RangerDave

Anyhooo..... I am a first time STH (or STM as the Bills like to call us). Just bought them yesterday. Anybody want to buy two tickets for the Bills-Jets game on December 11 for a mere $500 each?? Could be the division-deciding game!

FIFY

Does this mean then that Beane cannot get fired without McDermott also getting fired? What would Beane's performance measures be, if he is not responsible for the drafting of players? Does McD also tell him which FAs to sign and which of our own players do we re-sign? Who determines length and size of contracts? I am not disagreeing with you, I am just curious.

Thanks again, Gunner! My wife, who is a casual football fan at best, had an interesting question on the draft. I've read that of all the first round picks historically, less than 50% of QBs pan out and that only 60% overall pan out. Now defining "panning out" can be argued, but her question is this: Are there certain positions historically that "pan out" better than the others? For the sake of argument, we can either define "panning out" as becoming a good starter (which is hard to define in itself) or we can define it as making the pro bowl (which is often a farce, but at least provides an empirical stat to use). Are there statistics on this, or do you have a gut feeling based on your vast knowledge and experience? Thanks!

Thanks, @GunnerBill. I am always amazed at your knowledge and the thought put into your scouting. Maybe you missed your calling? 🙂 I have a question for you. The Bills currently very close to being Super Bowl winners. Tre is recovering from injury himself. With that in mind, would you choose Elam for this team at this time, even though he may not be the better player in the long run? Or would you choose Booth, who may be better in the long run, but may not contribute to this team as much this year due to injury concerns? I don't know the extent of Booth's injury concerns, or the recovery progress of Tre, but I just wondered if you would give up a player with a higher long-term ceiling for a player of Elam's abilities who can contribute immediately to this team, where they are right now?

What is your pre-draft grade for the Bills? I'll give them a B+. I will like their choice for #1, although I will like someone else better. They will get a steal in Round 3. Round 6 pick will be a luxury pick. What say you? **This isn't any sillier than the 100+ mock drafts, is it?**

I had a million dollars once. I spent half of it on booze and women. The rest, I just pissed away...

I would sign me to a 1-year, $9,972,724 contract! 😃

I can think of one: Belichick the coach and Belichick the GM

Ideally, that would be great. I envision it being abused quite a bit. I can see people who would "identify" as a minority if they thought it would give them a better opportunity for the job, even if they were not 1/16 "X". Since my mom was adopted, can I "identify" as a minority? I might be!

Wow. My take on it is that the NFL acknowledges that equally qualified, or better qualified, minorities are unfairly being denied opportunities based on their skin color (or other minority attribute) and they are trying to rectify that problem. But you do you.

I agree with the concept of getting more diversity in management positions that have historically lacked such diversity. I have to wonder, though, exactly what is considered a "minority", especially as we get more and more multicultural people. Most federal hiring rules say anyone with 1/16 African American heritage can claim to be African American when applying for jobs or contracts. How does one prove that? My mother was adopted, and we know nothing about her side of the family. Maybe one of her grandparents was African American, or Asian, or Hispanic, who knows? And maybe that grandparent was only 1/16 minority, but records record them as "X" minority. Does that make me 1/16 "X" minority? Do we go by who "looks" like a minority? That's obviously very dangerous. And do we only go by race as the minority factor? What about religion? How many Jewish head coaches do we have in the NFL? How many Muslims? I lived in the southeastern US. As a Catholic, I was definitely a minority there and did encounter some forms of discrimination. Same when I lived in Utah. Can I claim to be a minority? What about national origin? How many Icelandic coaches do we have? Again, I applaud efforts to include people who have legitimately been denied opportunities for employment or advancement. It is an unfortunate reality that some people are treated unfairly based on being in the minority. Not just here in the US, but worldwide. It would be so much better if people treated everyone with equity, but that is hard to do, and even harder to enforce as a rule. I hope the NFL can find a way.

That would barely fill my snowblower!

I also wonder how much the players, coaches, trainers, etc. pay in NYS income tax each year? With the cap at, say, $200m, the amount paid by just the players at a rate of 8.82% would be over $17m each year. That doesn't include the amounts in property taxes, sales tax, etc.

I wonder if this had something to do with their reputation as "The Bickering Bills"? Winning is great and all, but being on a team that plays for each other is a lot more fun, especially when that team is also winning.

And seeing the name "Brady" associated with the Bills isn't unsettling at all??? 😉

Is this going to go on every year for the next several years? "I retire. No, wait, I unretire." Lather, rinse, repeat every year. Keeps him in the news.....

I had season tickets to Syracuse basketball for the two years I was there. I admired Jim Boeheim while I was there. He had a good team, made the players play the right way, taught sportsmanship and scholastic accountability, and did community work. Over the years, I have seen him change. Winning, fame, and money influenced him more than integrity and ethics. He also reminded me of Woody Allen with his whining. It is disheartening to see the transformation. I wonder if this happens to many big-time coaches, including Coach K? Fame, power and wealth are big corrupters to many people.

I get paid $13/hour to teach CPR. People slinging fries at McD's start at $16/hour. I don't mind getting paid $13/hour because I like doing it and I believe it is important to teach lifesaving skills to people. Please do not assume "everyone here" is a money-grubbing narcissist. I am not. Kyler Murray has already made more in his short career than I made in my lifetime. If he has any financial skills at all, his nest egg is considerably larger than mine. I am sure I could have a happy life living off what he should have in his next egg.

Hmmm...makes me wonder. Do governments in other countries pay for stadiums for things like soccer, hockey. cricket, etc? That would be interesting to know. Don't other businesses get public funding to build things like factories, restaurants, hotels? I know a small town in upstate NY where I lived got $10m for "downtown revitalization". That means taxpayer money went into renovating or building places for private companies. The only difference I see is the huge difference in money involved.

I was also at this game. The only previous game I had been to was in 1976 when the Bills beat Kansas City 50-17. The last play of that game was Tony Greene making an interception 2 yards deep in the end zone and returning it for a touchdown. Then, the first play from scrimmage in this game, Greg Bell takes it 85 yards for a touchdown. So, I got to see two consecutive plays with a combined yardage of 187 yards! Unfortunately, that string didn't last..... 😁

I wonder what Diggs' current WR teammates think of him recruiting other WR's to play for us? Whose playing time would they take? Gabe? Beasley? Knox? I'd rather him try to recruit positions where we are not as well stocked. Of course, this is probably just Diggs playing around....

Are there any of the "old guard" QB's left? Brady, Manning, Brees, Rivers...all retired now. There was a dearth of really good quarterbacks in the NFL for a while. I am excited by all of the good young talent playing now! PS: Does anyone know what happened to the QB's who were taken in the draft before Brady was picked at #199? It is hilarious! What an absolute lousy year for QB's!

Thanks to all who have helped my in my hour of need! I am enjoying watching the game (and not via Skype!) Muchas gracias, mis amigos!

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