The high profile breakfast will be held from 9-11 am and Reich will present the 2013 Call to Courage Award to Indianapolis Colts All Pro Center Jeff Saturday. He was named to six Pro Bowls and named First Team All Pro twice in 2005 and 2007.

A special highlight of the program will be the 20^th Anniversary celebration of the “Greatest Comeback in NFL History”. Joining Reich for a look back video highlight panel discussion will be former Buffalo Bills greats Andre Reed, Kenneth Davis and Steve Tasker. Buffalobills.com will cover the event.

The honorary chairman for this year’s breakfast will be Buffalo Bills kicker Rian Lindell.

In addition to the NFL winner of the Call to Courage Award, the High School Call to Courage Award will also be given to an outstanding member of a Western New York high school football team. Buffalo Bills play –by-play man, John Murphy is this year’s MC.

A commemorative Limited Edition 20^th Anniversary – Greatest Comeback poster will also be made available, exclusively for those in attendance at the breakfast.

The Call to Courage Award Breakfast is open to the public. Tickets are $40 each and a table of ten is $350. For ticket information call 716-559-1800 or find them on Facebook at aiabuffalo.

Grossi called his timekeeping unofficial, but it’s interesting to note nonetheless.

1. Bill Parcells, 55 minutes
2. Art Modell, 32:15. 3
3. Cris Carter, 30:30
4. Jerome Bettis, 29:55
5. Dave Robinson, 28:27
6. Eddie DeBartolo Jr., 27:50
7. Aeneas Williams, 22:45
8. Andre Reed, 18:30
9. Warren Sapp, 17:55
10. Jonathan Ogden, 15:40
11. Kevin Greene, 15:30
12. Curley Culp, 13:21
13. Michael Strahan, 13:13
14. Charles Haley, 10:56
15. Larry Allen, 9:02
16. Will Shields, 4:26
17. Tim Brown, 3:45

Perhaps the most encouraging item that comes from these discussion times is the fact that Tim Brown was discussed for less than four minutes. It serves again as indication that Reed is clearly a more debated candidate than the former Raiders receiver, which is a good thing.

Another encouraging sign for Reed is the statistical note brought up by Tom Reed of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. His research of Hall of Fame voting history revealed that since 1970, 89 percent of candidates who have been multiple finalists, like Reed, eventually have made it to induction. And since 1970, 83 percent of all finalists have made it in.

With Cris Carter being selected for enshrinement, the logjam of Tim Brown, Carter and Reed has finally been broken. Reed had been the only one of the three to advance to the final 10 in the first reduction vote from 15 each of the past three years. But this year Carter was the only one of the three to make the second cut to five and then got the required 80 percent of the vote.

With the logjam broken it would seem that Reed is the odds on favorite among receivers to advance the furthest next year.

The bad news is even though a receiver has been taken out of the mix in Carter, another will be added next year as Marvin Harrison will be a first-year eligible.

Harrison has the second most receptions in NFL history behind only Hall of Famer Jerry Rice. The receiver that’s third on the list of all-time receptions… is 2013 Hall of Fame inductee Cris Carter.

In 2007 Reed was eliminated in the first cut from 15 to 10 with both Michael Irvin and Monk advancing. Monk was then eliminated when the group was reduced to six, with Irvin making the cut and eventually being selected for enshrinement.

In 2008 Reed was eliminated in the first cut from 15 to 10 with both Cris Carter and Monk advancing. Carter was then eliminated in the next reduction from 10 to 5, with Monk making the cut and eventually being selected for enshrinement.

In 2009 Reed again did not make the cut from 15 to 10. Veteran committee finalist Bob Hayes was the only receiver selected for induction.

In 2010 Reed advanced past the first cut with Cris Carter and Tim Brown both getting clipped, but Reed was eliminated in the reduction from 10 to 5, with Jerry Rice advancing and being selected for enshrinement.

In 2011 Reed again advanced past the first cut with Cris Carter and Tim Brown both getting clipped again, but Reed was again eliminated in the reduction from 10 to 5, with Shannon Sharpe and Ed Sabol being selected for enshrinement.

In 2012 Reed advanced past the first cut with Cris Carter both making it to the final 10. Tim Brown was eliminated. But in the reduction from 10 to 5 both Reed and Carter were eliminated.

In 2013 Reed advanced past the first cut with he and Cris Carter making it to the final 10. Tim Brown was again eliminated. But in the reduction from 10 to 5 Reed was eliminated, but Carter advanced. Carter was then selected for enshrinement for the 2013 class.

The electors for the Hall of Fame meet Saturday morning in New Orleans to elect the class of 2013. And Reed is one of 15-modern era finalists for the honor again.

In an appearance on The John Murphy Show Friday night, Tasker says he’s obviously rooting for Reed to get into the Hall this year. In New Orleans as part of the CBS Super Bowl broadcast team, Tasker says he talked to Reed earlier this week about being a finalist.

“I have talked to him, we went out a few nights ago on his birthday,” Tasker said on the radio show. “We did talk about it. We’re always hopeful. We all have no doubt that he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame.”

“But we also acknowledge that there’s a process that has to be gone through, and that maybe it is his year, maybe it’s not. And we’re not privy to why it would be or why it would not be. So we’re just going to have to wait and see. I encouraged Andre to not let it ruin his weekend, waiting on this to happen. We know it will. Be patient, and when it does happen, it will be all the sweeter, because we were around to enjoy it.”

The entire interview with Steve Tasker is available at buffalobills.com\johnmurphyshow

Bills all-time leading receiver and Wall of Famer Andre Reed is once again a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Bills President and CEO Russ Brandon when given the opportunity on SiriusXM radio to campaign for Reed laid out why Reed should be enshrined.

“He’s one of the best receivers of his generation,” said Brandon. “That’s what I believe should really be the focal point. The Bills were the winningest team in the AFC in the 90′s. A dominant team with a dominant offense and every single individual associated with our organization and in football will tell you what a big of that offense he was.”

In the next breath Brandon also stumped for Steve Tasker, who was a Hall of Fame semifinalist this year.

“We also need to get Steve Tasker into the Hall of Fame,” said Brandon. “He’s the greatest special teamer of all time. Why is he not in? If you game plan for someone every time he’s on the field, that was Steve Tasker. It’s a third of the game and he needs to be in the Hall of Fame with Andre.”

The HOF Board of Selectors will be whittling down the list of 17 finalists to a maximum of seven for induction on Saturday.

At 720pm, we’ll be joined in studio by the new Defensive Line Coach for the Buffalo Bills. Anthony Weaver joins the Bills after working with Mike Pettine and the Jets defense last year. He’s a former NFL defensive lineman, and he was a teammate of Mario Williams when the two played in Houston. We’ll ask Coach Weaver about coaching his former teammate and settling in with the Bills.

This Saturday, at the Super Bowl in New Orleans, electors will vote on the 2013 class for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Former Bills WR Andre Reed is one of 15-finalists for the eighth year. What are his chances this year?

We’ll talk with Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News on the radio show Wednesday at 8pm. Gaughan will present Reed’s nomination again this year during an eight hour meeeting in New Orleans Saturday.

We’ll have Super Bowl news and we’ll talk about how the 2012 Bills Special Teams ranked last season. As usual, we’ll make room for phone calls from fans.

The John Murphy Show airs Wednesday night from 7pm-9pm on the flagship station of the Bills, WGR Sports Radio 550.

And Reed says he doesn’t know what to say with the selection meeting just three weeks away.

The Bills all time Wide Receiver was a guest Friday night on The John Murphy Show. And he says he’ll approach the selection meeting this year the same way he has in previous years.

“I’ve talked to you now eight years in a row about this, and you can probably go back eight years and I’ve probably said the same thing,” Reed told host John Murphy.

“Any time you’re even put on the preliminary list and then you make it to the semifinals, and then you make it to the finals, that’s really pretty much a validation of what somebody thinks you have done, and what kind of a player you were. That’s how I look at it.”

When Reed retired from the NFL after the 2000 season, he was third all time in receptions with 951. But with tough competiton in the Hall of Fame balloting from other wideouts, including Tim Brown and Cris Carter, Reed has had a tough time getting over the hump and into Canton.

“It seems like I’ve always had to go the hard road to get something,” Reed said. “There wasn’t too much given to me. I’ve always had to work really extra hard to get recognition. That’s been my whole life.”

Reed says he will be in New Orleans in three weeks during Super Bowl week to make other appearances. But he doesn’t look forward to the hype and speculation about his chances leading up to the Hall of Fame vote on February 2nd.

“At this point, I don’t know how many words I can say—it’s ridiculous right now. I really don’t want to talk about it anymore. When it does happen, then I can talk about it even more. Its hard to talk about it every year and be disappointed every year. We’ll see what happens, and we’ll go from there.”

The John Murphy Show airs weeknights from 7pm-9pm on the flagship station of the Bills, WGR Sports Radio 550.

Along with Reed, Tim Brown and Cris Carter are also finalists. In 2012 Reed advanced past the first cut with Cris Carter as both made it to the final 10. Tim Brown was eliminated. But in the reduction from 10 to 5 both Reed and Carter were eliminated. So neither made it to the final round where it’s yes or no for induction with candidates needing 80 percent of the vote for enshrinement.

Here’s the list of 15 finalists this year for the 2013 Hall of Fame induction class, which

• Larry Allen – Guard/Tackle – 1994-2005 Dallas Cowboys; 2006-07 San Francisco 49ers
• Jerome Bettis – Running Back – 1993-95 Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams; 1996-2005 Pittsburgh Steelers
• Tim Brown – Wide Receiver/Kick Returner/Punt Returner – 1988-2003 Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders; 2004 Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Cris Carter – Wide Receiver – 1987-89 Philadelphia Eagles; 1990-2001 Minnesota Vikings; 2002 Miami Dolphins
• Curley Culp* – 1968-1974 Kansas City Chiefs; 1974-1980 Houston Oilers; 1980-81 Detroit Lions
• Edward DeBartolo, Jr. – Owner – 1977-2000 San Francisco 49ers
• Kevin Greene – Linebacker/Defensive End – 1985-1992 Los Angeles Rams;  1993-95 Pittsburgh Steelers; 1996, 1998-99 Carolina Panthers; 1997 San Francisco 49ers
• Charles Haley – Defensive End/Linebacker – 1986-1991, 1999 San Francisco 49ers; 1992-96 Dallas Cowboys
• Art Modell – Owner – 1961-1995 Cleveland Browns; 1996-2011 Baltimore Ravens
• Jonathan Ogden – Tackle – 1996-2007 Baltimore Ravens
• Bill Parcells – Coach – 1983-1990 New York Giants; 1993-96 New England Patriots; 1997-99 New York Jets; 2003-06 Dallas Cowboys
• Andre Reed – Wide Receiver – 1985-1999 Buffalo Bills; 2000 Washington Redskins
• Dave Robinson* – 1963-1972 Green Bay Packers; 1973-74 Washington Redskins
• Warren Sapp – Defensive Tackle – 1995-2003 Tampa Bay Buccaneers; 2004-07 Oakland Raiders
• Will Shields – Guard – 1993-2006 Kansas City Chiefs
• Michael Strahan – Defensive End – 1993-2007 New York Giants
• Aeneas Williams – Cornerback/Safety – 1991-2000 Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals; 2001-04 St. Louis Rams

The Selection Committee will meet in New Orleans on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, to elect the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2013. The election results will be announced at 5:30 p.m. ET during a one-hour NFL Network special, live from the Super Bowl Media Center.

At the 2013 selection meeting, the selectors will thoroughly discuss the careers of each finalist. Although there is no set number for any class of enshrinees, the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s current ground rules stipulate that between four and seven new members will be selected each year. No more than five modern-era nominees can be elected in a given year and a class of six or seven can only be achieved if one or both senior nominees are elected.

With his four receptions Sunday, Johnson now has 73 catches this season making it his third straight 70-catch campain (82 in 2010, 76 in 2011). Only Andre Reed has three straight 70-catch seasons in his career. In fact Reed went four straight seasons (71 – 1988, 88 – 1989, 71 – 1990, 81 – 1991).

Not surprisingly, Andre Reed (4) and Eric Moulds (4) account for almost half the total. Lee Evans, Johnson and Frank Lewis are the only others with multiple 1,000-yard seasons.

With one more reception Johnson will join Wall of Famer Andre Reed as the only receivers to post three straight 70-catch seasons. Reed actually had 70 receptions or more for four straight years (1988-1991).

Eric Moulds has the top two single-season reception totals in history, and four seasons of 70 catches or more, but only once did he post such seasons back-to-back (2004-2005).

All-time leading receiver Andre Reed and seven-time Pro Bowl special teamer Steve Tasker have both been named to the list of semifinalists for the Pro Football HOF class of 2013. There were only 27 semifinalists selected from the initial nominee list of 127 candidates.

Both Reed and Tasker have been semifinalists before. Reed has gone a step further qualifying as a finalist each of the last six years, but has fallen short of enshrinement.

The list of 27 semifinalists will be reduced by mail ballot to 15 modern-era finalists.  That list increases to 17 finalist nominees with the inclusion of the two recommended candidates of the Hall of Fame’s Seniors Committee. The Seniors Committee nominees, who were announced in August, are defensive tackle Curley Culp, (1968-1974 Kansas City Chiefs, 1974-1980 Houston Oilers, 1980-81 Detroit Lions) and linebacker Dave Robinson, (1963-1972 Green Bay Packers, 1973-74 Washington Redskins). 

The results of the modern-era reduction vote to 15 finalists will be announced in early January, 2013.

Cornelius Bennett, the late Kent Hull, Andre Reed, Steve Tasker and Darryl Talley are among the 127 nominees for the 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. Former GM Bill Polian is also on the list.

A group of 25 semifinalists will be chosen from the nominee list in late November by the HOF Selection Committee. That semifinalist list will be further reduced by a mail ballot to 15 modern-era finalists and announced in early January. 

Tasker has been a semifinalist before. Reed meanwhile has been a finalist six times, but has not gained induction.

Other former Bills that are nominees include Sam Adams, Drew Bledsoe and Ted Washington.

“Nobody expected them last year to do anything and they were 5-2 last year,” said Reed. ”They got a little bit of the injury bug and kind of lost a little mojo there towards the middle of the season. Definitely expecting some big things. With the addition of Mario Williams and how he is going to work with (Marcell) Dareus, Kyle Williams and how is (Shawne) Merriman going to be this year. Expectations on defense are phenomenal.

“Offensively, you just have to rely on your main guys. Ryan (Fitzpatrick) doing what he has to do. It will be interesting to see what they do with the running backs with Fred Jackson and (C.J.) Spiller. I think in the league now you have to have two guys who can do different things. Both of those guys are phenomenal at what they do. If Chan (Gailey) does it right, uses those guys right, it will take a lot of pressure off of Ryan and the passing game.”

“I see a little bit of me in a way,” said Reed. ”Maybe not some of the little antics he does. Stevie is one of those players where he is just consistent. I think he definitely brings that experience. You look at the roster and you look at the receivers, it is not a lot of experience on the field that they have. He is five years in the league. It is kind of the peak of his career right now. They are going to look to him.”

What Reed is most interested in seeing is how the number two receiver job plays out.

“You never know who is going to be that number two guy, but that is a battle that is going to go through training camp,” said Reed. ”It will be interesting to see who is going to take some pressure off of him.”

“No, I do not even think about it anymore,” said Reed initially before correcting himself. “It is not that I do not think about it. My Twitter was going crazy yesterday and the day before. There were a lot of Bills fans there in Canton even though nobody got inducted from the Bills. Just getting a lot of love from Bills fans and people all over the country that say, ‘Next year we want to be here when you are here.’”

“When it happens, it happens. This is eight years now. So it is no different than any other year. I did a lot of media last year and I think this year I am probably not going to do as much of the media thing. I will talk about it a lot once it comes up a little bit more. I’ll be more interested in watching this (Bills) team this year. Getting out of this 12-year funk of not being in the playoffs. That is just not acceptable around here, definitely.”

“You move on in life and you live another day. It’s not on my time, it’s one somebody else’s,” he said. ”I love the game of football. I’ve played it since I’m eight-years old and I loved it. I got some calls and sometimes I didn’t get the calls and this is a call I’ve got to wait for.”

Reed also had some choice words for the Hall of Fame Selectors Committee for not inducting any one of the three wide receiver finalists in Cris Carter, Tim Brown and Reed. For the full story go to the home page of Buffalobills.com.

In his Monday Morning QB column, King offers the following on the state of the wide receiver debate with respect to Carter, Brown and Reed.

2007 – Reed is eliminated in the first cut from 15 to 10 with both Michael Irvin and Art Monk advancing. Monk was then eliminated when the group was reduced to six, with Irvin making the cut and eventually being selected for enshrinement.

2008 - Reed is eliminated in the first cut from 15 to 10 with both Cris Carter and Art Monk advancing. Carter was then eliminated in the next reduction from 10 to 5, with Monk making the cut and eventually being selected for enshrinement.

2009 – Reed again did not make the cut from 15 to 10. Veteran committee finalist Bob Hayes was the only receiver selected for induction.

2010 – For the first time Reed advances past the first cut while Cris Carter and Tim Brown were both eliminated, but Reed doesn’t make it past the reduction from 10 to 5, with Jerry Rice advancing and being selected for enshrinement.

2011 – Reed again advances past the first cut with Cris Carter and Tim Brown both being eliminated again, but Reed was again ousted in the reduction from 10 to 5, with Shannon Sharpe and Ed Sabol being selected for enshrinement.

The 2012 Hall of Fame induction class will be announced on the NFL Network at 5:30 pm Saturday.