May Day 10

I lost it when Brandon got "fired" as gm, everyone took a half step to the left, and they "hired" buddy nix. That was when I knew the bills would never again be respectable while Ralph Wilson was the owner... but also knew that him not being the owner would likely mean the Toronto Bills. Just a miserable existence

He actually looks really good, considering the invasiveness and recency of the procedure.

I would say that would be the most likely thing. If they had attorneys investigating, these things would have come to light... not necessarily "business centric" or even illegal things like fudging numbers, skimming off the top, kickbacks, etc. Probably just expensing dinners, dates, maybe going out on company times with her/them, etc. Its also possible they dove deep into his typical day and saw that he wasnt bringing much to the table? I dont know. I would also say it is possible he could have been undermining Beane and McDermott a bit. I know he wasnt overly pleased when Whaley, his personal pass-through to the football department was let go. These are mostly just guessing though. Graham also spitballed into the recent history/dynamic between Brandon and the Pegulas. He said that when they purchased the Bills, the Pegulas liked Brandon enough, and werent prepared/didnt have anyone else at the ready, so they allowed him to continue in his role. When the Marrone thing hit, along with Polian, they were fairly angry with Brandon (and Whaley) and were possibly going to move on. They had a big get together in Boca Raton for the head coach selection/interviews, etc and all Pegulas/Brandon/Whaley bonded. Rex burst onto the scene and the Bills were getting all sorts of attention, press, etc, and Brandon was IN with the Pegulas. Along this line was when they fired Black and promoted Brandon to Supreme Leader of One Buffalo. However, when Rex crashed and burned, badly, along with all the organizational miscues with leaks, the Lynn PC, and the Whaley PC disaster, the Pegulas may have soured on Brandon a bit and he was marginalized, and really hasnt been in their good graces for the last year. I wouldn't be surprised though, if Brandon was honest with the Pegulas about this relationship, if they would have retained him with conditions and a written warning (or some sort of internal discipline). His dishonesty gave the Pegulas no choice.

They were talking about this again on the Tim Graham show yesterday. Basically re-hashing the reasons and various circumstances that make it unadvised to allow a company official to have relations with employee(s). Graham also stressed that people are focusing too much on that, and the "other reasons" part that was not brought up enough.

Russ only has russ to blame.

Its implied that people in the offices, media, business community connected with the teams all knew this "relationship" existed. This also was not the first "relationship" either. I know of 2 others. You absolutely cannot have your company president (or any high official) doing this. it creates a lot of problems and potential severe problems. By the way of perceived preferential treatment, or perceived poor treatment. Hiring, firing, promotion, work assignments, pay rate, attendance at company functions, etc. It all l gets muddy and and brought into question. It degrades the work environment for everyone. People wonder if performing sexually with the boss is a condition of better job conditions/perks. Maybe the current fling feels obligated to keep it going (or get involved in the first place) due to job conditions. It's not a good thing, and the Pegulas should expect better from their executives. If this is reported to the pegulas, or they are aware, and they do nothing, and it blows up a year from now? They could be on the hook for millions. These things are very hard from a Respondent standpoint if you have a documented history of inaction. You could even see the nfl pressure them to sell the team at that point if it looks bad publicly. Is protecting Russ Brandon really worth all that?

Over the last 10 years, on a scale of 1-10 for bad behavior, behavior in the game has gone from an 8 to a 3.

This is annoying. Especially when you end up having to park with one in your ear. Cant have a conversation while standing there for 4 hours listening to someone's choice of loud music. Fun. Its almost as annoying when you end up in the nearby crossfire of 2.

It doesn't sound like it will get that major... But hypothetically, if his behavior was just a "nuisance", and ignored or swept under the rug.... and they only acted now because there was a really bad incident and/or they are getting sued/reported to the dol. Then it could get real bad

Or our owners

It depends. We do not know much of what happened. If it was a severe violation of nfl or Bills policy, they could bar him from future employment. If the Bills were aware of this behavior previously (and it violates policy and/or nys or federal law), and didn't act, they could be in a bit of trouble.

From my view, the humiliating 2 month span between the Pittsburgh game that it was leaked that rex would be gone, through the trainwreck press conferences on Anthony Lynn and Doug whaley sealed berchtoldt's fate.

thats what happens when a franchise is on moth balls for 20 years and someone comes in, throws the curtains aside and opens a window to the outside world. lack of "continuity", bad luck, Patriots, etc did not cause the drought. Buffalo Bills "management" did.

Because he had no real boss other than a 90 year old man who thought of him as a son. The Pegulas, seem impressed when they see someone who knows their way around the building. They held onto bad management with the Sabres for too long, and did it again with the Bills.

The Bills were kind of emerging at that point with a very formidable defense. Marrone wanted to Pegula to wipe out the Brandon/Whaley aside, modernize the organization a bit, and bring in Polian in the Coughlin role. He said either them or me, and the Pegulas chose to go with 2 years or Rex, the Whaley embarassment, and 3 more years with the serial adulterer who was way past his 9 lives here. He wasn't wrong. Im not sure how I feel about giving Marrone 'McDermott' power over the team (McDermott just seems so well put together), but Jax looks good and Marrone has a pretty decent track record as HC so far.

I'm sure the Bills had a pretty strong reputation for how they did things on the football side. That's why we get Jauron and Gailey and GMs like Nix and Whaley (and Marv and Russ). I feel like Rex thought his bravado could mouth his way to success with any team and liked the $ offered. But we also had Mularkey and Marrone put their careers on the line and walk out. And up-and-comer isn't going to put his legacy and career in the shared hands with Russ Brandon. Any strong coaching candidate they coveted would probably demand that sort of autonomy.

The buyout of the NRA made it unattractive to outside bidders. They would not only need to outbid pegula, but would need to add $400 million buyout (or 4 ugly l same duck seasons). Plus a relocation fee. Plus money for new facilities. The timing of Wilson's death, before the paint was dry on the renovations played a huge part. If he passes away in 2018, vultures would be out big time. Ultimately though, its pegula's willingness to bid a very competitive price

its not him buying flowers for the secretary and asking her on a date. He is married with kids. The 'subject' of this investigation is married. There have been multiple/numerous targets of Russ Brandon's indiscretions.

They cant talk about it. This is their boss. Some very sensitive subject matter. Possibly some legal things hanging over their company's head.

The 1998 thing was scary, but I remember the business community rallying together to try to find others to pledge to fill the boxes. Maybe Brandon was behind that, but he was still a hungry marketing exec trying to carve a name and career for himself. 20 years later is a much different animal. You also had Flutie-mania pop up at the time. Most people then credited that for the uptick in sales.

Suggesting that he steered the bidding process toward the Pegulas blows all credibility of anything else said. $1.4 Billion dollars cash steered the bidding process toward the Pegulas.

Russ Brandon brings out the worst in people. He is like the slime in Ghostbusters 2

He is a guy who has been successful because of a supreme level of focus and dedication (and cheating). I cant help but think that these thoughts being made public are a pretty strong sign that the concentration and dedication is now being eroded. Maybe he flips a switch when training camp opens and is in it 100%. If things dont go great for the Pats this season, I could really see him hang them up.

People really take to the "fire and brimstone" policy

Why not just get rid of him then, like they did with Ted Black, LaFontaine, etc? Why the need to search for warts in the organization? It seems they needed to investigate, found stuff, found other stuff (which was alluded to in the AP report), he lied to their faces, and it was enough to pressure him into resigning.