Archives for May 2005

‘The pros arrive in early April, lifting weights and running agility drills with UM players, who push their pro counterparts. "I think it’s harder than the NFL," McGahee said. "These guys are hungry; they’re at the stage where they’re trying to get to the next level."’

‘”Whatever happens in life, defeat in the Super Bowl, death of a loved one, these can be overwhelming circumstances that can cause despair,” Reich said. “You have a tendency to look at the impending circumstances around you. But Christ is our hope and our strength. He can get us through the difficult times. When you fall down, you don’t stay down.”’

‘"I think I play with a chip on my shoulder," said King. "For so long all my life I’ve been told what I can’t do and I think I just go out there and try to prove them (critics) wrong and be all that I can be."’

‘Former Bills quarterback Joe Ferguson is facing the biggest battle of his 55 years. Ferguson is in the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston fighting intestinal cancer. Ferguson is undergoing chemotherapy.’

‘Will Travis Henry ever be traded by Buffalo?’

‘For an undrafted free agent like Ezekiel, the Bills may have been one of the better teams to be signed by. The Bills opened the 2004 season with an NFL-high four undrafted rookie free agents. Hager said the Bills are a team that has showed "a lack of concern" to try out and sign non-Division I-A players.’

‘Another factor is Ezekiel’s maturity, or lack-there-of. The 22-year-old turned an on-field scuffle with a teammate into a career marring controversy when he knocked out Husky kicker Miro Kesic in the locker room in the waning weeks of the 2004 season. Instead of sticking up for himself when asked for his side of the story he refused to call me back (surprise, surprise), even though I stated in the eight messages I left him that I thought someone that has been such a great athlete for NU deserves to have their side of the story told (again, oops). Rather than man-up and call me himself, he got someone else to call me from an anonymous number and simply say, "You’ve got the whole Ezekiel story wrong."’

‘”I think I’ve got to have the best year of my career,” Reed said. “Whether it’s special teams, blocking or catching passes, I’ve got to be prepared to do whatever I have to do to help this team.”‘

‘The Bills believe Bledsoe had taken them as far as he could and hope that Losman is the guy to take them to the next level. Given the impressive level of surrounding talent and the coaching staff in place, a young QB couldn’t ask to be put in a much better situation.’

‘That’s why he’s thrilled to be coming back to Kutztown University this weekend to receive a diploma. The graduation ceremonies come almost 20 years to the day that Reed was drafted by the Bills in the fourth round of the 1985 NFL draft.’

‘The Bills now find themselves a year behind the Bengals in that process.’

‘Even if Everett can come back sometime during the season, the Bills still are facing a problem at tight end. The team’s top two tight ends, Mark Campbell and Tim Euhus, both are recovering from major knee surgeries. They both were injured last December in a game at Miami.’

‘"It’s night and day," Moulds says of Losman’s transformation. "Last spring, he didn’t even know what he was supposed to do on certain plays. Now, he knows what all 11 guys are supposed to do on every play."’

‘Everett’s agent believes the Bills will still negotiate a fair market value contract for the 86th player chosen in the NFL draft.’

”’The coaches have confidence in me; my teammates do, too,” Reed said during the Bills’ three-day minicamp last weekend. ”The biggest thing is to have it in myself.” This might be Reed’s last chance to show that in Buffalo.’