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The message sounded all too familiar, a filthy rich athlete whining about not making enough money. Jason Peters’ protest over his contract with the Buffalo Bills didn’t exactly startle an organization that spent years listening to Bruce Smith’s annual blather about feelings of disrespect.
Bruce’s general approach was complaining about his contract, reminding everyone he was the best defensive end in football, finding reasons to skip large portions of training camp and reporting back to the Bills for the start of the season. It was Bruce being Bruce, greedy and selfish, always taking care of No. 1 before donning No. 78.
Ralph Wilson has been around the block a few times, knows every pothole on the street. He’s owned the franchise for nearly 50 years. He transformed the Bills from a $30,000 risk into a $760 million empire. He’s had terrific teams and terrible ones. But he always, always, did business on his own terms.
Obviously, Peters doesn’t know Ralph the way we do. He’s not a man with whom you want to play chicken, especially when he’s driving a tractor-trailer and you’re in a Pinto. Peters isn’t Bruce. He has neither the leverage nor the credentials to bully around the Bills.
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