Two Bills Drive

‘"He had heard the Chargers were holding a job open for Butler," said the source, "and when Ralph gets ticked off, he lashes out."’

‘The owner, two more losses removed from those comments, conceded, "As far as Wade and the coaching staff is concerned, I’m here to talk about John Butler … so I’d rather not comment." That’s hardly a vote of confidence.’

‘Put it this way: The 82-year-old Wilson isn’t planning to take a cross-country flight on Christmas weekend to do sightseeing in the Pacific Northwest. The one thing he is going to take careful notice of, though, is the effort of the players.’

‘With the San Diego Chargers poised to make Butler an offer he couldn’t refuse, and Wilson wouldn’t match … something had to be done as soon as

possible.’

‘By contrast, Butler used to start his day by chipping ice off the windshield and maybe listening to Ann Burke on the way to One Bills Drive.’

‘"The reason for the dismissal is because John has refused to give me an answer as to his future intentions," Wilson said. "The time has come to move forward, and therefore I can wait no longer to see who will be the Bills’ general manager after this season."’

‘With a new season to plan for and no time to waste, Buffalo Bills owner Ralph Wilson said he couldn’t wait for an answer from John Butler any longer.’

‘Agents reacted with shock. Butler was synonymous with the Bills and they said he bled for the team.’

‘Long-time personnel men A.J. Smith and Dwight Adams are among the leading candidates to replace the fired John Butler as general manager of the Buffalo Bills.’

‘With apologies to angry women everywhere, hell hath no fury as an NFL owner scorned.’

‘Yesterday at the Bills practice facility named after himself, Wilson stood at the podium looking for all the world like he had swallowed a lemon.’

‘…Bills players paint a portrait of the worst quarterback controversy in recent memory, a poor work ethic and ridiculous team edicts that represent a child-care center more than a football team.’

‘Listening to Wilson, it sounds as if Butler precipitated the move. But it is Wilson, not Butler, who is to blame for an exit the Bills will regret.’

‘Owner Ralph Wilson was stunned over the whole thing. He was particularly disturbed that Butler seemingly did not want to stay with the Bills. Wilson said since July he talked to Butler six times about renewing his contract, but Butler was non-committal each time – as if he had some place to go already, or he wanted to be somewhere other than Buffalo all along.’

"I said, generally speaking, ‘John, if you can’t give me an answer that you’re going to be the general manager of the Bills, now, not in the future, not after the last game, then I’m going to have to look elsewhere,’ " Wilson said he told Butler. "He was just nonchalant about it and left."