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Mr. Wilson on Terrell Owens

By Chris Brown - Posted July 10th, 2009

Bills owner and 2009 HOF enshrinee Ralph Wilson was a guest on Sirius NFL Radio Friday morning with Randy Cross and Bob Papa, and naturally they asked him what he thinks of his biggest offseason acquisition Terrell Owens. Here’s what Mr. Wilson had to say.

First he admitted he hasn’t spent much time with Owens since he signed.

“No I haven’t,” said Wilson. “I don’t know him that well. He’s been a model citizen and is well liked by all the players and has attended most of hte offseason practices. I think he’s going to give us what we need, which is a big, tall wide receiver who loves to play the game. We’re just lucky to get him. I couldn’t believe it (that we got him) when he was free to sign with anybody.”

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Mr. Wilson on Sirius NFL Radio

By Chris Brown - Posted July 10th, 2009

Bills owner and founder and 2009 HOF enshrinee Ralph Wilson was a guest on Sirius NFL Radio this morning with Randy Cross and Bob Papa. He discussed a number of topics including Buffalo’s fan base and how he came to choose Chris Berman as his presenter.

Here are some of the highlights courtesy of Sirius NFL Radio.

On whether he knew the AFL was going to be the success that it was.

RW: “I hoped that we would be successful, but I didn’t know. It was a new league that was taking on the NFL. We did have an exciting product, but I wasn’t sure of course.”

On how he was appointed to first discuss merger talks with the NFL in 1965.

RW: “When we came into existence we were never expecting a merger. We came in to give football to towns that didn’t have it like Denver and San Diego and Oakland and they were very, very small towns in those days back then. But in 1965 we had heard rumors that the NFL might be interested in maybe merging with us. And we didn’t start those rumors.

“Barron Hilton was President of the league at the time and he appointed myself and Sonny Werblin with the Titans or now the Jets to meet with a representative from the NFL. I had numerous talks down in Miami beach with Carrol Rosenbloom of the NFL to set the parameters for how a merger could be accomplished.

“It didn’t go through the first year and then the following year Lamar (Hunt) and Tex Schramm of the Dallas Cowboys finalized the merger and it went on from there.”

On how he decided to hang in and stick with the AFL instead of cutting his losses in the early going

RW: “I didn’t know how long we could last. I don’t think we would have lasted indefinitely had we continued without the merger. We didn’t bring the merger up and we didn’t establish the league to merge. I was just happy that the merger came along because part of the merger agreement was that we would pool all of the television money and we would all get equal shares. And that gave some of the small markets the wherewithal to get some good players from college because the price of poker was running up.

“The Buffalo Bills lost money until the merger. We didn’t become wealthy. You were a success in pro football in the early days if you broke even. And there weren’t too many teams that were successful by that definition then.”

On how the Buffalo community has embraced the Bills as the fabric of the community

RW: “That’s true. We have very, very passionate fans in Buffalo. Unfortunately over the past two or three decades Buffalo has lost a lot of their big companies, like Bethlehem Steel and National Gypsum. Their population is down, but the people that are still left are rabid Bills fans. A lot of people told me that I ought to move the team.

“Even if I had thought about moving the team, which I never did, I always felt it would have been devastating for the fans of Western New York.”

On going in with Bruce Smith

RW: “Bruce was probably one of the best defensive ends that I ever saw. In my years I’ve seen a lot of great pro football players, but Bruce Smith was a game changer. Against the Miami Dolphins when they gave the football to Dan Marino who would always beat you in the last minute, he would pour in and get a sack for us and get us the ball. He was a great player.”

On how he came to choose Chris Berman as his presenter

RW: “There were a lot of fellas I thought about, a lot of people. I took a couple of months to try to decide. I’ve known Chris for many, many years and first I had to think as to whether he would even do it. I didn’t know if he would do it or not. I thought he would be outstanding. Someone has to say something good about me I hope he does. I’ve got to get on the phone with him about that.

“He stood out for me though, but there were other people I knew who could have done the job too.”

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Fan Friday 7-10

By Chris Brown - Posted July 10th, 2009

Only a couple of more weeks until camp opens at St. John Fisher. Trying to really whittle down my inbox at AskChris@bills.nfl.net before camp knowing the questions will really be flying then. Let’s get started.
1. Chris,
 
Do you expect the Bills to keep six safeties?
 
Pete Howell

CB: No, I don’t see how they justify keeping six. They kept five last season and that sounds right to me. I think provided no one suffers a season-ending injury in the preseason the five safeties will be Whitner, Scott, Wilson, Wendling and Byrd. Wilson and Wendling primarily because of their value to special teams.

 

2. Chris:
 
With the addition of Maybin and the need at linebacker do you see the Bills trying either Copeland Bryan or Chris Ellis at linebacker this season?  I know Ellis was considered a tweener in last year’s draft and Bryan is small for a DE.
 
Gregg in Atlanta

CB: I highly doubt we’ll see Copeland Bryan at LB. I suppose Ellis is a possibility, but I don’t see it happening. However, I think Maybin could line up at LB in passing situations. In an effort to get Maybin on the field as much as possible on passing downs, I think Perry Fewell will make use of him not only as an end, but a rush LB. We’ll see.

 
3. Chris,  During spring practices Trent Edwards said they were practicing a lot of dink and dunk plays. Over the past few years I have been getting sick and tired of these plays. Do you think with the addition of T.O. the Bills will finally take shots downfield? 
Thanks,       Eric, Hamburg

CB: I think you may have misheard Trent. If memory serves we were asking him about getting blitzed a lot, which was the case in one particular practice. He said he doesn’t like it dinking and dunking as much as he had to, but sometimes it’s necessary when the blitz is coming as much as it was in that particular practice.

Perry Fewell really let the dogs loose and the O-line was still in the midst of developing chemistry.

I do believe that with Owens and Evans outside that the Bills will try to go downfield more often, but we have to remember that early in the season the line may not be able to hold up effectively while still jelling and so deep passes downfield may not happen as often as you would like. The reason why is the result of taking that approach when the line is still coming together could be an injured QB.

 

 

4. Chris, you’ve wrote alot about “would be” sacks, and I was wondering how the offensive line is doing? Do you think that they show any early signs of meshing well together? I know that it takes time to get the cohesiveness down, but I feel this season’s sucsess hinges on just that happening. On paper they have a team that can contend for a playoff birth, but I really think that it comes down to the o-line.
 
 Thanks…Bryan – Canandaigua NY

CB: As far as terminology and assignments, the linemen, particularly new guys (McKinney, Hangartner, Levitre, Wood) handled things well. They also did well with the up tempo pace. The blocking assignments and team work where the real chemistry is developed will have to wait until training camp and the preseason when the pads are on.

I’m hopeful there’s enough time for the starting five (when chosen) to pull it all together in time for the opener. You’re right that the success of the offense will hinge on that because if they can’t give Trent enough time, it doesn’t matter who is out there running routes.

At least they’ve got an extra preseason game to work, with the HOF game. But with five guys in five new positions it’s going to take some time. It doesn’t just happen.

 

5.  I was wondering if the bills were thinking about using Roscoe Parrish in the Wildcat. I don’t think he’s gonna get a lot of catches this year and if he can use that quickness we see when he returns punts he could be pretty effective in the Wildcat.
thanks Andy-buffalo

CB: I think it’s possible, but unlikely. The only reason why is if he has to tuck and run he could get crushed. In principle it’s a good idea because the Wildcat works best when you have someone running it that is a threat to pass as well as run. Roscoe was a former high school quarterback and throws a heck of a ball. But his stature I think might rule him out among the coaches.

The perfect Wildcat guy would have been Walter Payton. My favorite player growing up, Payton could do it all. Threw I think for 8 career touchdowns. L.T. is another guy that’s a good fit. Miami’s Pat White is a bit scary to think about too.

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Trent listed as fantasy football sleeper

By Chris Brown - Posted July 10th, 2009

Blessed with a bounty of offensive weapons and more responsibility in Buffalo’s offense, which will be speeding up the tempo from time to time, Trent Edwards has been tabbed a fantasy football sleeper.

NFL.com fantasy writer Michael Fabiano tabbed Edwards as a fantasy sleeper saying in part…

The value of Edwards started to rise the instant the Bills signed Terrell Owens. The Stanford product now has a tremendous pair of wideouts in T.O. and Lee Evans, and the presence of what should remain an effective ground attack should keep opposing defenses honest. If Edwards can improve his decision making and decrease his number of turnovers, he’ll turn into a nice matchup-based fantasy starter.

Seems pretty on the mark to me. And I can honestly say never have I wanted a fantasy football writer to be more right than with this call here.

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HOFers that have RSVP’d for induction day

By Chris Brown - Posted July 10th, 2009

More than 70 Hall of Famers have RSVP’d and will be attending enshrinement ceremonies on Aug. 8 at the Pro Football HOF in Canton. And there are several former Bills on that list as expected.

Among the Bills HOF’ers who have already RSVP’d are Joe D., Jim Kelly, Marv Levy, James Lofton and Billy Shaw. I think it’s safe to assume that Thurman Thomas will be attending knowing he’s one of Bruce Smith’s closest friends. He just probably hasn’t sent the RSVP back yet.

Here’s the whole list of the HOF’ers that have RSVP’d that you can expect to see if you’re attending HOF weekend.

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Making the case for Derrick Brooks

By Chris Brown - Posted July 10th, 2009

I know Bills fans have discussed ad nauseaum this offseason ever since this perennial Pro Bowl LB became available. But Derrick Brooks is still out there. And the St. Petersburg Times makes a great case as to why this future HOF LB should not be a free agent right now.

The story mentions a lot of prospective teams, five in fact, not one of which is the Bills, who would be a fit scheme-wise.

If I were and the Bills and if I was interested (I said IF), I’d try to sell Brooks on the fact that Buffalo’s defensive coordinator Perry Fewell worked under his former LB coach Lovie Smith and employs a dramatically similar scheme (no cram study required on playbook).

I’d use the signing of Terrell Owens as an example of how the Bills are anxious to win now, something that would appeal to Brooks who wants to go to a winning situation.

Finally I’d also mention that he’d have an opportunity to face his old division (NFC South) playing in Buffalo, so there would be a great deal of familiarity for him with respect to opponents. And he’d get to face his former team in Week 2.

Again it’s a big ‘IF’, but if someone goes down in camp to injury and Brooks is still out there I know who I’d call.

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Why George Wilson works so hard

By Chris Brown - Posted July 10th, 2009

Every Bills fan knows the work ethic that George Wilson possesses. How else do you successfully switch positions at the NFL level from receiver to safety? But where Wilson developed that work ethic might not be as familiar to Buffalo’s faithful.

Wilson came to understand the meaning of hard work at an early age working on his grandfather’s tobacco farm in his native Kentucky. To read more about his upbringing NFLplayers.com has a nice write-up on the Buffalo safety.

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Losman pretty much a Las Vegas UFL’er

By Chris Brown - Posted July 9th, 2009

J.P. Losman has not been officially announced by the UFL as the quarterback of their Las Vegas franchise, but he might as well be.

If you go to the UFL preview link at league’s website you’ll see a shot of Losman in his Bills duds and a write-up alongside the photo that pretty much calls him the poster boy for what the league is about, showcasing talent that slips through the cracks in the NFL.

It then explains how the slideshow is the first of four showcasing the “stars” of the Las Vegas team. They used the quotes around stars, not me.

Listed along with Losman as the stars of the Las Vegas club are former NFL’ers David Kircus (WR) and Adam Archuleta (S). And a college player RB Tyrell Fenroy, who had 5,000 rushing yards in college.

There was some talk about a big announcement of some of the larger name signings by the league, but it looks as if that’s been submarined a bit with this content linked to their own site.

Of course if they get Michael Vick to play in their league that will be the only big announcement they’ll need to make to get people interested.

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Kawika taking final vacay before camp

By Chris Brown - Posted July 9th, 2009

Bills LB Kawika Mitchell is taking his last vacation before training camp.

According to one of his latest tweets he’s heading to the beach this weekend in north Florida to soak up some sun with his family before ramping up those final couple of weeks before camp.

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Marshawn football camp on Saturday

By Chris Brown - Posted July 9th, 2009

Marshawn Lynch’s 3rd annual Family First football camp gets underway Saturday at his former high school, Oakland Tech, and he’s bringing some NFL friends along with him.

Joining Lynch will be his cousin Josh Johnson, QB for Tampa Bay as well as Bucs DB Aqib Talib, Tanard Jackson and James Lee. Steelers LB Lamarr Woodley is also going to be on hand helping Lynch coach up the kids on fundamentals and sportsmanship.

Best part about the camp is it’s free for the kids – ages 6-18.

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No in-game tweeting by players allowed

By Chris Brown - Posted July 9th, 2009

A day after Chad OchoCinco indicated he’d be tweeting on the sideline during regular season games, the league reminded everyone of a rule passed several years ago.

That rule, provided by Pro Football Talk through NFL spokesman Greg Aiello, states that no cell phones can be used in the bench area during games. It’s still unclear if that extends to the locker room during halftime, but I would assume it does.

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Tucker skeptical of position switches for rookies

By Chris Brown - Posted July 8th, 2009

Former Bills offensive lineman and SI.com writer Ross Tucker, is expressing concern over some of the position switches planned for some of the league’s top draft choices from this past spring.

He discusses Brian Orakpo, Jason Smith and Andre Smith among others, but does not mention any of Buffalo’s four players who will be making transitions.

Eric Wood is moving from center to guard, Andy Levitre from tackle to guard (though he has guard experience), Jairus Byrd from corner to safety (though he played safety in HS) and Nic Harris from safety to linebacker.

Still Tucker raises some good questions as to why having a rookie change positions his first year in the league can make that player’s transition more challenging.

I think because the Bills projected position switchers are highly intelligent, the transitions for them (Wood, Byrd, Levitre and Harris) will not make for as steep a learning curve as some other players around the league.

Still it’s an interesting question to raise.

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Don’t agree with all of Bowen’s assessments

By Chris Brown - Posted July 8th, 2009

National Football Post columnist and former Bills safety Matt Bowen (though a leg injury cost him his only season in Buffalo) put together his five ways that the Bills can make the playoffs this year.

While I share his enthusiasm, I don’t completely agree with some of his assessments.

First, regarding his stance that Buffalo has to play more man-to-man defense on the back end. I’ll be the first to say I’d like to see more press coverage, than painfully watch talents like Terrence McGee and Leodis McKelvin giving WRs a 10-yard cushion.

Even McGee himself felt they should be playing more press coverage. But I think the reason Perry Fewell had his guys play off so much was because his four man pass rush couldn’t get home, and 24 sacks last season serves as proof.

As good as McGee and McKelvin are asking them to cover man-to-man for more than four seconds is unrealistic. I think until Fewell sees that Schobel and Maybin can consistently make the four man front work, you won’t see a whole lot more man coverage calls.

I agree wholeheartedly with his second point about getting T.O. involved, but that’s kind of a no brainer. He’s right about the coverages though (lots of cover-2 and 2-man). I just hope that Trent doesn’t just settle for working underneath with Josh Reed and Roscoe Parrish when he sees that. Reed and Parrish are great weapons in the middle of the field, but Trent has to throw some passes into the teeth of the defense because he has proven playmakers in Owens and Evans who can work the deep middle and both fight for the ball.

Bowen’s right about Jackson and Rhodes. I think together they can hold the fort while Lynch serves his suspension.

He’s dead on with his pass rush point, and Fewell knows how to be creative with his blitzes and creeper LB packages. He’s been forced to use it the past two seasons, so he’ll be ready if he has to go into his bag of tricks again.

The home field advantage point is a tricky one. The Super Bowl era Bills of the early 90’s reveled in the winter weather they had at home and used it to their advantage. I know there are a lot of fans that would like to see the current Bills make better use of that advantage.

The only problem is the only teams on the schedule slated to come to the Ralph when the weather begins to affect games and might not be accustomed to it are Miami (Nov. 29) and Indy (Jan. 3). The only other home games on the back end of the slate are two northeast based teams in the Jets and Patriots and Buffalo is playing New York in Toronto on Dec. 3.  

So while I respect Bowen’s opinion in most cases, points one and five have some caveats.

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Travis Henry using victim defense

By Chris Brown - Posted July 7th, 2009

According to the Denver Post, attorneys for Travis Henry in his federal drug trafficking case are taking an interesting position in an effort to get him a lighter sentence.

They’re claiming Henry was taken advantage of by his co-defendants, as Henry was simply the man behind the money needed to fund the operation. They’re claiming he was duped.

Now I’m not going to be one to dispute that he was duped, but you’ve got to believe the word “coke” or some synonym of it was used at some point in the conversation when Henry’s co-defendants asked him for a sizable sum of money.

Once you hear “coke” I’d like to think you’d run the other way. But that obviously didn’t happen with Henry.

Personally I think it’s a long shot, but you can’t blame the attorneys for trying. That’s their job. But the feds are not known for going light on sentencing especially when drugs are involved.

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Rhodes talking football on ESPN today

By Chris Brown - Posted July 7th, 2009

Bills RB Dominic Rhodes will be appearing on NFL Live at 4pm today (Tuesday) on ESPN where he’ll be talking about the upcoming season in Buffalo. Check it out if you can.

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Kawika joins Twitter nation

By Chris Brown - Posted July 7th, 2009

For all of you tweeters out there, here’s another Bills player to follow.

Kawika Mitchell has joined twitter nation. You can follow him here. Looks like he’s been tweeting with some of his former Giants teammates lately, like Antonio Pierce.

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T.O. Show preview

By Chris Brown - Posted July 7th, 2009

13 days and counting until the debut of the T.O. Show on VH-1 and there’s a five-minute clip of some of what you can expect from the program.

The clip outlines most of what the T.O. show will deal with, which is more of his off the field life than football, though football will play a role as his release from the Cowboys will be chronicled.

Much like the 2009 Bills season, it’s going to be interesting.

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Lankster has a chance

By Chris Brown - Posted July 7th, 2009

The Bills process of signing their draft class began in earnest Tuesday with the two cornerbacks inking deals, one of whom could be a surprising talent come training camp.

Seventh-round pick Ellis Lankster was one of the best performing rookies in the spring practices. He was a good anticipator with good feet and ball skills.

What we all need to keep in mind however, is that the game changes when the pads go on and some defensive backs can play as effectively when the nature of play becomes more physical.

Jabari Greer struggled with that his first couple of years. He’d have a monster spring and then have his struggles when the pads went on before bulking up a bit more a couple of years ago and blossoming.

Lankster however, is a solid 5′9″ and 190 pounds. He’s well built. He’s one of the young players I’m eager to see in a more realistic football setting. I think he’s got a legit chance.

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Rhodes spearheading shoe bailout

By Chris Brown - Posted July 7th, 2009

Bills RB Dominic Rhodes is doing what he can to take the burden off those less fortunate families preparing already to outfit their kids for the upcoming school year.

His ‘Rhodes to Success’ Foundation is beginning the Great Shoe Bailout initiative on July 10th where Rhodes will be giving away 600 Champs Sports gift cards to kids for the purchase of new shoes for school.

“My own childhood story as a kid in a single family home where my mom could not afford new shoes for me and my siblings to go back to school left an undeniable impression upon me,” states Rhodes. “Now that I am in a position to be a ‘Giver’, I believe it is my duty to bless other children. In some small way, I hope I am assisting families during these tough economic times helping to take one less purchase off of their shoulders. I look forward to having other companies, community leaders and pro athletes to partner with me in Dallas and Buffalo with the hopes of adding more cities in 2010.”

This Friday Rhodes will be giving away 200 gift cards in Hampton, VA with other stops planned for his native Dallas and Buffalo over the next few months. For more information on the initiative you can go to Dominic’s website.

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Hard to see SLB not being Ellison

By Chris Brown - Posted July 7th, 2009

With the strong side linebacker job Keith Ellison’s to lose, and his best competition expected to be two players that do not have NFL experience (Bowen, Harris) it’s hard to see the four-year veteran being the starter come September and here’s why.

If you read our training camp question 19 on the home page it’s clear the coaching staff values playing experience at the NFL level. And in a season when making the playoffs is pretty much a must I’ve got to believe that the staff will feel more comfortable with a savvy vet like Ellison on the field.

The only thing that trumps that as I see it is a remarkable playmaking preseason by Bowen or Harris.

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