Former Bills kicker Dan Carpenter went through a rough patch last year, and was offered a hand by a guy who had plenty of success there.
But former Bills kicker Steve Christie, who spent nine years kicking well in the harsh conditions there, said Bills General Manager Doug Whaley turned down his offer to help.
Via Vic Carucci of the Buffalo News, Christie posted a message on social media about the offer.
“I’d like to wish the very best to Dan Carpenter and his future endeavors,” Christie wrote. “It’s not easy kicking in Buffalo! For the record, I did offer to help him, but was told by the GM that he wouldn’t be receptive to outsiders. You would think after kicking there for nine years, l wouldn’t be considered an outsider. But rather an experienced resource that was available to coach a fellow specialist in a time of need.”
The Bills offered a statement in response, saying: “Steve Christie is a valuable member of our alumni community and we appreciate all that he has done for this organization. He is the Bills’ all-time leading scorer and the top field-goal kicker in team history. We appreciated his offer to assist Dan and that was communicated to him. But we all just felt it was in the best interests to have Dan continue his working relationship with the coaches.”
As with so many things surrounding the Bills in recent years, the problem is with the perception rather than whether there’s any actual dysfunction.
Could Christie have helped Carpenter, if only to lend some moral support? Perhaps. Could he have planted ideas in his head that ran counter to advice the people being paid to give it were offering, adding to the jumble of thoughts in Carpenter’s head? Perhaps.
Either way, a team that has taken a recent step to improve their messaging has another P.R. mess to navigate through now.