Orchard Park, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Bills are trying to trademark one of Sean McDermott's favorite phrases.
As trademark attorney Josh Gerben pointed out, the Bills filed a trademark for "Respect the Process" on May 23. The phrase was first popularized by the Philadelphia 76ers, but the team never trademarked it. However, Sixers center Joel Embiid did file a trademark application for "Process." He has gone as far as refer to himself as the process. It's possible he could block the Bills here.
Since he was hired by the Bills prior to the 2017 season, McDermott has talked ad nauseam about the process. He wants players to trust, respect and embrace the process. He even said he would like his Bills players to get addicted to the process. Just last week, McDermott was referencing the process in regards to the Bills' offseason conditioning work.
"There's a lot that I took out of last season that went well and there's some things that we need to improve," McDermott said. "It's just about improving every day , every year, really, and embracing, as I said before, that growth mindset and respecting the process that goes on this time of year as we continue to improve and build this team."
If McDermott's process continues to result in the Bills playing in the postseason, maybe the trademark will come in handy.