Archives for January 2006

‘Ability without character will lose. The Buffalo Bills are going to be a team of high character.’

‘Losman must take a big step forward this offseason. If Losman were to win an open competition with Holcomb, it would help his stature with the team. Levy was convincing in talking about the patience needed with a developing quarterback. He also said he wants to win “as quickly as we can,” and Wilson said “the future is now.” So we’ll see how much patience they have with Losman.’

‘Only someone who uses the slogan “don’t trust anyone over 55” would doubt Levy’s value in his new job.’

‘”When you win,” Levy said before the Bills’ Super Bowl run, “there’s enough glory to go around for everybody.”‘

‘”It’s a difficult job, as you know,” Polian, 63, said. “We don’t work eight-hour days. We don’t work five-day weeks. And people have concerns about that and it’s legitimate. But you’d have to know Marv’s constitution, how he lives his life, to understand that age isn’t an issue with him as it might be with someone else.”‘

‘”Should Marv have a long and successful career as a GM, history will record it,” said Joe Horrigan, vice president of communications/exhibits for the Hall. “But he was elected to the Hall for his coaching and there’s nothing he can do to make himself more of a Hall of Famer. He’s a Hall of Famer.”‘

‘Gray is waiting to see what other changes might be ahead in Buffalo. But he’s hoping he might not be there long enough to find out.’

‘Gray, now 43, obviously made a good impression on the Texans in the opening game of the 2005 season. His Bills defense shut down Houston in a 22-7 victory.’

‘When does an 80-year-old man seem young? When an 87-year-old man is doing the hiring.’

‘(on his current situation in Buffalo) “As a coach, you’ve got to be able to adjust to what happens. And that’s the same thing you do during the course of a game. I’m going to go back and the head coach and myself will sit down and talk and we’re going to see where he wants to go. And if it fits for Jerry, then fine. If it don’t, then Jerry’s got to adjust. I’ve done that all my life. I played corner, they moved me to safety. I played safety, they moved me to corner. So it doesn’t matter. I’m going to find a way to be the best.”‘

‘The fifth interviewee for the Texans’ vacant head coaching position, Gray is the first candidate with a defensive pedigree. After meeting with owner Bob McNair and his staff, Gray thinks that difference could give him an advantage over the other applicants.’

‘If the Texans don’t hire him, Gray might not have a job to fall back on in Buffalo.’

‘In the days and weeks after the game, the Bills received congratulation messages from all corners of the globe. People who were dying of cancer sent letters saying the Bills’ comeback had inspired them to fight harder. Teachers sent letters explaining how the Bills’ comeback would become a teaching aide for them.’

‘"Tom and I have worked together for five years and it is very hard see him go," Mularkey said. "But that’s the tough part about this business when you want to make a change, and in some instances, a big change at a coordinator’s spot. But it was necessary to make the change. . . . I wish him nothing but great things."’

‘On the defensive side of the ball, defensive line coach Tim Krumrie, linebackers coach Don Blackmon and defensive backs coach Steve Szabo won’t be returning for a third season on coach Mike Mularkey’s staff. That an assistant was fired at each position reflects just how poorly Buffalo’s defense performed in 2005.’