Buffalo Bills: A Bryk House, early training camp edition

BuffaLowDown’s Scott Bryk discusses the title of his articles and talks a little bit of Buffalo Bills football.

“Little pig, little pig, let me come in.”
“No, no, by the hair on my chinny chin chin.”
“Then I’ll huff, and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in.”

Nope. Not this house. I do feel reverence for the third pig who built the house of bricks. Smart pig. A reader did comment recently referencing the Big Bad Wolf. Smart reader. I complimented that reader that they were spot on with Bryk being pronounced as “brick.”

The editorial name is more of a tribute to a friend and former co-worker of about 24 years who passed away earlier this year. R.I.P. Jeff. He always sang the one line he knew from the Commodores funk song when he saw me outside of work or even on the phone.

It really had zero significance except that he found a song that my last name fit into harmony with and he could let it all out. I also am not a huge Commodores fan. Growing up Lionel Richie was the “Dancing on the Ceiling” and “All Night Long” MTV solo act.

Later in life, one discovers him to be on vocals for a legendary Motown band. For this particular song, he took a step back and handled saxophone duties as the drummer warbled the more upbeat songs. If you did not get enough of him on MTV in the ’80s, you could catch him on American Idol if so inclined.

I can dance to Funk about as good as the “Punky QB” did doing the Bears’ Super Bowl Shuffle. A second example would be the likes of “Roxanne” by the Police (not to be mistaken for Roxane Roxane by U.T.F.O. — as if?). I am referencing the way that many people I have known over the years enjoyed singing the chorus of that classic Sting vocal imitation nice and loud. Audience or not.

They let it all out as if they had an abundance of requests. It is quite humorous that a handful of songs seem to give the green light to some to give it a full volume effort without a care in the world. No singing lessons. Not one. I will move forward staying clear of the “My Sharona” scene in Reality Bites as Winona Ryder Janeane Garofalo sing and dance at a gas station. I do not recall anyone requesting that display employed at the establishment.

Garoppolo… is football, not Garofalo. Common glitch. Oh jeez, I can’t escape it. Glitch being Ben Stiller’s word of the day in his one memorable or forgettable Reality Bites line. “What’s your glitch? Have I stepped over some line in the sands of coolness with you, because excuse me if somebody doesn’t know the secret handshake with you.”  Ah… football. Focus. I digress.

32-year-old safety Rafael Bush announced after nine NFL seasons that he was retiring. One week before training camp might be a bit surprising considering the lengthy off-season that he could have announced it. Maybe he did not have an easy time with the decision until training camp was approaching as a reality and not some future undesirable task.

I do not have an issue with this.

At least he did not go all the way through camp and into the season only to retire during a regular season half time intermission.

At least he did not say he was needed to focus on using his celebrity platform status as a resource to enlighten the world on various topics which he could have done effectively as a current player.

Later he indicates an interest in returning to play for another team, but being blocked by the organization he retired from. I do not see that player in the news tackling tough issues. The Bills quickly replaced Bush by signing Kurt Coleman — inking him to a one year deal. Coleman played for Coach McDermott in Philadelphia during his rookie campaign as well as in Carolina during the NFC Championship year.

Coleman is familiar with the defense and expectations. Coach Sean McDermott is very familiar with his talents and work ethic. So as nicely as Bush slid in to help last season, this announcement didn’t cause any lost sleep by the Bills front office. It was a calm, casual, “FYI” announcement and not the big gossip on talk radio like some retiring situations in recent years.

Former Buffalo Bills Vice President of Player Personnel Brian Gaine was brought in by Beane when he first arrived in Buffalo. Gaine left Buffalo taking a promotion to GM in Houston last year. His employment was terminated by the Texans after one 11-win season, strangely. Brandon Beane pounced on the opportunity like a rat on cheese, bringing him back to One Bills Drive in a new role as Senior Personnel Adviser.

Dan Morgan is still in the role formerly held by Gaine. The Bills have an abundance of experience in the personnel department.

Kyle Williams continues to be a leader in his post-playing days. He was at training camp on rainy Tuesday teaching Bill’s first-round draft choice Ed Oliver.  I do not know why I was surprised to hear that reported on WGR550. Would I or should I expect anything else from the man that has always lead by example?

Williams could easily be reporting some critical opinions online from the luxury of his own home. He could be camping with the family. Not Kyle Williams. He is at camp. Training camp. Kyle is mentoring in the rain. As he told Chris Brown on BuffaloBills.com,

"I want to try to hand these guys the keys to being better and maximizing what they have, teaching them what I did and what’ll help them."

LeSean McCoy has always used his athleticism, balance, and vision on the field to excel in rough weather conditions. That was no different in the 11-on-11 drills at St. John Fisher College. Shady certainly looks to quiet the age-related doubts early and often.

The running attack overall looks much further along than early in camp. Hopefully, the line and backs can keep injuries to a minimum which is difficult in those positions which are focused on blocking, being hit and tackled and full-speed collisions.

Well, training camp has elevated the physicality resulting in bumps and bruises. Fights. Don’t forget fights. Stop the presses. Football is here. Just sayin’…