Well..Can't say we are shocked, can we? The latest news out of One Bills Drive shows exactly what I feared when Russ Brandon came out 13 months ago and had all those valor quotes about how pissed off he was about the team's direction and how things were going to change. While the Bills got younger in their front office and coaching staff, the old regime that has been here since the beginning of time have still been lurking in the shadows.
I've said this before, but the only way I would truly feel better about the Bills moving in a better direction is if they fired everyone who has been in that building since before the turn of the century. However, the problem goes beyond One Bills Drive and resonates in Detroit. I can only assume Ralph Wilson's bean counters are sitting around with probably remote cameras zeroed in on the happenings of One Bills Drive and just thinking they know more than the younglings.
I've read enough New York Yankees books to know that this smells like the discord between the people in Tampa Bay and the people in the Bronx. It is George's confidants vs. Insert GM's name confidants.
I'm sure most of you guys read Tim Graham's piece about all of this and it doesn't look good. I wanted to believe the old regime were going to sit around in the back room and collect coupons and watch Golden Girls, instead, they still have their hand in football matters. Why can't these guys just fucken retire already?
Here is really the highlight from Graham's piece that I think just makes me want to pull a gun out and start shooting into the sky:
Team sources tell me executives such as Littmann, Overdorf and Berchtold still hold too much sway and haven't afforded Whaley or Marrone as much control as either feels he needs to correct a losing culture. These sources tell me Marrone and Whaley would like more control over personnel decisions, especially free agents. These sources tell me Marrone and Whaley would like more control over personnel decisions, especially free agents.
Greaaaaat. First off, why the hell is Berchtold even involved in this? He's the damn PR guy. What? In fairness, if the beef with him consists of Marrone/Whaley not liking the way he guides them through the press, then really..I'm not going to have a conniption fit over it. He's the PR Head and I don't give a shit about PR mishaps.
Now, if he's someone who is in meetings about personnel decisions, that's a giant red flag for me. As for Littmann/Overdorf, this crap has been going on forever. Hell, one of the many rumors as to why Bill Polian was fired was over contract squabbles with Littmann in regards to players.
In the end, none of what we are hearing is breaking news. This shit has been going on forever. There's been a LARGE paper trail of this. We could go back to when Buddy Nix reportedly wanted to hire Marty Schottenheimer, only to to get vetoed by Ralph. We could go to Flutie/Johnson and the playoff game against Tennessee. We could go to FAs leaving. Hell, you think Marrone/Whaley want to play a damn game in Toronto? Hell, no. There are so many more examples.
But you know how things can be different for a change? For Whaley/Marrone to keep fighting. To keep leaking stories. To keep pressure on the old guard to get the hell out of the way. This has been something the Bills old-schoolers have never really experienced since Polian left… Guys who will push back and aren't just happy to collect a pay check.
They have had so many guys take jobs who had no business being in the NFL anymore (Jauron/Gailey/Nix/Modrak). They probably felt they owed the Bills for having a 10th chance (We go beyond retreads here in Buffalo) to do something with their football careers and would never rock the boat. Hey, when you feel you luck your way into a job, you ain't going to yell at your employers. You are going to be a shill. You are going to do as you are told because the alternative is sitting on your ass and not working. Seriously..are any of our former coaches/GMs working right now?
With Marrone/Whaley, those guys can probably get jobs elsewhere just because they don't have the stench of retread on them and are pretty young. So, why be a bunch of "Yes men" like the rest of them? Be bold and take the power back ("Rage Against the Machine" voice). Make fricken noise. Call Tim Graham daily and tell him how things are fucked up there. Call the Bills out on their bullshit. Embarrass them. Hell, that's why you can be an anonymous source so you can protect yourself.
It shouldn't come as a shock with the disconnect, especially when you listen to Doug Marrone talk. He always talks about how he can't even pet the dog after a loss or that he makes the pain of losing stay with him as a reminder about how much he hates it. You you can read it on his face after losses.
You think a guy like him is going to stick with status quo and listen to the losers -who haven't wont anything in 14 years- tell him how to run his team? Fuck no. You think Doug Whaley is going to listen when he's coming from an organization like the Steelers? He shouldn't even have to ask the bean counters a fucken thing except how Byrd wants his signing bonus paid out (20s or 100s).
Status quo shouldn't exist for a franchise that hasn't won a playoff game in almost 20 years. Sorry to sound callous, but I don't care if Bud Carpenter has the healing powers of Mr. Miyagi and Wolverine, he's a part of a losing culture and if the new regime wants him out, get the hell out of here.
As for Russ, well, I've always thought he was a shady character and now we get to see if I am right. He has to decide which side he's on. Is he on the side of the people who skyrocketed him to the top of the organization or is he on the side of the people he hired? He's the CEO and when you come out and pretty much say the buck stops here with him then the responsibility of this mess should lay at his feet.
Sadly, just by judging Bradon's ass-kissing history when it comes to Ralph, I think he has to ask him and the bean counters if he can even stand in his own shoes. The decision should be simple for Russ..he needs to be on the winning side and while I'm not sure if Marrone/Whaley are that side, I know the old guard isn't close to that.
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