Fashion forward: Bills unveil brand-new uniforms for 2011

The Buffalo Bills will feature a look that's both new and familiar whenever the 2011 NFL season kicks off.

The team unveiled new uniforms in an elaborate ceremony Friday night at Ralph Wilson Stadium, retaining the charging buffalo logo but going back to white helmets and royal blue uniform tops.

The Bills will wear white helmets next season, and the royal blue uniform tops also will return. (Kevin Hoffman/US Presswire)

"We listened to our fans," Bills CEO Russ Brandon told the team's official website. "We have done a lot of research (and) this is a long process to go through. We just wanted to get back to our storied tradition while we still highlight our brand."

The Bills' new uniforms have several fresh updates, including the placement of the iconic charging buffalo on every article except the socks.

"One of the things we heard consistently was there was really no identifying mark on our jersey," said Marc Honan, the Bills' senior vice president of marketing and broadcasting. "We feel that the charging buffalo is perhaps one of the strongest marks in the league, and why not incorporate it into the look, and we think it looks great on the jersey."

The Bills have added their team logo above the nameplate on the back of the jersey. The Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings are the only other two NFL teams to feature that design, according to the Bills' website.

The team name "Bills" also now appears below the V-neck of the jersey on the front.

"In the last five years, we've seen a real trend in the league with teams moving towards including whether it's a logo or a word mark as part of their jersey makeup," Honan said.

The jerseys, designed by Reebok, are 20 to 30 percent lighter in weight, depending on the player's size.

The most instantly recognizable change is the helmet, which will be white for the first time since 1983. The color has been enhanced with a "metallic flake" to gives the helmet a sparkling quality.

"We wanted something that just wasn't a flat white," Bills director of merchandise Tim Kehoe told the team's website. "For more of a modern type of a look, we wanted to go with this metallic flake, which will add a little bit of reflective nature to the quality of the helmet."

The team also tweeted Friday that running back C.J. Spiller and defensive back Leodis McKelvin have switched jersey numbers. Spiller now will wear No. 28, and McKelvin will don No. 21.

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NFL-player talks moving forward; more meetings planned

The NFL and players wrapped up another two-day round of talks on Maryland's Eastern Shore on Wednesday, with more talks expected in the near future.

This is the third in a series of clandestine sessions that started with a three-day meeting two weeks ago in suburban Chicago, and continued with a two-day meeting on Long Island, N.Y. last week. According to sources, the talks remain productive and are moving forward, though a resolution to the three-month-old lockout is not on the immediate horizon.

Both sides have evaluated and strongly considered the concessions and compromises that could ultimately lead to the problem being solved, though, and sources indicated an agreement could come within a month.

"The Top 100: Players of 2011" countdown continues on NFL Network on Sunday, June 19 at 8 p.m. ET. Stay tuned for a reaction show after players Nos. 21-30 are revealed.

The sides released a joint statement Wednesday reiterating their vow of silence to the media.

“Discussions between NFL owners and players under the auspices of Chief Magistrate Judge Arthur Boylan took place again this week and will continue. At the request of Judge Boylan, both sides have agreed to maintain the confidentiality of the substance of the talks.”

Next on the calendar is a scheduled one-day owners meeting near Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. That one is set for Tuesday, June 21, and league officials were told this week to be prepared for the meeting to spill into the evening or even Wednesday.

The NFL and players left Maryland with plenty to think about, and potential progress ahead. Things are expected to be quiet over the coming days, with movement likely on hold until next week’s owners meeting gets underway.

"Probably a sense of urgency with the season just around the corner," Saints quarterback Drew Brees said Wednesday. "The general understanding from everybody is that if we don't have something done by July it would be hard to start on time."

The league estimates that the cancellation of the preseason could cost it as much as $1 billion. Whether or not that figure is accurate, both parties recognize that the major economic losses that would be incurred by this dispute dragging through the summer would make negotiations exponentially tougher.

"Secret" meetings, such as the ones that took place in Chicago and Long Island, have been critical in past NFL negotiations, dating to the 1980s.

"I know that we've been talking pretty extensively over the last few weeks," Brees added. "It seems like things are moving in the right direction, which is very positive. It's what we always hoped for as players because obviously we're getting to crunch time here."

Movement toward an agreement also might be in both sides' best interest after a federal appeals court judge warned the owners and players they might not like the upcoming decisions in legal actions sparked by the lockout. Indeed, the court could delay any rulings if a new CBA appears to be near.

Although no deadlines have been set for the opening of training camps, the 32 teams soon must decide whether to delay them, particularly those clubs that stage a portion of camp out of town. Settling before July 4 almost certainly would provide for full training camps at previously planned locations, although the Minnesota Vikings have said they could delay until July 18 an announcement on whether they will train at their usual site in Mankato.

First would come a free agency period, including the signing of undrafted rookies, and probably minicamps, which already have been canceled by the lockout that began March 12.

The lockout also has cost the league and some teams advertising and sponsorship money, and some players have not collected workout bonuses. At least seven teams have instituted pay cuts or furloughs of employees who are not players.

The Maryland talks were held at an undisclosed location, with larger groups than had been part of the first two waves of meetings. The legal teams for the sides -- NFL general counsel Jeff Pash and outside counsel Bob Batterman, and NFL Players Association outside counsel Jeffrey Kessler and Jim Quinn -- were a part of these sessions.

Also, there was NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, NFLPA president Kevin Mawae, Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Giants owner John Mara, Chargers owner Dean Spanos, and active players Domonique Foxworth, Tony Richardson, Jeff Saturday and Brian Waters. All but Waters have taken part in these sessions over the last two weeks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Broncos turn page on McDaniels era, take first steps forward

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Josh McDaniels and his videographer have been fired, Denver is abuzz with hope that John Elway will gain a greater role with the Broncos as a chief football executive, and interim coach Eric Studesville exudes enthusiasm.

But that dark cloud that hung over the fractured franchise hasn't dissipated just yet, quarterback Kyle Orton insisted.

"The only way you lift anything is to win football games," Orton said Wednesday before Studesville's first practice. "I mean, if you want to feel better as a player, if you want to feel better as an organization, if you want to feel better as fans, you've got to win."

The Broncos haven't done much of that lately, winning just twice since September and five times since McDaniels burst onto the NFL scene by winning his first six games last season.

They travel to Arizona for a matchup of 3-9 teams Sunday.

Studesville said he wouldn't change much on offense, defense or special teams. But one thing he did adjust was the volume on the music that McDaniels liked to blare over the concert-style speakers during practice. They were silenced after stretching Wednesday, replaced by the sounds of hits and hollers.

When Studesville was promoted, the typical reaction -- even among Broncos players -- was "Eric who?"

Studesville had only been with the Broncos for 11 months, hired Jan. 23 to replace longtime running backs coach Bobby Turner after six seasons in Buffalo.

McDaniels didn't like to let his assistants speak with the media too much, and the only interview Studesville had given in Denver was a brief chat with The Associated Press in mid-November.

So the stealthy Studesville gathered his captains Wednesday morning ahead of his first team meeting for a get-to-know-me session one day after standing in front of cameras and recorders for the first time.

"Really, what I wanted to do was just kind of open those lines of communication," Studesville said. "Some of those guys don't know me very well."

The players quickly got a taste of his passion.

"He's lit up like a kid on Christmas Day," defensive lineman Kevin Vickerson said.

Correll Buckhalter said the rest of his teammates finally saw what the running backs have witnessed all year.

"All he knows what to do is work," Buckhalter said. "He wants everybody to come to work happy, just to feel like you want to come here even though it's a rough season. We still have four games to go."

Studesville said offensive coordinator Mike McCoy will call the plays from the sideline, something McDaniels used to do. McCoy was the quarterbacks coach last year, so Orton is accustomed to having him in his ear.

As Studesville tries for a quick fix to the many problems facing the Broncos on the football field, the organization's brain trust is mapping out a long-term plan to resurrect the franchise.

Team owner Pat Bowlen faces a massive rebuilding project to fix the mess that McDaniels left behind when he was fired Monday after going 11-17 and making a series of personnel miscalculations that cost the Broncos talented players and valuable draft picks.

The Broncos' to-do list includes reconfiguring the structure of the football operations, retooling a gutted roster, refurbishing their tarnished image and regaining the trust of their frustrated fans.

McDaniels was fired with the franchise mired in its worst funk in four decades and encumbered by a videotaping scandal that cast the Broncos as cheaters, although the team's front office and the league said they found no evidence the coach had ordered the illicit taping.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell wants to meet with fired videographer Steve Scarnecchia, who was busted for wrongfully taping the San Francisco 49ers' walkthrough Oct. 30 in London after he had been caught up in the 2007 videotaping scandal in New England.

Asked if that meeting had been scheduled, league spokesman Greg Aiello said: "At this point, we are going to consider that a confidential matter."

The NFL fined the Broncos and McDaniels $50,000 each for his failure to report the video violation. If the league uncovers evidence of a more widespread breach, the Broncos could be subject to more severe penalties.

In his 23 months on the job, McDaniels seemed intent on imitating his mentor, New England coach Bill Belichick, from his hoodie to his aloofness. But McDaniels never adopted Belichick's personnel acumen, a series of lopsided trades leaving the Broncos with just a half-dozen picks in next year's draft with which to rebuild a roster that has lost the likes of Peyton Hillis, Jay Cutler and Brandon Marshall.

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Broncos chief operating officer Joe Ellis said the next coach probably won't have the same amount of power that Shanahan enjoyed or which McDaniels was given when he was hired at age 32 with no head-coaching or NFL executive experience.

It's still an attractive job, Ellis insisted.

"I believe that we can set up a structure that's attractive to the next candidate and move forward," Ellis said.

Elway returned to the team as a consultant this year, and Bowlen dined with him Monday, spawning speculation that the Hall of Famer could have an expanded role in the organization, perhaps by overseeing an organizational chart that includes both a general manager and a coach with separate duties.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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