I CAN’T…AND YOU WON’T

by Patrick Freeman

Buffalo Criterion

 

BUFFALO, NY (BASN/Buffalo Criterion)  The most recent Buffalo Bills game had more sub plots than The Haves and the Have Nots, a popular series on the OWN Network by Tyler Perry.

The beginning of the Josh Allen era as the quarterback for the Buffalo Bills was supposed to be the highlight of the day. The young strong armed passer showed the potential that everyone was looking for, especially after witnessing the implosions of Nathan Peterman.

Head Coach Sean McDermott was so frustrated with the defense that he publicly
threw a veteran Defensive Coordinator (Leslie Frazier) under the bus and announced that he took over the play calling in the second half of the game because as he stated,
“the team needed a spark.”

The question is not in him making the decision but why was this shared with the media?

Many times coaches will keep these changes in-house in order that harmony prevails in the running of the team. Sean McDermott is starting to feel the pressure of his decision making that stripped away a lot of talent from this roster in the name of creating a culture here in Western New York.

The faithful of this region will give anybody a chance, but his, “trust the process” is already wearing thin. He inherited a talented football team, and created a salary cap mess that now has us leading the league in dead cap money amounting to over $52.5 million dollars.

At halftime of a game that the Bills were getting blown out at home 28-3 by
the LA Chargers, Vontae Davis, a former two -time All-Pro cornerback, felt he just
could not play this game at an acceptable level any more.

Vontae Davis had a surgically reattached groin which separated from the bone.

General Manager Brandin Beane and Sean McDermott gave him a one year, $5 million dollar contract, with the amount fully guaranteed. He struggled during the off-season, preseason and still made the roster when he should have been released; yet some of you still are trusting the process when Vontae should not have made this team because of the seriousness of his injury and the unlikelihood of recovery.

I have covered the Buffalo Bills and the NFL for 24 years and have observed how they treat their athletes, like a revolving door animal market. Their Combine resembles the enslavement markets that humiliated our ancestors.

Yet some of you call a ten year veteran of one of the most violent, and debilitating sports in the world a coward because he realized his body no longer would respond to what his mind was requesting!

What has happened to you as a people to refer to someone in the nature that many of you chose that would never step on these fields of human gladiator battle? This man
never recovered and could no longer play at this level.

It is the responsibility of the organization to see conditions of their players but due to mismanaged contracts which has cost ownership millions of dollars and will lead to their eventual dismissal. The Buffalo Bills need to hire a football guy to run this
organization from top to bottom. This is the worst that I have seen in my years
here.

Photo Credit: Jerome Davis

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(Editor’s Note: Mr. Freeman is Sports Director for 96.5 Power FM/Mix 1080 AM and columnist at the Buffalo Criterion)