What's up, Bill's Mafia? Welcome back to the Buffalo Bread Podcast. I am your host, Dan Roberts. We are very excited here to be kicking off another season of Buffalo Bread. You'll notice that it's just me on this recording this evening, and that's what it's going to be for the next couple of
recordings that we drop on the pod. JJ who is our normally scheduled co -host here on the program He is going through some some family issues right now some personal issues And he has need to take a little bit of space from the pod in order to
attend to those of course We love JJ. We wish you and your family the best man, and we cannot wait to have you back on the pod But at JJ's request Given that we are so close to training camp, we are turning out new episodes of the pod starting this week as we are now a couple of weeks here from training camp and the kickoff to the Buffalo Bills, uh, pre season. So we're
going to be dropping a few episodes on you. It is of course, list season, ESPNs dropping lists, the ringer, the athletic, they're all dropping lists of best coaches, best position rooms for the upcoming season. We're going to be diving into all that with some of our regularly scheduled co -hosts. Um, and also a couple of new faces. on the pod that have found their way onto recording
with us. We're appreciative, of course, all of their time and all their energy that they're giving to us as we get ready for another Buffalo Bills NFL football season. So, tonight what we have for you as we kick the rust off this podcast is we've actually got a great interview that I want you to stick around for with one of our newest co -hosts, Mike Kujowski. Kujo, as we affectionately like to call him. A huge Bills fan, has been working abroad for the past few
years. has recently made his way back to upstate New York and is very excited to rejoin his home community of Bill's Mafia. You're going to get a chance to hear about what it was like being a Bill's fan abroad, some of his favorite memories at the Ralph here as we close out the final season of that glorious, glorious stadium before the opening of a new Highmark next year. A lot of really good stuff. We hope you stick around for
that. Before we get into that, there is, of course, some news and notes starting to come on, one of which, and I think the most prevalent piece of discourse of Bill's Mafia, has been having this season has been around one James Cook and his contract situation. So as everyone I think is aware, James Cook shortly after the season made it known what he thought his worth and value was to the Buffalo Bills, i .e. $15 million a
year guaranteed. He is going to be eligible for an extension at the end of this season being a second round pick. This is the last year of his rookie deal. No fifth year eligibility being that he was not a first round pick. So, he is asking for a number that I think a lot of Bill's mafia and a lot of folks in Bill's media have kind of balked at. And the reason being is because there's only two guys that are getting that amount of money, that 15 million guaranteed tier at
the running back position. That is Saquon Barkley and Christian McCaffrey. So many Bills fans, while we love what Cook has brought to this unit offensively, and we've loved to see his development over the past few seasons, there's a lot of Bills fans that balk at that number for a couple of
reasons. One, in general, the value of the running back position despite the success of second and third contracts that Saquon Barkley assigned, Christian McCaffrey assigned despite his injuries, and Derek Henry in Baltimore as well, despite that, recent run of success, there are still questions about how valuable it is to have a running back in your system locked up at that type of cap hit, especially when you're a Buffalo Bill squad that is already tied up against the
cap year after year, and you have big decisions coming up on guys like Osiris Torrance, David Edwards, and Conor McGovern. So we're gonna dig into a little bit of that here in this intro.
But I got to tell you I think and we'll find out where JJ stands when he returns to the pot on this I think we're I stand right now is I lean towards giving cook Close to what he's asking for and before you come out with your pitchforks and Spears Hear me out as to why I am fully cognizant of where James cook needs to improve He is still not a three down back. He has a lighter frame 511 190. He is last season and seasons before he has averaged just over 200 carries per season.
Nowhere near the 300 carry load the guys like Saquon Barkley and Derek Henry and Christian McCaffrey that elite tier that we talk about are taking on when healthy. All right. So I enter this conversation fully cognizant of the fact that James Cook is just not on the field as much as those guys are. Part of it is because of the skill set and the physical traits that he brings to the table. And then the other part of it is
the Buffalo Bill scheme in general. They have carried and played three running backs in that running back room for multiple seasons under Sean McDermott at this point and through multiple offensive coordinators as well. It is a piece of the game. They've always valued complimentary football and they like to spread out and share the load. I say all that wanting you to know that I'm totally aware of all the reasons why James Cook probably should not be paid at that
elite tier. But there are some things that he legitimately brings to the table that I think are a hand in glove perfect fit for the scheme that the Buffalo Bills want to run in their ground game. And I feel like every season we've gone into a year and we've talked about where James Cook has needed to improve. And he has improved after his rookie season. It was all about field vision. He was going dancing too much East to West. He wasn't going North to South enough.
What did he do? He elevated his field vision in the next two years to get to what I would like to call S tier. His first cut, his first read and first reaction hitting holes is one of the best in the league. And his yards per carry before contact, bear that out. I understand that's also an offensive line metric as well. On average last season was 3 .4 yards, which was top five in the league last year. I get some of that as the offensive lines production and
the offensive lines effectiveness as well. But he has also added power to his game that we have not, I think, anticipated or talked about enough. His touchdown production in the red zone, two seasons ago, going back to 2023, he was only used in about a quarter of the snaps that the Buffalo Bills were running in the red zone. Simply didn't have the physicality, he still was working on his field vision, understanding his reads
and things like that. And in the red zone, the Bills were going to a myriad of other options that were not James Cook. Last year, he got about 60 % of the snaps in the red zone. Why? His field vision improved. His acceleration is through the roof, as we have all seen on film and in watching real -time games. But he added an underrated power element to his game as well. We said already that he averaged 3 .4 yards per carry before
contact. After contact last season those number went up to three point five yards carry After initial contact according to next -gen stats that it was good for top 14 in the league last season overall when you take out Quarterback runs they take out guys like Jane Daniels and Lamar Jackson He was number six amongst all running backs and overall yards per carry at almost five yards a clip He is elevated and added a skill set to his game each and every season that has
continued to help his development accelerate. It's also accelerated in perfect cohesion and unison with where this offensive line program has gone. You guys may remember last season. Not so much JJ, but definitely me had a lot of questions about how the bills were handling the offensive line room. It finally felt like after the 2023 season they had figured out that formula they had rolled out at that time would have been the. best offensive line that they had had arguably
in the Josh Allen, Sean McDermott era. And we had a lot of questions about letting guys like Mitch Morse go, Ryan Bates go, letting go of a lot of our depth. Well, as it turns out, an Aaron Cromer we trust because last season was arguably the best offensive line that the Buffalo Bills have had to work with, not just in pass protection, but also in the run game as well.
There is a lot of discourse because of the efficacy of that offensive line that you can plug any running back into that old lines into that online scheme and they will be successful. Here is my counterpoint to that. Philadelphia Eagles are in Baltimore Ravens, arguably. better offensive
line factories than the Buffalo Bills. Buffalo Bills are new to this game, where it's next man up, be it an Alec Anderson or be it a Cedric VanPan Granger, and they're able to play at a level of really high efficacy, coming off the pine. Philly and Baltimore have lived that life. They have built deep rotations along their lines for many, many years. They made the decision, respectively, to invest in quality veteran running back skill because they felt like that would
put them over the top. One of my favorite guys to listen to an O line play aside from JJ is Michael Junior. And I remember an interview he did, I want to say it was four or five years ago, where he was just talking about what it was like to be an offensive lineman at Notre Dame and then for a cup of coffee in the NFL. And he always, he says something that was really striking to me. He was like, yes, and I'm, this is not exact word for word. I'm kind of paraphrasing
here. He was like, O -line play matters. 100 % absolutely O -line play matters, but it makes such a huge difference to have a guy carrying the ball behind you that can understand the openings that you're creating for them and attack them with the speed. and the confidence that they need to, to make the most of those openings. We all remember the Devin Singletary, Zach Moss days, where it felt like Motor, in particular, had opening after opening for him at certain
points. Granted, there were issues with the O -lines he played behind, I understand this. But it felt like that when the holes in the openings were there, he wasn't hitting them with any kind of real confidence. Same thing with Zach Moss, who was supposed to be this bowling ball with
knives for us. Again. All line was not back then what it is now, but openings were there and we did not have the horses in that running back room to really exploit the limited amount of opportunities that they were being given flash forward to now. And it feels like you have the perfect match of a running back with great field vision has increased his, not just acceleration, but his overall top speed last season, clocking
in at multiple 20 mile per hour runs. Um, and became a home run threat last season in James Cook. It wasn't just about his power game in the red zone. There were quite a few breakaway runs. I mean, the one I remember the most was against Miami and watching Jordan Poirier take a terrible tackling angle and Cook basically waving goodbye to him and breaking away. We haven't had that total package at running back, I would argue, since potentially Travis Henry maybe.
Fred Jackson was an incredibly effective and cerebral running back, but he didn't have a lot of the juice as far as the speed and acceleration went that James Cook has. I mean, Cook feels like he has a skill set that is developing at the same time that this O -line scheme is finding its height of perfection. I feel like the bills should highly consider. I don't know. 15 million is the number. Maybe 12 million is the number. Maybe 12 .5 is the number 13, even average annual
value. I don't know what that is, but when I think about a guy like James Cook and his skillset potentially walking out the door, when I see what Philly and Baltimore identified for their squads that have helped put them over the top offensively and needing to bring in some veteran running back help that fit their scheme. I kind of don't want to let the guy walk out the door, because I think if we do, we are starting from a further back building point that I think a
lot of us really understand. Yes, I think Ray Davis is great. I think Ray Davis is actually more effective at catching the ball out of the backfield than James Cook is. But I think the total package of what Cook brings to the table is something that is worth keeping an eye on as these contract negotiations go out. Listen, man. I think back to that AFC Championship game against the Chiefs, and I think about who played their best game. Who played their best game for
the Buffalo Bills? Who showed up when the stage was the absolute brightest at that particular moment? Definitely wasn't the defense, as we have talked about all offseason. Wasn't the wide receiver room. You could argue, too, that it wasn't even Josh's best game of the season. Came out very jittery in the beginning, and Brady had to do a lot to settle him down. Who played their best game of the season when it mattered
the most for the Buffalo Bills? It was James Cook scoring multiple touchdowns and only 13 touches and a snap share 47 % and the AFC Championship game even if even if Cook cannot for whatever reason improve his pass blocking And I understand, and I've watched the film, and I know that the play before the Dalton Kincade missed catching that AFC Championship game, Cooke absolutely blew a blocking assignment and allowed easy pressure to get to Allen. I get that it is an issue. Totally
understand that. But when you look at the big reasons why the Bills were even in that game so close towards the end against the Steve Spagnola defense, it was because of James Cooke. I just have a hard time letting a guy walk out the door who fits our scheme so well. And I think we should learn the lessons that Philly and Baltimore chose to learn two seasons ago and signing their veteran running backs to the deals that they did. And I think we should give James Cook a look. What
does it look like? I don't know. But I'll tell you what, I'll feel a lot better about paying someone like James Cook $13 million a year than I would someone like Josh Palmer $13 million a year. I think... Cook makes this offense better in a way that no wide receiver, say for maybe Cluel Shakir, can make this offense better. He's a pressure release fell for Josh. He fits in
perfectly with our scheme. And I think we should not be so quick this season to dismiss his value to the team just because of the position he plays.
That's all I got to say about that. I can't wait to hear how you guys Absolutely disagree with that take and how JJ disagrees with that take when he comes back But I appreciate you guys letting me go off on that for a little bit So please stay tuned because following up next we have a very entertaining interview with one Mike Kujawski About his time being a Bills mafia member abroad What's up Bill's Mafia and welcome back to the Buffalo Bread podcast I'm your host Dan
Roberts and we have the pleasure today of being joined by our newest guest host Mike Kijowski for those of you regular listeners of the pod you know that JJ and I we carry a very very deep bench of Buffalo Bill's fans Bill's mafia lovers and I've had the pleasure of getting to know Mike Kijowski here over the course of the past few weeks and we're very Excited to have him
on the pod. We've had a chance to bond since meeting each other over a number of things, music, movies, comic books, and of course, Bill's Mafia. And we are very excited to have Mike here today to talk a little bit about where his love for Bill's Mafia comes from and where he thinks the 2025 Buffalo Bills can ascend to this season. Mike, welcome to the podcast. How you doing, sir? Dan, thanks so much. Awesome to be here. I'm doing great. Happy to talk some bills. Happy
to be in Bill's country. And yeah, let's get it. Let's get going. Awesome, dude. So you mentioned being back in Bill's country We're going to let you get into kind of your backstory and your history here a little bit. But you are a recent returner here to the upstate New York, western New York area. What I'd love to know and what our favorite thing about having some of our guest hosts on is to find out where their fandom started and kind of where their love for their team comes
from. So, Mike, if you could walk our listeners through your journey of falling in love with the Buffalo Bills and tell us a little bit about your story about being a fan. Thank you. Great question. My journey begins like many Bills fans in Wegmans. My earliest memory is they used to put up Squish the Fish behind the cashiers at Wegmans on the wall, you know, unashamedly loud and proud. And I remember just getting revved up by that as a little kid. And, you know, my
love for the Bills came through my dad. Obviously, he raised me right. You know, he was a Bills fan, grew up in Batavia, New York. So him and his buddies were always plugged in, going to games, you know, tailgating harder than I probably ever could try, you know, if they'd invent it or not. So, you know, I got to see the glory
days, the 90s era Bills, the Jim Kelly era. I got to meet him and a million Bills through the at the stadium, they had something called the NFL experience for any of our listeners who've done that. And my dad used to get access through his work. And so got to do that a bunch when I was young and like get actual FaceTime, you know, besides like going to the mall and like seeing Thurman Thomas and getting a signature.
So those are my earliest Bill's memories. And then, you know, that run in the 90s codified everything and. You know. The fashion, you know, from the get go had the bills, the bills, gear in elementary school, ready to go. So Zubas pants always. Yes. Yeah. And then one of my other favorite early memories was we would make cookies with my cousins for Christmas, you know, like old school with the cutters. But you would like kind
of do it. And we would customize the dolphin ones so that, you know, they were being murdered, basically. You know, in a cartoon fun kind of way. So yeah, it was my love was born on dolphin hate, like any good Bill's fan, I think. Oh, excellent. Hating the Dolphins, loving Wegmans. And then of course, the very clutch love of family member who stewarded you through your early childhood and getting you hooked on the bills. All those things swirled together have made you Mike Kujawski.
I think one of the most like energetic bills fans I've had a chance to talk to I remember day one meeting you at the office. And you called yourself the bills fan. And I absolutely loved
two things about that, right? Like the confidence that you put behind that but it was spoken like someone who was yes excited about the team but carried the weariness of the drought years in their soul like so many of us grew up in the 90s loving this team did right so I felt an immediate kinship with you sir and I want to go back to something that you had kind of touched on earlier which is your bet find yourself back in upstate New York if you could tell us a little bit about
what you've been doing for the past few years Just to touch on that last point, those 17 years playoff drought, that's true love. That is. All you bandwagon fans or you new fans, we love you, welcome, but you don't know love like that until you've been through it. You don't know love until you've known pain, and we know our pain. Yeah, like a jaded 15 -year -old. So for since 2000, well, I grew up in Rochester. Let's start there. Been going to those games any chance I could.
Went to Eastman School of Music. Started a career in music from there and moved to New York City. Quickly got snatched up by cruise ships. I said, I'm going to do this for a year. That was 2009. They said do you want to go to Alaska for the summer? I'd never been anywhere I've been to Washington DC for a school trip and maybe Toronto, you know, that's it Never even been to Syracuse,
right? And so I said yeah, I found myself there It was contract work had the time of my life playing music traveling, you know finally earning a paycheck at one point I would joke and say that I was I had a unicorn job. I was a full -time employed musician with healthcare in the United States. It wasn't lost on me how blessed I was to make that trinity. So one year turned into 15 years. So that's why I say I'm back in Bill's country because I was a Bill's fan all
over the world. I would come home. I was always home in the winter at crunch time. So when we weren't in the playoffs, yeah, it was pretty lonely. But recently it's been pretty awesome. And getting to watch the Bills from afar and you know. be a part of it that way has been a really cool perspective, but, you know, getting to now be here with everybody, you know, and the cumulative energy of that is... is already awesome. And the season's like just getting going.
Oh, God, I know. training can kicks kicks off here in a couple of weeks. I'm so stoked. So stoked for regular bills content news to start coming out of St. John Fisher and training camp. Turn it out. Yeah, dude. Yes. Mike, that's, that's
a such a cool story. And The Buffalo Bills being such a small TV market in the US comparatively I'm curious what your experiences were like being a Bills fan abroad I can't imagine that you were able to get many games other than things that maybe you could stream Tell us a little bit about what your experience was like being a Bills fan being away from like the core energy of the fan base here in this area and Just kind of what it was like to be a Bills fan working abroad
So to start with I worked for a company that like most companies don't employ a lot of Americans so I would be on board and all of our guests would be American for the most part or globally it was like a 51 % split but for one country that's still a huge like Sway of the population so Only being like a dozen crew members. I didn't have a lot of other people that were Americans
that liked the NFL the same way that I did. So we would even get into the classic arguments about rugby versus football, which I won't even entertain. But we should just grab their best 11 guys and our best 11 and let's just have it out. Let's just do it because they're they want to talk about the pads and they want to talk about all that. We could do a whole podcast on rugby versus football. Maybe we should. That's
the number one question. If it's their 11 versus our 11, are we playing in pads or are we doing the snow pads rugby style? Right. Either way, they have no idea. They have no idea. You're like irrelevant. They'll get snow. But yeah, those rugby dudes are crazy. That sport is amazing. But our guys are they're small businesses. Every single one of them, like they're not getting wrecked like that and playing that many games and. You know, the physics of the sport are just
different, I'm sorry. So yeah, you guys put on some pads too, or we'll take ours off, whatever you wanna do, but it's no content. So I did a lot of that, did a lot of talking about that, did a lot of explaining rules live, but all the guests would be really into it, and later in my career when I got to be an entertainment director, we would have to choose which game we got each week, and so. I had significant power in this
way. I always chose a game that was relevant to the bills or the bills when they were on. So I think this answer is the first part of your question. Like the early part of my travels, I was disconnected. Like I was listening to internet radio, like even I started, we didn't even have wifi on the ship. Oh wow. 2009, everyone could
smoke in their cabin and there was no wifi. like you think that's like the 80s dude that was 2009 there was a radio room before they had computers and there and in 2009 there was like six computers and everyone shared them and you paid per megabyte so there was no bill streaming early on it was just whispers and rumors of war but you know later in life we got near -earth orbit satellites and you know you could you could stream anything and You know when I got to be entertainment director
and choose the games we would put them on these big screens these Gigantic, you know movie -sized screens on a moving ship. That was super cool You know and a unique experience so sounds pretty awesome It went from being non -existent to being like a unique Boutique experience to be able to do it on the ship and have all the food right there Have the service and have the ocean and have your fellow fans around And it could get
pretty rowdy there. You know, it was for most part friendly, but You know when the playoffs come around the worst of all so oh a hundred percent So you didn't you didn't get much in the way of discourse about football? With your crew members, but what about some of the some of the guests that you would travel with like did you encounter? More bills mafia in your travels abroad everywhere. So the best part of Bill's Mafia is how well we travel and how well we sport
our allegiances. So any piece of Bill's gear, I'd be in an airport in Italy, you know, we deployed all over the world. So if I saw Bill's gear, I would, to the chagrin of my fellow, you know, crew members who were not American and didn't understand how brazen I was, would just scream, Go Bills. And then they would also be shocked when someone would just scream, Go Bills, back. So I've done that in Japan. I've done it in South
America. The power of that community, if you don't know, it extends far beyond our shores, far beyond just having games in London. And the international games have helped immensely, I think. I'd imagine. But Americans travel pretty well, especially in the summer and especially on cruise ships. I'd see the gear and it was an easy way to make instant friends No matter where you were it was I think almost like any other franchise regardless of sport I would argue
That's so awesome to hear. I mean we know that bills mafia travels You can hear the squeak toy and my dog in the background. I'm sure it's almost perfectly tuned to this comment I'm going to make Bills mafia travel so well in the US as we know they travel excellently to away games and things like that. I have very little experience
abroad. So to hear from you that Bill's mafia, regardless of how small the TV market might be, that their influence kind of permeates across our borders is not something I think I fully understood or appreciated in all my time being a Bill's fan. And it is legit. So cool to hear that Bill's mafia have like Legion everywhere else that you might go abroad. It's so cool that you'd like find your people no matter where you
were, no matter what borders you were in. So we know you found bills mafia, you mentioned earlier, particularly on playoff time, that things might get a little bit friendly, but a little bit rowdy between some opposing fan bases. In addition to Bill's mafia and connecting with them, I'm sure you have also gotten some exposure to other fan bases by while working abroad. What were some of the largest contingents of other
fan bases you got to interact with? And if you wouldn't mind sharing, sir, what were some of the most annoying fan bases you had to deal with in your travels abroad? Great question. So Some of it would be dependent on where we were. So if we were out of Florida Fort Lauderdale, which was very common You know, there'd be a lot of
Dolphins fans. So in recent times that was just a joy I would skip through Miami Airport Zip -a -dee -doo -dah with this exact outfit and a Bill's hat this Bill's hat right here, you know Beautiful screaming go bills whether no one said it or not and it was glorious Actually, there were so many of those fans down there.
It's ridiculous in Florida But besides like the local markets West Coast and Florida you just get bandwagoners who would either choose the team because the colors or the fashion or Just because it was the easy The easy attachment like if anyone doesn't know anything about baseball they go. I'm a Yankees fan So for a long time that was either the Cowboys or it was the Patriots particularly painful for the Bills, the Patriots,
right? There was a lot. And so to answer the last part, the annoying fans was, you know, during that Patriots run and all the bandwagoners, that was particularly painful. You know, Tom Brady fans, especially people who didn't actually know anything about football, but we're just blindly supportive of Tom Brady. You know, it was like, what are you going to say? It's Tom Brady. Yeah.
Yeah, oh god that that also somehow is a is a little bit like it's nice to be confirmed that Patriots fans are not just the most annoying fans here stateside, but also elsewhere in the world I gotta I gotta feel like to Chiefs fans at some point are gonna get up there as well because bandwagons tend to get large and when they get large they get a little bit weird like at the end of that Patriots run some of that
fan base was just I don't even know. So it's really good to hear that Patriots fans were not just a plague for Bill's mafia here stateside, but also there were battles you were bravely waging against them. And your travel travels across the seas as well, my friend, Bill. There's spoiled babies, those Patriots fans. It's wild. I think Dan talking a little bit about James
Cook, if I may, then the first part. I worry that we are going to get a bit of a patriot syndrome as Bills fans and not realize how good we have it. And like our main problem, if we could even call it a problem is we're talking about an amazing running backs contract renewal instead of like not having one at all or not having Josh Allen or like think about the times when it was we
had so much more to talk about than that. And Patriots fans would be, you know, if they lost any game, no matter the circumstances, would cry about it because they were just so used to winning. So we got to be have that 17 years. You got to have that here, back here, whispering here to remind you to be humble and remember. Wow, it's a good time to be a Dills fan. Dude,
it's such such sage advice. And it's a it's a topic that JJ and I debate all the time because we do we do this thing weekly and in season we're doing a pregame show and we're doing a postgame show. And after a Bill's loss there is being critical of the team is something that you know is still really hard for us. But there's always that like little voice in the back of our minds that's asking us like should we be upset about this like. broad scheme macro view, we have it
really good as Bill's mafia right now. The team in my lifetime has only been more successful in the 90s when I was a kid and I really didn't know how to appreciate it. So now the team is so successful, they are starting to permeate the mainstream culture thanks to Josh Allen's popularity, his MVP season, Bill's now going to be on hard docks. It's like, do we... Do we
deserve this? You know what I mean? There's a piece of us that is still like you said trapped in that 17 year drought and every time we criticize something in this moment Are we being are we being sort of ungrateful for the grander scheme of success that we get to we get to enjoy right now I think it's a valid valid point And yes Brandon Bean JJ and I, I'm sure, are going to be critical, especially if this wide receiver room falls apart this season, though I don't
think it will. I don't love the Josh Palmer signing. That interview was pivotal, what Brandon Bean said when he was saying, you criticized the receiver room. We scored more points than anybody. That's that kind of mentality that he was going. It's like, do people realize James Cook was tied for the most touchdowns as a running back? I still say it out loud and I'm like, am I getting hoaxed? On Wikipedia by that like no, that's true. It's
true. Yep, and you know and and again Bean has every right to make that point and How long do you think he was sitting on the you guys wanted Josh Rosen and we picked Josh Allen like? The bank for sure and he can pull it out whenever he wants to so that's the balance that's really hard I think for Bill's Mafia to strike right now because Yes, we enjoy the success we're having right now but also we have all had family members who are bills fans who have lived and died and
Never seen the bills win a championship. So there's so so there is that added I feel like added pressure, particularly now in the window that Josh Allen is in and his athletic peak playing at the height of his abilities, like to maximize that and finally bring a Lombardi Trophy home to Buffalo. And I think that's where some of these criticisms tend to land and tend to, I think, be fair because being victims of your own success is a real thing.
and being in McDermott have established an incredible culture, an incredible, an incredible roster program. When you look at how deep they are at certain positions, they may not have stars on defense and they might not have stars at a lot of skill positions outside of Josh and I would argue James Cook, but they have depth. It's so many different places. When you look at their average wins as a DVOA DVOA metric against injuries, they're usually one of the most successful teams
in the league because it's every man up. But that's only gonna take you so far when you're going up and losing Constantly against the Patrick Mahomes is who on his side of the ball was dealing with his own injury issues the Joe Burrows, right?
And and the Lamar Jackson's even though we've had some success against that team in the regular and postseason There is I think there is a yearning for the Buffalo Bills to not want to to your point um be ungrateful for what we're living in but we still still don't want to end up like so many of our grandparents and our parents and living an entire life devoted to this team without seeing it reach the promised land and i think that's the conflict a lot of bill's mafia are
in but you're right it can come off as being ungrateful like i said me and jj question that about ourselves all the time on this podcast like should we just sit back and enjoy this and some days we're happy to but then other days it's like i I want I want I want I just want
one before I die man. You know what I mean? That's where I'm at some days Yeah, I think you got to have Bill's optimism and I would challenge the parent your pair our parents generation mine and mine included like It's a it's a classic class is half empty versus a glass is half full. Yes We lost four Super Bowls in a row, but we went to four Super Bowls in a row Like how do you measure success? Like we made it one step closer last year like And that was a year that
there was doubts. And then I got to rub it in everybody's faces at the end, which was a glorious feeling, right? Especially as a Bills fan. That vindication, like because of what we've gone through, is sometimes, you know, twice -fold, ten -fold. So I think the Super Bowl is in the end all be all, and many people will disagree
with me. But as long as we go out there, as long as we go out there, and Fill up the highlight reel and they crush it and they have fun and it's fun to watch That's a hell of a lot better than many of the years that we've already been through and if they get a bowl You know, obviously
it's incredible dude. That's cool It's not it sounds like you're a person who both love loves the team but like loves the community around the team and loves the Experience around the team and that seems to fill your cup as a Bills fan. So talk to me a little bit Mike about what you are the most excited for this season. It is your your first full football season back here stateside, back in upstate New York. What are you most excited for for these twenty twenty
five bills? Well, I'm going to try to go to the stadium as much as I can. Obviously, the live experiences is one of the best parts, and that's why our fan base is incredible. And I've made it to one every year, more or less, I think, maybe with one or two exceptions. So. I'm going
to try to go to a bunch. You know, but I just because I'm trying to highlight our achievements, does it mean I don't think we're building towards a Super Bowl and that I don't think it's still possible and that that cherry isn't still glowing and that maybe we're not our best version of ourselves yet in the same way that we thought we had a ragtag wide receiver core and they churned out some pretty serious numbers like you know they could really embarrass some people this
year like it could you know has potential so um that's what i'm most excited about i think is even with more eyeballs on them i don't think they're that flustered like even if the expectation is higher i think they've been through enough that core group of them that uh hopefully they can I mean, Josh is always talking about one game at a time, like even when he's done the most ridiculous Superman game of all time, he comes in with the uber lowball, you know, one
game at a time speech. And you're just like, seriously, man? So, you know, I think that's going to spread from his leadership and they're going to be able to weather more storms like.
Bills fans and probably the players even more so have been volatile emotionally because of all the circumstances surrounding the team and even last year with the refs it was emotionally volatile because we're thinking here we are doing everything else right and we're getting you know this uh this thing we can't control so you know Seems like there's more eyeballs on that subject, too. Maybe it's the final straw to break Kansas City's camel's back, I guess. Dude, you're so
zen. I freaking love it. After a Bills loss this season, I think me and JJ are going to have to have you back on the pod just to like talk us off a ledge. It's when we're at our lowest is when we're recording those postgame pods after a loss. So we might have to bring you in as like the objective third party. Be like, hey, guys. It's still not Trent Edwards out there. We're OK. Oh, gosh. Yeah, you know. Yeah, we're going to need some of that this season. I'm going to
keep you on speed dial, sir. Who was it who threw seven interceptions? Is that Edwards or was it Peterman? It was Nathan Peterman. Yeah, it was Peterman. So it ain't that. It's not that. So if it ain't that, it's by definition. Emmanuel breaking his leg every every day. You know, all that. You know, such a god. Such a think about
it, guys. Take five minutes and think about how bad it used to be and then forget about it and remember how good it is now I'm also talking to myself off a ledge here Dan and everybody but you know If I can be a positive influence for Bill's fans I'll take it Let your positivity wash over this podcast and all of our listeners. Listen, man, a couple more questions. I don't want to abuse your time. You had mentioned that you want to get to the stadium this year. This
is the last year of the Ralph, right? Or as others like some like to call it Highmark Stadium, even though we'll never call it that. So we're about to open new Highmark in 2026. This is the Bills last ride here in the Ralph. You mentioned being at a bunch of games, wanting to get to a bunch this year. Tell our listeners what are some of your favorite memories like top one or two memories
of? Attending games at the Ralph is a Bills fan I remember going to the Ralph Young with my dad and his brothers like like a classic crew of big old boys from Batavia and some guy I Went to we went to go do something else or you know and this guy I come back my nachos are gone. This guy's laughing two rows up eating my nachos and like to impress his girlfriend who was mortified right and I get to watch my dad and his two brothers who by the way are big old boys if I didn't mention
it earlier. I love this. Confront this guy who wanted to steal nachos from a little kid and as Bill's mafia All of a sudden I had like 150 uncles and aunts. And basically they just collectively tossed, tossed them out, like just get out. Yes. What I'm pretty sure didn't help that he was wearing like a Jets jersey or something. Oh, even more so. He's lucky he left with his life. But those fans are benevolent like that. But it was just like, hey, buddy, you think it's
still, you know, from the kids. So anyways, it was great to see that. Like community, you know come to the rescue of a kid like wasn't that upset about the nachos I didn't know what money was back then but that was super cool and This
past year it was December 29th. I believe it was the game versus the Jets and Everyone I was talking to Wasn't going to the game because I think we had the playoffs, you know lined up and the weather it was December everyone just didn't want to brave it after they had put the work in all season. It ended up being, after a little bit of rain, an amazing day. I think it might have gotten close to 50 degrees at one point, even though it was supposed to be miserable.
And there was a small period where it was. And then we watched the bill stop the jets 40... 40 burger easy to 14. I think it was and it was 14 even came in garbage time. So like I Had gotten hundred section seats for that So we were behind like the classic characters like the Elvis and the cook and everybody was right there We were by the end zone in the corner. So that was just like watch the Jets get stomped. It's December It's basically still Christmas like in the Ralph.
It's not even that cold like that was you know Christmas present if there was one I'd say so good so good Listen, man, I cannot let you leave without Indulging in a tradition on this podcast So JJ and I are very well known for saying things about the bills and the NFL that turn out not
to be true, right? so we have this segment that we do at the end of every pod called prediction sure to go wrong and As is tradition as a guest host It is bestowed upon you the opportunity to give our listeners one prediction for the Buffalo Bills this year that is sure to go wrong. So lay it on us. Give us your hottest take for this upcoming season about the bills and what you think is going to happen. Cook scores more total tubs than Derek Henry. Yo, that's a good
one. And here's why I like that one, the stats nerd in me. So cook has not been a huge TD generator in his time, because up until this past season, he really struggled with yards after contact, totally turned that around this past season, which made him a more effective weapon in the red zone. But based on a lot of his TD history, there's a lot of fantasy nerds out there that are predicting a regression back to like his mean and his average for what he might do for
total TDs. You're saying no, you're saying last year was his first step into ascending into the elite of touchdown producers. I love this take. And I'm sure James would like to hear that too, because if he does, in fact, lead the league in total TDs this season, in a contract year, that dude's gonna get paid if the bills don't lock them up preseason. Love that take what what makes you so confident that you think James is going to be able to pull that off this year.
Well, I don't know if he's gonna do it, but I think he has every incentive to do so Because the contract problem is really his problem. The bills are in the best possible spot really they've got a guy who just cooked all year pun intended and then stills got a year left and and you know not showing up to Optional training camps. That's only so much leverage, right? They still have I think everything so Um, yeah, I'd love to see
him turn his frustration into productivity. Yes, turn some of that fu mentality into TDs this season. I love it, dude. I love it. Listen. Yeah, you're Yeah, do it. You're the bad you're the
bad boy. Show us again. You know, live it. Yeah, like, listen, and and the James Cook discourse is going to continue all season if he doesn't get locked up at training camp, which it's looking unlikely that he will it looks like him and the bills are still pretty far apart on a number of average annual value that he's looking for versus what they're willing to give. So this discourse is going to continue all year. It would
be great. if some of that controversy and negativity around this contract thing does manifest itself into one of the best contract years that a player could have. cook benefits, and then the team ultimately ultimately benefits as well from it. So dude, I will be rooting for that outcome for sure. Love that take love that prediction. We will of course revisit at the end of the season to see how close it came to coming true like we do with all of our prediction should go wrong.
Mike on my lucky bills, Hawaiian lay for that prophecy there. I love it and that my friend is the perfect point to probably end the interview because we cannot top the Hawaiian lay at this point So Mike, thank you very much for joining us. Thank you for taking time to guest host with us It was truly fascinating to hear about your time with bills mafia abroad and on behalf of all of our listeners Welcome back stateside.
Welcome back to Central New York. Hopefully you're gonna get treated to some really great Buffalo Bills football this season Amen. Thanks for having me and Go Bills. Thank you and as always, Go Bills.