Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

‘Schuster, 59 and in his 18th season as an NFL official, worked his first game on Sept. 3, 2000 in Cleveland when the Browns hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars coached then by Tom Coughlin. Coughlin, a Waterloo native and two-time Super Bowl champion as coach of the New York Giants, is now executive vice president of football operations for the Jaguars.’

‘Dareus represents a portion of the Bills’ failure as a franchise during their 17-year playoff drought. He was the No. 3 overall pick in 2011, and in his six-plus years, he did not live up to his draft status. Dareus was a good player for Buffalo, and he was selected to two Pro Bowls, but he was never the difference-maker the Bills hoped he would be, and then he became a drain on the budget when former general manager Doug Whaley stupidly gave him a $96 million contract extension that included $60 million in guaranteed money.’

‘It was a New Year’s Eve to be remembered for the usual toast of champagne, noisemakers and a lover’s kiss, but mostly for the night Bills Nation exhaled. The Drought was over. The elephant in the room grabbed its peanuts and left the building, taking the 500-pound gorilla with him.’

‘“One of the greatest things about this has been getting to know so many really great people,” he said, noting the dozens of comments and messages he has received throughout the season from people who said his videos raised their spirits in hard times.’

‘The bottle will be on display in hopes that Heroux will pop it and serve it to his guests in a few short weeks. “Hopefully this is the year,” Heroux said. “You never know. Anything can happen.”’

‘“They’re where they want to be, and I’m where I want to be,” Marrone continued. “I’m focused on my team and this game. That’s where my focus is. It’s not what’s gone on in my past, whether it be Buffalo or Syracuse or New Orleans or the Jets or wherever I may have been.”’

‘Coach Sean McDermott continues to be nebulous about McCoy’s status, saying it will be a game-time decision on whether he dresses or not. On Thursday, McDermott said it seems McCoy is moving in the right direction, so, “We’ll just see how he does.”’

‘We think our team will win, because it is impossible for us not to believe in them. It is the only option that doesn’t crush our spirits – which have been extraordinarily high since that spectacular moment on New Year’s Eve. You know, the one where our second favorite team, the Cincinnati Bengals, spent the last minute of their last game scoring The Touchdown that changed everything.’

‘“Not the fact that I’ll be playing,” he said, “but that I’ll be in the playoffs. It’s something you grow up dreaming about. I’ve never been to the playoffs, this is my first year, but now that it’s Wednesday and we’re in the week, I’m approaching it like a regular-season game. Focus on the game plan, executing, and be able to do what we need to do to get prepared for the Sunday game.”’

‘That first day at Fisher in late July of 2000, no one could have foreseen the coming agony of the next 17 years because the Bills had been to the playoffs in 10 of the previous 12 seasons. Back then, the playoffs were almost a given, and on that initial day of camp, the Bills were anxious to get going on making it 11 trips in 13 years.’

‘In the mix of 35 songs, the Bills Mafia can shout along and watch the display located on White Oak Bend in Chili. With the current snow conditions the display is not expected to be taken down for at least two weeks.’

‘The cheapest round-trip day combination out of regional airports (according to a smattering of tried-and-true flight sites like Kayak.com and Expedia.com) appears to be Friday, Jan. 5, through Tuesday, Jan. 9. Prices for these dates out of Rochester were floating around $550 to $600 with Delta Airlines and American Airlines late Tuesday afternoon.’

‘Sure, it will be far warmer than Western New York’s single-digit forecast and it’s not like the Bills will be playing another Snowmageddon game like their epic win over the Indianapolis Colts on Dec. 10.’

‘McDermott would not go into further detail on how severe the injury is, and then joked, “I’m not a doctor, nor do I play one on television.”’

‘Pegula said. “We were in the coach’s office after the game and Russ lost it. I felt so good for him, because he had been through the whole drought. I wanted to make sure that Russ was where myself, Brandon, Brian Gaine and Joe Schoen were so he could finally just let go.”‘