Former Bills FB Corey Knox: Exclusive Interview

BuffaLowDown: Coming from a story like Fred’s, going from Division III to the NFL, I could see him approaching you and appreciating everything that you were attempting to do.

Corey: Absolutely and that was something that we shared and that he recognized. I didn’t talk to him too much after he left the team because I know his life got pretty busy. I don’t know if you want to say it this way but the same thing happened to me that happened to him. They brought a different guy in. The writing was on the wall when they signed LeSean McCoy the same way the writing was on the wall for me when they brought in Jerome Felton. I don’t think they ever really gave him a chance. He broke that 40 yard run against Pittsburgh in the preseason game and the whole stadium was chanting “Fred”. How do you let that guy go? He is still good. He is still the heart and soul of your team.

Heart to me is the most undervalued and under looked quality of a football player today. The money is so big, the fame is so big and the notoriety is so big that sometimes people forget what’s really inside of these guys. To me, that is more important than any skillset that any amount of money can buy. I don’t think enough teams value that. If more teams did go about it that way and find out what these guys were about and what they were willing to do for the team you would have more teams like the Patriots. I think they do a pretty good job of that. They find guys who just want to win and who will do whatever it takes to do their job. And if they don’t they’re gone. I hate the Patriots, but that’s a model that they have instilled in their scouting department and their coaches. It’s something that I wish the Bills would do more of.

Last year, I think they demonstrated that cutting a guy like Fred Jackson at a time when they did need running backs, they were thin at running backs, and they could’ve used that guy. I didn’t really like that move and he was someone who I drew inspiration from coming from Coe College, and from nothing, having to go to the European league and the Canadian league to work his way up. That guy never gave up. He was brought to five other teams before the Buffalo Bills. Five other teams he worked out for! Not one of them signed him. Finally, he gets to the Bills. They were the sixth team and guess what? They signed him and the rest is history. He is one of the greatest running backs in the history of the team and potentially a hall of famer if you look at it the right way.

He doesn’t have the playoff wins, or the career statistics but what he stands for and what he means is incredibly valuable to the people around here and I think it should be valuable to everyday people. You can draw into what he has been through and bring it into your own life. I look at football as a metaphor for life and what people go through in football is a metaphor for life so definitely don’t give up on it. 

Next: What attributes does Corey think that GM's and scouts overlook?