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Speaker 1: Today, we are pleased to be joined on the line

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Speaker 1: by ESPN Sports Center host. He's been with ESPN since

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Speaker 1: two thousand and age. You can follow him and at

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Speaker 1: Kevin Connor's ESPN, Kevin Connor's Steve Tasker and Mattie glab

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Speaker 1: here in Buffalo. Thanks for joining us, and we got

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Speaker 1: to ask you the first thing out of the box.

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Speaker 1: I hope you and your family are doing well during

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Speaker 1: the pandemic. Is everybody's safe and sound? People? We are?

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Speaker 1: Thank you for asking. Yeah, it's you know, I tell

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Speaker 1: people all the time, I say, you know, we've been inconvenience,

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Speaker 1: which relative to everybody else is nothing. So we're all

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Speaker 1: doing well. I want to say, Man, do I love

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Speaker 1: hearing Oh what a great tackle by Tasker? I mean,

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Speaker 1: what I wouldn't do to hear that again in a

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Speaker 1: game in twenty twenty. Well, every time I hear that, Kevin,

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Speaker 1: I hurt. So keep that to yourself. How did you

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Speaker 1: become a Bills fan? Why? How? Where are you is it?

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Speaker 1: Where are you from? I mean give us your give

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Speaker 1: us your history. No, I mean I'm the outlier. I

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Speaker 1: grew up on Long Island, and I grew up on

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Speaker 1: Long Island in the eighties, in early nineties, when you know,

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Speaker 1: obviously we were slugging it out with the Jets, and

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Speaker 1: then of course in Super Bowl twenty five against the Giants.

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Speaker 1: I'm the Bills fan in my school. Everyone else is

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Speaker 1: rooting for the Giants. So my dad was from Central

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Speaker 1: New York. Is from Central New York. He's from just

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Speaker 1: outside of Utica, and he was a Bills fan, of course,

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Speaker 1: dating back to the AFL days. So I inherited that

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Speaker 1: from him. And it's been an incredible ride being a

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Speaker 1: Bills fan in New York in Jets and Giants country,

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Speaker 1: and then of course now in New England in Patriots Country. Well,

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Speaker 1: it was difficult to be a pilgrim in an unholy land.

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Speaker 1: So I feel for you. What's your favorite Bills memory

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Speaker 1: and what about your favorite moment from twenty nineteen? This

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Speaker 1: team had a pretty great season, didn't make it too

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Speaker 1: far in the playoffs, but a lot of high hopes

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Speaker 1: for them in twenty twenty. So what's your favorite memory

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Speaker 1: overall and what about a favorite moment from last season? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's a great question, Mattie. I mean, I think probably,

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Speaker 1: like a lot of Bills fans, it's got to be

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Speaker 1: the Thanksgiving Day game. You know, we had family in town.

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Speaker 1: My folks were here and my older brother was as well,

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Speaker 1: and so you know, we we get Thanksgiving dinner. I

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Speaker 1: don't want to say out of the way, but we

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Speaker 1: have Thanksgiving dinner and then it's gonna let them watch

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Speaker 1: the Bills. And boy, we played so well in that game,

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Speaker 1: and to do it on national TV in Dallas. The

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Speaker 1: game that Josh Allen played, of course, was just magnificent.

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Speaker 1: So I think that's probably the favorite memory of twenty twenty.

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Speaker 1: And yeah, look twenty yeah, twenty twenty nineteen. You know, yeah,

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Speaker 1: the look the playoff game hurts, but Steve, you know what,

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Speaker 1: it it didn't sting as much to me, and maybe

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Speaker 1: you disagree, maybe listeners disagree it didn't sting as much

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Speaker 1: because we're on the ascent, right. I mean, if this,

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Speaker 1: if I feel like this, if this were our last

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Speaker 1: bite at the Apple, it would really kind of hurt

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Speaker 1: a little bit more. But I feel like, you know,

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Speaker 1: we played well on the road. You learn a lot

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Speaker 1: from a game like that, and maybe it's maybe we

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Speaker 1: point back to that game in Houston and say, you

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Speaker 1: know what, that was the one that got this team

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Speaker 1: to we wanted them to be all along. We're with

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Speaker 1: Kevin Connor's ESPN Sports Center host Big Bills Fan. Also,

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Speaker 1: do you ever give us an idea? Do you ever

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Speaker 1: attend games in Buffalo? Have you ever or do you

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Speaker 1: do so on a regular basis? What's how's that for you?

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Speaker 1: You know, it's crazy that the first Bills game in

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Speaker 1: Buffalo that I've been to was in twenty seventeen. My

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Speaker 1: brother and I said, look, we're going up Rex's coaching.

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Speaker 1: It's a Thursday night game. We can we can make

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Speaker 1: it work. So we went up. It was the color

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Speaker 1: Rush game. I'm all sure we were the red uniforms

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Speaker 1: that game, but it's twenty seventeen against the Jets. Obviously

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Speaker 1: that that wasn't a great game to be at. But

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Speaker 1: you know, growing up on Long Island, I was so

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Speaker 1: far away from Buffalo and never had the chance. In college,

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Speaker 1: I I'm in Ithaca, but it just never worked out.

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Speaker 1: And then, of course, you know, now as a professional,

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Speaker 1: I work most weekends. Now I've been to a ton

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Speaker 1: of Bills games on the road, tons of Bills games

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Speaker 1: at the Metal Lands. I went to a Bills Cardinals

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Speaker 1: game and eras own it back in ninety nine. Special

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Speaker 1: Memory twenty thirteen. My wife and her parents were living

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Speaker 1: in Tampa Bay at the time. We went down there

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Speaker 1: to visit them, and we saw a Bucks game in

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Speaker 1: Tampa Bay. But yeah, the one the one game that

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Speaker 1: I've seen Buffalo was twenty seventeen. But we've got to

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Speaker 1: change that, if not this season, next season. You climbed

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Speaker 1: the ladder all the way up to ESPN. Hosting SportsCenter

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Speaker 1: is something that many people aspire to do in the

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Speaker 1: sports world. Did you ever think that would become a

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Speaker 1: reality in your career, Mattie, It's a great question, I

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Speaker 1: you know. So again, my dad grew up just outside

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Speaker 1: of Utica, and I can remember as a kid, we

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Speaker 1: would go up to the house that he grew up

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Speaker 1: in over the summer, and I can vividly remember this

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Speaker 1: is this is pre cable for where I grew up

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Speaker 1: on Long Island. It was we didn't have cable yet,

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Speaker 1: but I can remember going up to his how in Ilia,

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Speaker 1: New York and there was this channel that played only

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Speaker 1: sports and it had to show that ran highlights of

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Speaker 1: every game, and I just thought it was mind blowing

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Speaker 1: to me at the time. It was probably eighty four

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Speaker 1: eighty five, and I'm thinking, what is this and how

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Speaker 1: do I get it? So ESPN was always on the

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Speaker 1: radar in that sense, but to be perfectly honest, it

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Speaker 1: was never one day I'm going to be a sports

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Speaker 1: center anchor. It was more one day I'm going to

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Speaker 1: be a sports anchor at a local station like Marv

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Speaker 1: Albert was at WNBC when I was growing up, And

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Speaker 1: I figured, you know what, I'll do the sports on

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Speaker 1: a desk there, and maybe, god willing, I'll get to

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Speaker 1: do some play by play and can you imagine how

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Speaker 1: great it would be to travel with the team to

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Speaker 1: all these games. And then all of a sudden, I

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Speaker 1: worked in New York City for a while and the

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Speaker 1: ESPN opportunity came up. But it was it was a

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Speaker 1: life changer for me in every way. So it was

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Speaker 1: never on my radar, but I'm certainly glad it came

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Speaker 1: on the radar. Are Kevin, how hard has it been

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Speaker 1: to anchor sports center with no sports Steve? That's the

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Speaker 1: million dollar question, and I will I will take myself

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Speaker 1: out of the equation and say this is speak up

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Speaker 1: on behalf of my colleagues at ESPN. It's remarkable the

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Speaker 1: job that we they do on a daily basis coming

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Speaker 1: up with content because you're right, the show must go on.

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Speaker 1: And the show has gone on since the day that

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Speaker 1: I was sitting on the college basketball desk and and

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Speaker 1: all these college conferences started shutting it down, and it

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Speaker 1: was like, hey, guys, this is all stopping for a while,

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Speaker 1: you know, And they've done a remarkable job of putting

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Speaker 1: programming on the air. I've been back on campus probably

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Speaker 1: about ten twelve times since this has started. It's a

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Speaker 1: ghost town. We've got the people who find the video

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Speaker 1: and cut the video working on laptops at home in

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Speaker 1: their kitchen or in their living room. We have a

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Speaker 1: spartan staff on campus, and yet you probably wouldn't notice

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Speaker 1: it watching it on TV. The thing that the biggest

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Speaker 1: adjustment for me, Steve, is doing this. I had never

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Speaker 1: done talk radio as a professional, and of course, with

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Speaker 1: the number of shows that we have done being cut

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Speaker 1: down on the TV side, they said, hey, how would

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Speaker 1: you like to try and doing radio, and I said,

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Speaker 1: of course, I'd love it. Talk about challenging, I mean,

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Speaker 1: you know, TV you can sort of take it without

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Speaker 1: about the ten best plays of Jim Kelly's career a

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Speaker 1: radio that's a little bit tougher, and talk radio especially,

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Speaker 1: so you know, you're we got a ton of mileage

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Speaker 1: out of a Jordan documentary. We've been forecasting what sports

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Speaker 1: may look like for a long time, so it's been challenging.

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Speaker 1: But I tell you what, it's times like these where

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Speaker 1: you say, I respect the hell out of my teammates

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Speaker 1: because they've done an incredible job here on talk radio

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Speaker 1: at One Bills Live. I mean, we've discussed the Bills

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Speaker 1: in every way possible and dreamt up this twenty twenty

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Speaker 1: season and what it could be and what we hope

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Speaker 1: it to be with fans of the stands, with the

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Speaker 1: talented team who makes it deep into the playoffs. And

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Speaker 1: it's pretty obvious that this Bill's hype has reached outside

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Speaker 1: of the western New York bubble. The Bills are starting

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Speaker 1: to get a lot of attention in a league wide

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Speaker 1: sense and in national media. So what's the Bill's reaction

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Speaker 1: in Bristol if you could put your finger on it.

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Speaker 1: Are the Bills still the favorites in the East or

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Speaker 1: are they the favorites in the East, or are people

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Speaker 1: being a little weary of pointing to the Bills as

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Speaker 1: as someone who could win that division this season. Maddie,

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Speaker 1: I think until last week it was yes, the Bills

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Speaker 1: are the team to be. I don't know that that's

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Speaker 1: fully changed, but I think people are saying, hey, wait

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Speaker 1: a minute, the Patriots signed Cam Newton and here we go.

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Speaker 1: Bill Belichick's gonna work his magic on him. I think,

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Speaker 1: for what it's worth, it was a great signing for

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Speaker 1: the Patriots. I know, I still think Cam Newton's an

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Speaker 1: effective weapon in the league, and he's got more weapons

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Speaker 1: to road now that he ever had in Carolina in

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Speaker 1: my opinion, but I still think we're the team to beat.

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Speaker 1: I mean, look, I was trying to think of this

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Speaker 1: and Steve, maybe maybe you guys have a better handle

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Speaker 1: on this is Is there a better wide receiver corps

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Speaker 1: in the league than Stefan Diggs, Cole Beasley, John Brown

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Speaker 1: right now? In your opinion? Yeah, we've been talking about

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Speaker 1: that as well. They're up. They've got to be in

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Speaker 1: the conversation. Um, no question about it. Their experience and

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Speaker 1: their abilities and all the things that they've shown thus far,

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Speaker 1: they're in the conversation. It's hard to say who's going

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Speaker 1: to be better or worse or whatever, and a lot

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Speaker 1: of it still comes down to Josh Allen. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: I mean they have done everything they can to give

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Speaker 1: Josh as many guys as he has to have to

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Speaker 1: be successful. And now we just hope we get a

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Speaker 1: chance to see him put it together right and and

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Speaker 1: then and we and look, the line seems to be,

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Speaker 1: you know, as good as it's been in a long time.

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Speaker 1: You expect Kevin Singletary to make strides. I had a

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Speaker 1: chance to talk with Kyle what have a few weeks

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Speaker 1: ago head coached Utah. He was raving about the Zach

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Speaker 1: Moss signing for the Bills, and obviously we address things defensively.

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Speaker 1: So the point being, Mattie, to your original question, I

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Speaker 1: think we are the most talented team in the division.

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Speaker 1: I think anything less than being a playoff team again

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Speaker 1: this year is a big disappointment. But those are the

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Speaker 1: expectations that you need to have when you have talent

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Speaker 1: like this. So until the Patriots are knocked off the perch,

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Speaker 1: I will believe them to be a tough challenger. But

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Speaker 1: I still think that we're as talented as anybody, if

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Speaker 1: not more so, in the entire afcast. We're speaking with

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Speaker 1: ESPN Sports Center host Kevin Connors. Kevin, I just as

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Speaker 1: I just mentioned it, and you said too that the

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Speaker 1: expectations are through the roof for this well, I say

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Speaker 1: through the roof, but highly enhanced this year as opposed

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Speaker 1: to any other year we've seen. So I'm gonna ask

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Speaker 1: you a question, and either or question, who's Josh Allen

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Speaker 1: going to be closer to this year? Is he going

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Speaker 1: to have closer to a breakout season like Lamar Jackson?

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Speaker 1: Or is he going to be more like a guy

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Speaker 1: like Mitch Drubisky. Who's he going to be closer to?

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Speaker 1: Please don't say no, I mean, listen, I think I

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Speaker 1: think we have long passed the Mitchell Drubisky uh level,

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Speaker 1: Stephen my opinion. And Lamar is such a tough guy

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Speaker 1: because you know, he just became on like Gangbusters, and

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Speaker 1: he's such a unique weapon. Listen, Steve, you know better

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Speaker 1: than anybody. I mean, it used to be a very

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Speaker 1: different ball game. You would draft a quarterback, you would

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Speaker 1: ease them into the situation. Now we're thrusting guys right

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Speaker 1: into the role and demanding that they succeed because other

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Speaker 1: guys have We forget that. Peyton Manning took a little

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Speaker 1: while to become Peyton Manning. Even Peyton Manning took a

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Speaker 1: little while he become Peyton Manning. So listen, I'm pleased

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Speaker 1: with the progress that he's made. That doesn't mean that

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Speaker 1: he doesn't still have those moments where you say, God,

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Speaker 1: why would you try that throw? Why not do this?

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Speaker 1: But I think we've got to be a little bit

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Speaker 1: patient with the maturation process of a guy who didn't

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Speaker 1: play at a Power five school and is still really

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Speaker 1: really young. So I've been pleased with the progress that

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Speaker 1: we've seen. Now, does he need to take a giant

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Speaker 1: step given what we just talked about the talent that's

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Speaker 1: surrounding him, there's no question. But do I think it's attainable.

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Speaker 1: Do I think Josh Allen is going to become Drew

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Speaker 1: Brees this season? No, I don't. But do I think

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Speaker 1: Josh Allen is going to Forrester pass what Mitchell Trubisky

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Speaker 1: will be in twenty twenty. I don't think there's even

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Speaker 1: a conversation about that. With how this roster looks, with

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Speaker 1: the division, the departure of Tom Brady, with the questions

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Speaker 1: that there are with this season, and the fact that

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Speaker 1: the Bills return so many starters and pretty much their

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Speaker 1: entire coaching staff. What's a hot take for the Bills

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Speaker 1: this season, whether that be a positive one or a

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Speaker 1: negative one, Maddie, A hot take is this is a

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Speaker 1: team that has the talent to at least play in

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Speaker 1: the AFC Championship game. It's hard to say this team

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Speaker 1: super Bowl or bust because look, as both of you know,

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Speaker 1: so many things can happen over the course of a season.

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Speaker 1: And listen, how you know how fortunate were we last

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Speaker 1: year with injuries? Right? I mean, there's there aren't too

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Speaker 1: many big name players who were injured last season, so

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Speaker 1: that of course is the great equalizer in the NFL.

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Speaker 1: And I'm not a cheerleader to the extent that you

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Speaker 1: know I joke around each year on social media. I

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Speaker 1: don't see anything other than that nineteen or not. Well,

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Speaker 1: I'm not saying that realistically, But do do I think

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Speaker 1: that this team is capable of playing for at least

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Speaker 1: an AFC Championship? I do. I think if we don't

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Speaker 1: make the playoffs this year, it's a big disappointment. And

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Speaker 1: by the way, again, that's where we should be given

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Speaker 1: the talent level of this team. But I think AFC

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Speaker 1: Championship is within reason, that's as hot as I'm going

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Speaker 1: to go right now. But beyond that I also think

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Speaker 1: is possible. Yeah, I kind of I agree with you, Kevin.

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Speaker 1: I think if there's a range between disappointment and you know,

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Speaker 1: over the moon's saying taking that next step. The AFC

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Speaker 1: Championship certainly is the top end of where you can

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Speaker 1: realistically say any team's going to I mean, every all

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Speaker 1: thirty two teams could say, hey, we're going to the

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Speaker 1: super Bowl. But you know, saying that you get deep

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Speaker 1: into the playoffs is the upper end of the expectation range,

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Speaker 1: and the lower end is you got to get in

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Speaker 1: the playoffs. If you don't get in the playoffs, it's

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Speaker 1: a huge disappointment. Where is the line where it says,

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Speaker 1: you know what, that's the that's where I thought we

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Speaker 1: should have gotten. Where what's the level of success the

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Speaker 1: Buffalo Bills have to reach for you to say, Okay,

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Speaker 1: we're still going, let's go, you know what? I mean?

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Speaker 1: What's what's the one where you end the season still optimistic,

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Speaker 1: even though maybe disappointed. Yeah, again, I think Steve, I

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Speaker 1: think it's playoffs. I would imagine that you would agree.

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Speaker 1: I mean, look, we were a playoff team a year

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Speaker 1: ago and it wasn't you know, it wasn't. It wasn't

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Speaker 1: backdooring into the playoffs because the Bengals pulled off a

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Speaker 1: miracle to beat the Ravens, you know what I mean.

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Speaker 1: This is a legitimate playoff team all year long, and

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Speaker 1: it wasn't a surprise. It was It may have been

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Speaker 1: a surprise to some people who who didn't buy into

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Speaker 1: what Brandon Bean uh you know, was putting together here

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Speaker 1: and what Sean McDermott and Leslie Fraser and company were,

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Speaker 1: Brian Dable, we're coaching up. But but it wasn't. It

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Speaker 1: wasn't a shocker in my opinion. So, you know, look

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Speaker 1: to be leading a playoff game this past season at

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Speaker 1: the half and to essentially bring everyone back, and not

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Speaker 1: only that, add one of the top ten playmakers in

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Speaker 1: the league and draft well again and replenish things defensively.

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Speaker 1: You know, to me again, it's playoffs or bust. And

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Speaker 1: people have questions to answer if this isn't a playoff

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Speaker 1: team barring massive injuries in twenty twenty, of course, the

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Speaker 1: great unknown being COVID nineteen. But you know, if all

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Speaker 1: things are equal, if things go as best possible, and

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Speaker 1: this is a season that that goes forward and everyone's healthy,

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Speaker 1: if it's not the playoffs, to me, it's a big

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Speaker 1: disappointment with how this roster looks. Could you point to

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Speaker 1: a certain player as being this year's X factor for

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Speaker 1: the Bills? You know, again, the obvious one, of course

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Speaker 1: is the quarterback, right, But that's true of every team

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Speaker 1: in the league, and you know you want things to

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Speaker 1: go well. You know, with Stefon Diggs coming in, knowing

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Speaker 1: that he's a guy who's used to being a playmaker

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Speaker 1: and that you listen at that position, Steve knows as

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Speaker 1: well as anybody, you've got to feed a guy like that.

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Speaker 1: You've got to keep him happy. So discounting that just

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Speaker 1: the wrong word, not counting those two to answer your question, Maddie,

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Speaker 1: would probably be Devin Singletary. I mean, it was obviously

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Speaker 1: the second half of the year for him. We went

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Speaker 1: to him on a much more frequent basis and he

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Speaker 1: became a legitimate weapon. Well, now you know, he starts

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Speaker 1: the year as the guy, and though there is quality

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Speaker 1: at the backup position, we think with Zach Moss coming

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Speaker 1: in as a rookie. You know, Devin's going to be

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Speaker 1: called on to be the guy who carries the load.

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Speaker 1: So to me, he would probably be the X factor

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Speaker 1: offensively and then defensively. You know, this is probably I'm

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Speaker 1: not exactly giving a hot take here, but you know,

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Speaker 1: seeing Tremaine and how he continues to mature, I mean

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Speaker 1: we forget sometimes just how young he is, how little

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Speaker 1: football he's played, and how you know, from from a

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Speaker 1: birth certificate standpoint, how young he is. And yet what

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Speaker 1: he's already shown as an NFL player has been so encouraging,

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Speaker 1: and you know, is he ready to take the next

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Speaker 1: step to not only be considered among the better players

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Speaker 1: in the AFC at his position, but among the best

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Speaker 1: defensive players in the NFL. So those would be two

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Speaker 1: spots that I would pick. All right, Kevin, I gotta

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Speaker 1: forgive me if for not knowing you went to Ithaca College.

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Speaker 1: I did, okay, So earlier in the show, I shared

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Speaker 1: one of my most embarrassing moments on a golf course

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Speaker 1: when I threw a golf club and it's stuck in

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Speaker 1: the green and we're playing with the golf pro and

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Speaker 1: it was an ugly affair. But since you went to

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Speaker 1: Ithaca College. You're familiar with the term Cordica, of course. Okay,

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Speaker 1: is there anything that happened to you during your four

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Speaker 1: years at Ithaca College? When the week long festival with

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Speaker 1: Courtland State that turns into a cross between woodstock and

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Speaker 1: you know, and a riot. So is there anything that

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Speaker 1: you can share with us about the embarrassing happened to

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Speaker 1: you during your four years at Cordica. That is a

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Speaker 1: tremendous question, and I'm not gonna I know it is.

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Speaker 1: I know it is. I can't wait for this. I

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Speaker 1: know because I had kids that were part of Cordica,

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Speaker 1: and I know it's a question that has to be asked. Well.

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Speaker 1: So I came into this interview figuring that we would

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Speaker 1: talk about memories of Bills games that I've been to,

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Speaker 1: and I was going to say nineteen ninety nine, I

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Speaker 1: went to the Bills Cardinals game in Arizona. If you

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Speaker 1: ask me for specific memories, I'm a little hazy on

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Speaker 1: some of that. Now, As for Cordica, I will tell

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Speaker 1: you that for my junior and senior year, I was

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Speaker 1: doing the games on radio, so that prevented me from

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Speaker 1: partaking in any of the festivities and My first experience

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Speaker 1: with the court of the game was my brother went

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Speaker 1: to Courtland, so I was rooting for Courtland at Ithaca

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Speaker 1: before I ever went to Ithaca. So too young to

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Speaker 1: have been drinking when I was in high school. I

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Speaker 1: can tell you that we illegally got into the game

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Speaker 1: that day. I would, but I don't have any great

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Speaker 1: stories of four minute keg stands in the parking lot

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Speaker 1: before the game, just because I was a part of

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Speaker 1: the broadcast so often. But if we're talking about other games,

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Speaker 1: that's probably more of a fertile ground for a longer conversation.

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Speaker 1: N Kevin Conner's ESPN Sports centeris thanks for being with us.

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Speaker 1: You dodged the last question, Art and I applaud you

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Speaker 1: for it. Thanks for joining us, Dave Mattie, it was

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Speaker 1: great to talk to you guys. Thanks for having me

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Speaker 1: on and go Bills