By Tim Graham
INDIANAPOLIS -- David Caldwell grew up a Buffalo Bills fan, and it stung.
"I still remember where I was when the kick went wide right," the new Jacksonville Jaguars general manager said today at the NFL scouting combine. "I was at a party, and we just went outside and sat in the snow to numb the pain."
Caldwell, from West Seneca, is part of an amazing sports story sparked by the Bills' Super Bowl years. Those teams fueled a football passion that has driven some local kids to prominent positions.
Caldwell attended St. Francis High with Tom Telesco, named the San Diego Chargers' GM a day before the Jaguars hired Caldwell.
"We used to laugh about it back when we were scouting assistants: 'Could you ever imagine being a general manager?" Caldwell said. "And here we are about 17 years later."
The same week Caldwell and Telesco got their prestigious jobs, classmate Brian Polian was named head coach at the University of Nevada. All three went to John Carroll University in suburban Cleveland together.
Brian Daboll, another St. Francis grad, returned to the New England Patriots' coaching staff less than a week after Caldwell and Telesco got their GM jobs. Daboll had been the Kansas City Chiefs' offensive coordinator. Chris Polian served as Indianapolis Colts' general manager under his father, Bill Polian.
The Polian boys, Caldwell, Telesco and Daboll all graduated from St. Francis between 1989 and 1993.
"It's a very unique situation," Caldwell said. "To come from that small town to another small town in Jacksonville, which has a very similar feel to Buffalo, where people are so welcoming and really love their city, it's great."
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2013 NFL scouting combine | Bill Polian | Brian Daboll | Brian Polian | David Caldwell | Tom Telesco
