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00:00Cute is pejorative in this conversation.
00:01Cute is never good for what a football play was.
00:06Okay, Paul Hamilton now on the West Her Hotline.
00:08Speaking of cute.
00:10Speaking of cute.
00:11Paul, how's Rochester?
00:13I'm sorry, Paul.
00:14Well, my apologies, guys.
00:16I was in a place where I couldn't let you know that I was screwed up.
00:20And so Mr. Jones finally got a hold of me, and I apologize.
00:25Okay, well, we take your apology.
00:28You were out for the festivities today.
00:29What was it like?
00:32Yeah, it was pretty miserable.
00:34I mean, for the poor fans.
00:36I mean, cold, really rainy.
00:40I mean, it rained hard.
00:42And I'm sure it was probably miserable for the players, too.
00:46But, you know, coaches, they're like, who said this is a bad day?
00:51I welcome this.
00:54It's raining out.
00:55This is football.
00:56Let's put the ball down and just go.
00:58Oh, and, you know, but still, they're human.
01:02I mean, just to sit out there, basically get drenched for two hours, I can't imagine is all that.
01:07Well, I can't imagine it because I had to do that in high school.
01:11I do know what that's like.
01:12But, yeah, it's not that much fun.
01:14So, but, you know, that's...
01:18Sorry, I interrupted you.
01:20That's okay.
01:20I'm bad at this.
01:21We haven't talked to you in a while, Paul.
01:22I'm out of practice with your syntax.
01:24I need to...
01:26So, where you were, though, for these new shows, that was covered, right?
01:30You weren't getting rained on while you were...
01:32Yeah, I basically didn't see practice.
01:35The way Sal and I break things up is I always do the podium.
01:38And then he, you know, he can...
01:42That leaves him free where he can talk to players as they're coming off the field.
01:45He can watch practice, which, you know, he has to do because he talks to you guys and he writes
01:50a practice article where I don't really necessarily have to see it.
01:54So, I was there early before practice started, talked to the coach, and then just sat right down and started
02:00writing the article for our website.
02:02And then when I got done with that, I had about 20 minutes before Josh Allen and Brandon Bean spoke.
02:09So, again, sat around and participated in those.
02:12And so, yeah, that was my day.
02:15And, of course, as you said, I was covered in the area right where the football field is.
02:21So, I could just sit there and, you know, I won't say stay warm, but stay dry and, you know,
02:29write the articles.
02:30I had an observation about Brady today.
02:33And I want to ask you, like, how much experience you have being around his news conferences.
02:39I don't imagine the Mondays after games are events that you necessarily are taking in.
02:46I was wondering what you thought of Brady today.
02:50Yeah, you know, quite a bit.
02:51Because, again, I've been doing the same thing for a while.
02:54So, even as offensive coordinator.
02:57Okay, right, right.
02:57And remember, I'm there usually for OTAs.
03:01This is the first year I wasn't there for day one of OTAs because the Sabres made the playoffs.
03:06But I still was there near the end of it.
03:08And then, of course, training camp.
03:09And I'm there until Sabres training camp starts.
03:12So, yeah, it's – so, I've, you know, gone through quite a few of his interviews yet.
03:18And the thing that struck me today was, I mean, this is basically his first day as head coach.
03:24Yeah, they had OTAs.
03:26But this is training camp.
03:28And this is it.
03:29I mean, this is where you're starting.
03:30I didn't sense, really, any nervousness at all.
03:34I mean, he said, I'm just me.
03:36I'm not going to try to be somebody I'm not.
03:38And it was pretty believable.
03:40I mean, he wasn't fidgety or anything.
03:42He seemed very comfortable sitting in the chair, fielding questions for about 20 minutes.
03:50You know, basically saying, I am who I am.
03:53I'm not going to try to change anything.
03:55There's going to be a standard that the players are going to be held to here.
03:59They know it.
04:00And we're starting with it now.
04:03And if the standard is not met, it'll be dealt with.
04:09And, you know, and he even said camp.
04:11He goes, of course, we want to have some fun, too.
04:14But he goes, we need to have a hard camp.
04:17It's work.
04:17Yeah, right.
04:17You know, and we need to work and have to have a hard camp because guess what, guy?
04:23Because the expectations.
04:24And he goes, I almost swore.
04:27I mean, he's like, expectations?
04:29It's like, we don't have any expectations.
04:31He goes, we've accomplished nothing.
04:34He goes, you don't just pick up from last year and go.
04:37He goes, it's a whole new season and everything.
04:40He goes, we've accomplished absolutely nothing.
04:43It's the first day.
04:44And we have a lot of work to do to get better and to, you know, be the team, be
04:49a good team.
04:50So, he said, really, the expectation is to show up today and put the work in and be better for
04:59tomorrow when we show up and do the same thing again.
05:01He goes, and I know that's coach speak.
05:03I know what it sounds like.
05:05But he goes, you can't do it any other way.
05:07You can't walk in here and expect to pick up where you left off.
05:11And he goes, every year is different because you've got different players, in this case, different coaches, different systems.
05:18So, he goes, it really is a one-day-at-a-time process.
05:23I certainly can appreciate I gotta be me, you know, that sort of message.
05:28It's a little bit, maybe, complicated from the outside with, like, I'm thinking of Brady and his beginning here as
05:37the head coach through the prism, if you will, of McDermott's career.
05:41And you've been around enough coaches.
05:43Like, I think sometimes a coach would want to strike chords that are different from his predecessor, especially when the
05:50predecessor was fired.
05:51You know, like, all right, they want something from me that the last guy did not deliver on.
05:56And, you know, that's where maybe a coach can get tied up because then you're not being genuine, necessarily.
06:04And I think maybe if there's any of this with Brady Paul, it might be his wanting to especially get
06:12through, whether it's to players or fans, that he's not just here for a good time.
06:17Which is kind of some of what you're talking about.
06:20That he can be serious, too.
06:21Because we really don't know him too well from his personality being an assistant to this point.
06:27But everybody understood Sean McDermott over nine years, you know.
06:30Like, this is a serious guy.
06:33And we all got a little peek of it when C.J. Gardner-Johnson was, you know, doing a video
06:40of where it might have been from the training room or somewhere in the locker room area somewhere.
06:46And Brady didn't go crazy or anything, but he just goes, no, not here.
06:50Right, no training room, no locker room.
06:52Yeah.
06:53Right, right.
06:53It wasn't like he went berserk or anything else, but he also made it clear we don't do that.
06:58That's not going to be done here.
07:00You know, and that's a player that Bean was asked about that can be a problem and can also be
07:08a darn good football player.
07:10Led the NFL with six interceptions one year, had another year with six interceptions, won a Super Bowl with the
07:16Eagles.
07:17I would say, in my estimation, might be one of the most athletic safeties they've had in a while.
07:23Maybe since Poyer and Hyde's prime, you know, and that's something I think they really needed, was a guy who
07:33was pretty much a good athlete back there.
07:35So, you know, he's going to be able to do the job that way, but he gets carried away.
07:40As Bean said, he goes too far sometimes, and he goes, that's where the due diligence comes in, talking to
07:49other people, bringing him in before you sign him and talk to him and see where he's coming from.
07:54But it just seems like Saints, Eagles, Lions, Texans, Bears, he's just, you know, this is his eighth NFL season,
08:01and now he's on another team.
08:03He just seems like he wears out his welcome, but he's a darn good football player.
08:07Yeah, that's a very interesting, I don't want to call it an experiment.
08:11I mean, I think he's penciled in to be the starter next to Cole Bishop, you know, barring something unforeseen
08:18here.
08:19I think he's easily the best option there.
08:23I've gotten enough already warning flashes about Geno Stone that, like, if I got to see him play, like, no
08:29thanks.
08:30We know about Damar Hamlin, incredibly inspiring story, but we know as a player, you know, there's a ceiling and
08:36it's not super high.
08:37So, yeah, I mean, I think Gardner Johnson is it, and it's an easy enough anyway, and probably to some
08:48extent there's some truth in it.
08:49I don't know how much, like, if they would have just not ever considered this guy if McDermott were still
08:55the coach.
08:56Like, McDermott just said, like, no, I don't want to deal with the sideshow.
09:00Or not.
09:01But the fact that they mostly have been pretty conservative that way with who they choose to bring in, talk
09:09about Bill's DNA and all that.
09:10I haven't heard that phrasing since, really since McDermott left, I feel like.
09:16I don't know if that's intentional or not.
09:19I don't miss it.
09:20But, no, me either.
09:23But if this works, it's going to be held up as, see, we did a thing that maybe we wouldn't
09:29have done.
09:29But if it blows up, it's going to be like, oh, well, you know, you took a chance and, you
09:33know, you maybe shouldn't have.
09:34But I fully endorse it.
09:36I'm glad that they brought the guy in.
09:38You know, I hope he can keep a lid on things enough that, you know, it doesn't make anybody crazy.
09:44I saw another clip of him, not in the locker room, but with Deion Dawkins, talking about Stefan Diggs and
09:52how much both guys, you know, Gardner just keeps saying he wore a C.
09:56Like, I have no question the guy's a good teammate.
09:59He was a captain.
10:01And Dawkins is like, I'd rather have him than not have him and all that.
10:04And I'm watching that just going, all right, I mean, is this stirring anything up or is this just guys
10:09being guys?
10:10Like, they probably do that anyway, whether the camera is rolling or not.
10:14So it's probably not a big deal, but it is something.
10:20Yeah, and I say this with a question mark at the end.
10:23And is this a guy, and you alluded to it, I think, a little bit, is this a guy that
10:30Sean McDermott would have endorsed bringing in?
10:33Right.
10:33My personal opinion is I'm thinking maybe not.
10:38And I could be all wrong on that.
10:39But he just doesn't seem like the Sean McDermott type of player.
10:45Well, there's always a back and forth on that stuff.
10:48Yeah.
10:49Maybe you limit yourself in terms of talent, making those kinds of decisions.
10:54No question.
10:55But it makes the coach's job harder if he's got to deal with whatever you might call a distraction here,
11:00with this player or Dawkins or Coleman or whoever it is.
11:05So tough for – McDermott was a first-time head coach himself when he arrived.
11:09It comes with experience maybe.
11:11But Brady, that sort of was my point.
11:14Like, he might want to inject a tone of disciplinarian here as he starts to try to make sure his
11:22player – he's 36 years old.
11:23I mean, some of the players are almost that old.
11:25So he might want to make a special effort to get that across.
11:30How about Brandon Bean today, Paul?
11:32What were the leading messages?
11:36Well, one of the things I found interesting, you know, he was asked about Ed Oliver,
11:42who we all know at certain points in the season basically demolishes a defense.
11:50But it's not a lot.
11:52It's, what, two to four games a year that might happen?
11:56And one thing Bean talked about is with Jim Leonard, the new defensive coordinator,
12:05he goes right away, Leonard – in the interview, Leonard said, Ed is a one-on-one guy.
12:13And he goes, I have ways to get him into those one-on-one matchups.
12:17He's not getting enough of them.
12:19And when he does get them, that's when he destroys defenses.
12:23And he goes, he gets doubled almost – yeah, I'm sorry, offenses.
12:27And he goes, he gets doubled way too much for his type of talent.
12:32And that's what Bean talked about.
12:34He liked the fact that Leonard recognized right away what it would take to make Ed Oliver
12:40that kind of a player all the time.
12:43And, you know, devising different schemes that are going to get him into more one-on-one matchups.
12:49So it was interesting to listen to him talk about that with the new defensive coordinator.
12:53Because I think we all know the defense we're going to see is not the McDermott defense.
12:58Good or bad.
12:59Whatever it is, good or bad, it's not McDermott's defense.
13:04It's going to be different.
13:05And I think that's one of the things that maybe could help,
13:10especially if that guy starts playing like that.
13:13But how much better does your defense get just from one guy realizing his potential like that?
13:19Were you surprised or shocked even to hear Josh Allen say he likes the gray uniforms
13:24despite – and know that people hate them despite never, ever once being online in his life?
13:30It is funny.
13:32And, you know, he was a little tongue-in-cheek.
13:35It was funny.
13:36I mean, because he was never asked the question.
13:38And I think he was dying to be asked the question.
13:41And he never was.
13:43And the press conference is over.
13:45And he just said, you know, that's when he went into it.
13:49Guys, you guys got to stop hating on those jerseys or however how he put it.
13:55And then just went on about those jerseys.
13:59And it was – I was kind of amused by the whole thing.
14:04And, you know, he actually went into the why they are that way.
14:09And it's a history thing.
14:11And so I don't know if it's something maybe the team asked him to do
14:14or if it's something he did on his own.
14:16I don't think it really matters one way or the other.
14:18But he wanted to be heard on it.
14:20He went for about a minute, minute and a half talking about it.
14:23And nobody asked him about it.
14:24And he got out of there before anybody.
14:26Yeah, I felt like he said it and kind of mic dropped.
14:29Like, all right, I'm out of here.
14:30Yeah.
14:31Well, he did take a question or two until he mic dropped.
14:34And then, fine, it's all right.
14:35We're done.
14:35But, you know, and then with a big smile on his face, you know, it's like,
14:39okay, I said what I wanted to say.
14:41And I'm off.
14:43You know, so I was – let me say I was entertained by it.
14:47I just thought it was all right.
14:49Do your thing.
14:50I'll just sit here and listen.
14:52It would be refreshing once in a while to hear a player admit to actually doing
14:56what pretty much everybody else does, which is read or listen to something,
15:01some content about the team.
15:03But they're just so loathe to admit it.
15:05I mean, that's been true of Bills and Sabres forever.
15:07Well, if you listen carefully in the beginning, he goes, well, as you know,
15:10I don't know that people – he goes, you guys have to stop hating.
15:12And he goes, well, I don't know if you're hating on it or not because I don't
15:15pay attention to that stuff.
15:16And then later on he's saying, well, you know, I know a lot's being said about it.
15:21It's like, well, you just said earlier you didn't know – you don't pay
15:24attention to that stuff.
15:25Make sure everybody know that he's above that.
15:28I felt like what he was trying to clarify the first time – I mean,
15:31I can't believe I'm really going through this with this fine a comb – was
15:34he sounded like he was accusing you guys, the media in that room,
15:39of hating on the jerseys.
15:40And I felt like he wanted to say, like, I don't know that you are hating on him,
15:45but I know there's noise out there, basically.
15:48He sits in a park all day and just listens to conversations.
15:52That's how he gets his information.
15:54It wasn't the media.
15:55He just sat in the park and wanted to hear what people were saying in the park.
15:58That's all.
15:58That's right.
15:59That's how he can inform himself.
16:02Okay.
16:02Thank you, Paul.
16:03Hope you had a good time out there, even though it was wet.
16:05Yeah, my apologies again.
16:06Oh, no worries, Paul.
16:07Yeah.
16:08All right.
16:08There's Paul.
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