Inside The Bills

Reed HOF voting history

Here’s the rundown on how the voting has gone each of the past five years that Bills Wall of Famer Andre Reed has been a finalist for Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement. Reed is a finalist for a sixth time this year with perhaps his best chance of making the final cut Saturday.

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.

Belichick to pull page from SB XXV?

While the Giants pass rush will most certainly be a focus for Bill Belichick and his offensive staff, the very talented Giants receiving corps is also a concern. Cruz, Manningham and Nicks are one of the top trios in the league with all three capable of the big play. But I believe Belichick will employ a similar tactic to the one he utilized in Super Bowl XXV as defensive coordinator of the Giants when they squeaked past the Bills 20-19.

James Lofton had a huge playoff run that first Super Bowl year for the Bills, but Andre Reed was still Jim Kelly’s go-to guy that allowed for quick passing over the middle. Victor Cruz works similar routes in the middle of the field and has shown great run after the catch ability as well. In Super Bowl XXV Belichick at times would put a linebacker on Reed and they’d smash the heck out of him off the line of scrimmage.

Any chance they got to put a lick on him they’d bury him, even on run plays. Reed had eight catches in Super Bowl XXV, but they went for a pedestrian 62 yards, with a 20-yard catch on a 2nd-and-11 his longest in the game. Afterwards Reed said it was the hardest he had ever been hit in a game.

I think Victor Cruz, knowing how much Manning depends on him in the pass game, should expect a lot of linebacker attention off the line and better have his head on a swivel because the Patriots are going to try to intimidate him physically in this one.

Levy likes Reed’s HOF chances

Bills Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy has seen his top receiver Andre Reed make the list of finalists for enshrinement five straight times, but fall short of earning induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This year marks the sixth time he’s made it to the final 15, and Levy is as optimistic as he has ever been about this being the year that Reed makes the final cut.

Appearing on 97 Rock this week Levy, who has spoken with some of the Board of Selectors that vote for the Hall of Fame inductees, believes this year is perhaps Reed’s best shot yet.

“He’s been a finalist before,” said Levy. ”It’s always a tough call in that final group. There are two other top receivers in that group as well in Cris Carter and Tim Brown. They’re also under consideration, but in talking to some of the board of selectors it’s sounding a little bit more favorable than I’ve ever heard in previous years. I think Andre’s chances are pretty darn good. I sure hope so. He belongs in the Hall of Fame, no one was better in yards after the catch than Andre Reed. No one.”

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

Reed profile on HOF site

For fans eagerly anticipating the vote by the Hall of Fame committee to see whether six-time finalist and Bills Wall of Famer Andre Reed is chosen for enshrinement as part of the 2012 Pro Football HOF class, the Hall’s website has put together a profile on him on their home page.

Reed is the feature story today (Thursday) on the Hall of Fame site. Be sure to also click on the tabs across the middle of the page to see his championship game stats by game, his NFL career playoff records and team records that he still holds to this day as well as career stats.

The committee votes on Feb. 4th, the day before the Super Bowl to name the induction class for 2012 with the announcement to be made on NFL Network at 5:30 pm.

Reed vs. Carter vs. Brown

The Pro Football Hall of Fame website put together a nice comparative table of the three wide receivers that are Hall of Fame finalists for the 2012 enshrinement class.

Not only do they list and compare all their career receiving statistics, but they also list the receiving statistics of all the wide receivers already in the Hall of Fame. There’s also a tab at the top that let’s you see their career honors. Not too many in the Hall besides Reed with 4 AFC titles. The only 5 are Monk, Swann, Stallworth, Rice and Bob Hayes.

Stay tuned to Buffalobills.com next week when we bring you a video Hall of Fame preview with an exclusive one-on-one interview with the Bills all-time leading receiver as we determine if 2012 will really be his year for induction.

Andre Reed talks NFL playoffs

Bills all-time leading receiver and Wall of Famer Andre Reed gave his take on the upcoming playoff games this weekend and provided his final four for the AFC and NFC Championship games next week.

Reed did an interview with the NFL Players site this week where he made his choices for the winners of this week’s Divisional playoff games.

He picked Green Bay, New England, New Orleans and Baltimore.

King likes Reed’s HOF chances

SI.com columnist Peter King, who is one of the 44 Pro Football Hall of Fame voters, likes Andre Reed’s chances to be enshrined in 2012.

King said as much in his Tuesday column. In a finalist group with no slam dunks, Reed’s chances are likely enhanced. Here’s what King wrote.

Could be Reed’s year

With no hurdles seemingly in front of him in this year’s Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist pool, Bills Wall of Famer looks to have perhaps his best shot at enshrinement in 2012.

Reed was named a HOF finalist for the sixth time on Saturday, but he’s again joined by a pair of receivers in that group in Tim Brown and Cris Carter. But most feel that Reed has a leg up on Brown and Carter because in each of the past two years when the finalist pool was reduced from 15 to 10 both Brown and Carter were among the casualties.

Only Reed advanced in the reduction to 10, before eventually being eliminated in the next round from 10 to 5. With no shoo-ins like Emmitt Smith or Jerry Rice in this year’s finalist group as there have been the past couple of years, Reed’s best chance is probably this year.

Tasker has King’s HOF support

Bills Wall of Famer Steve Tasker made the list of Pro Football HOF semifinalists for the 2012 induction class along with fellow Wall of Famer Andre Reed. SI.com’s Peter King supports Tasker’s candidacy, but just isn’t sure he’ll make the list of 15 finalists.

Here’s what King wrote about Tasker’s candidacy in his Monday Morning QB column.

Reed not judging Stevie

Bills all-time leading receiver Andre Reed was asked for his opinion several times last night on twitter about Stevie Johnson’s ill-advised touchdown celebration against the Jets. Here’s what Reed had to offer.

Reed, Tasker among HOF semifinalists

Two Bills Wall of Famers have made the Pro Football Hall of Fame list of semifinalists for the Class of 2012.

All-time leading receiver Andre Reed and 7-time Pro Bowl special teamer Steve Tasker made the cut from the preliminary list as announced by the Hall Tuesday.

The list of 26 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 cornerback Jack Butler, Pittsburgh Steelers (1951-59) and guard Dick Stanfel, Detroit Lions (1952-55); Washington Redskins (1956-58). 

The results of the modern-era reduction vote to 15 finalists will be announced in early January, 2012. 

Bills on prelim HOF list

There are several former Bills on the 2012 Pro Football HOF preliminary nominee list. Here’s the rundown of names.

Cornelius Bennett
Drew Bledsoe
Larry Centers
Andre Reed
Fred Smerlas
Steve Tasker
Troy Vincent
Coach Chuck Knox

The complete list of nominees for the Class of 2012 consists of 103 candidates. From that list of nominees, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee will choose 25 candidates who will advance as semifinalist nominees. The list of 25 semifinalists will be announced in mid-November.

The list of 25 semifinalists will be further reduced by a mail ballot to 15 modern-era finalists and announced in early January. 

The final list of nominees that will be considered for election will consist of the 15 modern-era finalists and the two senior nominees, former Pittsburgh Steelers defensive back Jack Butler and former Detroit Lions guard Dick Stanfel, who were selected this last month by the Hall of Fame’s Senior Selection Committee.

Andre Reed takes the high road

Bills Wall of Famer Andre Reed has been a Pro Football Hall of Fame finalist the past five years, so on induction day for this year’s Hall of Fame class one might wonder how Reed is handling it. The answer is with class.

Buffalo’s all-time leading receiver passed along the following on his twitter account today just hours before the HOF enshrinement ceremony.

Players’ original numbers

As we cover the Untouchable Bills numbers on the home page of Buffalobills.com today, we thought we’d also take a look at some of the jersey numbers that some notable Bills wore prior to getting the number by which they’re most recognized.

We’ll start big with the team’s first Hall of Famer, O.J. Simpson, who wore another number prior to 32.

“O.J. was 33 initially,” said Bills equipment manager Dave Hojnowski. ”I think he may have also worn 36 as well for a brief time. He almost got a completely different number because the head coach John Rauch wanted to make him a wide receiver instead of a running back.”

James Lofton, who joined the Bills in 1989 was another interesting case. He had worn 80 his entire career, but that wasn’t the case when he first arrived in Buffalo.

“He was 86 at first,” Hojnowski said. ”He eventually got 80 from Flip Johnson.”

Bills all-time leading receiver Andre Reed was issued a horrible number for a wide receiver when he first reported to One Bills Drive.

“Andre was 46,” said Hojnowski. ”When he first came in that’s what he got. He was a fourth-round pick and it was one of those minicamp numbers.”

Here is a rundown of some other Bills who wore another number prior to the one they are most identified with.

Cornelius Bennett was 97 before going to 55
Ryan Denney was 90 before becoming 92
Lee Evans was briefly 84 but got 83 eventually
Jabari Greer was 37 before he went to 33
Tony Hunter was 49 before he was 87
Harry Jacobs was 56 and 54 before becoming 64
Sammy Morris was 45, then 33 and finally 31
Jamie Mueller was 39 before going to 41
Mark Pike was 57 and then 94
Jay Riemersma was 49 before he was 85
Aaron Schobel was initially 95 before getting 94
John Tracey was 85 before taking 51
David White was 50 before becoming 51
Shaud Williams was 36 before going to 40
George Wilson was 15 and now is 37
Wil Wolford was 69 before going to 73
Kenyatta Wright was 57 before taking 98

Reed responds to Williams

Bills second-round pick Aaron Williams showed respect and appreciation that Wall of Famer Andre Reed announced his name as the Bills second pick in the 2011 NFL draft over the weekend on twitter. Reed has now returned the favor.

Reed tweeted the following Wednesday.

Williams pays homage to Reed

Bills second-round pick Aaron Williams was apparently very honored having his name read by Bills Wall of Famer Andre Reed on day two of the NFL draft last weekend.

Here was his tweet to Andre earlier today.

Andre Reed in town

Bills Wall of Fame WR Andre Reed will be in town Friday Receiver Andre Reed to announce a major new initiative aimed at helping children in his adopted home town of Buffalo.

Reed will hold a press conference at the Renaissance Campus on Harlem Road in West Seneca at 2 pm Friday.

Although the former all pro receiver now calls San Diego home, he returns to Buffalo often to help in numerous charitable endeavors. He is committed to supporting agencies and organizations that provide educational and support services to children and their families.

Reed denied again

The 2011 Pro Football Hall of Fame class was announced Saturday evening and unfortunately Bills all-time leading receiver Andre Reed was not selected for induction.

Reed was in direct competition with fellow receivers Cris Carter and Tim Brown, but none of the 3 receivers were chosen by the Selection Committee. He did make it through the first reduction from 15 down to 10 candidates as he did last year, but that’s as far as he got as he was eliminated in the final reduction. 

Ed Sabol, founder of NFL Films was selected as a contributor much like Bills owner Ralph Wilson was in 2009.

Among the modern era candidates that will be inducted was Shannon Sharpe, who until Tony Gonzalez passed him was the all-time receiving tight end in NFL history. Marshall Faulk, Richard Dent, Deion Sanders were the other modern era candidates that were selected for induction. Here’s the whole list of inductees for 2011.

Reed again a HOF finalist

Once again Andre Reed is among the finalists selected for possible induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Reed is a finalist for the fourth straight time, but again is facing difficult competition with the likes of Marshall Faulk and Deion Sanders also among the finalists.

Also expected to make induction for Reed difficult is the fact that two other receivers in Cris Carter and Tim Brown are also on the list of finalists for the 2011 class.

Troop bowl game for Kelly

Bills Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly along with fellow Hall of Famer Thurman Thomas and Bills Wall of Famer Andre Reed are visiting with the troops overseas in Iraq this week to give them a taste of Bowl season.

Kelly and Rodney Peete will be squaring off in a flag football “Connect to Home Bowl” this week, with troops from the Army and the Air Force as teammates. Kelly and Peete appeared on CNN to talk up their efforts overseas.

Highlights of the troops “bowl game” with Kelly, Thomas and Reed will be aired during halftime of the Fiesta Bowl between Oklahoma and Connecticut.