David Rosenthal

Supposedly Davis, he just sits there in his chair and he leans back and he smiles and he says, well, we just got our merger.

And

The Bills owner is like, what are you talking about?

And Davis says, because now we're going to go out and sign all of their players and we will destroy them and they will come begging to the table.

Totally.

That night, the New York Times asks Davis for his comment on all this, which, by the way, you couldn't design better drama, especially during the NFL offseason to keep America interested in football.

Amazing.

The New York Times asks Davis to comment, and he responds, quote, This is something I've been aware of, and I anticipated the probability.

But you don't make threats at a time like this.

Our answer will be in action.

This is not the time to speak.

So his first reaction, he doesn't really want to go into all-out war because he knows that's going to end badly for both sides.

He wants to send a targeted message, like the equivalent of a fish raft delivered on the doorstep.

Or a horse's head in your bed.

Exactly.

The horse's head that he decides to send is...

is he is going to target Rozelle's old team, the Rams, and he's going to sign their quarterback away.

Well, you're going to send a message.

You're going to come at the king.

You best not miss.