As I've been reflecting on the sea change that has taken place for the Bills since the signing of T.O. (if it weren't for him, wouldn't Buffalo be the absolute last team in the NFL chosen to host a reality show), it's occurred to me just what an enormously instrumental seed Trent Edwards has planted in order to get this whole thing growing.

 

According to Peter King's report on SI.com, this is how it started:

"How about T.O.?''

Bills chief operating office Russ Brandon woke up sometime after midnight Friday morning and noticed there was a text message on his cell phone. So he reached over and looked. It was from Trent Edwards, the quarterback of the Bills. "How about T.O.?'' That's all it said.

Brandon shot back with this: "?''

"T.O. was released. Go get him,'' Edwards texted back.

Brandon still seemed surprised when I spoke to him late Sunday. "I went back to sleep,'' he said, "but I was stunned by it. The next morning, [coach] Dick Jauron and I talked, and he said, 'I think it's something we certainly should take a look at.' I put a call into [owner] Ralph Wilson, and he said, 'Absolutely look into it.'''

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/peter_king/03/08/offseason/index.html

 

If that's actually the case, then it's time to give Trent Edwards a ton of credit for making an incredibly gutsy call.

 

For example, if this were a game of high stakes Texas No Limit Hold 'Em Poker, the situation might have looked a little bit like this:

 

Let's say that there are a number of major players potentially involved in a hand that raises up the pot with increasing magnitude before the flop.

 

Kansas City, for instance, picks up hole cards in the form of Matt Cassel and Mike Vrabel to go with offensive standouts like Tony Gonzalez, Larry Johnson and Duane Bowe.  Let's say that this starting hand is the equivalent of having pocket queens.

 

When T.O. gets released from Dallas, it's like the flop comes out: Ace, King, Queen.

 

Obviously, his "card" has had an immense impact where ever he's gone, for better or for worse.  So, in this scenario let's make him the Ace.

 

Which better helps us to understand why the Cowboys did what they did.

 

It's like they were holding Ace-7 in their hand and although they had paired their Ace, basically the pressure that this situation created was tearing their team apart.

 

Clearly, it can feel good to have to have a pair of Aces to work with (Tony Romo, T.O.,etc.) but with such a weak kicker compared to what had come out on the board, the best play seemed to be to fold considering how much had been raised before the flop.

 

And, within this analogy, just how much had been raised before more cards could be seen?

 

Well, let's take a look at the Colts.  They re-sign their line general, Jeff Saturday, and they've obviously got perennial All Pro players in the form of Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne to go with a coaching change that took place in an especially stable way, although Jim Caldwell is still a relatively unknown commodity at this stage of the game.  Basically, they've raised up the pot sitting comfortably with what amounts to a pair of Kings.

 

So, T.O. gets released...the flop comes out...and they're looking at trip kings, while Kansas City sits on trip queens.  Needless to say, when the action comes to them, they both check (seriously, if either one of these teams would have made a play for T.O. wouldn't it have made them instant Super Bowl contenders with an equally strong chance of catching an extremely bad beat).

 

Meanwhile, all over the NFL, it gets extremely quiet (can you imagine if this flop hit a table in vegas with these hole cards and the entire casino went completely silent for about a minute...because it seems to me, that's just about what happened here).

 

Next up we have a team like Minnesota.  The Vikes raised up the pot by signing Sage Rosenfels to compete with Tarvaris Jackson, and as a compliment to Adrian Peterson, Bernard Berrian, a possibly dominant D (depending on what happens with the potential suspensions of the Williams Wall) while knowing that Matt Birk is tough locker room leader to replace and that Brad Childress is not exactly a master manager of player personnel.

 

In my mind, this puts them on a hand like Jack-Four off-suit.  It seems like they would have every reason to go for a player like T.O. in the name of chasing down what's possible with this flop, but then again, the odds of landing a 10 to make their straight seem increasingly unlikely given what else could be lurking around the corner.  Or, in other words, if they have to invest any more money in this possibility, it could be incredibly great or it could really blow up in their faces big time.

 

So, they check and hope everybody else does so they can see a free card on the turn, knowing that if anybody raises it up from here, they're probably gonna fold.

 

The same goes for teams like Tampa Bay and Miami.  In the case of the Dolphins, it seems like they were raising to keep up with the pot with pocket 9s until this flop came out knowing that if T.O. is on the board, they'd be out in a heartbeat.

 

Strangley enough, you could say that the Bucs also had pocket 9s in the form of all their cap space, the recently aquired Kellen Winslow and Derrick Ward along with their unproven coach and a lot of uncertainty at the quarterback position.

 

As much as they might have wanted to pair their 9s with T.O.and the development of another ace in the form of Antonio Bryant either on the turn or the river, there was just two much at stake here in terms of their threshold for risk.

 

You could say the same for teams with lesser hands in this scenario as well.  Atlanta is out because they don't want to mess with their chemistry and the positive momentum they've got going with their young quarterback (all the while still hoping to keep recovering from the Michael Vick catastrophe).

 

Jake Delhomme, Steve Smith and the Panthers might have thought about it for a second or two, but they also folded for obvious reasons.  The Seahawks, Browns, Jags, Bears, Packers, Lions, Bengals, Rams, Broncos, Texans, Chargers and Saints all fit into this category as well...in an ideal world, they could possibly connect with such a huge flop but frankly, they just don't have the guts to stay in the hand long enough to get a reasonable shot at landing the nuts (although why they didn't pay to stay is actually beyond me...can you imagine T.O. paired with Drew Brees and Reggie Bush, Phil Rivers and Antonio Gates, Matt Forte and the Chicago D, Matt Hasselbeck and Housh, Aaron Rodgers and Donald Driver, Andre Johnson and Steve Slaton, Calvin Johnson and Kevin Jones, Braylon Edwards and Brady Quinn, Torry Holt, Marc Bulger and Steven Jackson, David Garrard and MJD, Jay Cutler with Eddie Royal and Brandon Marshall, or even Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson). 

 

Otherwise, you've got the Jets with no quarterback (8-7 offsuit), the Niners and the Eagles who never want to get burned again (4-2 and 2-4), the Cardinals with plenty of receivers / receiver divas to deal with already and the Giants who could have really gone for it but the chances of Tom Coughlin, Eli Manning and the New York media working well with T.O. after the whole Plax thing were slim to none (probably the equivalent of pocket 7s).

 

Pittsburgh would have been interesting, perhaps hoping to parlay their Super Bowl victory with a T.O. induced repeat by riding a suited trey-deuce with the ace high flop and a miracle 4,5 4rth and 5th street.  Unlikely to work, but if it actually happened, they'd look like pure genius.  Upon reflection though, they figure "if it aint broke, don't fix it" and fold as soon as the raise comes.

 

Which comes in the form of Baltimore.  With a pretty strong starting hand of King Queen offsuit they're feeling good enough to raise but not by too much (meaning the've kept Ray Lewis, got Matt Birk to replace Jason Brown, yet they're still working with a young QB, a young head coach, an aging / almost great D and the bad taste that T.O. left in their mouth the last time this flop came up).

 

Now the action's on Tennesee.  Low and behold, they're glaring down at an unsuited King Queen as well, but they don't like it.  Kerry Collins is their number 1 guy and they've got an awesome young RB with Chris Johnson.  Their D took a hit with Haynesworth's defection, but overall they're still a force and they've got an extremely strong head coach. 

 

However, the Vince Young thing hangs heavy over the franchise and as much as they would love to bring an Ace receiver on board, it might just be too much to stomach if they hope for a full house and end up going bust because they were sucked in by what seemed like a very strong two pair.

 

Which brings us to wild card players like Oakland and Washington.  We all know the Raiders love to essentially bluff with big name players, but that hasn't worked out well over the last 20 years and Tom Cable is probably trying to get them to learn from this lesson by being a little bit more conservative (though the thought of JaMarcus Russell paired with T.O. and Darren McFadden had to have gotten Al Davis' pacemaker to race more than just a little bit).

 

Washington on the other hand must have been on tilt due to the rush from all their recent signings and I bet they wanted their heart rate to slow down a tad before they got mixed up in anything too monumental again.

 

Especially because New England did something kind of sneaky (which they are so known for...in more ways than one).  In this case, they raised Baltimore ever so slightly by signing Shawn Springs. 

 

Not a major pick up by any means but at the moment, it suggested something strong based the Patriots' reputation.  With Randy Moss, Wes Welker and a seemingly healthy Tom Brady (he would have to be if they were willing to take such a relatively small pot during the whole Matt Cassell sweepstakes) they could easily be put on an Ace King or even more likely, pocket Aces.

 

Had New England gone for T.O. they potentially would have been looking at a pair of Aces and Kings (at the worst), trip Aces, a possible full house depending on what comes through for them via the turn and the river...maybe even quad aces based on how they draft.  If they play their cards right and don't get too overzealous here, they could really be sitting in the catbird seat.

 

Especially because they know that Buffalo's going to fold, right?

 

I mean, we almost always do.  Our reputation suggests that virtually 10 times out of 10, we play tight and most definitely don't go for the extremely risky type of guys who come with their own reality shows.

 

But then along comes Trent Edwards in the middle of the night.  Looking down at our hole cards he sees that we've got an Ace Jack that's good to go.  In this scenario, Lee Evans, Marshawn Lynch, Freddie Jackson and a potentially improving D coupled with our always outstanding special teams combines to form the Ace.

 

Knowing himself in the way that he does, he banks on the fact that he's the Jack and this is where it gets really interesting because he's seen what's happened around the league.

 

He's got a stellar read in regard to what's up with the Colts, the Chiefs, the Ravens and especially the Pats.  And, with that read intact, he also looks deep down inside his own soul while checking his cards over and over again before making the big move.

 

You see, he's aware that flop came out with T.O. as the Ace of Clubs, along with the King and Queen of Hearts.  Lee Evans and the rest of team represent the Ace of Hearts and he sees himself as the Jack of Hearts.

 

So, he's got a pair of Aces for sure and one helluva kicker to boot.  At worst, they go toe-to-toe with the best in the NFL and he's got a ton of outs...including the chance to spike a royal flush with one of the two remaining cards to come from the deck.

 

Of course, New England could still make some waves and pull together a full house, and we might be left with just Aces, a busted flush / mixed straight draws (or even worse made ones) but nonetheless, Trent pushes all-in, which is most definitely the correct move at this point.

 

In other words, the text is sent, and the rest of the Buffalo brass sees the light.

 

Bam!!! Next thing we know, the hole cards are turned over and now we're clear about what everybody's really got.  As the rest of free agency takes place, along with the draft, OTA's, training camp and then the course season, we'll see if the Bills get their miracle cards on the turn and the river, either to make the royal flush or we'll see if we can win the Super Bowl with a full boat of our own (not to mention the potential of taking down the pot with the aforementioned flush and mixed straight possibilities).

 

But, what makes this whole thing swing is that Trent sees himself as the Jack of Hearts.  More than anybody, he knows that the most amount of pressure will be put on him within this situation and yet he goes for it anyway.

 

Of course, as an organization, we could end up with just a pair of Aces while the rest of these teams sit still with their trips and we would lose...and we very well could lose in a very big way.

 

With the economy being what it is, going all-in and losing with T.O. could lead to a pretty humbling dominoe effect.  Yes, the contract's only for 1 year and we were certainly one of the shorter stacks in the NFL at this stage of the game, but with the probability of an uncapped era hanging over our heads (which means Buffalo might not get any top tier free agents), Ralph Wilson's age constantly increasing and the chance that the team could be moved if our futility on the field continues...

 

Well, I don't know if Trent Edwards took all of that business into consideration when he made his fateful call but I, for one, am galldang glad he did. 

 

Frankly, it shows guts.  Based on the tone of the text he sent, I can tell he's got moxie...titanium bowling balls, if you will.

 

Because honestly, as much fun as it might be to chase the flush, the straight, the runner-runner full house...you only go all-in here if you believe that you're the Jack of Hearts and there's a chance that no matter what anybody else draws, you can still make us Royal.

 

With that being said, naturally, it puts a whole lot more pressure on who we draft and who we might spike during the rest of free agency.

 

Would Derrick Brooks actually be our 10 of hearts, for example?  What about Rey Maualuga?  Now that T.O. is here, could we convince other free agents to come join the rush...Tyjuan Hagler anyone?  What about Khalif Barnes or Cato June?  Hmmm...Bertrand Berry or Kevin Carter could be good?

 

For a complete lisitng of whose left check this link: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news;_ylt=AhcLlwmGz3Qt6vGWQNPz8RJDubYF?slug=ys-freeagenttracker022509&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

 

Maybe Pettigrew, Everett, Cushing, Maybin or Mathews could be the one to put us over the top...I don't know, but it just got a whole lot more exciting here in Buffalo thanks to the gunslingin' gumption of Trent Edwards and a front office that courageously followed his lead.

 

Would you have done the same thing if you were in his shoes?

 

With Special Thanks to Anyone Who is Still Reading at this Point,

 

Joshua Home Edwards (No relation to # 5)

Bills' Fan for more than 25 Years

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello Mr. Owens,

 

On behalf of four generations of Bills' Fans (my Granddad, my Dad, myself and my future kids) I would like to personally welcome you to the most resilient football family in the NFL.

 

Who knows, somehow you might actually end up reading this post and if that's the case, then I just want to thank you in the strongest way possible for coming to play for Buffalo.

 

We have a proud, steadfast heritage here and we're known for being extremely loyal to guys who give it everything they've got for our team both on the field and in the community.

 

With that being said, it seems to me that you've landed yourself in an especially perfect situation.  For example, when Curt Schilling went to Boston and ended their World Series drought...his tough, gritty performance became nothing less than a legend.

 

To be honest, you have that same opportunity here with the Bills, but to an even greater degree.  As I'm sure you're well aware, people all over the country are facing some particularly difficult circumstances these days and it can be a real stretch to figure out how to get the whole family out to see a ball game together.

 

Why would we do such a thing when everybody's lookin' to tighten their belts like never before?

 

Because sometimes, good memories are more important than money.

 

Case in point: after my folks got divorced I moved pretty far away from my father at a young age.  Even though he called at least once a week, we only got to see each other twice a year (once during the summer and then for a couple of days after Christmas).

 

Later on as I grew up, the one special gift that I wanted the most of all was to go to a Bills game with my Dad.  Of course, this cost more than just the price of  admission.  Even though Dad's budget wasn't that great, he'd work overtime at the chemical plant for Kodak and then he'd be able to kick in for plane tickets just so we could have nosebleed seats at the Ralph.

 

I didn't mind one bit.  More than anything, I just loved being out in the snow with 80,000 people all pulling for our guys with a playoff spot on the line.

 

Now you're one of our guys.  Yes, you've joined a Hall of Fame tradition along the lines of Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Marv Levy and Ralph Wilson.

 

And, you've joined the ranks of players like Kent Hull, Mike Lodish, London Fletcher and Steve Tasker...hard working guys who out-hustled everyone else just for the sheer love of the game.

 

Frankly, those are some the memories we cherish the most.  Perhaps it's sad that one of the best images we have as a family is when Don Beebe chased down Leon Lett from behind during the Super Bowl...not only to preserve our dignity, but also to give us something to hang our hats on.

 

Because no matter what, at the end of the day, those memories make it known that nobody can take away our ability to give an all out effort...and that is most certainly what we ask from you.

 

Not because you'd like to stick it to Dallas (although we're not above that at this point), and not because you're getting paid X number of dollars and maybe, just maybe not because you're playing to land a huge contract somewhere else next year.

 

Maybe, just maybe you'd be willing to take your prodigiously talented game to a whole other level because yes, if you won a Super Bowl with us, you would most certainly land in the Hall of Fame; but think about it like this...

 

My Dad's already made it into my Hall of Fame for going the extra mile so that we could share some memories that will most definitely last forever.

 

When Buffalo beat Houston in what still stands as the greatest NFL comeback ever, I remember picking him up in the air with this gigantic bear hug, and we jumped up and down all over together in a state of complete disbelief and total joy.

 

What I realize now is that my Dad didn't get tickets so we could see the game at the stadium, he paid to take a plane all the way out to Wisconsin just so we could watch the game together on TV. 

 

So, if it would be extra-memorable for you, I encourage you to make your time here in Buffalo truly special.  There's a lot to learn here from a group of fans who have essentially trademarked our ability to "Circle the Wagons."

 

Which, to be candid, is an experience that you seem to be familiar with and is something that our whole country needs to have an example of now more than ever.

 

So, if you want to ride of into the sunset with a community of people who will absolutely have your back from here on in, I recommend not only giving your all on every play, I also suggest that you leave the fancy touchdown dances in Dallas and do everything you can to celebrate with your teammates.

 

Nothing would win over the fans here in Buffalo more than by scoring a ton of points and then inspiring the rest of the guys on your squad to do the same. 

 

As you'll soon find out, we pride ourselves on being a blue collar kind of team that gets our recognition based on an unquestionable work ethic (something you exemplify) and our willingness to make sure that the whole group gets the credit.

 

That's our recipe for success in football and in life, and we're proud to pass on these values to our kids and hopefully to their kids as well.  You're part of that heritage now and we're trusting you to uphold it with respect.

 

With that being said, it's understandable that the community in Buffalo might want you to do things the way that we would do them if we were in your shoes...it seems to be human nature to say something like "we'd feel more comfortable if you were more like us."

 

It's also all too common for a new relationship to embody that old saying "I love you, you're perfect, now change."  Maybe we have as much to learn from you as you might have to learn from us.

 

Clearly you have a searingly intense passion to make plays and win games, while not being afraid to be outspoken if that what it takes to get the job done. 

 

Of course, if we really face the facts, neither one of us has won a title yet, so this could be the turning point where we all finally realize that "if we keep doing what we've always done, we're gonna get what we've always got."

 

Or in other words, "the best definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results."

 

Well, signing you is definitely something different and new, and I have a hunch that it's going to produce awesome and unexpectedly beneficial results for us all.

 

Now, some would say that bringing you on board here is a huge gamble, but I for one am willing to believe that the story can go something like this: have you ever met a guy who always went for the most popular girl and even though they had some good times together, neither of them was ever really, truly happy?

 

Then one day this man meets the kind of woman that isn't flashy, doesn't have a whole lot of money, glamor or fame, but is just plain solid? 

 

You know, the kind of woman that makes a good mother for your kids...the one who won't let you get away with being anything less than your best and then makes you feel like you can do absolutely anything as long as you stay together and give it everything you've got?

 

Well, maybe Buffalo is just that kind of place...and maybe you're just that kind of guy who's ready to settle down for a long run at something great...and maybe now's just the right time to put everything else aside and finally win a championship.

 

I'm sure you've thought about the Michael Jordan-Scottie Pippen comparisons you and Lee Evans could inspire.  Maybe you've also thought of taking your game beyond the world of sports and considered accomplishing something that moves people to achieve something during these tough times that they previously couldn't even imagine.

 

Seriously, you could do this in two simple ways: 1) by talking with Bills' fans in hospitals, homeless shelters, schools and factories about their favorite memories over the years and then by asking them what it would it would be like if the Bills won the big one and 2) You could take all this fuel, all this good will and all of their stories with you in a way that unites our guys on the field, binds our community with a common purpose and gives us the extra oomph needed to not only win the Super Bowl, but also to go the extra mile needed to win the real games of our lives (just like my Dad has done over all these years).

 

Then, when you're visiting the White House and the current President pulls you aside to thank you for being such a good example of perseverance and team success, you might find that the best memory of all comes from sharing the credit with the people who have truly become your family, your team and your life long friends.

 

With Hope and Gratitude,

 

Joshua Home Edwards

Bills' Fan for More than 25 Years