Buffalo Bills Make Official Announcement, Marv Levy Steps Down as General Manager

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As a follow-up to my post yesterday about Marv Levy stepping down as GM of the Buffalo Bills, the team made it official later in the day with this press release:

Bills General Manager Marv Levy announced today that he is stepping down from his position, 10 years to the day that he announced his retirement as the team’s head coach. The Pro Football Hall of Fame coach was named General Manager in January of 2006 after serving as the team’s winningest coach from midway through the 1986 season until the conclusion of the 1997 campaign. During that time frame, Levy led his team to an unprecedented four consecutive Super Bowl appearances. Statements from Bills owner Ralph Wilson, Jr. and Marv Levy are below:

STATEMENT FROM RALPH WILSON

“I met with Marv last week and he told me that his mission as the Bills’ General Manager was accomplished. I will always be grateful for his service. When we needed a new focus and direction, Marv improved our organization’s morale, attitude and environment. All of that, plus the stability we needed to move forward. I sincerely wish Marv, Fran and Kimberly all the best. I have never met anyone with the class and dignity of Marv Levy and he has the utmost respect from me and the entire Buffalo Bills organization.”

STATEMENT FROM MARV LEVY

“Following the 2005 NFL football season, Mr. Wilson and I agreed that I would return to Buffalo to serve as the team’s General Manager for the following two-year period. It has been an experience that I have enjoyed immensely, and I am grateful to Mr. Wilson, to all the wonderful people in the Buffalo Bills organization, and to those incomparable fans who have inspired our team so magnificently. Those two years have now elapsed, and I feel compelled now to turn my energies and my time to other endeavors that intrigue me. Despite an unprecedented number of season-ending injuries, Dick Jauron, his coaching staff, and an admirable core of high-character players are heading in the right direction. If my contributions to their efforts have been meaningful, I then take my leave from One Bills Drive, thankful and gratified. Over the next two or three weeks, I look forward to participating, as Mr. Wilson and I have agreed, in the transition process that facilitates my departure. After that, I plan to return to my home in Chicago. There will always remain a part of me, however, that walks down that tunnel out onto the playing field at Ralph Wilson Stadium on those excitement-charged autumn Sunday afternoons.”