Red

Let's see....you said 'Schopp' and 'flawed logic'.... ...what more needs be said?

Has he legally changed his name to HardLY yet?

I agree. Though it is a very good thing for both Vick and dogs everywhere that Vick has seemingly turned from his wicked (and I would say, imbecile) ways, I wonder about the politics (read: $$$) of it all. Similar to the Oscars- where politics reins sumpreme and not necessarily (nor often) does the real "best" picture win- these awards are deeply rooted in the politics of the situation. Remember, prior to this disgusting incident, Vick was the posterboy of the NFL; as he appeared on the cover of countless magazines, Madden video games, etc. He was the future of the league. When this proverbial bomb blast of stupidity burst, the NFL was effectively submarined. On the one hand, the talent of an exciting and dynamic ability as is Vick had not diminished. But the NFL had to distance itself from this NFL-poster-boy-turned dog killer to save face and maintain the integrity of its product. Both myself and many others have said this before and I will say it again- if any one of us were guilty of a felony and did hard time for the crime(s), our old employer would NOT be welcoming us back with open arms, or even allow us on the lot to even attempt to enter the building to try to regain our formal stead. Some will argue "well, there is no given in the NFL. His skills may have dimished and he may have been cut." That is regardless of the fact that the NFL even allowed him to come back in the first place. Any "normal" Joe would be struggling to find a job, period after a background of a convicted felony. That being said, I am happy for the road to redemption, and I truly hope that this is real for Vick. I hope that he finally gets it, recognizes the errors of his ways, and never returns to that insanity. I don't expect him to ever run for President, but it would be nice if we could get highly skilled athletes who might be slightly humbled and respectful of their abilities and position in the world. But let's not forget about the politics of it. The league is desperate for QB's who can play (ever wonder about all of the powder puff rules being compiled yearly to protect QB's?), and to say to the world "see, we weren't wrong about Vick. He IS a star!" Politicians play this game all of the time. They get caught cheating on their spouse, or embezelling, or some sort of scum bag act, get caught, do time, then hide. After hiding for a period of time, they then begin to slowly reemerge and play the part of the reformed. The NFL, as a cash-generating cow, understands what it has in Vick, and is looking to wash away the past misdeeds in order to cash in on the here and now.

This is what I have been saying for 2 years.... Brilliant post. Sisyphean...thank you for getting it! Now if only we could convert these Modrak defending boobs... ...and I'm a boob man...just not the Modrak defending kind.

Agreed. UNLESS...its a Defensive back. I've had enough of those for the past decade... I caught that too. I'm amazed how forthcoming Denver and Carolina are with their draft stategies with nobodies....

Which falls back to my other point...if Modrak's scouting information on particular players is not worthy of said player being selected, then what value does Modrak have to the team? You see, you can't have it both ways. Modrak can't be innocent of the past decade of poor draft picks (despite 4 different regimes calling the shots now), and somehow be valuable in scouting our selections. Could Jauron have really screwed the pooch? Sure. But that's 1 regime. You simply can't claim that the same consistently poorly scouted players from 4 different regimes are independent of each other. What, so next you're going to tell me that John Guy got a raw deal, that the quality of free agent "gems" Guy was bringing in was worthy of his continued employment? Modrak is a holdover from the previously disposed Donahoe regime. I think the only reason Ralph keeps him in the "brain trust" is because of his reputation with Philadephia (which is also baffling because even with Reggie White, the Eagles never won anything with that Modrak compiled talent). I just don't understand why you continue to give him a free pass...

It was a nice thing to see...my favorite part was the push he gave to the DB that tried to tackle him. It was vintage Marshawn...when he really was trying to prove himself to the Bills. After that first season, he just started to lose focus. I mean, we have Fred, CJ...I don't miss Marshawn at all. He was becoming a big distraction. Hitting Canadiens...ok, that was not so bad...but leaving the scene, drinking and driving, guns in the trunk (why?)...I mean the whole "thug" image is idiocy at its most primal. Why can't a professional athlete just be clean cut, responsible, AND good? Why does idiotic behavior have to go hand-in-hand with being a good athlete? I'm happy for Marshawn, and I'm ok with what we got for him. One scene from the game that really hit home for me, was that after the TD run, one of the coaches came over and was holding Marshawn and talking to him...Marshawn was listening and really in that moment. It was nice to see. Congrats, Marshawn.

Dude, you just don't get it. Nobody "reaches". Information that these players would be good contributors at the Pro level indicates somebody got it wrong. Dickie J does not scout. modrak does. Also, getting UNDRAFTED free agents to become studs is a far cry from striking what should be gold on 1st round picks...especially when selected in the Top 10. I don't know how that that does not make sense.

And I don't know how many times I have to say this: THE PLAYERS THAT TOM D, THEN MARV AND DICKIE J AND BUDDY DRAFTED WERE SCOUTED....(read: scouted)....BY ONE TOM MODRAK. (caps added to emphasize shouting because Modrak defenders are mentally dense) Your Director of Scouting may not make the picks. I will give all of you Modrak boners that. But any GM, any coaching staff, heck...any OWNER....does not have the time to scout players full time...that is why you hire....wait for it....wait for it.... ...a DIRECTOR of FREAKIN' SCOUTING!!!!!!! That Director, atleast one of his duties, is to compile information on players at various positions and present/ rank those prospects in the order of ability to be selected. Bottom line: No matter who has been our GM, we have not had any success with our first round picks this past decade (Eric Wood notwithstanding). ANY! But somehow we strike it big on an undrafted free agent every year (Jason Peters, Moorman, Greer). Now, If I were the owner...I sincerely appreciate the small undrafted gold we can find....BUT...there is alot more money tied into the idiots Modrak keeps saying are worthy of high round selections. I mean, MAYBIN HELD OUT!!! WHITNER WANTS MORE MONEY! These guys either blow (HArdy, Maybin, Ellis, Williams, Losman, McCargo) or are merely serviceable at best (Whitner, Evans (oh, I said it), McKelvin). And let's use a little science here.... ...if we have had several different GM's...several different coaching staffs and philosophies...yet the result remains the same...how could Modrak and our horrible scouting staff NOT be responsible? I agree with your points, but I must admit...after reading it I am still not sure if you are supportive that Modrak is an inept doofus or not. Now, I will give the Modrak lovers the concession that he is not the one actually making the selections. Granted. However, and this is a HOWEVER of the grandest scale...with THAT being said...the people MAKING the selections get their INFORMATION from somewhere. That somewhere is the scouting department. I don't understand the disconnect of the Modrak lovers. John Guy brought us horrible free agents (Dockery, Walker, Walker #2, Royal, Triplett), and he is finally gone. How is Modrak excused for his track record of terrible scouting? Somebody is ranking these players. Tis this not the role of DIRECTOR OF FREAKING SCOUTING?!?!?

Bills draft either Jim Kelly or Bruce Smith.

This is really pretty good, IMO. I seriously don't know why Modrak and Co. continue to have defenders. Greer was another of those undrafted college free agents that we seem to find every year. Peters too. Lynch was miffed about us drafting Spiller, and I think that he wanted out, too. But I don't know how you can overlook Mike Williams, John McCargo, James Hardly, Erik Flowers, JP Losman, and Drew Bledsoe. Not too mention Clements was way overpaid and is gone, Schobel is now retired, Evans is a ghost in most games, Lynch was really starting to get serious offseason and off-field issues, and McKelvin does not seem to be the lock down corner we all hoped that he would be. Oh, and did I mention Whitner? Aaron Maybin? Seriously. Aaron Maybin was well scouted? This team has basically blown its first round draft picks for the entire decade. Stop defending Modrak and the scouting department. Our first good draft was Nix's first with the Bills. Wood, Bryd are good. Spiller will be. He kinda reminds me of McFadden. Took some time to find his way, but he will. The jury is still out on this years draft- though I think we will be pleasantly surprised. Let's see what a #3 overall turns into, before we start talking about how great our scouting staff now is. For a small market team like the Bills who will rely on the draft, the scouting department has got to be the backbone of the franchise. Modrak has had 10 years on the job. He has only proven that he is terrible.

So the two of you are voting in the 'boner' category? Likewise, all of those coaches are gone. You've had 4 different coaching regimes, and only the most current one if finally putting something together. Philosophies are not the problem.

Given Modrak's history of colossally failing to properly scout on early round picks... ...and the fact that we will be picking #3 overall... ...is this another year where Modrak demonstrates his incompetence in scouting players and we waste it, or do we finally.... FINALLY... ...get it right in April?

Ah...no...and NO.

The thing that kills me, is that he is untouchable. I've written to reporters who defend him, claiming that Overdorf and Littman have more to do with the Bills than Modrak. Both Overdorf and Littman suck. But Modrak has proven nothing but his terrible scouting on our draft picks for the past 10 years. I don't remember Philly being a "powerhouse" his defenders like to claim (even the Reggie White Eagles never played in the Super Bowl, and how often did they make the playoffs?). Why is Modrak untouchable?

Wasn't his wife fighting off breast cancer a couple of seasons ago? I mean, how much of a total, John Edwards scumbag do you have to be to pull this crap?

Wait for it....wait....listen... ...somewhere, tonight...a Bills fan is waking to the fact that Modrak and Co. have got to go. Such a pleasant sound...

Agreed. The new offensive identity helped, but Bell was NOT a weak point. Nice work. But you're forgetting the most important "player" in all of this... Tom Modrak is STILL the Director of Scouting.

Ah, this just in.... ...Tom Modrak is STILL Director of Scouting for the Buffalo Bills....

Predicting Bills to make the playoffs: Retarded Not showing up on the locker clean up and having your locker spotless prior to the media having a chance to see you perhaps for the last time: classless. Is it too late to go back and draft Ngata?

Because traditionally, if the product on the field does not improve, a team usually changes the uniforms to generate revenue. The team isn't doing it, so let's change the outfits so that everyone has to spend their money on new merchandise. Kinda like the Sabres.... ...don't get me wrong, I love the fact they finally went back to tradition. Best move since bringing Drury and Briere on the team. But discussing new uniforms before placing a great product on the field is kind of like talking about what kind of wrapping paper would like on a turd? "No, I think it should be pink". "No, green!" It doesn't matter what color paper you gift wrap your turds in. It's still a hot, steaming, pile of poop.

I think Modrak should be brought from his FL retirement home to Buffalo, and then tar'd and feathered out of WNY for good. It's the least we could do to repay the horrific job he has done for the Bills this past decade. That being said, both the Whitner and Simpson selections were Levy selections, all the way,..I remember reading something where he said that central to building a winning defense you had to have good safeties, now we have 2...or some claptrap like that. I mean, I'd agree...but only after you have Bruce Smith at DE, Bennett, Conlan, and Talley at LB, and Odomes at CB. Every time I see Whitner, or hear about him...I can only think about how we passed on Haloti Ngata.

Si, senor. And Tom Modrak is still employed is his defender's position of Director of Scouting- but he's not responsible for any of the players we actually select...he just compiles scouting reports on all of college football. Modrak has NOTHING to do with selecting our players of the last 10 seasons.... uh-huh....

God, does this never get old? First off, this ridiculous thing was out last offseason. Second, why...every freakin' offseason, do we have to have these new uniform pansies posting about changing the outfits? No offense to the women in the crowd, but different colored uni's don't win games. Let's get a dominant defensive line. And offensive line. And a franchise QB. A TE. A #1 receiver. Changing uniforms...

But you are suggesting that Maybin has upside.... What has he shown to warrant such a free pass? Let me guess...you're also one of these 'Modrak is not responsible for our draft picks because he's being overruled in the war room on draft day (even though he's in charge of scouting ALL of the players we draft)' guys, right? Maybin is as colossal a bust at this point as Mike Williams. Defensive philosophy has NOTHING to do with suckitude. I'm really happy for our new regime. We finally showed some offensive life and a coherent plan seems to be in place after a decade of ridiculously terrible everything. I'm glad Gailey has the guts to call Maybin out as the joke he is. I only wish we had used that pick smarter on an Orakpo or Oher.