Gene Battaglia Posts

For as many pieces I have seen written regarding Peyton and Coach Tony finally reaching the top, there have been relatively few about Colts GM Bill Polian. Polian, the architect of the Bills Super Bowl teams, served as GM for the first three seasons. After the '92 season, he was fired. It's fair to say that in Buffalo today, Polian is as much respected as Marv Levy. Both men were key for building the early '90s Bills. Congratulations, Bill, on earning the coveted ring.

Former Bills tight end Pete Metzelaars also earns his first ring, now as offensive quality control coach with the Colts. An integral part of the "K-Gun" offense, Metzelaars played on all four Buffalo Super Bowl teams. Jim Kelly once said that Metzelaars was the best tight end he ever played with. Considering the Bills also had a tight end Keith McKeller (who the K-Gun offense was named after), that was a high, and accurate compliment from Kelly.

The list of former 1190-1993 Bills who went on to earn Super Bowl rings includes Don Beebe (won with Green Bay) and Mike Lodish (won with Denver).

And with that, the 2006 season ends. Let the 2007 season begin!

Yesterday's announcement that Thurman Thomas was elected to the Hall of Fame should come as no surprise. After all, only Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders had more rushing yards in the 90's than Thomas. What is surprising is Thomas didn't get elected in his first year of eligibility.

Thomas is the seventh Bill to go to Canton: James Lofton and Joe DeLamielluere (2003), Jim Kelly (2002), Marv Levy (2001), Billy Shaw (1999) and some other running back we won't mention who was enshrined in 1985.

Andre Reed did not make it out the round of 17. I'm afraid Reed will have the same destiny as Art Monk - solid players whose stats say they belong in the Hall of Fame, but will annually be passed over. Bruce Smith will be a lock in a couple of years when he is eligible. Counting Levy and Lofton, Smith would be the fifth member of the "glory years" to reach Canton.

Final thought: Someone should give a highlight tape of Thurman and give it to Willis McGahee. Running, catching, and picking up blocks, Thurman was the complete back. And now his career is complete, with an honor that is well-deserved.

In case you missed it, Ruben Brown was named to his ninth Pro Bowl this week, coming off the heals of the Bears making it back to the Super Bowl. Good for Ruben, I say. And from all of the Bills fans I speak with, that seems to be the consensus.

With Buffalo, Brown was the anchor at left guard, going to eight Pro Bowls and playing on four playoff teams. His career in Buffalo spanned from Marv Levy/Jim Kelly to Gregg Williams/Drew Bledsoe. It's a shame that Brown's Buffalo career came to an abrupt end. After voicing his displeasure with the offense, Brown was suspended for the regular season finale in 2003. And he never played in Buffalo again. Since then, the Bills have struggled to find the replacement at left guard. Bennie Anderson, Tutan Reyes, and others have failed to fill Ruben's shoes. Mike Gandy was OK at left guard after the 2006 mid-season switch.

So here's a question: When Brown's career comes to a close, is he Hall of Fame material? I think he's in the conversation. Not many observers, myself included, can evaluate individual offensive line play. Every other position has statistics to compare. Offensive line? For Brown, his resume says nine Pro Bowls and a possible Super Bowl ring. I'm not saying he's in, but I think he's on the bubble right now.

We've heard the analogy before: The Colts of this decade mirror the Buffalo Bills of the early 90's. The Colts are a team with a breathtaking offense, led by a future Hall-of Fame quarterback, with a defense that has had trouble defending the run. And both teams never won the whole enchilada. But the Colts today have a golden opportunity today to get to the Super Bowl. If you are a Bills fan and are on the fence as to who to cheer for in today's AFC Championship game, allow me to offer some reason to pull for Indy:

• Bill Polian: He's the man who drafted Kelly and Thomas, traded for "Biscuit", plucked Steve Tasker off of waivers, and brought his close friend, Marv Levy, down from the CFL to lead the Bills to a historic Super Bowl run. By 1992, Polian and owner Ralph Wilson's money people couldn't get along, so Polian was fired. In my opinion, Polian deserves as much credit as Levy for the success of the Bills in the early 90's
• Peyton Manning: Remember when Steve Young, post-Montana, took the celebratory lap in Candlestick when he brought the Niners back to the Super Bowl? I hope Peyton can take one of those laps today. He's a classy guy. Anyone who met him last May at the Rochester "Day of Champions" charity dinner would agree.
• Go away: That is, go away New England! If the Bills are to win the division in 2007, the Patriots need to slip a notch. Let the slip begin today in Indy, I say.

Enjoy the games today!

Agents can be good for two things: Negotiating contracts, and damage control. After Willis McGahee told Penthouse that the league should move the Bills to Toronto, you could almost hear the keyboard in Drew Rosenhaus' office banging away, offering up an apology. In a statement, McGahee says it was all taken out of context. As appeared in The Buffalo News:

"It has been brought to my attention that through an article I did with Penthouse magazine, fans and readers may have misinterpreted my response when asked about the possibility of the NFL one day coming to Toronto.

"I want to make it clear today as I have been committed to the Bills for the last four years that my heart is with the Bills and the city of Buffalo. If the league decided to expand my intent was that Toronto is a beautiful place to do so. I never would suggest the Buffalo Bills move to Toronto. My words were taken out of context and I suggested they get a team with a loyal fan base and organization such as the Buffalo Bills. My family and I have made our home here and enjoy the hospitality of the city. I am a proud member of the Buffalo Bills, we have the most loyal, supportive and dedicated fans in the world, and I cannot think of a better organization to be a part of."

Who actually believes McGahee sat down and wrote this? Anyone? Here's how I imagine it went down: Rosenhaus knew his leverage for extending McGahee's deal in Buffalo was all but gone, so he had he people type this. Then he called Willis' cellphone, read it to him, and Willis mumbled "go ahead."

Former GM Tom Donahoe was never able to fully shake the "I am ashamed to be part of this community" quote. Will Bills fans forgive and forget Willis' quote?

A press conference called by the Buffalo Bills originally scheduled for Tuesday has been postponed to an undetermined date and time. Wilson wants to meet with reporters, to "expound on the viability of the franchise in Western New York."

It's no secret that Wilson was unhappy with the CBA prior to the start of this season. The Bills and Bengals were the only teams not to approve the deal.

An interesting note on this press conference: Cameras and any sort of recording device are not permitted. From the press release: The goal of the Bills organization is to continue to give insight into this complicated issue so that media members will know the latest information in order to have a complete understanding of the subject matter when reporting. We encourage media members to attend this important meeting as some very worthwhile information will be disseminated by Mr. Wilson and the Bills organization

The key word here being "complicated." I am looking forward to hearing Wilson speak in long-form, and to understand better what it is the organization is not happy about.

If Willis McGahee had his way, he'd move the Bills to Toronto. In a recent interview with, ahem, Penthouse, the Bills running back was asked about the possibility of Toronto receiving an NFL expansion franchise someday.

"That would be a good situation. Toronto is a beautiful place. But if they're going to put a team there, they should just bring the Buffalo Bills to Toronto. Case closed."

Needless to say, those comments didn't go over well here in Western New York. Look, Toronto is a great city, on par with any in the world. Someday I hope the NFL puts an expansion team in Toronto, a city that is more deserving of a franchise, than say, Los Angeles. But to have your star player say the franchise should leave Buffalo? Why, Willis? What has Buffalo done to deserve not having a team?

McGahee may not be aware of this, but there already is a football team in Toronto. They are called the Argos. How about it, Willis? You and Ricky Williams would make quite a 1-2 punch in the backfield.

Who's up for a European roadie? The NFL has announced that the Bills are one of six finalists to host a regular season game in Europe next season. The game will be played in either Germany or England, with the announcement of the location coming next week. The other teams being considered to go overseas are the Dolphins, Chiefs, Saints, 49ers, and Seahawks.

The way I see it, there's more drawbacks than pluses to the Bills hosting a regular season game for the obvious reason: You will lose the home-field advantage at Ralph Wilson Stadium. From a competitive standpoint, that's not good. On the other hand, season ticket prices will have to down if there are only seven home games next season (they would have to, wouldn't they?)

Remember, the Bills had their last four home games as non-sellouts. So it's no wonder the Bills are on the list of six teams that may need passports next season.

The complete 2007 NFL schedule will be announced later in the spring.

OK, Bills fans, here's a pop-quiz for you: Can you name the five former Buffalo Bills that are on one of the twelve NFL playoff rosters? Stop reading for a minute - give it a try, see if you can get it. I'll be honest, originally I was only coming up with three: upon review, there are five. Ready? OK

Dallas Cowboys: QB Drew Bledsoe. Easy. Barring an injury to Tony Romo, he won't see the field. And should the Cowboys lose the the Seahawks, he may be suiting up for the last time.

New Orleans Saints: TE Mark Campbell. A first-class guy, always a pleasure to deal with. I am happy he'll earn some extra playoff cash.

Seattle Seahawks: DE Bryce Fisher. A good John Butler 7th-round pick still in the league.

Baltimore Ravens: DT Justin Bannan. One of the two players I missed on. Bannan signed with the Ravens this off-season.

New England Patriots: S Rashad Baker. Had the Bills let go Troy Vincent at the end of camp, it's possible that Baker wouldn't be wearing Patriots colors right now.

There is one other player that spent time in camp, but never made the final roster: Giants backup QB Tim Hasselbeck. His time at St. John Fisher is memorable, if for nothing else we reporters had an "Elisabeth watch" going on, hoping his then fiance/former reality TV star would come to Rochester. She never came.

I'm sure most of you by now have heard of the shocking admission by Bears quarterback Rex Billy Joe Grossman. Grossman admitted that he didn't prepare for the season finale against the Packers. He went on to say something about being distracted by New Years' Eve. Wow.

Bears fans should know we had a similar situation here in Buffalo in 1997. Any Bills fan worth his weight in chicken wings knows the story: Then starter Todd Collins (who, by the way, is still in the league today with the Redskins. How is this possible?) was injured in New England. Hobert came in relief and promptly stunk out the joint. His excuse? Like Grossman, he didn't prepare. Hobert offered up this following the loss: "I only looked at the passing plays (during the week) one or two times. I'm probably going to get in trouble for this, but I just didn't study hard enough."

Was Hobert benched? No. Was he suspended? No. HE WAS CUT. The message was clear: You are a professional, and if you don't do your job, you will lose your job. Cutting Hobert was the right decision by then-GM John Butler and head coach Marv Levy. The Bills fell to 6-10 in '97, but the message was sent to the younger players. The Bills went back to the playoffs in 1998 and 1999.

Will Grossman be cut? No. But if you were a Bears fan, wouldn't you be demanding the team start Brian Griese?