Dein erstes Forum » team’s last playoff appearance. Buffalo h

RENTON Josh Oliver Jersey , Wash. (AP) — Twelve-year-old Logan Powell was already a die-hard Seattle Seahawks fan, even growing up in a household with a Steelers-loving dad.If possible, Powell’s enthusiasm for the Seahawks was amplified when Seattle selected Shaquem Griffin in the fifth round of the NFL draft last spring. Powell didn’t know who exactly Griffin was before the Seahawks selected him. He just knew there was a college player with one hand who wanted to play in the NFL.“I was like ‘Ah, that would be cool if he was on the Seahawks,'” said Powell, who wears a prosthetic left leg. “And then he was drafted by the Seahawks.”Powell and seemingly everyone else now knows Griffin’s story.How doctors amputated Griffin’s left hand when he was 4 years old, a day after his mother found him in the kitchen attempting to cut off his jelly-like fingers. His fingers hurt whenever he touched anything, the result of amniotic band syndrome, a congenital birth defect.The chance he was given to play college football at UCF. The remarkable college career where he was the best defensive player in his conference and one of the best in the country.And ultimately being provided a chance to play in the NFL for the team his twin brother already played for.Griffin’s story will likely add another unplanned chapter on Sunday in Denver, one nobody could have expected on the day he was drafted by Seattle. He’ll do more than just play in his first NFL regular-season game. Griffin will be one of the starting linebackers for the Seahawks with K.J. Wright out due to minor knee surgery.The player who has been told countless times he can’t will make his professional debut as a starter.For kids like Powell, it’s even more inspiration. If someone missing a hand can start in the NFL, then what is possible?“He’s just proved he can do whatever he wants because he worked hard for it,” Powell said.Griffin’s work ethic has been cited by coaches and scouts as the driving reason the 23-year-old is even in the NFL. But being an NFL player has brought another responsibility, one greater than what he experienced in college. Griffin understands he will always have a role beyond just being a football player.It’s the reason why after Seattle’s final preseason game he spent time back on the turf of CenturyLink Field meeting with kids from NubAbility , a nonprofit whose mission is to “encourage, inspire and instruct limb-different youth in mainstream sports.” He signed autographs. He posed for pictures. Powell was there among those listening intently to what Griffin had to say well after 11 p.m. on the field of a mostly empty stadium.Griffin said he didn’t have a specific message to share; it was simply a chance to relish in the camaraderie of being together and seeing what was possible.“There’s no exact message. It’s just us doing what we love doing,” Griffin said. “That’s living out our dreams. That’s us choosing what we want to do. There’s not really a message because we’re all on the same page. We all support each other. Having them come support me is another step along the way. It’s just living out our dreams the best that we can.”Right in the middle of talking to the kids and signing autographs was Shaquem’s twin brother Shaquill, the Seahawks’ second-year starting cornerback. He’s helped his brother manage the transition from college to the NFL. He’s been just as important in supporting and promoting what his brother has already accomplished.“It means the world to me. Just seeing the people that look up to us, kids that are still pushing for what they believe in http://www.jaguarscheapstore.com/quincy-williams-ii-jersey-cheap ,” Shaquill said. “You understand what kind of role you’ve really got playing this sport, using this platform. I feel like what my brother is doing and what I’m continuing to do is way bigger than football — the giving back to others and motivating them and give them something to dream about. That’s what we play for, and being in that situation and talking to those kids, it’s a lifetime thing and something I always look forward to.”Of course, there still is the football aspect to Griffin’s story and why so much attention will be placed on his debut. Seattle knew it was getting a tremendous athlete that could be an immediate contributor on special teams when it drafted Griffin. Whether he would play on defense would depend on how quickly he grasped the scheme and found a position.The Seahawks ultimately decided to use Griffin in space and slot him as Wright’s backup. Compared to Wright in size, Griffin looks more like he should be a safety than a linebacker. But he’s taken to the position, even after a rough second preseason game when he looked lost and overwhelmed, which led to conversations with coach Pete Carroll and defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. about how to be more like the player they saw in college.Griffin showed what Carroll and Norton wanted to see over the final two preseason games. And now he gets the chance to show it in a game that matters.“When you’re a young guy trying to do everything for everybody, it’s insurmountable. That’s kind of how he was looking at it,” Carroll said. “He was tight, he wanted to please everybody, he was just trying to do too much stuff. We simplified it, got his language really clearer, what he was intending on trying to get done — like making his drops, making his reads and stuff, just simplify things — and he’s a really good ballplayer, he just took to it.“I think he took also the fact that we showed confidence in him. Instead of ripping his butt about what he couldn’t do, we told him what he could do, and he’s kind of followed it. All of a sudden he felt like he was very comfortable and much more at home Ryquell Armstead Jersey , so we’ll see how it works.” CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (AP)Fathers brought daughters. Mothers brought sons. And everyone brought their voices. The Bills are going to the playoffs for the first time in 18 years, and a little early morning chill wasn’t going to keep Buffalo from celebrating. With the temperature at 2 degrees in the first hours of 2018, fans gathered to sing the Bills’ ”Shout!” song and chant ”Let’s Go Buffalo!” as they greeted the postseason-bound Bills at Buffalo Niagara International Airport. Some 400 die-hards gathered to cheer the team that on Sunday ended the longest active postseason drought in North America’s four major professional sports. ”The cold is nothing. We do or die for the Bills. They work hard for us. We’ll give anything for them,” Ian Lewis said amid the din of people gathering at a fence overlooking the tarmac shortly before the Bills touched down. They landed just before 1 a.m. following their flight from Miami. ”My daughter’s 11 years old, and we’re season-ticket holders,” he said of his, Layla, who was by his side. ”And we didn’t want to miss an opportunity to greet the guys for all their hard work.” Happy New Year, indeed. The Bills (9-7) did their part to get into the playoffs with a 22-16 win over the Dolphins. Then they got the help they needed in dramatic fashion, with the Bengals scoring a last-minute touchdown to defeat Baltimore 31-27. Buffalo clinched the AFC’s sixth and final playoff berth and will travel back to Florida to play South-champion Jacksonville (10-6) in a wild-card playoff Sunday. The Bills were stunned by the reception: from first-year coach Sean McDermott to 12-year veteran Kyle Williams, the team’s longest serving active player and inspirational leader. And it was no surprise that it was Williams who drew the loudest cheers, while being greeted with chants of ”We Want Kyle!” ”What do I make of this? You know, I just think it’s everything that we’ve worked for, everything that I’ve worked for. It’s everything that I thought it would be,” Williams told The Associated Press in near tears. ”These are the toughest damn people in the world, and I’m so thankful to represent them.” The defensive tackle’s stature as a fan favorite grew even further after scoring his first career touchdown on a 1-yard run against the Dolphins. The Bills’ game against the Jaguars will be played one day short of the 18th anniversary of Buffalo’s last playoff appearance, a 22-16 defeat at Tennessee. The game was dubbed ”The Music City Miracle,” after the Titans scored the go-ahead touchdown on Kevin Dyson’s 75-yard kickoff return set up by a cross-field lateral from Frank Wycheck. The Bills’ playoff drought spanned a generation http://www.jaguarscheapstore.com/gardner-minshew-ii-jersey-cheap , which was not lost on many who turned out at the airport. ”We were just excited. A perfect night to come out and support the team,” said Kristin Cahill, who was with her son, Joseph Kemp. ”This hasn’t happened in his lifetime. He’s 16.” Her son suggested greeting the Bills after the team tweeted its travel itinerary. ”He brought it up, and I said, `Let’s go.”’ Cahill said. ”We didn’t have any plans.” Fans began showing up at 11 p.m., with the crowd growing as the Bills’ arrival approached. Once Bills players got to their cars and dusted off the snow that had accumulated since Saturday, they had to make their way through a gauntlet of supporters forming two rows on their way to the exit. ”I wish I could thank everyone, every man and woman that’s come out,” McDermott said. ”This type of welcome home just speaks volumes about our city and our fans.” One fan held a sign that said ”Party Like It’s 1999,” a reference to the team’s last playoff appearance. Buffalo hasn’t won a playoff game since 1995. ”Buffalo wouldn’t be Buffalo if it wasn’t for people coming out here in weather like this,” said Kyle Bower, a Bills fan who happened to be visiting from West Palm Beach, Florida. Bills guard Richie Incognito has never been to the playoffs in his previous 10 NFL seasons, and has never been on a team that finished a season with a winning record. ”It’s amazing. I’ve been waiting to come home to this my entire career,” Incognito said. ”We put a lot of hard work, blood, sweat and tears into what we do. And this is what it’s for: to come home to a crowd of fans jumping around in 2-degree weather.” —