ORCHARD PARK — In the aftermath his first NFL victory as a head coach, Sunday’s 24-23 Bills comeback win over the Panthers in the final seconds, Doug Marrone broke down emotionally in front of reporters when he mentioned the death of a close friend of his from Syracuse.
Rob Edson, a former administrator at Syracuse whose wife, Sue, still works at the school in media relations, died of an apparent heart attack at age 45 last Saturday while mowing his lawn. He was one of 💦Marrone’s closest friends.
On Thursday, Marrone pus🍸hed his Bills practice back to 3 p.m. and flew to Syracuse so he could serve as a pall bearer at Edson’s funeral. After Wednesday’s practi👍ce, Marrone drove to Syracuse in the late afternoon to attend the viewing before driving back to Buffalo late that night so he could conduct a team meeting Thursday morning.
Before doing any of this, Ma𒊎rrone consulted 🌺his players on Wednesday.
“I’m not a big title guy,’’ Marrone, who will🔥 coach the Bills against the Jets on Sunday, said of being a head coach.
“I don’t want to set that precedent and I told the plaꦚyers that. I said the reason wh🌞y I’m doing it is I’m needed by a wife and kids and the players were like, ‘Coach, we’ll practice in the afternoon. Do what you have to do.’ ’’
Marrone’s decision to take it to the pla🔯yers was widely appreciated and respected in🦩side the locker room.
“That was huge,’’ Bills running back Fred Ja🃏ckson told The Post Thursday. “It lets us know he’s always thinking about us and what’s best for us. To have something personal like that and still want to put us first lets us know what kind of guy he is. You get a guy like that you want to win football games for him, reward him for treating us like he does.’’