Punch

I'd love Wade... only as a DC. Unfortunately, there's probably a greater likelihood that Bill Polian would return to the front office than Wade returning in any capacity. Then again, stranger things have happened. After the 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs Mike Grier told the media he didn't trust the direction of the Sabres organization to return, despite a suitable contract offer... then suddenly, 3 years later, he decides that he loves the organization's direction. I think the desperation of being a 35 year old out of work 3rd line grinder had something to do with his change of heart. If only it were that easy! I say Ralph allows Wade back as soon as he puts Lou Saban's name on the Wall of Fame.

There's absolutely no way fans would have accepted Fewell as HC--- no matter how good of a job he did as the interim HC in 2009, or as a DC. Plus, he was obviously not going to be brought back as strictly a DC, as much as we may have accepted that. But one fact remains: he has superior talent with the NY Giants' front 7. He may be a terrific DC, but the personnel he has operating for him is NFL elite--- he would not have that type of success here in Buffalo until the defensive roster is seriously upgraded. For the record, I am so far pleasantly surprised with Gailey as a HC and OC--- and to say I was less than enthused upon his initial hire is an understatement to say the least. If the defense continues to underperform after upgrades are made (assuming they're made) then a new DC is absolutely necessary. In fact, I'd welcome a new DC regardless for 2011.

I think it sounded something like this: KABOOM!!!

That's exactly who comes to mind when I see Dupree... whether or not his head was messed up, he could never stay healthy, anyhow. Nearly nonstop injuries from 1983-93... although, it may have been due in large part to the training & conditioning issues Switzer called him on.

LOL, great thread, Marauder24. Hey, this one time... at band camp... Atwater tackled Christian Okoye!

Over the summer he said he would "probably" go back to Stanford for another year, but wasn't gong to think much about it or make a decision until after this season. I think that was the only public comment he has personally made on the issue prior to this interview with Rome. His father, Oliver Luck, has made similar statements in interviews he's given in West Virginia. Pretty consistent, I guess... at least it sounds possible he'll come out!

I'd never before heard of Ken Hall, although his story is so amazing it initially reminded me of Sidd Finch, the young incredibly hard throwing pitching prospect that worked out for the NY Mets in the early '80s before ultimately giving up a baseball career . George Plimpton's terrific SI article on Finch: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1119283/index.htm I had forgotten all about Marcus Dupree--- what a damn shame. Dupree reminds me, but of course for completely different reasons, of former Cincinnati Bengals QB Greg Cook: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-top-ten/09000d5d807434bc/Top-Ten-One-Shot-Wonders-Greg-Cook

Chad Jackson or Chad Simpson?

It's funny you would hold this opinion of Stevie Johnson considering how exuberantly you chose to fellate Eric Moulds in another thread. I loved Moulds too, but even in his NFL Playoff record setting performance against the Dolphins in '98 he didn't make enough of an impact for the Bills to actually win the game. Stevie's career trajectory is remarkably similar to that of Eric Moulds, oddly enough. On average, a wide receiver isn't likely to be the difference between winning and losing when a team like the 2010 Bills has as many holes as they do... in fact, I can't imagine a WR doing much more than Stevie has done these past 6 weeks. Maybe you should get your head out of your ass? Just a thought.

I didn't catch the post game this afternoon... was it much worse than usual?

Why on earth would they include a photo of Kelly from just after he had suffered a concussion against the Redskins in Super Bowl XXVI? Are they trying to infer something about Jimbo's mindset? What a weird photo selection.

Doesn't this subject come up from the Rogers' people every time the Bills play in Toronto? Obviously their interests in this deal are separate from the Bills' interests, so they're going to make noise every chance they get until what they want comes to fruition--- which I assume is either a permanent Toronto based NFL team or simply an attempt at selling more tickets to the games in this Bills series resting on the illusion that it will eventually lead to an NFL team in Toronto. Everything is marketing.

It's really funny that he chose to speak to Bruce Mathison--- I had a Mathison football card in my Stadium Wall profile page because I considered him to be literally the most obscure and perhaps awful player in the history of the Bills. Of course, as others have pointed out, another QB that transitioned from San Diego to Buffalo was not only an All-Pro that won multiple championships, but spent the rest of his very publicly successful life helping his adopted home in a very real way (as a politician) and also spoke glowingly at every chance of the people (which of course, may have also been political, but I digress...) rather than a loser like Mathison. Anyway, who cares? It's not the first time ("Warts, Love and Dreams in Buffalo" from Sports Illustrated 1/20/69), and certainly not the last, a writer will take the easy way out and write a hack job piece about the region. He obviously tried hard to make Buffalo seem insignificant by mentioning Z-grade celebs when much more famous and significant people have come from Western NY.

MattyT is right, wgr550.com has a photo of his locker with the #55 on his nameplate. http://www.wgr550.com/Bills-D-Talks-Merriman/8506461

The reaction to Merriman leaving in that Chargers thread is not even remotely close to the reaction for the Edwards/Losman departures. Probably 90%+ of Bills fans basically said "Good riddance!" to Trent and JP.

The Tim Graham blog at http://espn.go.com/blog/AFCEast/post/_/id/21111/shawne-merriman-worth-a-shot-for-buffalo: Also, a source close to Merriman told me he "wasn't thrilled" to be going to Buffalo, even though Bills general manager Buddy Nix oversaw the Chargers' college scouting department when they drafted him in 2005.

I don't recall him making the final roster at the start of the regular season, Either way, he obviously never had an impact for the Bills.

I absolutely never said I'm a fan of the move--- I just don't think the sky is falling. All the hand wringing and weeping and gnashing of teeth about every transaction gets exhausting. I posted in another thread that Merriman may just be Marcus Jones or Jason Gildon, which is entirely possible. It's worth a shot but I'm not expecting it to pay giant dividends, necessarily.

Marcus Jones and Jason Gildon were both brought in for tryouts during training camp but didn't make the roster. They were both touted as being the potential pass rush specialists to push our defense over the top but were bogged down by persistent injuries and were out of the league soon thereafter. IIRC, they were both brought in during Gregg Williams' tenure.

Coke, I thought.

It's possible Merriman contributes just as much as Marcus Jones and Jason Gildon did for the Bills once upon a time--- remember those names? But it's definitely worth a shot. One thing that is odd about all of this is Chan Gailey's response in the afternoon pres conference. According to Joe Buscaglia, Gailey didn't recall coaching against Merriman when he was at Georgia Tech and Merriman was at Maryland. Gailey thought he was already gone by the time he took over at GT, although their respective tenures overlapped from 2002-05, and Merriman was pretty effective against the Yellow Jackets. He very well could have been intentionally coy because he didn't want to let on the Bills were discussing it internally, but it's odd nonetheless. http://www.wgr550.com/BUSCAGLIA--How-Does-Merriman-Fit-Bills-/8498682

The group that thinks the sky is falling no matter what the Bills do and bitches and moans constantly? No, I didn't realize I was a member of that group, douchebag.

This made me Laugh Out Loud.

Maybe you're just an !@#$? Discuss.

There are quite a few posters that belong to the "tin foil helmet" brigade. The sooner they're abducted and unable to continue posting drivel, the better.