Everett, who has spent the past 2½ months rehabbing in Houston, where he makes his offseason home, was not available for interviews.

Everett returned to Buffalo at the invitation of the team, and Nike paid for a full-page ad honoring him in Sunday’s Buffalo News with this simple message: “9/9/07 Kevin Everett is carted off the field with a spinal cord injury. 9/10/07 Medical experts say there’s only a 5-10% chance that he will ever walk again. 12/23/07 Kevin walks back onto the field today.”

Everett did not go on the field to address the fans during halftime because of the inclement weather. Winds were already gusting at more than 30 mph and there was a persistent drizzle falling two hours before gametime that changed to an icy, wind-driven snow as the day wore on.

His presence spoke volumes, nonetheless.

“I played ball myself. I understand the violence of the game,” said Mark French of Saratoga Springs, a lineman at West Virginia in the late 1980s who was at Sunday’s game with his 11-year-old son Nicholas. “It’s an awesome thing that he has the will and fortitude to actually get himself back on his feet and move on.”

Everett also was reunited with Bills team doctors, including Dr. Andrew Cappuccino, the team’s orthopedic surgeon, who immediately attended to the player on the field when he was hurt and operated on him.

“What a great testament for our nurses and doctors seeing him,” Millard Fillmore Gates hospital spokesman Mike Hughes said. “He is a shining example of their great care. And we have a standing offer to Kevin and his family to visit anytime. The staff here would love to see him again.”

Though the Bills have been eliminated from the NFL playoffs and self-destructed after a strong start against the Giants, nothing could put a damper on the day.

“It was absolutely a great gift to see Kevin and to have him back with our football team,” Bills coach Dick Jauron said. “To be able to see him and shake his hand, it’s hard to describe what it means to all of us and how lucky we feel to have it going like this.”

“I got to hug him,” Bills tailback Marshawn Lynch said. “That’s good for the heart.”

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