Inside The Bills

Bruce Smith to consider coaching

Bills Hall of Famer Bruce Smith was asked a number of questions while appearing on a live chat on NFL.com Monday, including whether or not he would be interested in starting a career in coaching. The NFL’s all-time sack leader had an interesting answer.

“I have given it some thought, but my first priority right now is to raise my son and once he gets off in college, I’ll revisit the possibility of coaching.”

While young players like Chris Ellis and Aaron Maybin could certainly learn a thing or two from Smith, I don’t know how Bruce could teach other players to contort their body the way he did, lowering his center of gravity, turning his upper torso at a 90-degree angle toward the offensive tackle, while his legs ran straight upfield.

Many of his former teammates tried to emulate that technique with no success. Phil Hansen told me he couldn’t do it. Marcellus Wiley said he tried several times, but kept falling down. I believe Bruce would have something to offer as a defensive line coach, but I think a lot of the things he could do on the field simply can’t be performed by the majority of NFL defensive ends.

Here’s the entire chat, where Smith also said he would not trade his career for a Super Bowl ring and a shorter career.

Marv welcomes Wilson to Hall of Fame

Bills Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy penned an open letter to his former boss Ralph Wilson welcoming him as a new inductee to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

The letter appears on NFL.com. Titled ‘Congratulations to the Pride of Buffalo,’ Levy calls Mr. Wilson’s induction an honor not only for the Bills owner, but the entire city of Buffalo.

Bills HOF QB Jim Kelly did that same thing for Bruce Smith, welcoming him to the Hall as well with a letter appearing on NFL.com.

That August weekend is certainly going to be a big one for the Queen City.

Chat with Ralph Wilson

The Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremonies for Mr. Wilson and Bruce Smith are just a few weeks away. But you can send a question to Mr. Wilson as he’ll be appearing on an NFL chat today at 2pm on nfl.com.

Here’s the page where you can submit your question. Not sure how long Mr. Wilson will be online answering questions. We’ll try to get a recap together later today.

HOFers that have RSVP’d for induction day

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.

Fan Friday 6-19

We’re in the doldrums before training camp, but there are still some issues to discuss concerning the team. You can always submit questions to AskChris@bills.nfl.net.
1. Hi Chris-
Any truth to the reports that the K-Gun is returning to the Buffalo offense?
If so…what are your thoughts.
-Jeremy Reiner
CB: I think it’s safe to assume that some elements of the K-Gun offense are being incorporated into Buffalo’s offensive scheme with their no huddle package. But the K-Gun in its entirety I think is unrealistic.

I like that the Bills are turning to the no huddle more to make it more difficult for defenses to substitute and get set pre-snap. Of course the Bills offense has to prove it can sustain drives with consistency as well because if they can’t it puts a lot more pressure on the defense to stop people.

Knowing coach Jauron comes from a defensive background, I’m not sure you should expect to see an overwhelming amount of no huddle. I believe it will be used more, but if you’re looking for more than half a game of no huddle week in and week out I think you’re getting your hopes up.

2. Would it be a bad idea if Mr. Nelson got reps as fullback, not only to improve his blocking skills, but to add a fullback weapon ala ‘that guy from Lewiston.’
Sean

CB: I’m assuming you’re talking about Shawn Nelson. At 6’5” putting Nelson at fullback even on the move is a bad idea as I see it. First, blocking as a fullback is different than as a tight end. Linebackers are often coming at you with a head of steam as opposed to a defensive end butting heads with you at the line.

Second, the coaching staff has already made a point of keeping the information flow to Nelson at a manageable level as they have him focused primarily on route running within the offensive scheme, knowing that’s where he can help them the most as a rookie. The blocking will come later since they have two other tight ends to handle it.

And that guy from Lewiston, Moose Johnston and Nelson are two completely different players.

 
3. Has there been any thought given to asking Bruce Smith in to some of the camps to work with Maybin???  Given his skill set, Bruce has a lot to tech a guy with Maybin’s raw physical talents

Steve Ward
Miamisburg, OH

CB: That’s not a bad idea, but I just don’t see Bruce interested in coaching. I know Steve Tasker has volunteered his time to help Bobby April on occasion with special teams skills, but Bruce was such a great player. As Phil Hansen once explained to me, Bruce could contort his body in a way that no one else could in terms of bending the corner. He’d run upfield straight, while his upper torso was turned 90 degrees and hand fighting the offensive tackle.

Marcellus Wiley once told me he tried to do what Bruce did and just kept falling down. So what Bruce knows how to do I’m not sure can be effectively applied to most players on Buffalo’s roster today.

 
4. Chris,
 
Why isn’t Tom Modrak given more credit for the outstanding job he does on day two of the draft (ex. McGee, Ellison, Williams and Butler)?  By the way, this year’s 4th (TE-Nelson) is a home-run.
 
Guy Devitt

CB: I think the reason is pretty simple. The team hasn’t been successful in terms of winning records and playoff appearances. So as a result those associated with the team aren’t recognized outside of the walls of One Bills Drive for the good work that they do.

I think Modrak’s record as a talent evaluator speaks for itself, well beyond just what he’s done with the Bills. Everyone forgets how much heat he took as GM in Philadelphia when he took Donovan McNabb instead of Ricky Williams with the fifth overall pick. I think that has to be one of his best calls and for it to come with a top five pick was big.

 
5. Chris,

Who from last year’s draft class will have an impact this season?  I know everyone is counting on McKelvin and Hardy but I’m very interested in how Alvin Bowen and Chris Ellis will do coming off of injuries.
 
Thanks,
John

CB: I think that Derek Fine has a chance to make an impact with the starting tight end job up for grabs after the release of Robert Royal. I anticipate he and Derek Schouman to battle it out for the top job. But Fine has looked good in the passing game and has a good chemistry with Trent Edwards. Not that Schouman doesn’t, but I think Fine’s got a shot.

Ellis is flying under the radar with all the hype surrounding top pick Aaron Maybin. I’m really interested to see what Ellis can bring to the table in camp when the pads go on. I think Bowen is also capable of pushing veteran Keith Ellison for the starting outside linebacker job. So you’re on the mark with some guys to keep an eye on.

Reggie Corner could land the nickel job as well and Demetrius Bell could be the swing tackle behind Butler and Walker. Not a bad draft class huh? (See Modrak question 4).

Bruce chooses Cottrell to be his presenter

Bills HOF enshrinee Bruce Smith was down to two men to be his presenter for the Pro Football HOF on Aug. 8, Marv Levy and Ted Cottrell. Smith revealed at the Jim Kelly golf tournament on Monday that Cottrell will be his presenter.

He’ll be the first of the Bills players under Marv Levy’s tutelage to go with his position coach as Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas both had Levy as their presenter. Smith strongly feels that Levy’s hiring of Cottrell as his defensive line coach represented a turning point in his career.

“He taught me how to study film,” said Smith of Cottrell. ”There are three phases to the game that need to take place, conditioning, studying film and having a coach that you can relate to. If you put all three of those things together you have the makings of something special.”

Bruce felt the first turning point in his career came after his rookie season.

“I think when I ballooned up to 310 pounds after my first year I quickly realized I wasn’t going to become the player that I wanted to be unless I changed some of my eating habits and conditioning,” said Smith. ”I quickly made some adjustments as far as that was concerned.”

Jim Kelly golf tourney underway

I’m out at the 23rd annual Jim Kelly golf tournament this morning. A lot of familiar faces out here.

Talked to Jim, Bruce, Andre, Tasker and Phil Hansen among others.

Among the current Bills taking part that I spotted were John Wendling, John McCargo, Derek Fine, Gibran Hamdan, Paul Posluszny, Jonathan Stupar, Trent Edwards and Matt Baker.

Among the coaches I saw were Tyke Tolbert, Turk Schonert and Alex Van Pelt.
We’ll have full coverage of the event later this afternoon in the media lounge on Buffalobills.com.

If you’re going to the Hall of Fame game…

There will be an opportunity to get the autographs of all the Hall of Fame enshrinees, except Mr. Wilson. The Pro Football HOF announced that on Sunday, Aug. 9, from 3-4:30 p.m., Bruce Smith, Rod Woodson and Randall McDaniel will be on hand for a special autograph signing. 

Tickets for the autograph signing go on sale, Tuesday June 2, by telephone only 1-800-913-9788 beginning at 11:00 a.m. ET.  The cost per ticket is $200. Each ticket entitles the ticket holder to one autograph per participating enshrinee.

All tickets will be mailed and there will be an additional charge for postage and handling of $20. In order to accommodate as many individuals as possible, customers will be restricted to purchasing just two tickets.

Also, several other Hall of Fame members are scheduled to participate in an additional Autograph Session presented by Mounted Memories.  That session will be held on Saturday, August 8 from 12-2:00 p.m. ET. Information about the session can be seen at www.mountedmemoriesshows.com. Good luck everybody.

Bills HOF guard Billy Shaw on NFL Radio Friday

As part of their HOF legends series, Bills HOF guard Billy Shaw will appear on Sirius NFL Radio this Friday at 10 am eastern time to share stories from his career, recollections of his induction day and comment on the upcoming HOF class that includes Bills owner Ralph Wilson and Bills DE Bruce Smith.

Shaw is the most decorated Bills player in team history. He was an 8-time AFL All-Star, a member of the Bills 25th Anniversary Team, in the AFL Hall of Fame, on the Bills Wall of Fame and the only Pro Football HOF member to have played his entire career in the AFL.

San Fran writer needs to be straightened out

Ladies and gentlemen of Bills Nation, I have a humble request if you hold your native hometown and its football franchise sacred. Many times Buffalo, and the Bills for that matter, have been denigrated by an assortment of sports writers over the years. It’s often an easy and convenient way for lazy journalists to fill space in their columns. And S.F. Chronicle writer Bruce Jenkins may be the most misinformed of them all.

In a T.O. signing spin-off column he proceeds to insult not only the city of Buffalo, but the history of the Bills franchise, claiming O.J. and T.O. are the only flamboyant stars in the team’s history. Sure he lists some names from Bills history in passing, but he dismisses Thurman Thomas and completely forgets Bruce Smith. Yup, Smith was not even mentioned.

You know, Bruce Smith, the league’s all-time sack leader, the guy that’s going into the Hall of Fame this summer?

Jenkins also dismisses Buffalo’s history. While the Bills can’t claim the Super Bowl titles of the 49ers in the 80′s, the Bills certainly have a prouder history from the early days.

From 1950-1980 the 49ers have only 3 division titles and four playoff appearances. Over that same span minus 10 years (Bills first AFL season was 1960) Buffalo had 3 division titles, 6 playoff appearances and a pair of AFL championships.

So please, please send this Jenkins character an email (bjenkins@sfchronicle.com) and set him straight. Tell him the 49ers history wasn’t worth much prior to Bill Walsh, isn’t any better than the Bills history in this decade right now and that he may want to look at the list for Canton this summer and realize O.J. and T.O. aren’t the only flamboyant stars in Bills franchise history.

Bruce down to two candidates to present him

Bruce Smith is down to just two candidates for presentation into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One is obviously Marv Levy and he said the other is former defensive line and defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell.

Mr. Wilson said he had honestly not given it any thought to this point.

Odds on Super Bowl enshrinement

If you want to get an idea on the chances for enshrinement for Andre Reed, Bruce Smith and Ralph Wilson for this weekend, SI.com’s Peter King has handicapped the voting by the HOF committee.

Bruce obviously has some of the best odds at 3:5 with Rod Woodson.

Mr. Wilson is next among the Bills finalists at 4:1.

Andre Reed was given the longest odds at 8:1, and it doesn’t sound like Andre has King’s vote.

Pro Football HOF enshrinement tix on sale later today

Starting at 11am fans can call or go online to purchase Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony tickets for Aug. 8th in Canton. With Bruce Smith a shoe-in for induction, it might be wise for Bills fans interested in attending to get their ticket requests in early.

Ticket prices are $28 for sideline seats and $60 for floor seating. A limited number of VIP floor seats are also available with the purchase of special all-inclusive fan packages. Tickets can be purchased online at Profootballhof.com or by calling 1-800-913-9788.

The gala ceremony, conducted in Canton’s Fawcett Stadium, which is located adjacent to the Hall of Fame, will for the third consecutive year be conducted in the “primetime” evening hours. Scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. (ET) start, the Enshrinement Ceremony will be preceded by special pre-enshrinement programming that will feature the expected large contingent (usually in excess of 80) of returning Hall of Fame members.

Reed and Wilson not shoe-ins like Smith

With Andre Reed and Ralph Wilson advancing to the list of 2009 Hall of Fame finalists with Bruce Smith, they each have a shot, but only Bruce is a shoe-in.

Reed will be battling Cris Carter for enshrinement and Carter has superior career numbers. He has 701 more receiving yards than Reed, 150 more receptions and 43 more touchdowns and they both played in the exact same number of regular season games (234).

Where the argument needs to be made for Reed is that he came up big in playoff games and was part of a dynasty in Buffalo. Carter was on a few playoff teams, but Reed’s playoff numbers including the 3 TD game in the greatest comeback are superior to Carter’s.

As for Mr. Wilson, I think he has a real shot. He’s been a finalist before. Paul Tagliabue is obviously his competition. With Tagliabue having been part of causing the current labor problem by helping to railroad through the current CBA extension, I would hope the voter’s committee would weigh that against him and rule him out.

Either way the day before the Super Bowl is going to be very interesting with three Bills candidates.

Here’s the whole list of finalists

Cris Carter – Wide Receiver 
 
Dermontti Dawson – Center 

Richard Dent – Defensive End 

Russ Grimm – Guard

Bob Hayes – Wide Receiver (Senior committee nominee)

Claude Humphrey – Defensive End  (Senior committee nominee)

Cortez Kennedy – Defensive Tackle 

Bob Kuechenberg – Guard 

Randall McDaniel – Guard  

John Randle – Defensive Tackle  

Andre Reed – Wide Receiver 

Shannon Sharpe – Tight End

Bruce Smith – Defensive End

Paul Tagliabue – Commissioner – 1989-2006 National Football League

Derrick Thomas – Linebacker

Ralph Wilson – Team Founder/Owner – 1960-Present Buffalo Bills

Rod Woodson – Cornerback/Safety

Bills Owner, Bruce, Andre, Tasker make HOF semifinalist list

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has reduced their preliminary list of candidates for the Hall of Fame induction class of 2009 to 25 semifinalists Tuesday and Bruce Smith, Andre Reed, Steve Tasker and owner Ralph Wilson are among those that made the cut.

The list of 25 will eventually be reduced to 15 modern era finalists.

I think all four have a fair shot to make the finalist list. Bruce is a shoe-in, Andre has been a finalist the last 2 years and there has been growing support for Tasker and Mr. Wilson.

Mr. Wilson and Tasker have been semifinalists before as well.

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

Several 90′s Bills, Ralph Wilson on prelim HOF list for 2009

Bills recent Wall of Fame inductee Bruce Smith, Kent Hull, Andre Reed, Darryl Talley, Cornelius Bennett and Steve Tasker make up the list of AFC Champion 90′s Bills that are are on the preliminary list of modern-era nominees for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Class of 2009. 

Also on the list is Bills founder and owner Ralph Wilson as a contributor nominee.

Other former Bills players on the list are Fred Smerlas and those who spent parts of their career with the Bills like Larry Centers and Chris Spielman.

Former Bills head coach Chuck Knox is also a preliminary nominee.

Bruce Smith is a shoe-in as a first ballot nominee being the league’s all time leader in sacks and a four-time AFC Champion and a countless number of Pro Bowls and All-Pro teams. Reed made the list of finalists last year. We’ll see if he can make it in this time. Tasker will get consideration too.

Mr. Wilson stands a good chance I believe as more of the committee I understand is coming around to understand the magnitude of his contributions to the game.

From this preliminary list of modern-era nominees, Hall of Fame selectors will choose 25 candidates who will advance as semifinalist nominees.  The list of 25 modern-era semifinalists will be announced later next month. The 25 modern-era semifinalists list will be reduced by a mail ballot to 15 modern-era finalists. 

The final list of nominees that will be considered for election will consist of the 15 modern-era finalists and the two previously announced senior nominees, Bob Hayes and Claude Humphrey.  Hayes and Humphrey were selected this past August by the Hall of Fame’s Senior Selection Committee. 

The Class of 2009 will be selected from the list of 17 finalists (15 modern-era and two senior nominees).  The actual voting will be conducted at the Hall of Fame Selection Committee’s annual meeting, which will be held on Saturday, January 31, 2009, in Tampa, Florida the day before Super Bowl XLIII.  The election results will be announced immediately after the meeting at a press conference in the media headquarters.  While there is no set number for any class of enshrinees, the ground rules provide that between four and seven new members will be selected. 

The preliminary list includes 110 players, seven coaches and 16 contributors, including former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and longtime team owners Bud Adams, Jerry Jones, Art Modell and Ralph Wilson.