Page Twenty-Six: Why We Love ‘BigO’

It’s time to shake things up a little bit around here. We are literally drowning in good content all over the media with respect to the Buffalo Bills. Turning 70 the same day Marv turns 100 on August 3 has me all in the feels. I feel like there is something more to contribute to the already mountain size content about the Bills.

But it also feels like I need to take a few more risks, maybe put my unique view of the Bills into the digital universe a bit more. Why? Because there are some keystrokes I’d like to leave behind when my digits are up once and for all :)

With that in mind, I’m going to start posting my thoughts in a “Page-Six” type of format. Only my goal is to highlight people/posts in an uplifting way instead of as a traditional gossip column. Call it good gossip. I don’t know when I’m going to post, what I’m going to post, or who I’m going to post about in this column. I decided to call this column/series ‘Page Twenty-Six’ (in honor of 26shirts.com, of course).

My goal is to simply give a shout out to people/fans/events etc. related to our Buffalo sports community with a positive spin. There’s so much analytical content out there about the Bills I can’t get enough of it. That said, I think there’s room to read a quick post highlighting some noteworthy people/events happening around us.

My first shout out is going out to Jerry Ostroski (On X.com @Ostroski_BigO). If you know me, you already know how much I value the men in the trenches. Jerry-O was a monster player in his day who said some interesting things the other day on his podcast “The Bills Squad” with Joe Marino and Jeremy White. In fact, Jerry-O blew me away when Joe Marino asked him who was one of the greatest mentors on Buffalo’s team when he came to the Bills. Jerry without hesitation said, “Kent Hull”.

Many of you reading this know how much I have worshipped Kent Hull over the years. I’ve written about my complete admiration for a guy who I believe was grossly underrated as a player and as a man. When Jerry-O said Kent Hull was a total professional who taught Jerry so much when he came to Buffalo, it made me smile.

I’ve always suspected Hull was instrumental in the success of the Bills offense by fulfilling his role as a player, teacher and human being. So thanks to Jerry-O for confirming what my eyes told me back in the day. It was devastating when Kent Hull died. The world lost a great man.

The other interesting thing Jerry Ostroski brought up on the most recent Bills Squad podcast was about his impression of Josh Allen when Josh and the other quarterbacks walked out on the practice field on the first day of training camp. He basically made a remark about how Josh has a certain presence about himself that is new, that he is now a more mature version of himself.

That comment was music to my ears. Big-O gets it. He knows how intangibles matter because he played on teams in Buffalo with incredible intangibles. Josh Allen as the reigning NFL MVP is a much different player than rookie Josh Allen. We’ve literally had the pleasure of watching Allen grow up right before our eyes, so we are blessed.

Jerry-O recognizing this ‘presence’ about Josh is evidence about how special Big-O’s view of this team really is. Mr. Ostroski is as wise as he is humble and reminds me of Kyle Williams in many ways. Wise people are blessing to be around, so if you ever have a chance to take in what a wise person has to say, you become wiser yourself by absorbing their often insightful wisdom. So ‘wyohats’ off to Mr. Jerry Ostroski for the wisdom he shares with all of us.

Editor’s babble: This concludes my first post for Page Twenty-Six. Please feel free to provide feedback as we launch ourselves into what could become a very special season for the Buffalo Bills. I’m keeping this loose because these posts will come when they need to and will not be dictated by a deadline. My personal deadline is coming soon enough :)