The moment I stepped onto the football field on Thursday to do my live reports for Sportsnet Connected, Rogers Centre felt different. I have reported from NFL stadiums numerous times. However, this time, it was on my home turf. Just seeing the NFL field laid out and looking pristine made Rogers Centre feel like a different stadium.
As much as the Bills organization was treating this like a "home" game, there was no denying the passion and volume of all the Steelers fans on hand. Once the game got underway, the 48,000-plus fans in the stadium were treated to an impressive display of football for the pre-season. I say that with the because pre-season anything usually sucks. Not this game. Not by a long shot.
Right away the Bills defence made its presence felt when Donte Whitner made a great play on a tipped ball by fellow safety Ko Simpson. Simpson went down and deflected a Ben Roethlisberger pass right into the waiting hands of Whitner. Right away Trent Edwards put together an impressive drive which he capped off with a seven-yard touchdown pass to tight end Robert Royal.
Edwards had the crowd at Rogers Centre buzzing when he reeled off a nifty 22-yard scramble for a first down early in the second quarter. Once again, Edwards capped off that drive with touchdown pass to Royal. This time from 13 yards out and Royal made the touchdown happen with some great second effort after the catch.
Roethlisberger showed why he is considered such a stud quarterback in the NFL when he heaved a sweet 40-yard bomb in the end zone to Santonio Holmes. The Bills went into their locker room at halftime holding onto a 14-7 lead and the fans had enjoyed a solid half of football.
One of the first things you realize when you cover the NFL is the food. There's better food served to the media at NFL games and there's a lot of it. While the American media lined up to get their halftime snacks, I joined the Canadian media crowding around a little TV watching the Bombers-Ticats game. At that point the American media looked at us like we were all on crack.
Like most pre-season games, the majority of the starters were long gone by the time the third quarter rolled around. It's a fact of life in the NFL. Teams need to see those players on the bubble in action so they can make the tough decisions on who stays and who goes. All the big guns on the Bills and the Steelers are not going anywhere. August 26th is the first major round of cuts and teams around the NFL have some very tough decisions to make.
A great example of a player who made the most of his second-half reps was Bills safety Jon Corto. A second-year player out of Sacred Heart, Corto spend the 2007 season on the Bills practice roster. The Orchard Park, N.Y., native is making the most of his time in training camp and in the pre-season to prove to head coach Dick Jauron that he deserves to make the team.
Just when the game began to get a bit dull, Bills first-round draft pick Leodis McKelvin put on an incredible display of speed. After the Steelers scored, McKelvin took the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for an electric touchdown. McElvin has sick speed and he literally shredded the Steelers kick-cover team. Bills special teams coach Bobby April likely needed to be sedated before climbing on the team bus he was so geeked up after McKelvin kicked in the afterburners.
After a great night of football, there is no question that Toronto can support an NFL team. Like it or not, an NFL team is coming to Toronto. If it turns out to be the Bills, so be it. If it turns out to be an expansion team or another team decides to relocate to Toronto; well that would suit NFL fans in Southern Ontario just fine. The NFL is heading to Toronto, it's only a matter of when.
