Drayton Florence Foundation Game Day Experience Raffle

Drayton Florence, #31, announces his Game Day Experience Raffle to benefit Detroit area families of the military men and women protecting our freedom by serving overseas.

LIMITED EDITION! Only 500 tickets will be sold! Just $31 gets you a chance to watch the Detroit Lions take on the Texans on Thanksgiving, November 22, at Ford Field! A $500 airfare voucher & hotel are INCLUDED, so what’s stopping you? Get your tickets NOW!

In communities all across our country, men and women in our military are leaving behind family and friends as they are called to protect our freedom. And it’s not just in Iraq or Afghanistan. Our soldiers are all over the world in places like Bosnia, Egypt, Korea and more. Military families struggle with issues including finances, child care and particularly the stresses involved with raising children and maintaining the family unit during this separation. These families make sacrifices for you and me every single day.

You can help, purchase a raffle ticket now!
For just $31, you and a guest can experience Detroit Lion Football in style! Grand prize includes:

2 Tickets for the Detroit Lions Thanksgiving game vs. Texans

2 Pre-Game Sideline Passes

1 Parking Pass

$500.00 Frontier Travel Voucher

2 Night Hotel Stay at The Westin Book Cadillac Detroit. (11/21 & 11/22)

Restaurant Gift Certificates for meals leading up to the game

Winner to be drawn on November 16, 2012

A child of a military family himself, with both his father and currently his sister serving our country, Drayton Florence, cornerback for the Detroit Lions and founder of the Drayton Florence Foundation, is all too aware of the challenges families face during these deployments. It is because of this passion for our local heroes that he has expanded the mission of his foundation to educate, motivate and stimulate youth, preparing them for a lifetime of success, to specifically serve children of local military families.

**Looking to send friends to raffle page? Visit www.gamedayraffle31.com.

Drayton to sign copies of special Sports Illustrated cover

After a quick 3-0 start, the Buffalo Bills were one of the surprising stories in the NFL this season. Sports Illustrated featured the Bills, specifically Drayton Florence, on a special cover of the magazine.

This Friday, October 14, Drayton Florence will be at the Verizon Wireless at the McKinley Mall in Buffalo from 7-8 pm to sign the Sports Illustrated cover bearing his image from the HUGE Buffalo Bills victory over the Patriots!

For just a $5 donation to the Drayton Florence Foundation, bring your own copy and Drayton will autograph for you. Or, for just $10, we’ll have a limited number of copies for you to purchase and have Drayton sign.

All proceeds benefit military families in the Buffalo community.

C’mon out! Talk some Bills football and get your special copy signed!

Read Ben Reiter’s column on the Bills quick start out of the gate.

On Saturday, October 22, 2011, Drayton Florence and the Drayton Florence Foundation will host the 7th Annual “Make It Happen” Youth Football camp.

Open to 100 participants on a first-come, first-serve basis, the camp has a coaching staff consisting of active and former NFL players, coaches and high school coaches. Coaching staff will emphasize fundamentals, form and technique, as the program is a NON-CONTACT camp.

Campers will receive:
– One-on-One instruction with football’s finest
– “Make It Happen” Camp T-Shirt
– Camper autographed photo
– Lunch followed by educational/motivational talk by players/coaches

REMEMBER: Camp is open to the first 100 registrations ONLY! Don’t delay! Sign up now!

Click here to download the registration form: 2011 Camp Registration DFF

Questions? Email us at camp@draytonflorencefoundation.com

To benefit Buffalo area families of the military men and women protecting our freedom by serving overseas.

LIMITED EDITION! Only 1,000 tickets will be sold! Just $10 gets you a chance to watch the Buffalo Bills take on the Philadelphia Eagles on October 9th at Ralph Wilson Stadium! Airfare & hotel INCLUDED, so what’s stopping you? Get your tickets NOW!

In communities all across our country, men and women in our military are leaving behind family and friends as they are called to protect our freedom. And it’s not just in Iraq or Afghanistan. Our soldiers are all over the world in places like Bosnia, Egypt, Korea and more. Military families struggle with issues including finances, child care and particularly the stresses involved with raising children and maintaining the family unit during this separation. These families make sacrifices for you and me every single day.

Winner of the raffle will receive:

• 2 tickets to the Buffalo Bills / Philadelphia Eagles game on Oct. 9th at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo
• 2 roundtrip airfare tickets on JetBlue*
• A $50 Gift Card for Dinner for Two at Buffalo’s own Buffalo Wild Wings
• Parking Pass
• 2 night stay at Comfort Suites, Downtown Buffalo
• Postgame private meet & greet with #29, Drayton Florence
• 2 autographed footballs
• Winner to be drawn on Friday, September 30th at 3 PM ET

A child of a military family himself, with both his father and currently his sister serving our country, Drayton Florence, cornerback for the Buffalo Bills and founder of the Drayton Florence Foundation, is all too aware of the challenges families face during these deployments. It is because of this passion for our local heroes that he has expanded the mission of his foundation to educate, motivate and stimulate youth, preparing them for a lifetime of success, to specifically serve children of local military families.

2011 marks the second year that the Drayton Florence Foundation has partnered with the Wounded Warrior Project to provide Buffalo Bills tickets to our troops wounded while serving our country. Later this year, the foundation will host a holiday party for our western New York military families, complete with gifts, games and activities for the entire family. In addition, through partnerships with local organizations dedicated to providing support to our troops, the Drayton Florence Foundation plans to create a mentoring program right here in Buffalo for children of military families. Through this unique program, children will be paired with an adult who shared the same unique experiences in their childhood.

*Free airfare provided by JetBlue to/from airports serviced by JetBlue in the continental United States. Some restrictions apply.

By Mark Gaughan
News Sports Reporter
BuffaloNews.com

BUFFALO, NY (July 27, 2011) – The Buffalo Bills’ signing of Drayton Florence on Wednesday afternoon gives the team both security and intense competition at the cornerback position.

Florence announced his own oral agreement to terms with the Bills via his twitter account. “It’s official. I’m back, Buffalo. See ya at Fisher!!!!” the 30-year-old defender proclaimed. The deal is for three years and $15 million, according to terms first reported by ESPN.

The deal was important for Buffalo’s defense, particularly in the wake of Tuesday’s defection by linebacker Paul Posluszny to Jacksonville.

Meanwhile the Bills continued to negotiate at a fast pace. They were in talks with Atlanta Falcons Pro Bowl right tackle Tyson Clabo, according to Clabo himself, who spoke to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta wants to retain Clabo, and other teams may be involved in talks with him.

Clabo, who made the Pro Bowl last season, would be one of the more expensive players on the free-agent market. The Bills also continued to negotiate with rookie draft picks, whom they would like to have signed by Saturday’s first training camp practice.

With Florence back in the fold, the Bills’ defensive backfield has enough experience and a margin for error.

Florence, Terrence McGee and Leodis McKelvin are the top returning veterans who will be battling for two starting spots. Florence beat out McKelvin last year to start the regular season. But then McGee was injured for much of the season and McKelvin wound up starting 14 games. McGee is fully healthy. Now the Bills are not in a crisis if one of their outside corners goes down with a minor injury.

Florence, 6-foot and 195 pounds, revived his career the last two seasons with Buffalo. He has the size to play physically and he’s a good technician.

Buffalo drafted Aaron Williams 34th overall out of the University of Texas. He adds size and a physical nature to the cornerback spot, which should be a benefit. Williams figures to push hard for time right away as the third corner in obvious passing situations. That’s a role that has been filled mostly by Reggie Corner the past two years. Corner now has major competition and stands fifth on the depth chart at the position. The Bills have a sixth cornerback they like, too, in Richmond rookie Justin Rogers, who is a strong bet to make the team, even though he’s a seventh-round draft choice.

Florence had three interceptions last season. His big game was in the win at Cincinnati, when he returned a fumble recovery for a touchdown and intercepted a Carson Palmer pass late in the game to help secure the victory.

* * *

The Bills have announced the first training camp practice at St. John Fisher College is set for 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday.

On Sunday, the Bills will practice from 7:30 to 9 p.m. As in the past, free tickets are required for admission to the night practices, which always are roughly 7 to 9 p.m. The second night practice is Thursday, Aug. 4. Tickets for those first two night workouts are available starting today at Ticketmaster. For ordering tickets online, there is a $1.75 charge per ticket.

There will be four more night practices — Aug. 6, 10, 15 and 17. Tickets for the first three of those will be available starting Friday at three Verizon Wireless stores in Rochester (on W. Ridge Road in Rochester, on Monroe Avenue in Rochester and at the Eastview Mall in Victor).

Here’s the full camp schedule for practices that are open to the public:

Saturday, 3-5 p.m.; Sunday, 7:30-9 p.m.; Monday, 3:20-5:30 p.m.; Tuesday, 3:20-5:30 p.m.; Aug. 4, 7:15-9:15 p.m.; Aug. 5, 3:20-5:30 p.m.; Aug. 6, 7:15-9:15 p.m.

Aug. 7, 3:20-5:30 p.m.; Aug. 8, 3:20-5:30 p.m.; Aug. 10, 7:15-9:15 p.m.; Aug. 11, 3:20-5:30 p.m.

Aug. 15, 7:30-9 p.m.; Aug. 16, 3:20-5:30 p.m.; Aug. 17, 7:15-9:15 p.m.; Aug. 18, 2:20-4:30 p.m.

mgaughan@buffnews.com