Here at Buffalo Rumblings and around Buffalo Bills nation, Tom Modrak is almost universally despised. The drafts since his arrival in 2001 haven't produced an abundance of talent, and Modrak - whose current title is VP of College Scouting, and who at one point headed up the scouting department - is usually the one that's blamed.
In this morning's Buffalo News, Bills owner Ralph Wilson discussed Modrak's role on the team and the respect that those within the organization have for the top scout.
"Well, I think Tom has been with us a long time," Wilson told the News Wednesday. "He's a hard worker. He knows the game. In the draft, there's no question it's a big disappointment that we haven't had more impact players, players that make a big difference, go to the Pro Bowl. Tom does a good job, but he doesn't make the last call. He puts the [draft] board up. We have a lot of hard-working scouts. But it comes down to making the last decision. That's not Tom."
This is something that has been repeatedly addressed for the last few years. Modrak puts together the board, and other people make the call. It starts with Wilson, and other decision-makers like Tom Donahoe, Marv Levy, and Dick Jauron had the final call in the draft room and the ability to overrule Modrak.
The simple fact of the matter is that nobody except the men in the room know how much power Modrak has over the entire process.
Buddy Nix, who was installed as General Manager a little over a year ago, was the final decision maker in last April's draft. Here's what he had to say about Modrak.
"Starting with this past draft, it's on me," Nix said. "But Tom has done everything he could do for us since I've been here. He takes a lot of shots, because he's the last one standing. Everybody else is gone. So he's an easy target. But I don't pay any attention to the fans or what people write about that.
"I'm not concerned with what happened before," Nix said. "We have to deal with the hand we're dealt. That's what we'll do and try to make sure we make them all count from here on."
It looks like Bills fans will have to accept that for the time being. It appears as though Modrak isn't going anywhere.