Monday, February 8, 2010

Did Super Sunday say anything about the Bills?

I don't want to belabor this point in the incestual world that is the National Football League, but one of my favorite Bills snagged a Super Bowl ring on Sunday, and it wasn't for Buffalo.

Jabari Greer, he of the quirky Bills locker room skits and undrafted starter fame, is a Super Bowl champ. So are Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and two of his players, Anthony Hargrove and Pierson Prioleau.

They are the first former Bills to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy since Larry Centers of the Patriots in 2003. There have been others -- Rob Johnson (Tampa Bay) and Mike Lodish (Denver) among them -- but those were back when Bills fans felt they were just a few moves away from a title, so briefly removed from playoff wins.

Honestly, when my boss called me Monday morning and asked if I had any postable opinions on Gregg Williams winning a Super Bowl, I felt uninspired in terms of writing. Yeah, I don't really like the guy, and I'm bummed that he won. Plus, I was rooting for the Colts on account of UB alumni Drew Willy and Jamey Richard.

But truth be told, former Bills winning doesn't faze me. Maybe I'm already in hockey mode after the underwhelming "Quest For a Coach" and more underwhelming Sabres weekend, but when I see Williams, I don't think "former Bill" and I certainly don't seethe with hate. I don't like the guy, no, but he's just another guy who has a ring.

When it comes to Greer, I'm very happy for him. He was a rags to riches guy who told us midway through last season that the Bills hadn't even approached him about sticking around. That was pretty rough to hear, but maybe there's a silver lining here.

There's a new coaching staff and some new front office folks in town. Sure, they don't look like much and the odds say they're bigger castaways than "Lost," but beneath it all maybe they'll be able to recognize and work with the talent they had.

I'm certainly one of those "quarterback first" guys, but how much better would the Bills have been if they had picked Haloti Ngata and played him alongside former Bills defensive tackle Justin Bannan, allowed to leave. What about Jim Leonhard, who started for the Jets in the AFC title game with a broken hand? Mike Gandy started a Super Bowl at tackle for the Arizona Cardinals last year, while Sam Aiken has been catching passes from Tom Brady this year.

Bannan, Leonhard, Gandy and Aiken aren't household names, nor are they stars. They aren't players you were shocked to see leave Buffalo and, with the exception of Leonhard, they underperformed as Bills. But it makes you wonder exactly how bad things have been here in terms of finding and developing NFL players, not even in free agency, but on your very own practice field.

There's a bunch of new faces in charge now. New defensive coordinator George Edwards could be eyeing up someone in the draft, but he also could've seen a number of players in the NFL and thought, "Those guys could work better under my tutelage." Same for every other coach on staff. It's not much to go on, but it's better than nothing.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

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