By Bill Kipouras
Nick Hennessey had a feeling he was close to earning a spot with the Buffalo Bills.
But as he drove from his hotel room near the airport to see John Guy at the Bills' stadium office in Orchard Park, N.Y., Hennessey didn't know what to think.
Guy is the nine-year vice president of pro personnel for the Bills, and his phone call to Hennessey came on the final day before NFL teams had to cut their rosters down to the mandatory 53-player limit.
"I said to myself, 'It won't be the 53-man roster, but maybe the (8-man) practice squad'," Hennessey said, recalling the moment. "I figured that was my best case scenario."
The 290-pound left tackle from Danvers, Phillips Andover Academy and Colgate University wasn't a nervous wreck — but close to it. "It's about 25 minutes to the stadium, but it wasn't a fun ride in," he said. "I had no visions of grandeur."
Then Guy delivered the bad news.
"Sorry," Guy told Hennessey, "but we're putting you on waivers."
Hennessey never had time to put his head down,
"But if nobody claims you, the staff has decided to place you on our practice squad." Guy quickly added.
Don't think that didn't send a emotional charge through Hennessey.
"I was ecstatic," said Hennessey, the only offensive lineman designated for Buffalo's practice squad. "It was a long walk through those doors to Mr. Guy's office, but what he told me — 'We feel you have a decent chance to develop' — excited me to no end. It means I'm a Buffalo Bill. I can't tell you how great I felt at that moment."
What's a practice squad player do?
He gets paid roughly $5200 a week. He participates in all practices, every phase of it. However, a practice player can't dress for games. He can, though, be elevated to the parent club if there's an injury or a player is not performing up to snuff.
Or, he can picked up on waivers by another NFL team, but then that squad has the obligation of keeping him up with the big team for three games and signing him to a new contract,
Hennessey suffered a torn knee meniscus a couple of weeks into mini-camp and made a wise decision to bypass surgery.
"He obviously did a great job in rehab. Nick bounced back quicker than anyone thought," Guy said. "He had a tear in there, and it was a long process; nine weeks, I think.
"He's a good person, has that good size and he's a good worker. He's done everything we've asked him to do. He has good technique, enough potential to develop, and some savvy about him. Nick's aggressive as well. He has all the makeup (we think) to be a pretty good lineman. We just have to develop it totally."
Hennessey played the last three minutes of the Bills' preseason opener vs. Tennessee and the final quarter the following week against Chicago, but then didn't get on the field against Green Bay and Pittsburgh. He did log 25 minutes in their preseason finale vs. Detroit.
"I was told the starters want to play as much as they can in the third and fourth games. That was nice to hear," Hennessey said.
Hennessey said he was "very patient" with his knee ailment and remained positive about its outcome. And he was still ready to compete for a job; the moment you become complacent, he said, someone else will pass you.
"We learned to work hard at Colgate, and it carried over here," Hennessey said. "I reported in great shape from all the work I did in the offseason and believe that was a big plus in making the practice squad."
The one problem is that his teammates know Hennessey is a Boston guy and have been trashing on him about being a Patriots fan. That's only natural, since the Bills travel to Gillette Stadium for their season opener on Monday Night Football (7 p.m.) next week.
"I tell them there are hardly any Patriots' players left (he rooted for) since I was a young Patriots fan," Hennessey said, "but it doesn't make any difference. They don't stop."
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Bill Kipouras is a staff writer at The Salem News. He can be reached at 978-338-2615 or by e-mail: bkipouras@salemnews.com.
