merlin

Was driving "home" to Buffalo to be with family for Thanksgiving, and happened to tune into a local sports talk station while traveling through Columbus, Ohio. Chris Spielman was on - his first day back on the job after his wife Stephanie passed away after a long and difficult battle with breast cancer. Chris was eloquent in expressing his experience over the past several years, and expressing his gratitude for the outpouring of support he and his family have received. Caller after caller remarked how he and Stephanie have been an inspiration to them as they or someone close to them go through this same circumstance. He's truly one of the "good guys", and his story helps to remind us all of things to be thankful for this holiday weekend. Peace. Chris Spielman thanks community for support

Apologies if this has already been posted somewhere. Quoted in Tim Graham's blog from Bob Costas' pre-game show interview with Peyton Manning: ESPN AFC East Blog - Nov. 15, 10:38 PM Manning on the great quarterbacks who didn't win a Super Bowl: "I still defend [Dan] Marino. I still defend [Fran] Tarkenton. I still defend Jim Kelly. All I know is what great quarterbacks they were. I've seen guys change when they've won one. They kind of say, 'I'm out of that club now. I'm in this new club.' I kind of like being in the old club with guys who just played their butts off every single Sunday. Jim Kelly, Marino, Tarkenton, John Stockton, you get guys not just in the NFL. I admire those guys for how long they played, how well they competed, how hard they competed. That's really all I want."

Didn't see this ESPN article linked/discussed anywhere on this site. Apparently a friend that Anthony Hargrove met during his stint with the Bills was shot and killed in Buffalo recently .... Hargrove deals with death of friend

Cool! Thanks, Beerball. I had no idea he was so "famous" ;-)

I was home visiting the folks in Buffalo (Clarence) this past week, and was digging through some of my old stuff still stored there, and came across a football I had taken to several Bills games back in the late 1960's as a kid at the "Old Rockpile". I had gotten quite a few Bills players to sign it (usually just before/right after warmups, you could get some of them to come over close enough to the stands to sign stuff). This must have been 1968 or 1969. Some of the names I recognize include Dan Darragh, Bob Tatarek, Stew Barber, George Saimes, Paul Costa, Bill Enyart, James Harris, Bruce Alford, Billy Masters, Butch Byrd, and Max Anderson. But there is also a name that looks something like "Preston Ridlehuber". Anyone remember this guy? What position did he play? Another name on there I don't recognize is Bubba Thornton? Looking at this ball brought back lots of great memories of spending Sunday afternoons at the games with my Dad, my uncle, and some of my cousins. Don't think the Bills were a very good team that year ... think it was OJ's first season. But as I remember, they did beat both the Dolphins and the Patriots at home that year! GO BILLS!

I agree. Jackson would definitely have more value than Lynch at this point, because of his ability on the field and his lack of issues off of it. So if you were serious about wanting to upgrade, and if you really believe that good RBs are "a dime a dozen" from the warehouse, you would undoubtedly get more value by trading Freddy at this point ...

I think that's precisely why it would be near impossible to get "value" for Lynch (i.e., a running back selected in the first round of the draft). Other teams don't see the need to give up anything of "value" for a running back, since they can get one "on the cheap" from that same warehouse you speak of. GO BILLS!

Jason Garrett!!

How ironic .... "Turk" gets visited by "The TURK"! Wonder if they will bring in Chan Gailey now??

I'm not that optimistic about the D ... they just couldn't seem to get off the field on 3rd down. In the first half, while the starters were in, Pittsburgh converted something ridiculous like 75% or better of 3rd down attempts. That's just not acceptable to be considered a "pretty good D", IMHO. And no matter how long they were on the field, they shouldn't get that tired playing just one half of football. In a regular game, you'd expect that kind of TOP imbalance to have an affect in the 4th qtr, but not in the 1st and 2nd. GO BILLS!

Actually, I think the exception might be Bobby April. If Jauron is canned mid-season, I wouldn't be surprised, nor upset, to see Ralph give him a shot at HC, and depending on how that turns out, give him a 2-3 year contract to see what he could do running the whole show. GO BILLS!

Bills Steelers Time of Pos. 12:23 31:56 Ouch! Let's scrap this no-huddle thing right now!

...also in this article:

He'll send Wilfork after TE early and often, just like he did against JP that time. Once TE is out of the game, the "no huddle" won't matter.

I don't care who you are, that right there is FUNNY! GO BILLS!

... but isn't it nice to know that, since Tony Dungy's retirement, Jauron is now the "nicest man in football"?

Thanks much for the report! One thing I'm curious about is the status of Jairus Byrd. Your report says he may be back on the field "in around a week". In an article from cbssports.com (linked on the TBD front page), they say that Just wondered where the apparent discrepancy comes from? Thanks again! GO BILLS! p.s. who IS that in your avatar, Jerry??

"Catch and release" .... He will be suitably "debriefed" about everything he knows about the Patriots, and then cut.

I've heard of him! Oh, wait, no I haven't .... never mind. What position does he play? If he's a LT, grab him!

Don't just the Bills and Titans open their camps this weekend, since they are playing in the "extra" preseason game this year (HOF game in Canton)? The other teams usually don't start until the following week, so the rest of the league has that extra week to work on signing draft picks prior to camp. I think that means that the Bills likely will NOT have their top draft picks signed by this weekend (Maybin, Wood, Levitre, Byrd, Nelson, etc), since the "slotting" from the other teams with picks around those spots likely won't be done in time. That's a shame, because those guys could use all the time in camp they can get! ;-( Update: Link to NFL training camp schedules: NFL Training Camp Schedules GO BILLS!

I don't think there's anyway Shanahan would EVER to back to work for Al Davis again ... too much "bad blood" there from the first time he was on staff there, plus all the "rivalry" years of Oakland vs. Denver. It would be interesting to see him wind up back in the AFC West again, though (San Diego, or maybe even KC). No way would the Bills be able to afford him, so that's probably not realistic either. For the same reason, I doubt Cincy is a serious contender. He and Jerry Jones would last about 2 seasons together, tops ... can't have 2 "masterminds" trying to run the same team! Philly would be a good fit, especially if McNabb is still around. GO BILLS!

Actually, if you believe the OL coach, it's just the opposite. In a recent interview, Sean Kuegler (sp?) said Walker is a very good pass blocker, but needs some work in the running game. GO BILLS!

French tennis player reinstated after positive drug test that he claims was the result of kissing

Bill Simmons' Summer Mailbag - ESPN At least he's right about the Maple Leafs ...