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Toronto Initiative Official
Everett At Super Bowl: Kevin Everett is taking a break from his promotional tour for his newly released book, "Standing Tall. He is in Glendale Arizona for the Super Bowl today. He will be a guest of Commissioner Roger Goodell and will sit with him to see the Giants take on the undefeated Patriots.
Saturday February 2, 2008
Reed Doesn't Make The Hall: Andre Reed was not elected for induction into the 2008 class of Pro Football Hall of Fame. For the second straight year he was eliminated in the first round of voting when the 15 modern era nominees were whittled down to 10. He was among 17 finalists including 2 senior nominations. One of Reed's two main competitors for induction did get in. Art Monk is in the class after a long wait and will be joined in Canton by another Redskin Darrell Green. Chris Carter was eliminated in the 2nd round of voting. Also going in the Hall are: Gary Zimmerman, Andre Tippett, Fred Dean, and Emmitt Thomas.
NFL Move To Toronto Possible: Roger Goodell wouldn't close the door on a permanent move to Toronto by an NFL team. During his State of the NFL address yesterday he said, "you could never take out the idea that it could lead to more, but that's not our plan," Goodell told a couple of Toronto reporters. "This is a deal for five years and that will be our focus ... that the games (in Toronto) over the next five years are done successfully and will be done in a way that will reflect well on both Toronto and the Buffalo market." That won't make Bills fans feel to good about their long term future in Buffalo. Ralph Wilson told the Buffalo News on Thursday that he can't help fans that speculate this is the first step in a permanent move to Toronto. That wasn't exactly him stopping the rumors.
Wilson On Toronto Games: Ralph Wilson released a statement after the commissioner announced the Toronto games. He said, "we are very pleased to be the first franchise in NFL history to split our schedule between our domestic home city of Buffalo, New York and our neighboring international city, Toronto, Ontario," Wilson said. "The population growth in Toronto, the passion the Canadian fans have shown for the Buffalo Bills and the vision of Ted Rogers and Larry Tanenbaum have made this possible."
HOF Announcement Today: The NFL will announce the Hall of Fame class of 2008 at 4:30pm today. Andre Reed is among the list of 17 finalists. There will be anywhere between four to seven members of the class and there will be a cutdown from the 17 before the class is announced.
Friday February 1, 2008
Goodell Makes It Official: Roger Goodell made it official in his State of the league address today, the Bills will play a regular season game in Toronto in each of the next five years and a preseason game in every other year, a total of eight games. Goodell said, "I think it was done very thoughtfully, I think it was done to help regionalize the team on an even broader scale than they have. They have regionalized throughout Western New York and that's helped the team be more successful from a business standpoint and marketing themselves more effectively. They have a tremendous amount of interest north into Canada and the Hamilton-Toronto area." He went on to say "I think this will be great for all Bills fans, I think it will give people in Toronto the opportunity to have a game in their market and it will also give the Bills fans an opportunity to go to that game." He said expansion into Canada is not on the front burner and they are careful not to hurt their relationship with the CFL.
Thursday January 31, 2008
Bills Promote Five: The team continued their restructure of the operation today. They promoted four administrators to senior vice president roles. Jim Overdorf leads the group as he is now the senior VP of Football Administration. He will continue to handle contracts and the salary cap. Marc Honan is now the Sr. VP of Marketing and Broadcasting, Pete Guelli is now the Sr. VP of Business Ventures and David Wheat is the new Sr. VP of Business Operations. He will now oversee stadium operations. The team also promoted Gretchen Geitter to the title of VP of community relations.
Toronto Deal Done: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is expected to confirm that the NFL will allow the Bills to play in Toronto during his state of the league address today. Details of the deal are out and it includes the Bills playing five regular season games and three preseason games in the next five years at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The regular season game in 2008 is expected to be in December. Games late in the year typically struggle to sellout at Ralph Wilson Stadium and late in the year doesn't effect the CFL season. It is unknown if the regular season game the following four years will be in December or not. It is also expected that season ticket holders to the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger Cats of the CFL will have first shot at tickets. Reports say that to get priority seating they will have to pay for all eight games up front at a reported $250 Canadian a ticket. The Bills say that this move is necessary to draw more revenue from Toronto to Ralph Wilson Stadium in the forms of suite and luxury boxes sale. 10,000 to 15,000 Canadian fans come to games at the Ralph. A press conference is expected Wednesday in Toronto. What do you think of this deal? Let us know by taking our poll on our homepage.
Tuesday January 29, 2008
TE Signed: The Bills added to their tight end force by signing Teyo Johnson to a deal. Johnson has been out of football the past two seasons and was originally a second round draft choice of the Oakland Raiders in 2003. He also spent time with Arizona, Miami, and Denver. The Dolphins released him at the close of training camp in 2006. He got injured while with Denver last preseason. He did play in NFL Europa last spring. He has 26 catches for 288 yards and three touchdowns in 30 career games. VP of pro personnel John Guy told the team's website that Johnson is versatile and intelligent. Johnson called this a great opportunity and he looks forward to trying to make the team.
Monday January 28, 2008
Hackett Hired: Dick Jauron took a step towards filling out his coaching staff by hiring Nathaniel Hackett as his new offensive quality control coach. He replaced Alex Van Pelt who was promoted to quarterbacks coach. Hackett has held the same job with Tampa Bay the past two seasons. He is the son of Paul Hackett who has coached offenses for many years in the NFL. He coached at Stanford during the first three years of Trent Edwards' time there. That leaves two openings on his staff. He is looking for a defensive quality control coach and an assistant offensive line coach. A report 10 days ago said that he would hire Ray Brown for the line job but that hasn't been made official yet.
Poz To Iraq: Paul Posluszny has an interesting place to watch the Super Bowl, he'll be in Iraq watching the game with the troops and a few other NFL players. They left today for a 10 day trip that is highlighted by the players watching the game with the troops. Posluszny told the team's website that the military has always been close to his heart and he has a special respect for the men and women serving abroad.
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