Sunday, September 14, 2003

By Ed Bouchette, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The Buffalo Bills' media guide contains 330 pages of information, including biographies of everyone from corporate vice presidents to consultants to the three assistant athletic trainers and two equipment men. All with color photos.

Even mascot Billy Buffalo has a bio and color photo.

But the president and general manager is nowhere to be found in photo or bio. His name is mentioned twice, and even he would have to pull out his reading glasses to see it in the small type. He's listed in a directory right under chairman and club owner Ralph Wilson Jr. And he's listed on page 324, where the Bills' chronology details his hiring on Jan. 10, 2001:

"Tom Donahoe is hired as President and General Manager."

Is this any way to treat what many in Buffalo are calling the Bills' savior? The man who dug the team out of salary-cap hell, swung a trade for Drew Bledsoe, stole Lawyer Milloy and has Buffalo believing it will get to a Super Bowl and maybe win it this time?

It is because Donahoe insists no bio or photo appear in the media guide, but there are few Bills fans who don't know who he is, especially after they pounded the Patriots, 31-0, in their opener.

"The reaction's been a little bit too giddy, but that's good," Donahoe said in a telephone interview last week. "We suffered the past couple of years, and our fans deserved to be enthusiastic. We're trying to keep it in perspective on the team."

That perspective could come quickly over the next two weeks in sultry Florida, where the Bills must play Jacksonville today and then archrival Miami next Sunday night. Nevertheless, Donahoe has put them in a position to make the playoffs and have a winning season for the first time since 1999.

His story here is a familiar one. A former WPIAL high school football and basketball coach, he rose through the ranks of the Steelers, starting as a scout in 1985 and moving up to director of football operations. He helped hire coach Bill Cowher, the two had a falling out and the Rooneys settled it by firing Donahoe in the winter of 2000.

Donahoe spent a year working for ESPN, and then Wilson hired him to run his team. The job came with a caveat: $23 million in "dead money" under the salary cap. That means the Billsl had $23 million less to work with. Donahoe decided to take the bitter pill right away. He cut and slashed his way through an over-inflated roster, and the Bills finished 3-13 in 2001 under new coach Gregg Williams.

"We eliminated a lot of bad salaries and bad contracts," Donahoe said. "We knew it was going to hurt us on the field. Rather than chip away at it, we decided to take the big hit our first year."

Last season, they had to carry $18 million in dead money, but Donahoe made a bold move that paid off in a big way for the Bills. He shipped a first-round draft pick in 2003 to acquire quarterback Drew Bledsoe from New England.

The man who stole Jerome Bettis in a trade with the Rams in 1996 continued his magic this year. Donahoe acquired linebacker Takeo Spikes in free agency from Cincinnati. He signed free-agent running back Olandis Gary from Denver, then traded him to Detroit. He put the franchise tag on receiver Peerless Price and let him go to Atlanta for a first-round draft choice. He signed defensive tackle Sam Adams as a free agent. He signed free-agent linebacker Jeff Posey from Houston 90 minutes into free agency.

But his biggest coup of the year came days before the season began. Milloy refused to take a pay cut down to $3 million from just over $4 million in New England, so coach Bill Belichick cut him.

Having carved out a surplus in his salary cap from heavy red ink the previous two seasons, Donahoe was one of the few general managers with enough cap room and the desire to lure Milloy. He gave Milloy a $5 million signing bonus and a $2 million salary this season.

The move devastated the Patriots, and Milloy started and played well against his former team in the opener. He's one of five new defensive starters in Buffalo.

Donahoe noted one more addition that has helped the Bills. Former Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau, fired as Bengals coach after last season, joined the Bills as assistant head coach on the defensive side.

"He's tremendous," Donahoe said. "Dick's not an ego guy. He just wants to contribute and give his experience and knowledge of defense and the zone blitz. This is the guy who created the zone blitz. A lot of people are trying to take credit for it, but Dick is the person who came up with the concept initially."

To judge by the media guide, Donahoe's not trying to take much credit for the turnaround in Buffalo. It's not working.

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