Archives for July 2008

‘”The day they called me to draft me they told me they need me to get into the end zone. I feel everything happens for a reason, so this is a perfect situation for me and the organization, for us to come together and make history.”‘

‘”It has been tough not performing the way you want to perform and stop teams the way we wanted to,” said linebacker Angelo Crowell, who led the Bills in 2007 with 93 tackles. “But bringing in the guys they did, and they’ve done well in the draft, it feels a lot better this year.”’

‘”What they hoped they got, and what the guy has shown in the past, is that he’s a big, physical run stopper,” said former Redskins and Texans general manager Charlie Casserly who now works as an analyst for CBS. “This was a guy who did a terrific job at Jacksonville of altering a game plan. And that’s what (Buffalo) really needed, that kind of a presence inside because he makes everybody better around him.”‘

‘Selected 147th overall out of Iowa State, Bowen was a three-year starter and an All-Big 12 Conference first-team selection in both his junior and senior seasons. He led the nation with 155 tackles in 2006 and finished with nine sacks in 46 career games.’

‘”It takes some time and it’s an all hands on deck event.”‘

‘"It’s definitely a relief because I was wondering when it would get done," said Bowen.’

‘While strength of schedule isn’t always the best indicator as to a team’s potential for success, having two of their first four games against teams that won four and three games last year (Oak, STL) is cause for optimism.’

‘Designated the "Timothy J. Russert Highway," the span, located in Orchard Park, runs near Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills. Russert was an avid sports fan who was passionate about the Bills, his hometown football team.’

‘The rough fact is that Youboty, a third-round pick from Ohio State in 2006, will have to beat out some of his more prominent teammates not just to play but to even be a Bill by September. Go ahead and write McGee’s name at the depth chart’s top in pen; so does the Liberia native have a chance to pass two of the corners presently ahead of him, something he’d have to do to get on the field at all? Realistically, topping the performance of just one of the following will be tough.’

‘By finishing 7-9 last season, the Bills again avoided picking among the first half-dozen selections in the NFL draft. That’s where the astronomical rookie contracts get paid.’

‘”The high-priced tickets or packages are always the hardest to move,” Montgomery said. “But we only put them out for public sale a while ago. Like any ticket, they require a dedicated sales effort.”‘

‘”I think it’s all about the money. If you can make money, make money,” he said. “But a lot of times you think about that fast money and how much you can make and you forget about all the little things. You forget about the CFL players. You forget about the Argonauts.”‘

”’I definitely hate the idea of Buffalo coming up here. I really dislike it,” said defensive end Jonathan Brown. “I mean, they’re stepping on our turf. This is our turf – this is the CFL. They definitely have no business coming up here.”’

‘The team’s reasoning for the impressive season ticket sale ignores the elephant in the room. The specter of Toronto with a booming economy and nearly 5 million residents in the metro area plus an 8-game dress rehearsal – five in regular season – is hard to ignore. That’s especially true as the Bills’ contract with that city ends after 2012, the same year the Ralph Wilson Stadium lease expires with Erie County.’

‘Buffalo’s three main candidates are all young players and all former draft picks of the last three seasons. All of them have provided Bills fans with a taste of what they’re capable of, but they’ve got a lot more to put on display and stand a good chance of doing so this fall.’