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Both of them
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 10,225
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What's the big deal with Bills' Kelsay?
Democrat & Chronicle: Bills
Quote:
The Buffalo Bills made Chris Kelsay a very rich man this past offseason when they kept him off the free agent market by re-signing him to a four-year contract worth a reported $23 million.
Ralph Wilson showed Kelsay the money, so much money that the 27-year-old defensive end is one of the highest-paid players on the team.
Now, the onus is on Kelsay to live up to that lofty contract, and he knows it.
"Oh, absolutely," Kelsay said matter-of-factly the other day after practice at St. John Fisher College when asked if he understands the pressure and the scrutiny he signed up for.
"Anytime they invest something like that in a player, they want a return. It's just like anything else in this world. You feel obligated to earn it and I definitely feel that way. I'm going to do everything I can to fulfill their expectations and to fulfill my own. It's not just them expecting a lot out of me, I'm expecting a lot of myself."
Kelsay came to the Bills as a second-round draft pick in 2003 out of Nebraska with the reputation as a steady, hard-working player who never cheated a down.
No matter what the score, the situation, or how much time was left on the clock, Kelsay's motor never stopped running during his days playing for the Cornhuskers, and the Bills' brain trust — then run by general manager Tom Donahoe — recognized this admirable trait.
You can knock Donahoe for a lot of things, but he got this one right as nothing has changed in the four years Kelsay has played in Buffalo. He has worked hard, played well, and he has fit into the team and the town as if he was born and bred in western New York instead of the heartland of Nebraska.
"This is a place that I've grown to love," said Kelsay. "Not just my teammates and the coaching staff and the organization, but the town and everything that goes into that."
However, the stakes are a bit higher after Kelsay signed on the dotted line in February, a deal that guaranteed him about $14 million in salary.
Kelsay is one of only three position players left on the team who has played all 64 games since 2003 — fellow defensive ends Aaron Schobel and Ryan Denney are the others — and he has totaled 177 tackles, 12.5 sacks, 21 QB hurries, 2 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles and 4 fumble recoveries.
The numbers are OK, but they don't make your eyes bug out, and quite frankly, they aren't what you would expect from a player with a bank account as massive as Kelsay's.
However, coach Dick Jauron said that Kelsay's contributions go beyond numbers which is why he was worth every penny.
"He's a great attitude guy and a great teammate," said Jauron, who is the third head coach Kelsay has played for in Buffalo following Gregg Williams and Mike Mularkey. "He plays with his heart every Sunday, and every practice, too.
"There's a lot to it. Unfortunately or not, the sack is a big number in this business. And it's not the most meaningful number at times. Clearly, if a guy is a great pass rusher and he's getting a ton of pressure, then he's of great value whether his sack numbers are great or not."
In other words, Kelsay doesn't have many sacks, but he does his job and he allows other players on the defense to do their jobs. For instance, the Bills' annual sack leader, Schobel.
Since Kelsay joined the Bills, Schobel has rung up 45.5 of his 60.5 career sacks. Kelsay, who is part of a left defensive end rotation that has and will again include Ryan Denney, has started all 32 games the last two years and Schobel has enjoyed his two best sack seasons, a total of 26, which led to a Pro Bowl appearance last year.
"I see a guy who plays hard every play," said Schobel, who makes far less than Kelsay does now despite his much more impressive resume. "He's active, he's always around the ball, and when you play like that good things are going to happen. He's getting better every year and he has an unlimited amount of talent."
Kelsay knows he probably won't approach Schobel's yearly sack production, but like Jauron, he also questions the importance placed on the almighty sack.
"As a defensive end you want to get double-digit sacks, but what you have to realize is that if you get 14 sacks a year, that's 14 plays out of about 1,000," said Kelsay. "Productivity also shows in other ways. I had 88 tackles last year. I view myself as a blue collar player; I'm going to go out there and do the dirty work and give 110 percent on every down."
He may be blue collar, but now he's living in a white collar world.
"Ultimately you've got to do it on the field, and time will tell if that will happen, but I'm looking forward to the season," he said. "The Bills exceeded my expectations, and now I have to exceed theirs."
Jauron has no doubt that Kelsay will.
"I know one thing about Chris Kelsay," Jauron said. "Every single day, game day, practice, you're going to get everything he's got. That's one of the reasons we really pursued him. We wanted him back."
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What's the big deal with Bills' Kelsay?
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