Gotta give Florio props, he loves to stoke the fire and he’s real good at it.

[Tipster19]

I dunno, the last year and a half to 2 years Florio has been rabble rousing the notion that the current Bills’ administration is suspect and may not be the answer to getting the Bills to the promise land, whether it be Beane, McDermott or both. I can’t say that he’s wrong, especially after this latest fiasco, it was made to order for a gossip monger like Florio. I mean Florio’s whole existence depends on stirring the pot and the Bills handed him a real doozy to him on a silver platter. I just watched the latest episode of PFT where he actually called out McDermott for lying about the highly concerned/excused absence PCs. McDermott imo has been overplaying his hand a bit for some time now. There were rumblings about Dabol wanting out even it was just for another OC position to Frazier’s awkward release or whatever you want to call it. McDermott reminds me of Tony Dungy only with a more rigid way of getting his point across. 
 

I think the best way for McDermott to get out from under fire is to come up with an awesome defense week in, week out and to ride the tandem of Rosseau and Leonard in particular. 

[Aussie Joe]

He loves to stroke something …not sure it’s the fire..

[Dablitzkrieg]

No

[DCbillsfan]

Florio is a joke

[Arkady Renko]

He always loved talking about the Bills moving. 

[MJS]

Some of you are like middle schoolers with how you thirstily lap up the gossip. Pathetic.

[Shaw66]

Nah, I think you're way overstating this. 

 

McDermott simply is not comfortable talking to the press about internal matters.   He doesn't want to make a mistake in that arena.  He knows there is no benefit to cultivating the press, and he knows there's real downside to making a mistake.  

 

So, on Tuesday, when they talked to Diggs and decided that he was still too hot to have around, they suggested he go home and come back after practice.  But in the press conference, McDermott didn't think he needed to give that detail - he thought it was enough to say Diggs wasn't there without trying to explain it.  Super cautious.  Overnight, he saw that it was getting spun as Diggs skipped practice, and McDermott realized he needed to say more to take the heat off Diggs.  So, on Wednesday he explained that Diggs had been excused and hadn't just blown it off.  Just super cautious. 

 

And Frazier was handled brilliantly.  DC for one of the best teams in the league gets relieved of his duties, a Black DC at that, and there was hardly a ripple in the news.  Perfect for Frazier, because the press wasn't all over him about how it felt to be fired, and perfect for the Bills because the press wasn't all over them, either.  By the time it became apparent that Frazier had been canned, it was old news and no one wrote about it. 

 

Now, whether there are people who don't like McDermott's style, I can't really say.   I haven't seen anything before suggesting Daboll wanted out, but maybe that's true.  Not everyone loves the guy they're working for.   Everything you hear from the players sounds like they love it.  Phillips and Lawson came back, and Oliver likes it enough that he didn't seem to look too hard for a new place to land. 

 

Maybe it doesn't work for Diggs, but I'm not too worried.  I think he'll be seriously into ballin when the time comes.   I could be wrong. 

 

Florio and all the others need something to talk about.  Diggs gave them something, and they wouldn't be doing their jobs if they just let it lie there.   Chris Jones was in the news, too, for not showing up.  Press has to find something to say about the Chiefs.   

 

It's a good thing if the only controversial thing they can find to talk about is that the star didn't show up for a practice in June. 

[Punching Bag]

27 minutes ago, Aussie Joe said:

He loves to stroke something …not sure it’s the fire..

 

@Tipster19 ?

11 minutes ago, Arkady Renko said:

He always loved talking about the Bills moving. 

 

They are going to move - across the street.

[Doc]

He’s a master…

[RoyBatty is alive]

2 minutes ago, Doc said:

He’s a master…

He would give Einstein a run for his money as to which is the best

[Warriorspikes51]

Florio is the FAKE NEWS king of the NFL 

[Malazan]

He's TMZ. Turns out sports fans like TMZ more than the actual sports. 

[wppete]

Florio is like a child. He is all about controversy, gossip and 💩 talking. He is a joke and so is his sidekick Simms. 

[Augie]

We have some fire stokers here, as well. Especially that core group making up the predictable vocal minority. 

[Shaw66]

34 minutes ago, RoyBatty is alive said:

He would give Einstein a run for his money as to which is the best

He's not as smart as Einstein.

 

 

 

Oh, you meant THAT Einstein.

[stuvian]

He's a spam merchant who trots out the collusion bogeyman every offseason

[WhoTom]

I won't give props to someone for being very good at something that's very bad for journalism in particular and, as an extension, bad for society in general. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for investigative journalism and asking tough questions, but not just throwing $#!+ against the wall to see what sticks.

 

The same principle that propels a rocket is also used to make a bomb, but one is designed to move something forward while the other is designed to cause destruction. An investigative journalist does the former; a gossip columnist - the latter.

 

Any idiot can blow $#!+ up, but that doesn't make him a rocket scientist.

 

[Beck Water]

2 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

McDermott simply is not comfortable talking to the press about internal matters.   He doesn't want to make a mistake in that arena.  He knows there is no benefit to cultivating the press, and he knows there's real downside to making a mistake.  

 

So, on Tuesday, when they talked to Diggs and decided that he was still too hot to have around, they suggested he go home and come back after practice.  But in the press conference, McDermott didn't think he needed to give that detail - he thought it was enough to say Diggs wasn't there without trying to explain it.  Super cautious.  Overnight, he saw that it was getting spun as Diggs skipped practice, and McDermott realized he needed to say more to take the heat off Diggs.  So, on Wednesday he explained that Diggs had been excused and hadn't just blown it off.  Just super cautious. 

 

I appreciate your take on this, but what it would boil down to, is that by trying to avoid a mistake, McDermott blew it up nationally.  If your scenario is correct, why not just tell the press Diggs was an excused absence from minicamp?  If he'd done that, the question about "how concerned are you about that?" would never have been asked, and if it was, he would have said something canned like "I'm always concerned when one of our players is not out there practicing".

 

I think he's a little more savvy than to respond to an excused absence like that.  I think he was taken by surprise, and somewhat alarmed, when he learned Diggs had left and wouldn't practice.  In that scenario it's true that he told Diggs to take a break (from their talks, not from practice), it's true that he excused him so that he wouldn't be fined - but one proactively and one retroactively.

 

I think what he said had its intended effect as it motivated Diggs agent Bakari to reach out to Diggs and try to settle things down/straighten them out, and McDermott was more than willing to take it all on his shoulders to keep things settled and straightened.

 

2 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

And Frazier was handled brilliantly.  DC for one of the best teams in the league gets relieved of his duties, a Black DC at that, and there was hardly a ripple in the news.  Perfect for Frazier, because the press wasn't all over him about how it felt to be fired, and perfect for the Bills because the press wasn't all over them, either.  By the time it became apparent that Frazier had been canned, it was old news and no one wrote about it. 

 

If you are correct about Frazier actually being relieved of his duties/fired, then Beane and McDermott are both lying through their teeth about it when they insist it was Frazier's decision and that if he hadn't decided to take a year off, he'd still be the DC of the team.  Is that your belief?

 

2 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

I haven't seen anything before suggesting Daboll wanted out, but maybe that's true.  Not everyone loves the guy they're working for. 

 

It's well known Daboll wanted "out" as in becoming a HC.  It was pretty clear there was conflict between Daboll and McDermott at times, mostly about the lack of run game and the amount of running Josh Allen was asked to do.  Whether that conflict rose to the level of Daboll wanting out in a lateral move vs maybe kvetching over a beer, I can't say; the only place I've seen it was in Flores' racist hiring practices suit against the NFL, where it reads more like a "I'll say whatever" recruiting pitch than a serious search for a lateral move on Daboll's part.  He got his HC gig, so we'll never know I guess.

 

2 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

It's a good thing if the only controversial thing they can find to talk about is that the star didn't show up for a practice in June. 

 

With this, one can only agree.

[Captain Caveman]

kind of

it's not about the Bills, it's not about McDermott or Beane
PFT is built on clicks and just like a lot of sports media, they'll frequently publish stuff that will drive clicks.  I'm not saying he's lying, or even disingenuous, I don't know how he feels about the Bills or any other team, but it's kind of a less insane Skip Bayless or Stephen A. Smith vibe over there.

[Einstein]

Florio is fantastic if you understand what he is.

 

He isn't in the business of delivering news.

 

He is in the business of giving hypotheticals and explaining all possibilities  - including possibilities that may never happen.

Florio is the best in the business at breaking down contracts, analyzing legal matters, etc.

 

Edited June 15, 2023 by Einstein

[TBBills Fan]

Is Florio secretly Einstein?

 

Is Einstein Warlow?

 

Is Shaw Beane?

 

Is TBBills Fan McDermott?

 

We will never know

 

 

[Airseven]

Florio said something about the Bills so immediately his credibility becomes the topic. Got it. I’ll weigh in given I didn’t read the OP.

 

He’s analytical, enjoys the fringe topics about league operations, etc. He does often seem to be politically motivated or partial to the conspiracy stuff.

[hondo in seattle]

Florio is fine for what he is: lawyer-turned-NFL-commentator.

 

If he's reporting something new, which is rare, I'll pay attention.  But if he's analyzing the Bills, I really don't care what he has to say.  He's not a good football analyst.  Nearly all of us at TBD know more about Beane, McD, and the Bills in general than he does.

 

 

 

 

[MPL]

The more I think about this whole situation, the more I've landed at the conclusion that the answer "very concerned" is vague enough for people to hear exactly what they wanted to hear. It's like when you're writing a novel or a song, and you include just enough detail to set the scene but then let the reader/listener fill in all the details with event from their own lives. 

Anyone who thinks — even subconsciously — that the Diggs that wanted out of Minnesota is who he will always be saw this as the "aha!" moment. It was a chance to fill in the details of what "very concerned" means with personal bias i.e., "I knew it was only a matter of time before Diggs would want out." 

But here's the thing — if McDermott had said, "no, I'm not concerned and I'm not going into detail," would that have really convinced anyone that there wasn't an issue? The conversation would still have been, "what's McDermott covering up?" 

Also, of course McDermott is concerned. His ass has been on the Two Bills Drive warm seat for two years now!

[Don Otreply]

Yup Florio is good at it, and it’s only because so many people take the bait, 

 

Don’t take the bait, 

[JohnNord]

4 hours ago, Tipster19 said:

I dunno, the last year and a half to 2 years Florio has been rabble rousing the notion that the current Bills’ administration is suspect and may not be the answer to getting the Bills to the promise land, whether it be Beane, McDermott or both. I can’t say that he’s wrong, especially after this latest fiasco, it was made to order for a gossip monger like Florio. I mean Florio’s whole existence depends on stirring the pot and the Bills handed him a real doozy to him on a silver platter. I just watched the latest episode of PFT where he actually called out McDermott for lying about the highly concerned/excused absence PCs. McDermott imo has been overplaying his hand a bit for some time now. There were rumblings about Dabol wanting out even it was just for another OC position to Frazier’s awkward release or whatever you want to call it. McDermott reminds me of Tony Dungy only with a more rigid way of getting his point across. 
 

I think the best way for McDermott to get out from under fire is to come up with an awesome defense week in, week out and to ride the tandem of Rosseau and Leonard in particular. 

Read this headline and you tell me that Florio is not a great journalist 🤣

 

[First Round Bust]

Actually I think this Diggs blow-up/issue/whatever is a good thing, as he likely is bitching about the same thing that we all have since the Cincy playoff debacle plus its the star WR who is always open and wants the ball...blah, blah, blah

 

What I don't get is the end-of-season interviews ?  why didnt Diggs vent during his end-of-season interview and air his issues back then, cuz based on the off-season moves the roster is improved and the depth is perhaps the best we ever had, all despite the tight cap

 

Or if Diggs did vent again is he still unhappy with McD and or Dorsey meaning no post-season interview and limited or no communication between team and player until mini-camp meetup and boom it got hot again so the Bills had to tapdance about it as best they could esp once the media portrayed Diggs as the no-show bad guy.

 

So yeah call Diggs a headcase, a fifth-rounder who worked to raise his game and became a superstar  so his ego and confidence is sky high and he does not accept loosing and all that goes with it willingly so he expects the same of others...as he is a captain as well.

 

McD is a motivated competitor as well, a friend went to high school with him in PA where he won multiple state championships (wrestled with him, went to his wedding etc) calls him the most intense person he ever met...so you can imagine the two of them in a room exchanging their opinions,  challenging each other and not backing down..it got hot I bet.

 

 

 

 

 

[DrBob806]

Florio is a hack who's job is like Stephen A Smith...get reactions from the public. He's an op-ed guy in general, somtimes has interesting views or analysis on the CBA, etc.

 

He lost a lot of credibility with me when he defended the Houston Texans in their handling of Deshaun Watson. 

 

 

[Donuts and Doritos]

Who?

[NoSaint]

4 hours ago, Augie said:

We have some fire stokers here, as well. Especially that core group making up the predictable vocal minority. 

Are you implying that Josh did not actually get diggs pregnant?

[JoPoy88]

5 hours ago, Tipster19 said:

I dunno, the last year and a half to 2 years Florio has been rabble rousing the notion that the current Bills’ administration is suspect and may not be the answer to getting the Bills to the promise land, whether it be Beane, McDermott or both. I can’t say that he’s wrong, especially after this latest fiasco, it was made to order for a gossip monger like Florio. I mean Florio’s whole existence depends on stirring the pot and the Bills handed him a real doozy to him on a silver platter. I just watched the latest episode of PFT where he actually called out McDermott for lying about the highly concerned/excused absence PCs. McDermott imo has been overplaying his hand a bit for some time now. There were rumblings about Dabol wanting out even it was just for another OC position to Frazier’s awkward release or whatever you want to call it. McDermott reminds me of Tony Dungy only with a more rigid way of getting his point across. 
 

I think the best way for McDermott to get out from under fire is to come up with an awesome defense week in, week out and to ride the tandem of Rosseau and Leonard in particular. 

Pretty sure Mikey is a Pats fan, so, you know, don’t sweat it.

[Augie]

7 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

Are you implying that Josh did not actually get diggs pregnant?

 

Well, that would be a good bit more than a simple workplace violation. 

[WhoTom]

2 hours ago, TBBills Fan said:

Is Florio secretly Einstein?

 

Is Einstein Warlow?

 

Is Shaw Beane?

 

Is TBBills Fan McDermott?

 

We will never know

 

Well, not based on actual evidence. But some people can speculate on every possibility based on their own insightful interpretation of anecdotal data and circumstantial evidence.

 

And they'll be right. (Just ask them.)

 

 

[Tipster19]

1 hour ago, JoPoy88 said:

Pretty sure Mikey is a Pats fan, so, you know, don’t sweat it.

Actually he’s a life long Vikings’ fan which makes anything that Diggs does a topic of interest to him. I’m pretty sure he’s reveling in all this.

[JESSEFEFFER]

6 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Nah, I think you're way overstating this. 

 

McDermott simply is not comfortable talking to the press about internal matters.   He doesn't want to make a mistake in that arena.  He knows there is no benefit to cultivating the press, and he knows there's real downside to making a mistake.  

 

So, on Tuesday, when they talked to Diggs and decided that he was still too hot to have around, they suggested he go home and come back after practice.  But in the press conference, McDermott didn't think he needed to give that detail - he thought it was enough to say Diggs wasn't there without trying to explain it.  Super cautious.  Overnight, he saw that it was getting spun as Diggs skipped practice, and McDermott realized he needed to say more to take the heat off Diggs.  So, on Wednesday he explained that Diggs had been excused and hadn't just blown it off.  Just super cautious. 

 

And Frazier was handled brilliantly.  DC for one of the best teams in the league gets relieved of his duties, a Black DC at that, and there was hardly a ripple in the news.  Perfect for Frazier, because the press wasn't all over him about how it felt to be fired, and perfect for the Bills because the press wasn't all over them, either.  By the time it became apparent that Frazier had been canned, it was old news and no one wrote about it. 

 

Now, whether there are people who don't like McDermott's style, I can't really say.   I haven't seen anything before suggesting Daboll wanted out, but maybe that's true.  Not everyone loves the guy they're working for.   Everything you hear from the players sounds like they love it.  Phillips and Lawson came back, and Oliver likes it enough that he didn't seem to look too hard for a new place to land. 

 

Maybe it doesn't work for Diggs, but I'm not too worried.  I think he'll be seriously into ballin when the time comes.   I could be wrong. 

 

Florio and all the others need something to talk about.  Diggs gave them something, and they wouldn't be doing their jobs if they just let it lie there.   Chris Jones was in the news, too, for not showing up.  Press has to find something to say about the Chiefs.   

 

It's a good thing if the only controversial thing they can find to talk about is that the star didn't show up for a practice in June. 

Too little info is a mistake too.  "Diggs isn't here and I am very concerned" was a  terrible message to send to the public.  He should be smarter than that.   Don't talk about the misconceptions out in the public when your message lacking the key details is what crated them.  That's an unforced error.

[Shaw66]

14 minutes ago, JESSEFEFFER said:

Too little info is a mistake too.  "Diggs isn't here and I am very concerned" was a  terrible message to send to the public.  He should be smarter than that.   Don't talk about the misconceptions out in the public when your message lacking the key details is what crated them.  That's an unforced error.

That's true, he said too little.  But "terrible message"?  No.  It was too sentences in June.  Forgotten in August, if not July or tomorrow.  

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

6 hours ago, Shaw66 said:

Nah, I think you're way overstating this. 

 

McDermott simply is not comfortable talking to the press about internal matters.   He doesn't want to make a mistake in that arena.  He knows there is no benefit to cultivating the press, and he knows there's real downside to making a mistake.  

 

So, on Tuesday, when they talked to Diggs and decided that he was still too hot to have around, they suggested he go home and come back after practice.  But in the press conference, McDermott didn't think he needed to give that detail - he thought it was enough to say Diggs wasn't there without trying to explain it.  Super cautious.  Overnight, he saw that it was getting spun as Diggs skipped practice, and McDermott realized he needed to say more to take the heat off Diggs.  So, on Wednesday he explained that Diggs had been excused and hadn't just blown it off.  Just super cautious. 

 

And Frazier was handled brilliantly.  DC for one of the best teams in the league gets relieved of his duties, a Black DC at that, and there was hardly a ripple in the news.  Perfect for Frazier, because the press wasn't all over him about how it felt to be fired, and perfect for the Bills because the press wasn't all over them, either.  By the time it became apparent that Frazier had been canned, it was old news and no one wrote about it. 

 

Now, whether there are people who don't like McDermott's style, I can't really say.   I haven't seen anything before suggesting Daboll wanted out, but maybe that's true.  Not everyone loves the guy they're working for.   Everything you hear from the players sounds like they love it.  Phillips and Lawson came back, and Oliver likes it enough that he didn't seem to look too hard for a new place to land. 

 

Maybe it doesn't work for Diggs, but I'm not too worried.  I think he'll be seriously into ballin when the time comes.   I could be wrong. 

 

Florio and all the others need something to talk about.  Diggs gave them something, and they wouldn't be doing their jobs if they just let it lie there.   Chris Jones was in the news, too, for not showing up.  Press has to find something to say about the Chiefs.   

 

It's a good thing if the only controversial thing they can find to talk about is that the star didn't show up for a practice in June. 

 

I also think it may have been a bit of McD's comments on Tuesday of being "concerned" made it sound worse than it was and he left out too many details.  Diggs also realized after Tuesday that he was being ripped pretty good for his actions.

 

So Wednesday McD cooled things down and Diggs showed up like everything is cool.

 

Maybe in reality it worked perfectly for both of them

 

 

[Haslett_Stomp]

6 hours ago, Doc said:

He’s a master…

 

baiter

[newcam2012]

4 hours ago, MPL said:

The more I think about this whole situation, the more I've landed at the conclusion that the answer "very concerned" is vague enough for people to hear exactly what they wanted to hear. It's like when you're writing a novel or a song, and you include just enough detail to set the scene but then let the reader/listener fill in all the details with event from their own lives. 

Anyone who thinks — even subconsciously — that the Diggs that wanted out of Minnesota is who he will always be saw this as the "aha!" moment. It was a chance to fill in the details of what "very concerned" means with personal bias i.e., "I knew it was only a matter of time before Diggs would want out." 

But here's the thing — if McDermott had said, "no, I'm not concerned and I'm not going into detail," would that have really convinced anyone that there wasn't an issue? The conversation would still have been, "what's McDermott covering up?" 

Also, of course McDermott is concerned. His ass has been on the Two Bills Drive warm seat for two years now!

I wish the seat was warm for two years. I don't believe that's reality. 

 

McD seat was ice cold for two years and is only getting slightly warm now. 

 

That seat won't get hot for another 2 or 3 years after more likely playoff failures. 

[JoPoy88]

2 hours ago, Tipster19 said:

Actually he’s a life long Vikings’ fan which makes anything that Diggs does a topic of interest to him. I’m pretty sure he’s reveling in all this.

well that’s slightly better but not by much.