The next 3 days are a manditory camp...

[ICE74129]

as of yet. He could still show today. Bit if he doesn't I say fine his ass as much as possible and look for a trade if this is the case.

[LtFinFan66]

:idunno:

[Jan Reimers]

The minute a guy gets involved with Rosenhaus, he becomes an arrogant jackass.

[eyedog]

Ahmad Brooks 3rd rd. supp. draft pick, along with Watson. There's your two mlb. Both young and with potential.
I'd let Fletcher and his 30yr. old birthday cake walk. Besides wasn't he one of those 'veteran leaders" that threw JP under the bus last year ? Tell him he can take Vincent with him. Rebuild young, why wait. It's the mid/late 80's all over again.

[BuffaloBillsStampede]

agreed.

[Jan Reimers]

Ahmad Brooks 3rd rd. supp. draft pick, along with Watson. There's your two mlb. Both young and with potential.
I'd let Fletcher and his 30yr. old birthday cake walk. Besides wasn't he one of those 'veteran leaders" that threw JP under the bus last year ? Tell him he can take Vincent with him. Rebuild young, why wait. It's the mid/late 80's all over again.
I agree. Fletcher, for whatever reason, is no longer showing any leadership or chemistry with his teammates. His actions are no way to build a close knit, winning football team.

[Griz78]

His mom passed away.

[Night Train]

His mom passed away.

Thank You.


Lee Evans, London Fletcher, Jeff Posey, Takeo Spikes and Troy Vincent were all excused from the first day of Buffalo's mandatory minicamp Monday for an unfortunate reason.

"There were a group of players that were excused to go to the funeral of London Fletcher's mother," said head coach Dick Jauron. "Our thoughts are with Fletcher and his family at this time."

Jauron anticipates that all of the veterans will be available for work Tuesday, but will give Fletcher the time he needs to grieve.


Hello foot.Meet mouth.

[Jan Reimers]

Sorry to hear that. If she had been seriously ill for some time, it probably explains his earlier absences from the OTAs as well. I'm sorry I trashed him earlier.

[YardRat]

He could still show today. Bit if he doesn't I say fine his ass as much as possible and look for a trade if this is the case.

"There were a group of players that were excused to go to the funeral of London Fletcher's mother," said head coach Dick Jauron. "Our thoughts are with Fletcher and his family at this time."

Yet again, pre-mature ejaculation gets spewn over a message board.
Patience.<!-- / message -->

[Michael82]

Sorry to hear that. If she had been seriously ill for some time, it probably explains his earlier absences from the OTAs as well. I'm sorry I trashed him earlier.
I was just thinking that. We now know why London Fletcher hasnt been here for much of the offseason. I bet she was probably ill and he was taking care of her. :(

[justasportsfan]

:lolpoint:
as of yet. He could still show today. Bit if he doesn't I say fine his ass as much as possible and look for a trade if this is the case.


Maybe Jauron is a liar too.

[Patrick76777]

What a bunch of jerks!


One guy was calling out his leadership! Give me a break.

[OpIv37]

I'm sorry, but anyone who signs with Drew Rosenhaus does not deserve the benefit of the doubt.

[justasportsfan]

I'm sorry, but anyone who signs with Drew Rosenhaus does not deserve the benefit of the doubt.We may hate him as fans but if you're a player you want a tough agent like him watching your back.

[OpIv37]

We may hate him as fans but if you're a player you want a tough agent like him watching your back.

there are tough agents who aren't scum of the earth- ones that don't destroy teams for the sake of one or two players and their own bank account.

[OpIv37]

We may hate him as fans but if you're a player you want a tough agent like him watching your back.

and for pro players "watching your back" means getting you $20 million over five years instead of $18 million over five years. Forgive me for not being able to shed a tear over that extra $2 million...

[eyedog]

I'm sorry to hear about his mother and time missed is understood.

But talking strickly from a football point of view. In no way would a renegioate a long term big money contract for an average 30 yr. old mlb. It doesn't make sense with the makeup of this team and the direction they are heading.

Go with Watson and get Brooks in supp. cut loose Fletcher, Posey, and Vincent. Go young and rebuld all the way especially if JP is going to be the qb because at least two of those three veterans were part of the *****ing problem last year. And when your play on the field isn't producing results aged vets get the axe.

[justasportsfan]

there are tough agents who aren't scum of the earth- ones that don't destroy teams for the sake of one or two players and their own bank account.It's nothing personal ,just business. You hire the best .

[Michael82]

I'm sorry to hear about his mother and time missed is understood.

But talking strickly from a football point of view. In no way would a renegioate a long term big money contract for an average 30 yr. old mlb. It doesn't make sense with the makeup of this team and the direction they are heading.

Go with Watson and get Brooks in supp. cut loose Fletcher, Posey, and Vincent. Go young and rebuld all the way especially if JP is going to be the qb because at least two of those three veterans were part of the *****ing problem last year. And when your play on the field isn't producing results aged vets get the axe.
with his age and him losing his speed, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesnt fit into the defensive system anyways.

[RockStar36]

with his age and him losing his speed, I wouldn't be surprised if he doesnt fit into the defensive system anyways.

I'd still like to see him play one more year before throwing in the new guys.

I wouldn't be opposed to Vincent getting cut loose though.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

What a bunch of jerks!


One guy was calling out his leadership! Give me a break.


Since I am the person that you were refering to here, please allow me to respond: I did say in one of my posts on this subject that if "Fletcher's absences were for personal reasons and not done with the blessing of the coaches", I would have a problem with them because of his leadership position with the team. Obviously, with his mother dying, this was the kind of situation where the coaches should have and probably did give him their blessing to be absent.

In another earlier post on the subject I also wrote the following:
"Still, having made the mistake of coming down hard on a couple of guys who missed the first OTA sessions when it turned out that they actually had good reasons to do so that weren't reported until afterwards, I have to say that some of these guys may be missing not so much because they do not buy into what Marv and DJ are doing, but because they have legitimate reasons for not being in Buffalo that we don't know about at this point. Those guys I don't have a problem with and I suspect neither do Marv, DJ and the other coaches."

Without a doubt, with his mother ill and dying, Fletcher had more than totally legitimate reasons for not being in Buffalo for the OTAs and, as I stated, should be excused from any criticism about his absence. But, again, it was something that I certainly did not know anything about at the time and neither did most Bills fans because there had been no mention of it in the press.

Having spend a significant portion of my time over an 18 month period trying to help care for a terminally-ill parent not very long ago, my heart not only goes out to London Fletcher for his loss, but also, now that I know what the situation was, my respect for the way that he dealt with his priorities. Needless to say, his reasons for not participating in the OTAs transcended his committments to his job as a football player and in my comments I did say that he should be excused if this were the case. So, while I did raise possible questions about Fletcher's leadership based on his absences from the OTAs, at the same time, I made a point of leaving open the possibility that those absences were justified in a way that answered those questions and made them moot points--which proved to be the case.

My condolences go out to London Fletcher and his family.

The URL for the first quote: http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showthread.php?p=1522019#post1522019

The URL for the second: http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showthread.php?p=1522019#post1522019

[jamze132]

Bottom line is that everyone is at minicamp with the exception of the guys who went with Fletcher to his Mom's funeral. There are no holdouts at this point. Say what you want about OTAs. They are voluntary, but not everyone is going to make everyone of them. We don't know every reason why a player choses not to participate in and OTA. Maybe he is working out in Miami, maybe he is working out in Canada, or maybe he took his family on a vacation that was planned for over a year. When we got the new regime, we are authorized more time to get aqainted. People may have plans from last year not expecting a new regime this year.

[Historian]

I agree. Fletcher, for whatever reason, is no longer showing any leadership or chemistry with his teammates. His actions are no way to build a close knit, winning football team.

Fletchers Mom died last Sunday...cut him a little bit of slack.

[eyedog]

I'm sorry but taking your family on a vacation is not a legit excuse to miss practice.

[Dr. Lecter]

I'm sorry but taking your family on a vacation is not a legit excuse to miss practice.

Who are we talking about?

A funeral is not a vacation.

[eyedog]

Your an idiot Lecter. Where do I imply that a funeral was a vacation ?

I was talking about the post made by jamze132 and the reasons a player may choose to miss an ota.

[Dr. Lecter]

Your an idiot Lecter. Where do I imply that a funeral was a vacation ?

I was talking about the post made by jamze132 and the reasons a player may choose to miss an ota.
Chill dude.

You never quoted him and your post did not follow his directly. Since the main part of this thread was Fletcher missing the MTA and it ended up being people jumping to conclusions, it was an easy assumption.

I missed one part of his post.

Sorry I missed it.

Calm down a little.

[eyedog]

Fine.
I didn't like the implication that Fletcher should have been at practice under his circumstances. Obviously Fletcher is out until he see's fit to return from his family obligations.

[G. Host]

They are voluntary, but not everyone is going to make everyone of them.

And when a player does not appear at most or any functions Bills should look at getting what they can from the player for they are not committed to the Bills.