Jan 1, 2013; Orchard Park, NY, USA; Russ Brandon speaks to the press after being promoted to president and CEO of the Buffalo Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Brandon will have full authority over the teams operations. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Hoffman-USA TODAY Sports
Last night I had the chance to take in Bills All Access held in downtown Buffalo at Statler City. The night would bring four panels of experts that contained WGR 550 staff, Bills President and players. It began when you walked in and had Schopp and the Bulldog doing their show live. People hung around to take that in and others moved into the main room to get ready to hear the panels.
As the four panels took their turns to discuss various topics people took in many different views, stories and opinions from the speakers. The breakdown of topics we listened to were: the breakdown of the roster and compared to years before, the QB situation, the offense, the defense and also the new coaching staff and how they came together.
The players that attended were Eric Wood and Bryan Scott. Both players were on different panels talking about their different roles on the field. Wood talked about the things that he is required to do on the field and how much he controls the plays with the QB. A question that Eric took from the people in attendance was: Who do you dislike more Kentucky (Louisville basketball fan and attended college) or the Patriots? New England came out of his mouth rather quickly and many people were glad to hear that. Another question he took was about the food he likes and also what chicken wings are his favorite? He said his chicken wings of choice were from Duff’s and also talked about going to the Fuji Grill.
Bryan Scott also took questions after the panels were done discussing all topics. Bryan was asked about what he thinks of the Bills now and how things have changed so much. He told everyone that he thinks and it looks like this new staff is going to be going in the right direction. The new outlook of the team is great and can’t wait to get the season going. Talk also came out that Scott is a musician during his down time and also likes to sing.
A lot of the questions above were technically asked to both but each commented differently and I focused on the ones were they answered fully instead of a short response. A question asked to both that got a big response was what they thought about the preseason? Both replied pretty similar in the way of they aren’t against it by any means and that time is good to get ready for the regular season and for other players to possibly get their chance to make the team. Another part of that question talked about injuries and Wood boldly said we know what he signed up for and this game is violent. Injuries are going to happen and players know there is always that possibility.
After the question segment ended so did the night and people headed out. As you left you were able to see John Murphy doing his show live in the same place Schopp and the Bulldog were. One thing for me that was a great experience was that I got to meet Russ Brandon. Before the show started he had just walked in and stood right next to me. The next thing I know I’m talking to him about how this team looks to him. He said he is very happy how this team has come around to what it is now and was looking forward to the start of the season. He did talk about it on stage as well but talking about it before was great and he seems like a nice down to earth person. Bills All Access was a great time and looking forward to the other events planned throughout the season.