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Ralph Wilson, Jr. (photo credit – Sports Illustrated)

The recent passing of Buffalo Bills’ owner Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. was covered in depth by the local Buffalo media, and local sports fans showed a genuine outpouring of positive emotions for the man, with a very appropriate tailgate party in his memory, and a good showing at a team-sponsored memorial event at the Bills’ field house. At one time, Wilson’s local image was that of an old tightwad curmudgeon who refused to spend the money it took to make the team a winner, and who at one time threatened to relocate to Seattle if he didn’t get a new stadium. Over time, however, fans came to appreciate the fact that Wilson kept the franchise here, despite being in a small market that seems to get smaller as time goes on. After his death, stories surfaced about what the real man was like – his service in the Navy on a mine-sweeper in World War II, his tremendous generosity in the Buffalo community and beyond, much of which was not publicized. The lease he negotiated with Erie County was a final gift to the community. It includes a huge penalty for any prospective buyers who might want to move the team, and although there are no guarantees, it gives local politicians time to plan the club’s future here without undue pressure. That shouldn’t really be a surprise considering Wilson voted against every relocation of a franchise since he’s been an owner, and always put the betterment of the league ahead of personal goals, going back to the AFL days when he loaned the Oakland franchise owners money to stay afloat when they would have folded. He was a throwback to the days when sports team owners were true sportsmen, and the NFL will surely miss him.

Other thoughts on the NFL off-season:

Following a third consecutive 6-10 season that didn’t show much improvement or development from the Chan Gailey era, I’m still not completely sold on Bills’ coach Doug Marrone, but I’ll give him credit for having guts. After some late season problems with Marcell Dareus, Marrone spoke of having to instill more discipline in the club in 2014. After adding Brandon Spikes through free agency and Mike Williams through trade in the off-season, that challenge will be even greater. Both of those players arrive with baggage that not only makes them appear to be discipline problems, but is pretty disturbing. After acquiring Williams, if the Bills can keep him out of jail, they’ve managed to plug in new players at every position of need from last year, which puts them in a position for the draft where they can pick the best player available when their turn comes.

The NFL has, indeed, announced that they will make an effort to put some sportsmanship back into the game starting next season. Originally, it was announced that the league will instruct referees to penalize a team 15 yards for unsportsmanlike conduct if any player uses the “N” word on the field, but it appears now that a “point of emphasis” (something the league does every year regarding certain rules) will be put on enforcing an existing rule regarding use of offensive language during games. I’d personally like to see that rule tweaked to include offensive actions, or any language, actions or gyrations meant to taunt or disrespect the opponent. The NFL is slowly deteriorating into the WWE, with selfish, self-promoting players blowing their own horns and attempting to push their own personal agendas ahead of the team. I realize my opinion on this is old-fashioned and very old school, but I really wish there were a few coaches left in the game who had the kahunas to sit their teams down in training camp and lay down some rules that were required to be followed, involving sportsmanship,  decorum on the field and how they represent the team. In general, just get these players, who whether they like it or not are role models, to act like grown-up adults. It’s unfortunate there are no Paul Browns, Vince Lombardis or even Bill Parcells left in the coaching ranks.

It’s been a little over a month since the Super Bowl, and I figure it’s about time to post some thoughts that came to mind after watching the game:

* It was unfortunate that the main story leading up to the game was Richard Sherman’s post-game rant at San Francisco’s Michael Crabtree following the NFC Championship game. Sherman is a terrific player, and it’s a shame he had to ruin what should have been a positive spotlight moment for his team after a hard-fought win by putting on a classless display of selfishness. Poor sportsmanship has been slowly creeping into the NFL in recent years and is becoming the norm, and hopefully the league hierarchy will do something to curb it before next season.

* Marshawn Lynch is now the latest example of a problem player leaving Buffalo and coming out smelling like roses with his new team. Lynch has been a huge weapon for Seattle, was a major contributor to their success with his hard-running style , and definitely deserves his Super Bowl ring. However, I still prefer the Bills’ current backs, C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson, over him.

* Peyton Manning and the Broncos were favored to win the Super Bowl, and they laid a major egg with their effort, starting with the game’s first play that resulted in a safety. The loss was the fifth for the Denver franchise in their history, so they now have one more than any other NFL team, surpassing Minnesota and Buffalo, who have four.

* I really hope that the performance of Seattle’s defense in totally smothering the potent Denver attack will be a pre-cursor to the 2014 season. The NFL is a ‘copycat’ league, so hopefully coaches will now concentrate on strengthening their defensive units. It would be nice if the NFL started to move away from the Madden video game style of all-passing, all-the-time games and back toward an era of dominating defenses, or at least swing the pendulum back somewhat.

The first week of the NFL’s free agency period is now history, and the Buffalo Bills were pretty active in getting players signed, although there weren’t any big names among the signees. There WAS a big name lost, however, as Pro Bowl safety Jairus Byrd left for New Orleans. I have mixed feelings about Byrd leaving. On the one hand, the Bills regularly let good players walk away to go on to bigger and better things elsewhere, and this is just another example of that. On the other hand, you can make an argument that the team never won with him here, so they certainly can’t do worse without him.  Buffalo made positive moves by hanging on to a pair of their own free agents, kicker Dan Carpenter and tight end Scott Chandler.

Here’s the assessment of the team’s other signees:

G Chris Williams – signed away from the St. Louis Rams, Williams is viewed as anywhere from a decent player to a major bust. He was a first round draft pick of the Bears at one time and was considered a major disappointment. With the Rams, he was a two-year starter who was unspectacular but held his own. He will compete with Doug Legursky at left guard in training camp.

LB Keith Rivers – Buffalo has big shortcomings at the linebacker position on the current roster, so any help there is a positive. He started his career in Cincinnati and played last year with the Giants, who opted not to re-sign him. He has never lived up to the billing he had coming out of college, so  there shouldn’t be any expectations that he’s going to be a big difference-maker.

LB Brandon Spikes – a hard-hitting run stuffer at New England who as of now is the team’s starting middle linebacker, allowing young star Kiko Alonso to move outside. He has a reputation for being a dirty player (Ryan Fitzpatrick called him a “punk” when he hit him late and knocked off his helmet a couple years ago). Buffalo needs to be more physical on defense next year, so this is a good signing, as long as he isn’t hurting the team with unnecessary roughness penalties all season.

CB Corey Graham –  a Buffalo native, he isn’t the best player of the bunch, but this is the best signing. Graham is an outstanding special teams gunner, the closest thing the Bills have had to Steve Tasker since Tasker himself. He also has developed himself into a competent cornerback, and in the 2012 AFC title game he made the two biggest plays of the game, intercepting Peyton Manning twice, returning one for a touchdown and setting up the game-winning field goal with the other. Every team Graham has played on – the Bears and Ravens – have been winners, and he is one of those unselfish guys every winning club needs.

RB Anthony Dixon – joining the Bills from the 49ers, he is slated to fill the role as the third back, behind Spiller and Jackson, that Tashard Choice used to fill. Buffalo had trouble in short yardage downs last year, and Dixon is a short yardage specialist, one advantage he has over Choice. He is also a great special teamer and an unselfish guy. The signings of Graham and Dixon aren’t big headline grabbers, but they are an indication that new GM Doug Whaley is trying to change the losing culture by adding unselfish players with great attitudes who’ve been with, and contributed to, winning organizations.