Archives for January 2011

‘”As time goes on, I really don’t look at it as failure, to be honest,” said former linebacker Ray Bentley. “It’s more a source of pride. But I still can’t go a day without hearing ‘Wide Right.’ People love to bring that stuff up. I don’t understand. Well, I guess I do understand it. They’re trying to get the old man’s goat.”‘

‘"We internalized the fact we were playing not only for ourselves, but the community as well," said Mark Kelso. "You’d drive down the street and sit at a red light and four or five people would be waving and honking their horns at you. We carried that around, too. There’s no question, we had a competitiveness. We felt no one could beat us at home."’

‘”Does it sting?” asked Darryl Talley, the leader and outside linebacker. “Every year when somebody raises that Vince Lombardi trophy, don’t you think that goes through our heads? I watch a lot of games during the year, and you see how one or two plays can turn a team’s future. I say to myself, ‘That play will stick with them for awhile.'”‘

‘The Bills might not have needed Norwood if Giants cornerback Everson Walls hadn’t made a fine tackle on Thurman Thomas at the Buffalo 41. Thomas ripped off 22 yards on the shotgun draw, and Walls was the last man to beat.’

‘”You know, when a team wins, they love the owner, they love the players, they love the coaches, and they even love the announcer. But when you lose it’s a different story. They don’t like the owner, they don’t like anybody, and they don’t like the announcer.”‘

‘The bottom line: No team drafts better than the Steelers and few teams draft as poorly as the Bills.’

‘”It helps us with 52 guys tremendously because what you’re trying to learn are the intangibles,” said Gailey. “That’s what you’re trying to find out. We all watch them run, jump, change direction, ball skills. We all get to see that, but there’s been a bunch of guys that have the right kind of work ethic and preparation and football instincts to go be a player when the run, jump, speed statistics say they shouldn’t. And there are also some guys out there that have the ability and because they won’t do those things that come in the intangible category they don’t make it. So we have a great idea about their intangibles."’

‘"There’s one way to assure you’ll never lose a Super Bowl. Don’t go."’

‘I will never forget how, after the game, Norwood stood there for nearly an hour, answering question after question about the play that would define his career and his life. To be honest, I don’t know how he did it. Most of us would have pled the Fifth and found the first taxi out of town. But Norwood faced the music with incredible grace and dignity.’

‘Fleming said his client, as instructed, was standing beyond the end zone at the tunnel end of the field with his back to the play, looking into the stands for possible trouble. Evans stretched to catch a 29-yard touchdown pass from quarterback J. P. Losman, tumbled out of the end zone and crashed into Austin.’

‘It just wasn’t meant to be. All wounds heal over time. I’ll let you know when this one does.’

‘And if a downtrodden franchise charts its course, designs a road map for success, I’ll guarantee you this: It’s not taking a luxury running back like C.J. Spiller in the first round of the draft while ignoring the many needs that comprise the foundation for success.’

‘”Well, I think Tom has been with us a long time,” Wilson said Wednesday. “He’s a hard worker. He knows the game. In the draft, there’s no question it’s a big disappointment that we haven’t had more impact players, players that make a big difference, go to the Pro Bowl. Tom does a good job, but he doesn’t make the last call. He puts the [draft] board up. We have a lot of hard-working scouts. But it comes down to making the last decision. That’s not Tom.”‘

‘”You always hear people referring to football players as warriors and heroes,” DeLamielleure said by phone from his home in North Carolina. “But c’mon. We’re entertainers. It’s always bothered me when people refer to us, football players, as warriors. People who risk their lives in combat are the real heroes, the real warriors.”‘

‘The very idea that this team might win a Super Bowl – and was heavily favored to do so – was so engrossing, so remarkable, that it alone was cause for celebration. And even in the wake of a heartbreaking defeat, this emotion carried the day.’