okbills

Please take the time to explain what the beef is. I'm interested to know from your perspective.

It's best if we try to listen to each other and try to understand where each is coming from. That's the way to a proper resolution.

I think everyone agrees that disparities exist. America was founded on equal opportunity not equality of outcomes. Most well known black athletes are more concerned with fatherless black children and point to that as the prime cause of disparity than any one other thing.

OP, please present some data for this inflammatory conjecture.

First, this is a gross oversimplification; second, it is also reckless debasement of your fellow Americans.

Thank you. The NFL is committing suicide.

Anthem protest is a culture war.

Talking at the problem will never solve the problem. Go to your brother and not to a megaphone to lodge your displeasure.

Right or wrong, and in the end, I think Hughes will come to see those comments were very poorly calculated.

Yes, let's move on. The defense is stout. We could have something.

When the conversation devolves to this point over a QB its a SURE SIGN its over for the QB. If he was doing great there would be no conversation. We've been having a conversation about him like this for two years. TT is done.

For Fred. FredEx Makes His Last Delivery in Buffalo After ten years of overwhelming performances and perhaps underwhelming front office recognition for his prodigious talents, Fred Jackson was released from the Buffalo Bills on August 31. FredEx has made his last delivery for the Buffalo Bills. Jackson leaves the Buffalo Bills as, perhaps, the most beloved player of recent memory. Fan reaction to him being cut ranged between apoplectic to numb. In their media appearances, General Manager Doug Whaley and Head Coach Rex Ryan looked and sounded wooden. Rex had the look of a chastened school-boy as he stared into middle space. They said the decision was difficult. An underwhelming description of it all, to be sure. It’s a performance made even more awkward by the wonder of it all. The Bills seem to have a knack with making overstated decisions. With this one, the timing of it crudely punctuated the point. Couldn’t the Bills have cut Jackson in the spring to afford him a larger window of time to catch on to a different team? In the spring, Tim Graham of the Buffalo News suggested the Bills were looking to cut Jackson, but word was the owner intervened. So they cut Jackson with only a few weeks before the season begins. So the Bills go all in on to their star back, LeSean McCoy, who the Bills feel they stole from the Eagles and who the Eagles eagerly showed the door. And so the wheels of the NFL keep turning. It’s out with the old and in with the new. After his release, Jackson tweeted that the old man wasn’t done yet. Jackson, 34, is said to be on his way to Seattle where he could reprise his role as elder counselor for the wildly entertaining but equally temperamental Marshawn Lynch. In the NFL everyone has a story. So many players these days seem to have their own unique story that they have all begun to look the same. Everybody is a Rudy these days. There hardly is a first rate story among them. It’s all chaff. Lunch pail fans cringe at it all. The grasping is just so banal and tired. But for Bill's fans, Jackson is different—he’s real. He’s the wheat separated from the chaff—tangible, accessible and one of them. And they love him for it. Jackson was born in Fort Worth, Texas as Frederick George Jackson to Fred Sr. and Latricia Jackson. His boyhood home was bulldozed to make room for the Dallas Cowboys parking lot 4. When it comes to football it seems he has always been the underdog. It would be a role he would reprise time and time again. To Eddy Peach, Jackson’s high school coach, Jackson was “a talented, hard worker with great character” which is a fine epitaph, but politely dodges the fact he didn’t think Jackson had the royal jelly. At a slight 5 feet 8 inches and 160 pounds Jackson was considered too small. Not only didn’t Jackson start a game, but when an injury to one of his star running backs blew-up Peach’s two back system, rather than use Jackson, Peach recalibrated to move forward with a one back approach. Ouch. Jackson toiled deep in the shadows, and when big colleges came around Jackson didn’t get invited to the dance. So he shuffled off to Coe College, a Division III private liberal arts outfit in Iowa. By the time he would finish with Coe, Jackson would grow another five inches and put on another 50 pounds and garner a handful of small-school football awards. Rich in determination, Jackson pursued his love of football playing indoor football for the Sioux City Bandits for $200 a week, honing his exceptional field vision, fluid running style and praiseworthy blocking abilities. In 2005 he earned the league’s co-MVP award. In his off hours, Jackson would moonlight at a child welfare agency putting his sociology degree to work. NFL action seemed as far away from reality as Mars presently is to NASA astronauts. One telephone call would change his life forever. Jackson’s junior high coach placed a call to Marv Levy, hall of fame coach of the Buffalo Bills, and Coe College alumni. Wayne Phillips jawed about Jackson’s talents, and despite some resistance from inside the Bills building, Marv offered Jackson a tryout. Marv liked what he saw and took the decision upstairs. “We’re looking for a top-notcher,” owner Ralph Wilson told Levy. “Send the kid somewhere where he can show us more.” So in 2006, Jackson signed a free agent contract and was shipped off to play for the Rhein Fire of the now binned NFL Europe. There, Jackson would show owner Ralph Wilson and the rest of the Bills brass that he already was a top-notcher and earned himself a Bills practice squad berth. Marv was vindicated and Jackson was elated. Jackson hooked and now slowly roped in an NFL career. There would be no limp flag of defeat. Jackson continued to roll. He would play eight NFL games in 2007, three in 2008 and supplant his friend and first round pick Marshawn Lynch as starter for 2009. He would go on to electrify Buffalo’s anemic offense with his smooth moves and rugged play. While the Bills front office tinkered with the likes of Terrell Owens, to try to jazz up the roster, it would be Jackson who would provide the real and sustained entertainment. Jackson was always good for the choice play—the shot in the arm, the surging jolt of confidence—the Bills fan base needed during the Bills' wilderness years. Jackson was the heart of the Bills, and the fan base loved him for the steady, calm and consistent performances among a rag tag roster that defined inconsistency. But for the last few years, as the now deceased former owner Ralph Wilson receded from the scene, the Bills began to slowly progress. Having perennially decent draft positions hasn’t hurt the roster but, more importantly, there now seems to be a brain collective that knows how to make the picks count. The team, with an upgraded roster, and new owners Terry and Kim Pegula combined with the razzmatazz ringmaster and coach Rex Ryan now holding court, just doesn’t need Jackson anymore. Rex is the heart of the Bills now. It's not personal, it's just business. And so on 2015 cut down day, Jackson was shown the door. It’s a cold business. And with the fall winds blowing, a rotten chill went through the Bills fan base. It is reported Jackson would have liked retired a Bill. And Bills fans would still like that to happen. Jackson will always be a winner with the fans. [PM me if you want to use this somewhere.]