Van Pelt just wrapped up his first year as the Running Backs Coach for the Green Bay Packers, after two years before that with Tampa Bay. The Pack saw their season end with their divisional round playoff loss in San Francisco last Saturday night.

Tonight, Alex Van Pelt joins us at 720pm and we’ll ask about the Packers season, and about the injury-plagued season of Niagara Falls native James Starks, a Green Bay running back. We’ll also get Alex’s take on the Bills new Offensive Coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. Van Pelt and Hackett worked closely together in 2008-09 when both were members of the Bills offensive coaching staff.

Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas joins us in studio at 8pm for his usual weekly visit. Thurman always has fresh and original takes on the Bills and the NFL.

And at 820pm, another former Bills player, Bucky Brooks, will be on the line with us from the East-West Shrine Game in St Petersburg, Florida. Brooks was Buffalo’s 2nd round draft pick in 1994 out of North Carolina. Since his playing days ended, he’s become a personnel man in the NFL, working with the Seahawks and Panthers. And for the last few years, he’s become a draft expert for the NFL Network and NFL.com. We’ll ask Bucky about the prospects in the upcoming draft.

We always have time for phone calls and comments from listeners. The John Murphy Show airs weeknights from 7pm-9pm on the flagship station of the Bills, WGR Sports Radio 550.

Tonight on The John Murphy Show, we’ll have updates on the Pro Bowl announcement.  Seven-time Pro Bowl selection Steve Tasker joins us at 720pm to talk about his experience in the game, and the disappointing Bills season so far.

AT 8pm, five time Pro Bowl RB Thurman Thomas joins us live on the line to talk about the Bills.  We’ll also ask Thurman to elaborate on his mysterious tweet from last Sunday, when he said on twitter “Can’t share the news I just got, but it is ON LIKE A …. And yes, it involves the Bills ..”  May want to tune in for that.

At 8:20pm, Albert Breer of the NFL Network and NFL.com joins us to talk about the Pro Bowl in the future.  He’s got some ideas on improving the quality of the game.

As usual, we”ll take your phone calls on the Bills and the NFL.

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

At 8pm tonight, Hall of Fame RB Thurman Thomas joins us for his usual Tuesday night appearance.  C.J. Spiller continues to climb up the Bills rushing charts, and we’ll check in with Thurman for his take on Spiller and the loss in Toronto two days ago.

There’s a new book about the NFL called “Coaching Confidential-Inside the Fraternity of NFL Coaches.”  Longtime Pro Football writer Gary Myers of the NY Daily News is the author, and he’ll join us live at 8:20 tonight to talk about the book, and the circus that is the New York Jets.

As always, we’ll cover the news of the day from One Bills Drive, and we’ll make time for phone calls from fans.

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

We’ll start with Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick at 7:20pm.  We’ll talk to Fitz about the uptick in offensive production in recent weeks, and the disappointing end to the Patriots game last Sunday.  We’ll also look ahead to the game against the Dolphins Thursday.

At 8pm, Hall of Fame Running Back Thurman Thomas makes his usual Tuesday night appearance in studio with us.  Thurman played for both the Bills and the Dolphins during his NFL career.

At 8:20pm, we’ll talk to another Hall of Famer.  Former Dolphins Quarterback Bob Griese joins us live from South Florida, where he’s the color commentator on the Dolphins radio network.  He’s also the co-author of a new book celebrating the 40th anniversary of Miami’s perfect season.  The book is called “Perfection: the Inside Story of the 1972 Miami Dolphins Perfect Season.”  We’ll ask Griese about his memories from that season, and what to expect from the Dolphins this week at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

As usual, we’ll take your phone calls and have updates on the latest from the Bills and the NFL.

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

Bills running back Fred Jackson joins us in studio at 7:20pm.  We’ll talk to Fred about the benefits of the bye week, his struggle coming back from his opening day knee injury, and sharing the running game workload with his talented teammate C.J. Spiller.

Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas joins us live in studio at 8pm.  Thurman makes his regular Tuesday night appearance, and tonight we’ll get his take on the Bills after the bye week.

And we’ll go back into the Bills past at 8:20pm when former punter Chris Mohr joins us live on the line from his home in Georgia.  Mohr will be back in Buffalo in early December when he’s presented with the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Distinguished Service Award.

As always, we’ll cover the news of the day from the Bills and the NFL, and we’ll make time for your phone calls.

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

In games 1-7 in any Bills season, O.J. Simpson is still the leader with 1,106 yards from scrimage in 1975. But Fred Jackson has bested Simpson’s start to his 1973 season when he compiled 1,073 yards in the first seven games.

Jackson has 1,074 yards from scrimmage in his first seven games this season putting him in between Simpson’s two most productive years in a Bills uniform. Thurman Thomas’ MVP season of 1991 (1,032 yards) now stands fourth.

Jackson’s 712 yards from scrimmage through the first five games of 2011 are the fourth-most in team history. He’s the first player with 700 or more yards from scrimmage in Games 1-5 in 20 years – Thurman Thomas in 1991, and that was Thurman’s MVP season (hint, hint).

Here’s the rundown of best five-game starts in Bills history for total yards from scrimmage.

1. O.J. Simpson                      1973       861
2. O.J. Simpson                      1975       842
3. Thurman Thomas             1991       814
4. Fred Jackson                      2011       712
5. Thurman Thomas             1989       660 

Kelly, Thomas and a handful of other NFL players inclunding former Bills CB Kenny Irvin were instructors at the camp for players. Taking place at the brand new facilities at the University of West Georgia from June 15th-18th the former players are not only there to help young aspiring players, but also to help their fellow NFL Alumni in need.

Gridiron Greats is a non-profit organization that provides financial assistance to retired NFL players.

“We hope to build on that first camp next year, said Kelly. “Not only to help people understand what Gridiron Greats is all about, but to also have a lot of those southern kids learn about football at an early age as well as those off the field lessons that they need to know.”

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.

 CJSPILLER Watching my favorite rocky 3 so if ppl keep talkin trash ab wats going on I’m get my rocky on wit sumbody. Go bills #21

Bills HOF RB Thurman Thomas, who has struck up a friendship with Spiller, offered to assist the rookie running back.

thurmanthomas @CJSPILLER let me handle them, you just keep working out.

After his conversation with Spiller, Thomas is about as excited as he can get over a Bills rookie. Here’s his latest twitter post.

thurmanthomas    Just talked to @Lightning28, OMG, I hope he breaks all the Bills rushing records. Great Kid that will lead them back to the promise land….

Most people that have met Spiller wind up saying a lot of the same things Thomas expressed in his tweet in terms of the type of person Spiller is. After one phone conversation with Spiller, Thurman is totally fine with this rookie breaking all his team rushing records. That speaks volumes.

Add in the fact that he’s an intense competitor and there should be some good stuff from him on the field this weekend at Bills Rookie camp.

As he mentioned in his draft day memories of 1988, leading up to the draft Glanville was pushing the Oilers hard to draft Thomas, which would’ve been fine with the Houston native.

“Being a hometown guy every time I see Jerry I thank him for pushing the Oilers to have an opportunity to draft me,” said Thomas.

Thomas remembers all the doubters that were out there that weren’t sure if Thomas’ knee would hold up over the long haul after partially tearing his ACL his junior year. So he appreciates the guys that believed in him before he did anything in the NFL.

Of course the Oilers ultimately passed on Thomas in round one of the 1988 draft, choosing instead to take RB Lorenzo White, one of seven to come off the board before Thomas.

Had Thomas been taken by Houston he likely would’ve had 700 receptions in his career in the Oilers’ run and shoot offense, but Thomas wonders about his rushing totals.

“Yeah I probably would’ve caught a lot more passes in that kind of attack, but I also wouldn’t have 12,000 career rushing yards had I played most of my career there,” said Thomas. ”They were throwing the ball 40 or 50 times a game. There’s no way I’d be getting 20 carries a game too.”

The 10 Most Valuable Draft Picks will be announced during Round 1, when many of the Top 10 will be in attendance at Radio City Music Hall, the home of the 2010 NFL Draft. The order of the Top 10 will be revealed after the conclusion of the Second Round of the Draft on Friday night.  Many of these players will be on hand for the announcement.

NFL.com editors narrowed down the first 74 Drafts to a list of the top 320 players, consisting of 10 players from each team.  Fans begin the process of determining the Most Valuable Draft Pick by choosing between pairs of players randomly generated from the list of 320 greats.  After selecting winners of 30 random matchups, fans will begin to build their own Top 10 list.  Fans may continue to vote in order to make changes to their personal Top 10 list as well as the All-Time Top 10 announced at the Draft. Users then may share their lists and their head-to-head winners on Facebook.

NFL.com delivers comprehensive information on each of the 320 players, including the player’s draft information and career accomplishments to help the voters make educated selections in determining the Most Valuable Pick.

Below is the list of Bills nominees.
Gary Anderson – never played for the Bills, but was a late round draft pick that went on to be one of the league’s all-time scorers.
Ruben Brown – 8 Pro Bowls
Joe DeLamielleure – Hall of Famer
Jim Kelly – Hall of Famer
Reggie McKenzie – Well known member of the Electric Company
Andre Reed – Bills Wall of Famer, 4 time HOF finalist
O.J. Simpson – Hall of Famer
Fred Smerlas – Bills Wall of Famer
Bruce Smith – Hall of Famer
Thurman Thomas – Hall of Famer

Here was HOF RB Thurman Thomas’ show of support on his twitter account.

thurmanthomas RT @pthomas3434: Let’s go Andre, let’s go, CLAP CLAP, Let’s go Andre, let’s go, CLAP CLAP

The 2010 HOF induction class will be announced at 5:30 pm on NFL Network this afternoon. Reed has an uphill battle with Jerry Rice and Cris Carter also among the finalists.

Thomas tried to appeal to Cowher by sharing with him the rabid fan following in Buffalo in one of his recent twitter posts.

thurmanthomas    Hey Cowher, besides The Steeler and Cowboys, this the best Fan Base. Not Tampa or Carolina, r any other team period!!!!!

As much as I agree with Thurman on the fan base (and Thurman, I like the passion), I don’t think that’s a potential sticking point, if there is one, for Cowher. How aggressive the team is willing to be in free agency and final say on personnel decisions are more of what Cowher is interested in getting clarification on if things have even gotten that far.

He’s been on two teams that started 1-3, that’s the closest he’s come and the last time that happened was 2003, his last season with the 49ers.

Former Bills like Thurman Thomas and Darryl Talley have been pretty outspoken on twitter about the team’s shortcomings thus far this season, but Buffalo’s Hall of Fame running back had some encouraging words for Owens leading up to Sunday’s game with the Jets.

thurmanthomas @terrellowens Big stage and I know u r a big time player.Keep working hard

Thomas is referring to New York as the big stage. By the way Thurman also predicted a Bills win on his twitter account (24-23).

According to the Associated Press it was somehow smuggled across the border into Canada.

The thing is 8 1/2 feet tall! I’d imagine there were some interesting questions for the culprits at the border.

Anyhow the guys that found wooden Thurman claim they saved him from being burned at the stake by the hoodlums.

Now the task is getting it back to the States.

Pardon the lack of top quality images as I took these with the camera on my blackberry. First I snapped a quick pic of Bruce with Thurman and Jim Kelly next to his bust shortly after Bruce’s speech.

Then it was off to Mr. Wilson’s private party to first cover the event and then get some food myself (we barely had dinner). With a live band from Buffalo going all night, the 50th anniversary season was celebrated in ice, Mr. Wilson’s bust was on display and guarded by a HOF representative. Mr. Wilson’s party tent was about 100 yards long. And of course his cake courtesy of Dessert Deli back home in Buffalo was ridiculous.

The reason why is growing up (in Miami of all places!) he was a huge Bills fan, and admitted it was a big factor in deciding to sign with Buffalo.

“This was my favorite football team when I was growing up,” said Thomas. ”I’m from Miami, but I grew up a Bills fan, always did, always loved the Bills. When I had the opportunity to become a player here I thought, ‘Hey I’ve got to take it.’”

Thomas, who is battling with Marcus Buggs for the backup MLB spot behind Paul Posluszny credits his father for his loyal following of the Bills.

“My dad rooted for all the New York teams, but I gravitated to the Bills,” he said.

Thomas grew up watching the early 90′s Bills, and despite being a linebacker his favorite player was not on the defensive side of the ball.

“My all-time favorite was Thurman Thomas. When I was younger I played running back also, plus the guy had the same last name as me. I mean c’mon how could I not be a fan of that guy. He was amazing.”

Thomas is well aware that the Hall of Fame running back drops by One Bills Drive sometimes and has a local television show in the Buffalo, The Thurman Thomas Show, that airs during the season.

“I’m hoping I do get the opportunity to meet him,” said Thomas. “A lot of good memories watching that guy play.”

Amen to that.

You will be able watch live right here.

Among the other inductees are Troy Aikman, WNY native Jim Dombrowksi and Syracuse’s Don McPherson.