Archives for July 2010

‘”It’s a lot of fun,” Bromley said. “You get to see the team before the start of the season, it’s not an opportunity you have that often. A lot of times the players come over and talk with you. They make the experience more enjoyable.”‘

‘”Most of my friends aren’t Bills fans, so sometimes I don’t have a group to watch the game with,” Franklin said. “It’s a lot different from when I first started watching during the Jim Kelly and Super Bowl years. I think Bills fans were spoiled by that a little bit.”‘

‘None of the above situations will transpire to their full potential if Buffalo’s line doesn’t come together and fast.’

‘Spiller, picked ninth overall out of Clemson, was the first running back selected, which gives him and agent Gary Wichard some bargaining power.’

‘"I’m going to try and get some rest. We’ve been going pretty hard since I got here on Jan. 18 or whenever it was. So we’re going to try and get some rest and get ready to go 24/7 for seven months." — Coach Chan Gailey on his plans prior to training camp.’

‘It won’t be easy spending the preseason deciding how to divide the responsibilities on what should be one of the league’s most explosive running games. But one thing remains obvious: If Gailey is to get the Bills to the postseason for the first time in over a decade, the charge will be led by their dynamic crop of runners.’

‘”Every coach is different, obviously, but there is a sense of a new beginning this year,” said Chris Kelsay, who is on his fifth coach in eight years with the Bills. “Coach (Chan) Gailey and his staff, I believe, bring more of a disciplinary feel to, not only the meeting rooms, the practice field, obviously, but the entire atmosphere around the organization. I think that’s what we need.”‘

‘"There’s a reason that first-rounders are signed about the same time, so it’s not unusual," General Manager Buddy Nix said Wednesday, alluding to the fact that the domino slotting has to start taking shape. "We hold out hope that he’ll be here when we start the first day at 3 tomorrow."’

‘"Not one bit," Nix said. "The only way I find out is when I read the paper. I have no idea what his change of heart is. He doesn’t have to be here until 7 in the morning (today), and if he’s not here, then he’s late. If he comes, fine. If he doesn’t, then fine. It’s up to him. He’s a good football player and we’d like to have him."’

‘"Of all the changes we’ve made, that will be the easiest one for our football team," Gailey pronounced last month near the end of the organized team activities. "It’s football; whip that guy in front of you and get to the football."’

‘The Buffalo Bills begin their 11th season of training camp at St. John Fisher College today. The Bills have 19 open practices scheduled, beginning with today’s afternoon session. Admission to practices is free. Training camp is scheduled to conclude with a morning practice on Aug. 24.’

‘Unless Brohm blows Gailey away over the next six weeks, or Fitzpatrick shows that he has added about five miles per hour to his fastball, or Edwards completely tanks, the odds are that Edwards will take that first snap Sept. 12 against Miami.’

‘"My main thing was I don’t want to go to a group of kids and talk about academics if I haven’t completed all my phases of academics," said Spiller, who became the first member of his family to earn a four-year degree (sociology). "That weighed on me very heavily on what I wanted to do. Now I can go talk to kids and share my experience and tell them what it takes to go back and how important academics are."’

‘So at the age of 70, Nix is in a job that he occasionally has coveted, never really needed, but is nonetheless thrilled to have.’

‘Nix said negotiations are ongoing with Spiller’s agent, Gary Wichard of Los Angeles. "When you’re talking, things are starting to work, and the other first-rounders are starting to fall," Nix said. "So that’ll help us. There’s a reason that first-rounders are all signed about the same time, so it’s not unusual."’