Fitzgerald Cecilio
Buffalo, NY
If he had his way, Buffalo Bills center Eric Wood will not play again at Rogers Centre, saying the atmosphere is bad for football.
"I think the Toronto series has turned into pretty much a joke," Wood said during a segment on 97 Rock. "It's a bad atmosphere for football."
"I mean, nobody wants to play there. I guess for opposing teams it beats the hell out of going in somebody else's stadium and dealing with a bunch of crowd noise," Wood added.
However, Wood's wish will not happen anytime as a new deal will soon be announced between Rogers Centre and the Bills.
The five-year deal between Rogers and the Bills ended Sunday when the Seattle Seahawks crushed Buffalo, 50-17.
The Bills have only won one of their five games in Toronto. Last year, they beat the Washington Redskins 23-0.
Only 40,770 fans, the majority cheering for the playoff-bound visiting Seahawks, attended Sunday's game. A sellout of more than 53,000 had been expected.
Wood said the Buffalo-Rogers deal hasn't worked as the Bills have no fan base in Toronto to disrupt the opposing team's play calling.
"I mean, it's a crucial third down for them in the first quarter, and they're running just regular snap count, where I don't care if we have a half-filled Ralph Wilson Stadium, they don't do that," Wood said. "You're making a team from out west travel, and then you give them the comfort of a dome, and you don't make them play in our stadium."
Worse, Wood said the crowd noise pump up visiting team, rather than the Bills.
"We played down in Houston. That was a real hostile environment, but guys were fired up with the atmosphere in there. And although they're against you, you still feed off of the energy of the crowd," he said.
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Bills Center Eric Wood Despises Rogers Centre Series