Aaron Schobel missing camp should get headlines, not Marshawn Lynch

I’m still waiting for someone in the media to at least bring up the fact that Aaron Schobel is still sitting on his ass on some farm in Texas. I know that Marshawn Lynch NOT attending OTAs seems to be the flavor of the month with the media. However, in the end, it should be Schobel’s absence making the news. I’m making a big deal about this for a couple of reasons:

1) If Schobel isn’t retiring, he sure seems to be pretty confident that he can learn a new position by July. Sorry, but Marshawn Lynch doesn’t have to learn how to play wide receiver or fullback. I’m still at awe that no one is pressuring or writing about how Schobel is doing his best version of being Brett Favre. Yet, I’ve read plenty of junk by the media in Buffalo chastising Lord Favre for retiring and then unretiring. Plus, he’s a veteran and the longest tenured player on the team. Sorry, but shouldn’t an older player like Schobel show some sort of leadership qualities and not make the public or the organization guess what he plans on doing? How many 10-year guys can get away with that?

2) Yeah, I know what the excuse of the media is going to be on not calling out Schobel: “Well, I think he’s retiring, so what else can we write about?” Wrong! This is a player whose contract is worth 50 million dollars, which happens to make him the highest paid Bills player. If he’s retiring, I’d like to know why haven’t the Bills used the money they would be saving on his contract on other issues? Like on a left tackle, 2nd wide receiver or a quarterback. Better yet, his money could have gone to Jared Gaither, who is still twisting in wind in Baltimore. Look, we all know that Ralph Wilson and the Bills front office count their pennies up like the homeless do when it comes to spending money. So, if Schobel had announced his retirement after the season like normal football players do, maybe the Bills could have used his money in free agency. Yet, no one wants to mention that, which leads me to my next point.

3) This whole story has been driven to the forefront because everyone in the Buffalo media hates Marshawn Lynch. There are some people within the media that thought this guy should have been cut after the whole running over the fat chick on Chippewa street happened. The major reason being is that he doesn’t get along with the press. Trust me, once you spurn the press, you are dead to them.

Don’t believe me? Why isn’t anyone making a huge stink about Sabres prospect, Zack Kassian? I mean, he got charged with assault at a Canadian bar and was suspended for 20+ games for a dirty hit. Yet, no one seems to be calling out the Sabres to cut his ass. However, I’m sure most people in the media will mention that Kassian is still a young kid. Well, so was Marshawn Lynch when he got arrested. Again, don’t piss off the media.

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You want to know what I’m more worried about from the distention between Lynch and the city of Buffalo? How other players in the NFL are viewing the situation. I’m sure you all know that the Buffalo Bills have kind of a recruiting problem. Just go back to Donovan McNabb and the disaster known as “Quest for a coach.” Trust me, when Marshawn Lynch conducts interviews claiming that the city of Buffalo are taking away his dogs and his agent says that the police department are full of racist rogues, you have a problem.

It’s bad enough that the Bills are terrible and the city has a stereotype of having nuclear winters year around. However, when you start adding harassment to the equation, it’s going to make the Bills have to pony up more money for free agents to come here. Players talk to one another when it comes to issues like these. When they hear stuff about getting your dogs taken away and race problems, well, it goes from being a Lynch problem to a football problem. This whole saga isn’t helping recruiting matters and I think some fans want the Lynch fiasco to turn into a happy ending for the sake of luring in free agents.

Bottom line: Marshawn Lynch hasn’t gotten in trouble with the law in the last 18 months. The media are covering this guy as if he just got arrested two weeks ago. You know, it’s funny, Sal Maiorana of the Rochester Democratic (Who I do like) has been leading the march for Lynch to leave town, asked his followers on twitter to demand more from the Bills. Well, you know what I would like to demand more of? Media members who ask the hire-ups at One Bills Drive about some of their hiring practices.

I’m still waiting for someone to ask Buddy Nix or Ralph Wilson why they didn’t hire Marty Schottenheimer? I’m still waiting for someone to get Ralph Wilson in a room and ask him what’s going to happen to the Bills when he dies? Why is Tom Modrak still with the club? Sorry, but those are the questions I’d love to have answered, not when Marshawn Lynch is attending stupid OTAs.

That’s the problem with some of these media folks; they either have a hidden agenda with the Bills and don’t want to lose their insider privileges (Everyone on the TV side in Buffalo) or they want to harp on the most idiotic topics like Lynch attending OTAs and the Bills running up the score against Miami.

Look, I’ve stated before that I want the Bills to trade Lynch. My motives have to do with the Bills having too many running backs on their roster and that his relationship with the city is destroyed beyond repair. However, if Lynch ends up being listed third on the depth chart in September, it is not going to make me want to burn down the stadium
in protest like some of the fans and media members. I wrote a couple of weeks ago that if the Bills can’t get fair value for Lynch, they should just wait until a running back goes down with an injury during the preseason or start of the regular season. It’s a smart football strategy and like I’ve said before, football logic takes precedent over personal agendas.