The Buffalo Bills have made a concerted effort to make sure that former players stay involved with the team, especially those from the glory days of the 1990’s.
Apparently, that effort doesn’t involve the best kicker in team history.
In a Facebook post Tuesday morning, Steve Christie wished departed Bills kicker Dan Carpenter luck in the future. He also mentioned that he had offered to help Carpenter while he was in Buffalo, but was “told by the GM that he wouldn’t be receptive to outsiders.”
The full text of the post is as follows:
“I'd like to wish the very best to Dan Carpenter and his future endeavors. It's not easy kicking in Buffalo! For the record, I did offer to help him, but was told by the GM that he wouldn't be receptive to outsiders. You would think after kicking there for nine years, l wouldn't be considered an outsider. But rather an experienced resource that was available to coach a fellow specialist in a time of need.”
Christie kicked for the Bills from 1992 to 2000. His 1,011 points remains the most in Bills history (Carpenter finishes in sixth place on that list). He holds the team record for longest field goal (59 yards in Week 3 of the 1993 season) and still has the longest field goal in Super Bowl history (54 yards in Super Bowl XXVIII). To consider him an outsider is, well, misguided (to put it nicely).
Doug Whaley isn’t a very popular figure among Bills fans right now. While this might not register with those who are more interested in the state of the 2017 roster, it’s not a very good look for a team that needs all the good press it can get, nor is it encouraging for the next man to take the reins as the kicker. It’s hard enough to kick in Buffalo without the front office shooting down experienced voices who want to help.
Update: If you’re looking for some clarity on who exactly Christie is referring to...
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Christie had an opportunity to clarify, but his response seems to indicate that the “he” in the post is Whaley, not Carpenter. It’s possible that Carpenter was rejecting the help through Whaley, but from Christie’s perspective it would seem that Whaley was the one who shot the whole thing down. The whole thing isn’t exactly clear.
Update No. 2: Vic Carucci of The Buffalo News reached out to the Bills, and the team issued this response, which isn’t unreasonable.
"Steve Christie is a valuable member of our alumni community and we appreciate all that he has done for this organization. He is the Bills' all-time leading scorer and the top field-goal kicker in team history. We appreciated his offer to assist Dan and that was communicated to him. But we all just felt it was in the best interests to have Dan continue his working relationship with the coaches."