Bills Owner Terry Pegula "needs to make a statement" with his handling of assistant coach Aaron Kromer, and he should "send a message that regardless of potential NFL discipline, the team’s culture starts at the top and that someone who fights with teenagers over beach chairs won’t have a job," according to USA Today's Jarrett Bell. Kromer has been out on paid administrative leave by the team following his arrest early Sunday morning on a battery charge. Bell noted Pegula “made a great first impression last fall by declaring that the franchise would stay in Buffalo." He then made an "energizing splash hire" naming Rex Ryan as coach. But following the Kromer incident, Pegula "needs to tell us what he stands for and what he won't stand for.” ESPN’s Dan Graziano said the league “likes it when the team takes discipline into its own hands." Graziano: "In this case, the Bills put him on administrative leave, and that's probably not the end of the story.” ESPN’s Cassidy Hubbarth noted a “lot of players are going to be watching how the NFL deals with Kromer” (“NFL Insiders,” ESPN2, 7/16).
COINCIDENCE OR A TREND? The Kromer arrest came within a few days of Sabres C Ryan O'Reilly being arrested for driving while impaired after allegedly crashing into a Tim Hortons in Ontario. In Buffalo, Bucky Gleason wrote the two incidents "were enough to raise a few simple questions about the Bills’ and Sabres’ hiring practices." Gleason: "Do they perform adequate background checks? Do they overlook flaws that made them susceptible to potential problems? Is the quality of the performer more important than the character of the person?" Those questions "could be directed" toward Pegula and his wife, Kim, as they own both teams, but they "leave personnel decisions to others in charge in their respective organizations." They should "demand answers from others" including Ryan and Sabres GM Tim Murray. However, it begs the question as to whether the teams are "so desperate that they would take anyone, regardless of record, to help them win" (BUFFALONEWS.com, 7/15).
