The secret weapon to motivate the Bills defense: The 'Slobber Knocker' T-shirt
When Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator Bobby Babich walked over to the tent where press conferences are conducted at St. John Fisher University on Monday morning, he was wearing a T-shirt that bore the title of one of his favorite weekly in-house awards: Slobber Knocker of the Week.
As Babich explained, this was something that he said dates back to 2019, and it’s a recognition that every defensive player covets.
“Sean (McDermott) wants a physical brand of football, and I guess this is an old-school term,” Babich said. “But this is something, as you see (on the shirt), that was established in 2019. Every week that we win, we give out the most physical hit of the game. These guys make a lot of money, but they get very excited about this T-shirt.”
Babich made it clear that cheap shots are not the mission; the award goes to the player who executes a big hit in the right way.
“Obviously we want the game to be clean, legal and all those type of things, but we also want to instill that physical style of play,” Babich said. “So just a little something that we can show those guys and recognize things that we asked for.”
Who decides the winner of the 'Slobber Knocker' T-shirt for Bills?
When he was asked who he slobber knockered to be able to wear the T-shirt, he smiled and said, “I was in charge of the Slobber Knocker, so I get the right to the T-shirt. I get it made, I get all that stuff.”
However, now that he has been promoted, the new keeper of the Slobber Knocker is linebackers coach Al Holcomb. “It’s a hard job, because, guys will literally run off the field during the game and be like, ‘That was the winner, that was the Slobber Knocker.’ Al Holcomb’s now in charge, so I gladly pass that on to Al to get criticized in meetings on who the Slobber Knocker winner is.”
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Sal Maiorana has covered the Buffalo Bills for four decades including 35 years as the full-time beat writer for the D&C, and he has written numerous books about the history of the team. He can be reached at maiorana@gannett.com, and you can follow him on Twitter @salmaiorana. https://profile.democratandchronicle.com/newsletters/bills-blast.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Buffalo Bills award 'Slobber Knocker' T-shirt to players with big hits
