Bills report: Notes, quotes
--The Bills announced they were averaging 3,659 fans per day at camp through Aug. 15. It's the first time since 2001 the team has given out a camp attendance figure.
--DE Constantin Ritzmann, who made the Bills roster as an undrafted rookie out of Tennessee in 2004, appears fully recovered from a foot injury that landed him on IR the last half of last year. In the team's preseason victory over the Colts, he had three tackles, two sacks and forced a fumble. He had two more sacks against Green Bay. Making last year's team guarantees him nothing for this year, he said. "I don't see my chances as any better," said the 6-3, 254-pound Ritzmann, whose strength is his quickness off the ball against slower offensive tackles. "I have to keep fighting. There are new young guys here who are doing well, and it's the NFL. They are always going to bring in great players every year so you can't ever rest." Ritzmann is a native of Berlin, Germany, who was introduced to American football as a high school exchange student in Florida.
--Marv Levy, the Bills' all-time victory leader and Pro Football Hall of Fame member, visited training camp recently and was asked to address the current squad by coach Mike Mularkey. "Mike surprised me with that," Levy said. "I just told the guys to take the rest of the day off." Levy actually told the Bills how impressed he is with them, particularly their defense and special teams, an area Levy always prided himself in as a coach. Mularkey has long been a Levy admirer and has adopted many of his motivational quips. "I told the team he's one of the greatest that has ever coached in the NFL, a gentleman who has seen it all," Mularkey said. "We all admire what he's done and we're shooting for some of the same goals he accomplished."
--Mularkey on the Terrell Owens' situation in Philadelphia: "A lot of that is preventative maintenance. You have to understand prior to drafting or signing or bringing in a player, what their prior attitude was. And if something happens, you've seen it and if it happens, you should not be shocked."
--Bills Pro Football Hall of Famer Jim Kelly made an emotional appearance at Watkins Glen International race track a week after the death of his 8-year-old son, Hunter, from Krabbe's disease. Kelly had been selected the grand marshal of a Busch Series race at the Glen and kept the commitment despite the toughest of circumstances. Kelly said, "Gentlemen, start your engines," and pointed to the sky. "It wasn't an easy decision to make, but I knew that by coming up here and being the grand marshal and to be able to spread the word about what we're doing will help," Kelly told reporters beforehand. "My son, Hunter, wants me to be here because he realized the people we can touch with this. I can't wait to say, 'Gentlemen, start your engines,' because my son is going to be right with me looking down from above."
QUOTE TO NOTE
"Ben Sobieski is on IR, Lawrence Smith is on IR. Willis (McGahee) practiced and is doing great, Shaud (Williams) practiced, he's doing great.
Copyright (C) 2005 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
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