At the close of Buffalo's 2011 training camp in Pittsford, New York, Bills CEO Russ Brandon assured that the club would be enjoying "many more summers at St. John Fisher." One month later that assurance became reality as the Bills and the college announced a new training camp agreement.
"We are excited to have come to an agreement to continue our Training Camp at St. John Fisher College," said Brandon. "We believe Fisher offers us the best place to prepare our football team, continue our regional business initiatives and to serve our great fans. We would like to thank President Bain, the Fisher Staff and the Board of Directors for their continued commitment to host the Bills into the future."
St. John Fisher has played host to the Bills for training camp since 2000, and has been heralded as a first class venue for an NFL training camp.
"Having this new agreement that keeps our Training Camp at St. John Fisher College is tremendous," said Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. "Everyone at the school does such a great job during our time there and it's a first-class operation all the way. I talk to a number of players around the league and I'm thoroughly convinced that we have one of the best, if not the best, training camp in the NFL."
Terms of the new agreement were not disclosed.
One issue that did crop up for this past summer's training camp was the new configuration of the two grass practice fields for the Bills. St. John Fisher completed construction on a new outdoor track and grandstand where the two grass practice fields had previously been located. The team was forced to make due with a pair of 50-yard fields on the infield of the track, which head coach Chan Gailey said were "not ideal."
Brandon confirmed that the team's concerns about field space have been addressed by the college though he would not get into specifics.
"From our standpoint we had some concern after seeing what was going on with the track," said Brandon. "We sat down and talked about what the best route was for us to take going forward and we came up with some solutions."
