Stranded in Boston

I hear you, Shaw. I had an uneasy feeling on draft day with all of Bills' fandom calling for a double-dip at WR -- and then I realized why. In the past, it seemed that every time the Bills double-dipped to fill a need, one or both of the pair didn't work out. Take Tom Ruud & Bob Nelson; Robert Holt & Mike Mosley; John McCargo & Kyle Williams; Greg Rousseau & Boogie Basham. Some of those names are probably unfamiliar to you younger guys -- but that's the point: they never panned out! Anyhow, I'm glad the Bills followed their draft board. We'll hit on some of the rookies and miss on others this year, but overall it looks some really good players in that group. But thanks for the write-up, Shaw. Always a pleasure to read!

For me, Jerry Butler. He was so explosive his first few years opposite Frank Lewis, then blew out his knee in 1983. He clawed his way back to the league in 1985, then became a key veteran component of Jim Kelly's first Bills' receiving squad in 1986. But it all ended too quickly: he shattered his ankle on a spectacular touchdown catch against Miami, and never played another down. Talk about a shooting star ...

I'll also chime in with you, Frankish. Shaw looked promising in 1970, and he was banged up throughout the 1971 season. Plus that '71 offensive line was likely the worst in Bills history, a total sieve. Neither Shaw nor James Harris had a chance back there; I recall the Vikings sacked Shaw 10 times in one game. Plus the Bills were always playing from behind and forced to throw, because their defense was horrible (with the exception of the great Robert James, of course!).

Shaw, all good points. Elam had ups and downs last night, but it seems that a lot of (younger?) fans expect too much from young players. I recall plenty of Bills' first-rounders taking a year or two to develop -- Eric Moulds, John Fina and Henry Jones spring to mind. Also, I sure agree with you on that play where Elam got run over. Come on -- Freiermuth is an absolute beast of a TE , outweighing Elam by almost seventy lbs, and running with a full head of steam. No way Elam stops him straight-on short of the first-down marker on that play; it was obvious in real time. At least the kid stuck his nose in there and slowed him up a bit for the safeties to make the tackle.

I was living in Houston at the time and watched the game by myself in my crappy apartment near the old Astrodome (I hadn't yet learned about the Bills Backer bar owned by Niagara Falls native Sam Samsone). When the Bills won, I went out on my "balcony" in my Bills sweatshirt and screamed every insult I could think of at Houston for about 10 minutes (then thought better of it, LOL). So I tried to call home to gloat with my brothers -- and I got a recording saying that all the lines to Buffalo were JAMMED. What a day ... 😃

I remember that well, Rubes. The Bills also used him as a wedgebreaker on kickoffs, back when wedges were still legal. That was something to see; he was like a bowling ball, absolutely devastating. What an athlete …

This cracks me up. They got flagged for one of the very few calls that is non-subjective (also too many men on on the field). If you line up offside, well, you're offside. All the other calls we hate -- holding, PI, most personal fouls -- are subjective. So if I were the Chiefs, I would just shut up about this ...

Holy cow, I watched the whole thing. Maybe the Bills should sign Buster Keaton (or his stunt double).

This old guy had to look up "copium" I thought it was some exotic Latin term ... 🙄

LMAO Pete, I understand completely (but don't forget "FU Jimmy Cefalo!"). But I kind of didn't mind Paul Warfield too much ...

LOL!! I wonder if the younger folks on this board, who didn't suffer through the 70s, truly appreciate your statement.

LOL, I was trying to think, "Who was that chubby wide receiver who retired in preseason?"

I believe it was "late chahges", not late fees. (... but if you got a problem with that, we could step outside and figure it out ... 😀 )

Me and my brothers too, Simon. We had built a little Heathkit "transistor" radio around 1971. We kept that thing really low, under a pillow, because our by-the-book German mom had ears like a fox downstairs. But Rick was one of a kind. RIP.

Henry Jones was a terrific safety and mainstay of the 90s Bills defenses, and Cribbs was awesome — maybe THE original dual-threat RB — but I gotta go with (my man) Robert James at #20. 2X all-pro and absolute sticky shutdown corner, James was at his peak (maybe on way to HOF) when he wrecked his knee in ‘74.