Two Bills Drive

‘But among the 12 players in the final 15, nobody’s credentials are stronger than Kelly’s.’

‘The greatest Bills quarterback ever is eligible for the hall for the first time and is widely considered one of the strong candidates among 15 finalists.’

As likely as a Pittsburgh-St. Louis matchup may seem, having the top seeds in each conference advance to the Super Bowl has been the exception rather than the norm in recent years. The best regular-season AFC and NFC clubs have not met in the Super Bowl since 1993 (Bills vs Cowboys).

‘Fina, 32, is a 10-year veteran who has started at left tackle for the last nine seasons. He has a salary cap figure of about $4.4 million for 2002.’

RB Travis Henry is in more hot water other than the sexual activity with a minor. He missed the team flight to Miami and University of Tennessee did not fully disclose that Henry had a learning disability.

Henry will probably compete with Shawn Bryson for the starting job in 2002.

Besides his regionalism concept, Giambra knows sometime in the next 24 months he has to sit down with the Buffalo Bills and talk about their lease, which has an escape clause after the 2003 season.

“I’d prefer to sit down with them now and start negotiations,” Giambra said.

Giambra has met informally with Bills owner Ralph Wilson Jr., but their meetings have been more social than anything else. “The Bills are a very important piece to this community,” Giambra said.

‘”I think he’s a slam dunk,” said Felser, who will lead the campaign to get Kelly inducted when the voters meet on Feb. 2 in New Orleans.’

‘Johnson and Fina come with hefty salaries that Houston would inherit.’

‘John Fina, the last link to the Buffalo Bills’ four Super Bowl seasons, is among the five players the team has placed on the National Football League expansion draft list, his agent said Tuesday.’

Two names have been leaked to the Buffalo Press of names to be put on expansion list – Raion Hill, starting safety last year, and Avion Black, part-time WR and full time special teams player. Nothing published on Empire web site so keep reading the Stadium Wall for reports.

"I think the Patriots will win," says Tom Donahoe, the Bills’ general manager. "The final score might be 3-2. This will be one of those knockdown-dragout, old-fashioned games in which every inch will be hard to come by. I am going to ride the hot horse all the way to the Super Bowl. There is something special going on with them, and the players have totally bought into it and totally believe in it, and I think it will carry them to New Orleans."

There may have been flashier running backs in the Buffalo Bills storied history. Surely there was one who had the best season ever for the team. But there was no runner who was better all-round than Thurman Thomas.

Vic Carucci makes the case that the Patriots, like the Bills when they rallied from a 32-point deficit in 1993 to win an overtime wild-card game against the Houston Oilers, might be a team of destiny who are going to win despite playing better teams.

‘Other players with suspect futures on the team and who would represent cap savings to the Bills if taken by Houston are cornerback Ken Irvin ($4.2 million) and defensive end Erik Flowers ($1.1 million).’

Donahoe admits that the team’s decision to chop away salary cap excess made for a tough 2001 season. “We were up front with the people what we were doing and what we were trying to do.” he said.