My Surprise Encounter with Buffalo Bills Legend, Jim Kelly

If you check out any football site, you'll find mock drafts and stories about the labor situation amidst a spattering of stories about off-field troubles some notable players are having. Instead of the little commentary I could give about those subjects I've decided it's story time. Enjoy this little anecdote:

Jim Kelly's Hall of Fame career with the Buffalo Bills started just months after I was born and I was lucky to get to expereince it all. I grew up in suburban Buffalo only minutes from what was then Rich Stadium, currently Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Stadium, and had the good fortune to be born into a family of longtime Bills season ticket holders. I got to see Kelly's career unfold live and in-person every other Sunday as he took our seemingly flawless team to the playoffs year after year. Needless to say, he was an idol to any football-loving kid in Western New York; the kind of player you pretended to be when you were playing pickup games of two-hand-touch after school.

It was a sad day in Buffalo when he announced his retirement. Kids like me were devastated as the player we had known all our short lives as the immortal leader of our team left the game, teaching us that even the great cannot be great forever. I know that I had thought I would never see the man again. What I didn't know is that I would...only not on the field.

Shortly after Kelly's retirement, I was at Erie Community College, the campus directly facing Rich Stadium and fieldhouse where the Bills had practiced and played for years even before I was born, to watch my younger sister compete in an academic competition. During a break in the action, my friend, whose brother was also competing, and I went exploring. We were probably 12 or so at the time and a college campus was a novelty to us. Vending machines in a school? Auditoriums with seats that had an unfoldable desk attached? It was all pretty exciting.

For whatever reason, we found it hilarious that there was a swimming pool in the building and a viewing window to watch the 50-something's swimming recreationally
in the pool that day. Much to our surprise, the door to the seating area overlooking the pool was actually unlocked (something that was probably a gross oversight considering the campus was overrun by hundreds of children under the age of twelve and the drop from the seats to the tile surrounding the pool was about ten feet). So, in we walked to the overwhelming and familiar odor of chlorine which had epitomized many summers at the public pool which had become the prelude to an exciting football season.

My friend, probably 30 pounds lighter than me, bet me that he could jump from the top row of seats over the railing and into the pool below. Yeah, right, I thought to myself, but before I could tell him how there was no possible way he would make it without hitting the railing a voice boomed from right behind us.

"I bet I could throw you in."

We turned around and to our complete and utter amazement, the giant of a man who was standing there perhaps the whole time while we were joking around was none other than Jim Kelly. After picking my jaw up off the floor I thought as quickly as my spastic mind would allow of things to say like, "Oh my God, you're Jim Kelly!" or "I can't believe it's Jim Kelly, can you sign my shirt?" But as I was standing there awestruck, the only thing I could muster was a feeble, "Yeah... I bet you could."

To that, Jim Kelly just chuckled to himself and walked out of the room to go do whatever Hall of Famers do when they're not playing football.

My chance encounter with Jim Kelly was brief but memorable. Few kids ever get to see, let alone talk to their childhood heros, and I was the lucky son of a K-gun that had that opportunity. You know, I bet if even today I was at that pool with my friend, Kelly could toss him in. Heck, who am I kidding? Kelly would do it while rolling out of the pocket, evading a few defenders and somehow spiralling my friend between two swimmers. Maybe then I would be able to say something a little better than, "I bet you could."

2011 Draft Hat is out: Clues for new unis?

So, anyone who gets the Bills daily email has seen it, but the new draft hats are out and ready for you to purchase. Check em out at the bills store online.


In trying to figure out what the new uniforms will look like I think the new draft hat and all items on the draft gear page can provide some insight. As stated before, we got ourselves the charging blue buffalo but it looks as though we're going back to the red, white and blue hues of jerseys past. The new hat is predominantly red with the blue buffalo on it and plain old white along the brim (with some blue stripes).


Speculation? Throwback unis with the blue buffalo (I think that's what most people figure right now) but the red cap makes me think red helmet too. We'll find out when they come out with the new uniforms this summer. Let's hope two things:


1) We are a better team in the new uniform.

2) We actually see the Bills play in the new uniforms this season.


GO BILLS

Is There a Must-Have Prospect For the Bills?

Hey, I see you prognosticating in the corner over there. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Maylock, Kiper, and anyone with a blog and 20 minutes of spare time. None of the mock drafts mean anything until next month when you might actually get some real news leaked from a legitimate source. Until then, we the fans must listen to every sporting news outlet change their picks from week to week as a new "Must-have" prospect has his workouts.

So, in pooling through draft mocks, in reading about the depth of the draft pool at defensive line, and about how "safe" a pick Patrick Peterson is(my initial pick for the Bills in round 1), it got me thinking: Is there really a must-have guy in this draft? If someone is available at the third overall pick, are the Bills idiots for passing on him?

Amidst all the lockout colloquy, this year's NFL draft has become something momentous for all NFL clubs. With the uncertainty of the intricacies of a new CBA and the talk of the implementation of a potential rookie pay scale, there is more talent across the board than I can remember in any recent draft. This, of course, comes with the disclaimer that I have only really paid attention to the draft in the last 4 or 5 years, so grain of salt for sample size. Still, in comparison to the past few years, where there were one, two, maybe three people that you knew were locks to be off the board in the first 5 picks, this year's draft seems more and more a crap shoot.

Go ahead and take a look at mock drafts from a month or two ago and see how those same draft experts have changed since the combine and individual workouts have taken place. I remember Cam Newton being "the guy" initially, then it was Blaine Gabbert, then the Nick Fairley or Bowers debate, followed by the Jones or Green debate, then it became the Patrick Peterson show, then Von Miller, and now everyone is left scratching their heads because, in essence, there are so many talented prospects this year that the next NFL superstar could come out of the second or third round.

For the Bills, I don't think there's a guy they must have at the third overall pick if he's there. Arguably their most pressing need is defensive line, and there seems to be no shortage of talent there this year. A cult favorite who is on the rise right now on the D-line is Cameron Jordan, but who knows how long those rumors will last.

If there's one thing that I learned last year, it is that the front office at OBD may give a few subtle hints as to who they would like in the draft but only as we approach that time and the media starts to get hungry for sports information at a slow time for Buffalo sports. If you were paying attention last year, they said they wanted the most talented player available and a play-maker. Weeks later they had selected Spiller (let's hope he hits his stride this season). There are at least ten or more players who are talented enough to be taken first overall, and more that should be considered as the third overall selection. Buffalo Rumblings is breaking down their top 13 which I feel is a good place to look for insight into who the Bills might like most (they tend to get a lot of traffic and post great links to draft rumors; credible or not it's a good source of news that's not always lockout related).

Bottom line, this is a redemption year for the Bills in terms of drafting. There are many experienced, proven producers at many different positions that there's no need to take a shot in the dark on a surprise candidate like an Aaron Maybin or Willis McGahee. It's time for the Bills to draft for need, draft for the long haul, and draft wisely. No, there's not one player who they must take if he's there, but at the same time, they can't afford to leave any stone unturned. We'll see what happens in the next month and see if we can't pick up on the way Ralph, Buddy and Chan are leaning pre-draft. Time to re-Billd... meh, I'll work on that one.

Wise Decisions Made and To Be Made

In the past few weeks, the Bills have made some wise decisions in tendering Poz, Whitner and Sanborn and re-signing Wilson. In the event that a new CBA is reached by the NEW deadline today, those are some great moves which will ensure that we have at least one SS ready to start (Whitner or Wilson) and that some other productive players will more than likely be in a new uniform... but still as a Buffalo Bill.

I see nothing wrong with these moves, and I think tendering Whitner is a great move. In the event he wants out of Buffalo, he can explore the free agent market where he is likely to find he is not worth Ed Reed money, and if a club wants to sign him, we'll have first dibs on matching the offer or receiving compensation in the form of a first-round pick. He's going nowhere and may even be relegated to backup duty depending on how George Wilson does with his shiny new contract. I think they'll share SS responsibilities if they're both in Buffalo, but I don't think Whitner will be with the Bills much further than this season unless he deflates his head a little bit.

The only bad thing is that these moves may be nullified depending on the result of the CBA negotiations going on at this time. Nobody knows if the franchise tag and tenders will exist in the next CBA, let alone if there will even be NFL football next season, but as it appears now, these are some pretty solid moves from a head office that seems to have their priorities straight and know talented, motivated players when they see them.

The 11th Hour

Been on hiatus due to extraneous factors, but back on the blog circuit. Just a quick note as the NFL's CBA is set to expire tonight at midnight. I find it ridiculous that the owners have not been able to come to an agreement with the players at this point. The reason being is that they are already making bank on the work done by the players on the field and have come into this labor agreement asking for an even larger share. This comes in the midst of this concussion-focused era of the NFL where we hear reports linking concussions suffered while in the NFL to myriad other negative health-related outcomes in the years post-NFL. Add that to the fact that there is not health insurance or adequate pensions for former NFL players, something you'd see with most any job you get in the "real world," and it just seems all the more ridiculous.

Not all NFL players are millionaires, and most NFL players have very short careers. When an NFL career is cut short by debilitating or life-threatening injury, Darryl Stingley and Kevin Everett most notably, there are very few services the NFL have in place to help cope with and adapt to such injuries. Everett was aided by the fact that our Bills kept him on the roster long enough for him to receive lifetime disability benefits but by most accounts the pensions and disability benefits of the NFL laughable

Other issues besides revenue and benefits that are coming to a head at the CBA negotiating meetings are the proposed 18 game schedule and rookie pay scale. I support the rookie pay scale and there are two very good reasons why. One is Jamarcus Russel and the other is Aaron Maybin, but those are the two most salient at the time I'm writing this. Just look at the ridiculous guaranteed money some of these guys receive for the little work they do in relation to workhorses like Stevie Johnson and Fred Jackson who earn much more than what they are paid currently (thankfully, incentives in some of players' contracts can help balance the iniquity but it remains a great disparity).

As for the 18 game schedule, I've heard arguments on both sides and it's hard to say definitively which side I support more. I would say I am in support of the 18 game schedule with many qualifiers. They would need to expand the active roster from 53 to about 60, add another bye week, and increase player salaries a percentage (5-10%?) if they are taking preseason games out and replacing them with regular season games. These are pretty common ideas I've heard thrown around in the case where an 18 game schedule is adopted. I think you'd also need to up player benefits before the NFLPA would agree to this because injuries would be more likely if you have two more meaningful games tacked onto an already grueling schedule. As a fan on the game, I'm in support of more regular season games, and as a fan of the players, I feel you'd need to give them more of the money they'd earn playing more meaningful games, putting more asses in the seats and raising television revenues for the owners.

Anyways, NFL fans worldwide are holding their collective breath as the collective (owners and NFLPA) collaborate on closing on a new collective bargaining agreement. I pray they do find some middle ground and there is no lockout, but right now that scenario seems far-fetched. At the very least, and this is my plea, extend the deadline and get a new CBA done. We want football, and if there is a lockout, fans will side with the players (who they can speak to via twitter nowadays, something that is and will become even more powerful an asset for NFL players to lobby for fan support) not the owners and the NFL's money machine will lose billions. I hope some wise business decisions are made in that meeting room today. Keep your eyes peeled for news folks. Stay classy 716.

Too Many Mocks Give Bills Green

I wish that "Green" meant money in the title, but it means receiver AJ Green (Not to be confused with the accusèd murderer of Mr. Boddy and undercover FBI agent of the Hasbro board game/Paramount Pictures' year of the Ox release, "Clue" (1985), Mr. John Green.

I think it's worth noting that in 2010, with relatively little expected of them, the unheralded Buffalo Bills receiving corps but up superb numbers. The only real disappointment was Lee Evans who we, the Bills faithful, hope will either bounce back next season in a big way, relinquish his designated #1 receiver role for a more complimentary role (what I think is most probable), or be traded for something OF VALUE (3rd round pick? maybe more?). Whether or not this is reflective of their individual talents, the ineptitude of defenses they faced, a hyperbolic perception based on low expectations (there's my psych background coming into play), Fitzpatrick's command behind center, or a mixture of these and any other factors is irrelevant. The Bills had a consistently productive receiving corps and will add one more play-maker to its ranks when 4th-rd pick, Easley, comes back from IR to compete in his sophomore season.

Yes, there will be an odd man out and many speculate that will be Evans. He has seen a drop in production over his past 2 seasons and suffered a tough injury near the end of 2010. However, he has a couple years left on his contract and I feel he is too talented, and too much a leader on this team to trade. He's experienced mixed success in an ever-changing offense and has never voiced a complaint, in that regard he is the antithesis of the enigmatic Eric Moulds, who departed when he had to compete for receptions with Evans. On a young team with young, talented receivers, I feel he's too valuable an asset to give up, at least at the moment. That is why it is my firm belief that AJ Green will not be a Bill come April.

Where were the 2010 Bills most inept? Running defense. While both Marcus Stroud and Dwan Edwards are veteran players, they did not make much of an impact in stopping the run, which is their main function in a 3-4 defense. Last year the Bills drafted Alex Carrington who looks like he could eventually take over for Dwan Edwards. Who's going to take over for Stroud, one of the oldest players, if not THE oldest player on our defense. If either Fairley or Bowers is on the board at #3, I can't see the Bills passing up the opportunity to get a stout defensive talent to fortify the league's worst run defense. One of those two players should be the Bills 1st round pick in 2011.

If they happen to be picked at 1 and 2, I think the Bills then have to go with another defensive position of need. I'm not college football expert so I am in no position to evaluate talent of college players. I just regurgitate what I read and hear. Knowing the Bills have signed Merriman to a contract and have Arthur Moats as a yet-to-be-consistent player but still a fine play maker thus far, I don't think they'll opt to go with a linebacker in the first round. We also Danny Batten coming off of IR this season so we'll get to see what he's made of. If they can't draft top 3 defensive line talent then I think they need to go with Peterson at CB. The impetus behind this is that there are a few playmakers in Buffalo's defensive backfield (SS Whitner and CB Florence, who each had solid seasons and I wouldn't mind seeing either/both of them back), who will be free agents and might go wherever the cash leads them, which may or may not be Buffalo. Whitner will not likely be in Buffalo in 2011 unless he and the front office can reach a compromise. Another factor to consider is that Buffalo's starting CB's, McGee and McKelvin, haven't been playing too well as of late. McGee is great when he isn't injured, so like 40% of the time, and McKelvin is black or white. He makes breathtaking plays, the variable is for which team he makes them. So Peterson is the obvious 3rd candidate for our 3rd pick.

I'll be listening for indications of which way the Bills are leaning before making a final prognostication on the Bills round 1 pick. I'm so far 1 for 1 in calling who the Bills pick on buffalobills.com, didn't win the contest, though I am happy that Spiller is a Bill and hopeful he'll have a good season in 2011. I don't care if I'm right or wrong, but I'm pulling for Bowers or Fairley, either of which I'd be thrilled about. If Luck wants to renege and declare for the draft, I'd be fine with that too. At least that way if we didn't get our DE of the future we'd have a franchise QB. Hey, I can dream.

RIP Cookie Gilchrist

Former Buffalo Bills fullback, Cookie Gilchrist, passed away Monday due to a hard-fought bout with cancer. He was 75 years old at the time of his death. He's most remembered by Bills fans as being the best running back of the club's AFL years and the man in our backfield in our '64 and '65 championship seasons. I never had the good fortune to see the man play but I do know he was the first AFL player to eclipse 1,000 yards rushing in a season and set a (then) pro football record 243 yards rushing in a single game (including 5 TD's). To read a lot more about his career and his life I recommend checking out the links on the Buffalo Bills website. Here's another link to a video done in memoriam. Also, a great write up on the AFC East blog on ESPN.com.



Cookie Gilchrist, 1935-2011

Recognition Well-Deserved

A heart-felt congratulations to Buffalo's Kyle Williams for making it to the pro bowl (albeit as an alternate). This is recognition he should have had initially, but at the very least he was a first alternate and will be making the trip to Hawaii. Buffalo Rumblings posted a link to pro football focus who gave him the honor of Defensive Player of the Year, and though he probably won't even factor in defensive MVP talks, his body of work, regardless of the team he played for, says he probably should. Here's a good link from Buffalo Rumblings which sums up his first ever pro bowl season.



Congratulations, Meatball, you earned it.

For my 53+ Dead Homies

As foreshadowed by a decade of ineptitude, the Bills finished a far cry from a farther cry away from the playoffs. That said, it was to be expected and they did fulfill my expectations as far as their record was concerned. I thought 4-6 wins would come from this team and hey, we got 4, one or two of which were exciting to watch. My overall observations of the team are that, for the most part, the positions at which we appeared to be the weakest, we were in fact the weakest (perhaps the only exception to that would be quarterback) but we played beyond the level of talent we had as a team.

Both sides of the line, the linebackers, tight ends, and secondary played right up to their potential and no further. The receiving corps and quarterback were, to many, a surprise. I thought we had talent at receiving coming into the year but Fitz really did make his presence known in a much bigger way than I think anyone really anticipated. For me, he was the biggest surprise of the season and due to his performance, we are now left to wonder whether or not the Bills will put QB high on their priorities this April. He earned his beard with the way he took command of the team.

As for disappointments, there are many but I'd like to really look at #21.

CJ Spiller was predicted to be in contention for offensive rookie of the year before the season started, and rightfully so. He had a great preseason, was ranked #1 at his position and was drafted very highly. Unfortunately, he split time at the beginning with Lynch and Jackson, never was able to find his footing between the tackles, battled with his butterfingers both rushing and returning, and as a result, turned in a pedestrian freshman season. How unprecedented....Well no, not at all. We've seen this before but it has been a while.

OJ Simpson (striking resemblance to CJ Spiller, two intitials and a seven letter last name beginning with "S"), the Bills' #1 draft choice in '69 had similar production and after two seasons bore the label "bust" just as Maybin does now and just as some premature evaluators have labeled Spiller.

The Juice's rookie season was mediocre for a number #1 halfback and #1 overall pick. A few yards shy of 700 rushing, 2 rushing TD's, a yards/carry average of 3.85, 343 yards receiving, 3 receiving TD's, a yards/reception average of 11.4 and 6 fumbles.

Spiller's rookie campaign? Playing "Other Guy" to Jackson's "Blankman", Spiller racked up a paltry 283 yards rushing, 0 TD's, a yards/carry average of 3.82, 157 yards receiving, 1 receiving TD, a per reception average of 6.5 yards and 5 fumbles (mostly on special teams).

The most glaring differences are in the receiving numbers and fumbles. In receiving, maybe you could argue that having hall of famer, Jack Kemp, throwing to you would improve your numbers. Call me crazy but I think that's a factor to consider. By comparison, Jackson this year had a per-catch average of 6.9 yards, so to me that says it's more the function of who's throwing or what plays are called than the talent of the player. As for fumbles, Spiller fumbled once every 31 times he carried the ball (including special teams, excluding fair catches), OJ fumbled once every 39 times (including special teams, excluding fair catches), this is inexcusable to me and I see that as an area Spiller really needs to work on.

All in all, I think the two are a lot more similar than they are different. For 3 years, Bills' fans knew OJ as "stutter-step Simpson". Then Lou Saban came back to Buffalo and he got the electric company to turn on the "Juice". Right now we have the "plumbers union" as our O-line and instead of being locked down tight and sealing off blocks, they're letting blockers leak through and Spiller, well, he'll spill the ball every now and then with that kind of blocking. For argument's sake I'll mention Jackson's average of 4.18 yards/carry this year, not much better. Again, to me blocking is the bigger issue. That's a decrease of about a third of a yard per carry from his average last year and he fumbled once more this year than last on 77 fewer touches, special teams included.

So yes, Spiller's first season didn't go so well and was a disappointment, but I'm not gonna sell the guy short. Let's keep it in perspective before throwing the word "bust" around. OJ wasn't the "Juice" until he had a coach that put the pieces around him for him to succeed, and with top talent like he and Spiller both have, he got himself a bronze bust in Canton. Spiller showed flashes of brilliance but needs to learn the game at an NFL pace. He's got the talent but he needs some more talent blocking for him in order to take his game to where a top tier RB's should be and become a bust in Canton, not a bust in the 2010 draft.

Honorable mention disappointment: Special teams. We got better at covering as the year progressed but it seemed like at the beginning teams were averaging 30 yards per return no problem. Also Moorman and Lindell slumped through parts of the season which is atypical for both of them.

Honorable mention disappointment: Turnovers/turnover differential. The last two games were outliers. The Bills had little to play for and it showed in how they played, giving up 13 turnovers in those two games alone and greatly skewing their -17 turnover differential for the season. Still, on the heels of a season where they nearly lead the league in interceptions it's appalling that they didn't start picking off passes and forcing turnovers until the last 8 weeks of the season. This shows we truly need a pass rush and a stout defensive front that can get to the ball sooner and disrupt plays. I think out safeties played decently, though there were many horrible plays with missed tackles and reads, but all-in-all Byrd had a more well-rounded season this year and Whitner played his heart out to make plays. The corners didn't do enough to force turnovers. How many times did you see tight coverage on a receiver who just beat the defender to the ball? McKelvin was picked on all year, McGee was injured, Florence was baited into costly penalties...it just wasn't pretty. I have to say that they had some rhythm near the end of the season but the switch from zone to man coverage was slow and costly on the secondary.

My 2 favorite players of 2010: Kyle Williams, aka Meatball, and Stevie Johnson aka Stevie Styles aka The Joker. It was fun watching these guys play and they kept me interested despite the score of whatever the game. Williams deserved a probowl nod and was snubbed and you could argue the same for Stevie Styles (I bet if his drop vs. the Steelers hadn't occurred and been so highly publicized he'd have been going to the bowl). These guys really turned out to be something special and I'm eager to see them on the field again, hopefully with some better people surrounding them and allowing them to make more plays. Also Arthur "Legend Killer" Moats turned out to be a find and could turn out to be a great pass rusher depending on what happens with Merriman and the incoming draft class.

Most Consistent Player: Poz, this guy HAS to come back next year. Sign him, and sign him for a long contract. He may miss a game or two, but if you can do that and still put up career numbers you are a solid player.

Honorable Mention Consistent Player(s): Eric Wood and Kyle Williams. They are some of the best linemen in the business and we need to stack some more linemen around them. If we can hit on some linemen this year, we'll have something special going because we already have the base of our offensive and defensive lines.

In summation, though their record met my expectations, the Bills' of 2010 exceeded my expectations in how they played. A run-first team became an aerial threat, if only for a few weeks and took much more talented teams by surprise, gave them a run for their money, and gave their fans a thrill or two and a few ulcers. If I think anything comes out of this season it's respect from other players who came into some of the games thinking they'd get an easy W and 70 minutes later walking out like they'd been hit by a bulldozer. The Bills now have an identity again as a team that won't quit no matter the score, no matter the time on the clock, and no matter what the odds-makers say. With some more discipline and some more talent, Buffalo can have a team. I tip my hat to Chan on the coaching job he and his staff did, and though it wasn't a great season for the Bills, I'm proud of how they played and excelled in many ways when perhaps they should not have.

Maybe we'll soon see some flashes of the Levy-era Bills in the years to come. Bills who play inspired by this excerpt from the Ballad of Sir Andrew Barton which all Bills' fans should know by heart because it epitomizes the wagon-circling spirit of the never-die Buffalo Bills and is one of Levy's most famous quotes:

"Fight on, my men," says Sir Andrew Barton,
"I am hurt, but I am not slain;
I'll lay me down and bleed a while,
And then I'll rise and fight again.

heh heh, hells yeah Bills!