsoe, who is coming off the worst season of his career, received a $6.5 million signing bonus. His base salaries will be $2.25 million (for 2004), $3.3 million (2005) and $4.35 million (2006). There are roster bonuses of $1.05 million each for 2005 and 2006. The salary cap charge will rise to $6.5 million for ’05 and to $8.316 million for ’06, but those are still far less than the cap charges for those seasons under the old contract.

‘You can see the difference between the college and the pros right away. The defensive backs are a little bit more physical, a little bit quicker, a little bit stronger, so I have to use my speed and be physical too. Stepping out on that field was a blessing for me, now I just have to take advantage of it. Troy Vincent gave me some little pointers on certain things he’s done in the League. Being patient, learning the game, and being a student of the game were probably the most important things he said.’

‘I usually throw up before a game.’