Archives for February 4, 2007

‘"My main thing has always been winning a Super Bowl," said Thomas, who moved to Orlando five years ago and more recently moved to Longwood. "I never thought about the Hall of Fame. I just wanted to win."’

”’His [Reed’s] time is right around the corner,” Kelly said.’

‘"I’m thrilled for Thurman," Levy said. "He was unconcerned about statistics, unconcerned if we took him out and put another guy in to rest him. Even though he was an extroverted personality, he was anything but a self-centered personality. I got to know him. I got to know his foibles. Every now and then we’d even butt heads a little bit. I’d call him into the office. But I found out what a team-oriented guy he was. I got to know his wife, his children, his mother, so it was more than just a coach-player relationship."’

‘Thomas struggled for the appropriate words at his news conference Saturday in trying to explain the anxiety, the anguish that accompanied his desire to know the results of the vote. That he’d been through a variation of this before was of little comfort. It was up to others to acknowledge that this time, unlike last time, there was nothing left to prove.’

‘"I actually didn’t get a call, I heard a loud scream and it was my mom coming down the hallway yelling ‘We’re in, we’re in!’ so at that moment I knew I had made it."’

‘"I thought we were going back in 2000, I really did," he said. "And then we had that Music City Miracle (last-second loss to Tennessee) happen to us in the playoffs. We had that game won, and we got robbed by a bad call. That game’s been gnawing at me for several years, but I’m finally over it. This season I’ve finally gotten over the hump."’

‘The Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts are alike by design more than coincidence and one of the designers is Rusty Jones. Jones is the Bears’ strength and conditioning coordinator. His former assistant with the Buffalo Bills, Jon Torine, has the same job with the Colts.’

‘At a team meeting following another defeat, Brown finally snapped, coming over a table at Gilbride after he began to upbraid Brown for a lack of leadership. The 300-pound Brown’s path was blocked by several teammates and he soon left the building, never to return. Brown understood he would be seeking employment elsewhere that winter. One of the options available to him was the Patriots.’

‘The Bills released him after the 2003 season for a variety of reasons. Part of it was money. Part of it was that he was not a player who had been selected by the management in power at the time. Part of it was that management believed Brown’s career had ebbed and felt he had given up on the team. Brown felt management had given up on him. "People were wondering what was going on," Brown said. "I was thrown out on the trash heap."’

‘"He was a team player to the hilt," said Levy, who coached Thomas for 10 years in Buffalo. "He never cared about his statistics. He cared about winning and about his teammates."’

‘”There’s no doubt he still has to win this game,” Kelly, now 10 days shy of his 47th birthday, said of Manning’s still-shaping legacy. “For me, it would have been different if I didn’t win one and I was only in one. I was in four, and just to do what we did as the Buffalo Bills was unheard of. Win or lose, just to go to four in a row was an accomplishment.”‘

Thurman Thomas 1

Thurman Thomas 2

Thurman Thomas / Jim Kelly 1

Thurman Thomas / Michael Irvin

Thurman Thomas / Jim Kelly 2

Thurman Thomas / Daughter

Thurman Thomas / Jim Kelly 3

Thurman Thomas / Marv Levy

‘Thomas becomes the seventh Bill to make the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, joining O.J. Simpson (1985), Billy Shaw (1999), Marv Levy (2001), Jim Kelly (2002), James Lofton and Joe DeLamielleure (both 2003).’