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People painted their faces red and blue for the pilgrimage to Orchard Park last week. More than 1,000 showed up outside Ralph Wilson Stadium in the middle of a work day to see Drew Bledsoe ascend from the heavens (or at least Montana).
While that might say something about the priorities and employment status of those particular Buffalo Bills fans, the enthusiasm generated by the ex-New England Patriot passer's arrival spread far beyond the most rabid faithful.
In four days after Bills President/General Manager Tom Donahoe's deft maneuvering to land Bledsoe capped (for now) his makeover of the most dismal Buffalo football team in 16 years, the franchise sold more than 1,500 season tickets.
While that had to make Wilson happy -- even if all the new purchases were at the cheapest rate of $300 per, that's $450,000 fresh dollars in the coffers in 96 hours -- the frenzy generated by the Bledsoe trade, a draft that landed up to a half-dozen regular contributors and some smart free-agent shopping, spread far beyond One Bills Drive.
It's just about impossible to find anyone in Western New York who doesn't expect the Bills to be significantly better than last year's 3-13 train wreck. But how much better? Five wins? Eight wins? If you put any stock in frothing sports-radio hosts and their giddy callers, the number rises to 12 or 13.
Easy, Trigger. Even assuming that the rookies (particularly top pick Mike Williams) look as good in September and October as they do in April, and that every veteran free agent, from middle linebacker London Fletcher to offensive tackle (at least for now) Trey Teague, makes the contributions that Donahoe and coach Gregg Williams expect, even the most talented teams have to learn how to win. While free agency and the salary cap have shortened that requisite learning period from a few years to a few months, or even a few weeks, 12-4 or 13-3 is optimistic to the point of fantasy.
But make no mistake, better the Bills will be. And that improvement starts with the quarterback.
Even in the hyperbolic realm of sports, it's tough to overstate Bledsoe's impact. When the New England's front office ended weeks of speculation, negotiation and reports without confirmation by accepting Buffalo's first-round pick in 2003 for the best quarterback in Patriots history, the Bills went from entering the season led by career backup Alex Van Pelt, a mediocre journeyman like Jeff Blake or an untested rookie to having a three-time Pro Bowler at his peak.
Before and after the trade, skeptics pointed to Bledsoe's numbers, which declined along with New England's won-lost record over his last three full seasons as the starter. But both sets of figures had mitigating circumstances.
In 1998, Bledsoe played the season's final six weeks with a broken finger on his throwing hand, which he did admirably until team doctors inserted a pin and effectively ended his season. Rookie Robert Edwards ran for 1,000 yards that season, giving the Patriots a semblance of offensive balance. But a catastrophic knee injury in the first and last postseason beach football game sanctioned by the National Football League effectively ended Edwards' career, though he's trying yet another comeback this year, and left the Patriots without any semblance of a ground attack.
New England's offensive line deteriorated steadily over the next two seasons, with All-Pro offensive tackle Bruce Armstrong's tour of duty as Bledsoe's bodyguard coming to an end. That, and the lack of a ground threat, led to Bledsoe getting sacked 100 times between 1999 and 2000. The decline of longtime Bills killer Ben Coates and the increasingly erratic behavior and availability of primary wideout Terry Glenn didn't help, either.
With the addition of second-round pick Josh Reed, the Bills present Bledsoe with an array of targets superior to any arsenal he ever had in New England. And he's still perfectly suited to utilize them.
At 30, with a fresh start after an agonizing final season in New England spent recovering from a severed blood vessel suffered in Week 2 and watching Tom Brady lead the Patriots to their first Super Bowl win, Bledsoe looks more than ready to return to Pro Bowl form. Especially after seeing him zip lasers all over Buffalo's practice field during his first workout with the Bills last Friday.
Throughout that session, surrounded by rookies and the youngest returning Bills, Bledsoe immediately started erasing the stigma of jersey No. 11 that grew throughout the Rob Johnson era. Still learning the nuances of a new offense, he moved his overwhelmed teammates into proper position, barked out signals with tremendous command and displayed the arm strength and touch that the Bills and their fans became painfully familiar with over most of the previous decade.
A unique set of circumstances (New England's Brady-led Super Bowl win, Buffalo's need for a quarterback and status as one of the only teams with cap space enough to fit him in, to name a few) made the trade possible. The swap was unique in NFL history -- no quarterback as accomplished as Bledsoe has ever been traded at what should be his peak.
Joe Montana was all but finished when San Francisco sent him to Kansas City. Joe Namath and John Unitas were absolutely done when the Baltimore Colts and New York Jets dumped them on gullible West Coast franchises. The only deal that even comes close was Philadelphia's ultimately foolish decision to deal Sonny Jurgensen to Washington after the 1963 season. And even that doesn't measure up -- Jurgensen had only been the Eagles' starter for two seasons and part of a third. He went on to play 11 seasons for the Redskins, seven as the No. 1 guy.
If the Bills get nearly that much mileage out of Bledsoe, the trade will prove even better than it already looks. Which, at the moment, is more than good enough for the Bills and all those people with red-and-blue faces.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | April 30 2002 |