hondo in seattle

Interesting article but brings back bad memories. Whatever your opinion of EJ, I think most of us can agree that Marrone didn't use or develop him correctly. And we can also agree that Marrone's/Hackett's schemes and play-calling were poor. The statistics in the article won't lead most of us to conclusions we hadn't already made.

Every team has stuff happening. I'm not sure how many employees a NFL team employs but I'll guess in it's in the hundreds. In the big scheme of things, the isolated actions of one OL coach is pretty petty stuff. Especially when we're talking about a misdemeanor. However, if the Bills have a string of bad actions, and handle them poorly, yeah - that's concerning. So I hope the Pegulas and Brandon handle this one correctly. They need to set the right precedent.

I think the way many of these books are written is that coauthor or ghost writer sits down with the celebrity and interviews them. After a few sessions, the writer starts taking the recordings and putting them to paper, transforming the celebrity's words into coherent, organized English. So many of the words might indeed be Gronk's. But he probably never put pen to paper or touched a keyboard to produce the book. But, yeah, I agree. It sucks that many celebrities don't write what they take credit for writing. This includes books, songs, articles, etc.

When Denise Huskins and her boyfriend said she was kidnapped, the Vallejo, CA, police listened to their stories, examined the evidence, and declared their assertions a hoax. And then demanded that the couple apologize. They discussed pressing charges against the couple for the phony kidnapping claims. Today the FBI arrested the kidnapper. Who should apologize now? Sometimes the first facts to come out lead you to the wrong conclusion. I'm not saying Kromer is innocent. I'm just saying none of us yet know what happened.

I'm surprised Bucky Gleason, normally a rational writer, is advocating the knee-jerk firing of Kromer and the hiring of Morris. Personally, I don't feel we know enough yet to call for the firing of Kromer. Sometimes the "other side of the story" makes a huge difference in our judgments and we haven't heard it yet. And even if Kromer does indeed deserve termination - a distinct possibility - would Morris be the right choice? How did the OL perform last year?

The ST Coach has little impact on the quality of punting or kicking. But he does have a lot of impact, I think, on the coverage and return units.

This is funny. Sad, but funny.

But not always intentionally.

You may be right. But I really want to hear the other side of the story. Too often initial media reports are either slanted or just plain wrong. I'm waiting for the whole story. Needless to say, the fact Kromer was arrested isn't a good sign. But we'll see.

I think this is probably true. I've personally never met any Bill. I once met a 49er TE when I accidentally stepped on his foot. He was cool. Met Jaws once years ago - he was apparently a friend of my HS football coach. Also cool. But I'm surprised at how many have had contact with Bills and ex NFL players. Where do you guys hang out??? I more or less never meet guys from the NFL. Maybe I just have poor facial recognition skills because, except for a small handful, I wouldn't recognize them if I did see them.

It sounds horrible but he's innocent until proven otherwise. False accusations are hardly uncommon. Surely something happened and it's a shame that Kromer wasn't wise and talented enough to avoid an incident. But exactly what happened? We only know one side of the story. But if Kromer really punched this kid, and it wasn't self-defense, he needs to go. Coaches need to role models and ought to be held to a higher standard than the players.

I'm embarrassed to say I hated the Crossman hiring more than the Hackett hiring. I figured Marone would be the de facto OC and that Hackett would simply do the legwork. Since Marrone wanted to run the offense his way, it was important to have someone who understood his scheme, and would defer to him. Crossman's hiring, looking at his track record at the time, seemed like a personal favor that was detrimental to the Bills. Man, my assessment was poor!

I gotta eat crow here too. I hated the Crossman hire.

It's so cool to have a Def Line where the weakest guy got double-digit sacks two years in a row.

When I was growing up in Cheektowaga, my best friend was a huge Snake & Raiders fan. RIP.

I thought it was JPP who blew the index finger off his right hand? Unless Brady loses a digit, their QB situation is much, much better regardless of Brady's suspension. The Pats will enter 12 games this year where their QB is as good as, or better than, the opponent's. We'll enter maybe 2 games like that - our games against the Jests.

Agreed. The identical titles are weird. But I don't believe sportswriters actually choose their own article titles normally. The articles themselves are different. Both writers are responding to the same SI MMQB piece saying the Bills have the worst QB situation in the NFL. But Dunne and Axe go off in different directions.

The term they coin, "Fan Equity," is the measure of a team's actual revenues versus the "forecasted revenues" of the team based on the team's performance. Forecasted revenues are calculated by some algorithm they've created. Curiously, they've concluded that if their forecast is wrong, it's the fault of the fans. It's not because their algorithm is wrong. But I would suggest the algorithm is flawed. For example, they look at median income but they should look at disposable income. Disposable income is comparatively low in Buffalo. Lots of people in WNY live paycheck to paycheck and can't reasonably be expected to spend money at the Ralph. When disposable income is low, luxury expenses are curtailed. Here's another way to rank fans, one that favors Buffalo. Let's measure what percentage of the population is at the game site on game day. For example, in the old days when the stadium held 80,000 there would be maybe 20,000 more in the parking lot. 100,000 at the game site when metro Buffalo has a population of only about one million! In other words, 10% of the population is at the game site (ignoring the fact some of the fans aren't local). That 10% score would only be beaten by Green Bay. Chicago or NY wouldn't come close. Here in Seattle, only about 2% of the population shows up at the game site on a home game day. Buffalo rocks.

I agree, particularly the grabbing of jersey's when reaching out to make a tackle. It's got to be harder without an index finger. I wonder how many of a DE's tackles begin with him grabbing a jersey. I'm guessing it's a fair number.

Wow. I didn't know this book exists. It's currently out of print but I'll find a copy. Thanks!

Ken, great stuff! I have a soft spot for the players of yore - the guys who gutted it out more for the love of the game than for money. On another note, I'd love to see you write a book about the 1921 Championship scandal - aka the "Staley Swindle." It could be a very cool vehicle for exploring the very early days of the NFL.

Maybe cuz I am a Bills fan, I don't see it. Geno is erratic. Both MC and EJ are just as good, if not better. The NYJ do not have an advantage at QB. Plus you have to look at the whole passing game. I think, given the overall talent we have, that our passing attack will be more effective than NY's.

I read it the same way you do. Especially for a player on the bubble, I'd rather him say, "My dream is to be a great NFL receiver and am dedicating everything I got to that one ambition. I'm giving this opportunity 100% effort and won't let anyone or anything sidetrack me. I'm a Buffalo Bill 24 hours a day, every day." This might be accurate. I guess I wish he would've waited to see if he could earn a roster spot with Rex first and learn how he'd fit in Roman's offense. His comments don't bode well for his Buffalo Bills career. Putting one foot back in track is putting one foot out the OBD door.

This guy is reasonably informed about the Bills roster; I just don't like the final conclusion. It does matter if TT, MC or EJ is QB. Whoever is under center, we're still better than the Jets or Fins. Cool he gave a shout-out to TBD.

I've always thought Trump was a buffoon and was dismayed when he talked of buying the Bills. I guess if he kept the Bills in Buffalo, I'd develop some affection for the man, but he was the last person I wanted to win the bidding process. I'm really happy the Pegulas won.