vegas55

The recent passing of Ralph Wilson generated a great outpouring praise for his accomplishments etc, much of it deserved. But as the Buffalo News among others pointed out, Ralph was not a saint and the death of any public figure does not forever shield that person from honest criticism. Given that, despite the positives, Ralph Wilson, based on objective facts, was in fact one of the very worst owners in the history of the NFL and an undeserving member of the H of F. The criteria for this statement is the bottom line of wins and losses, the primary criteria for all professional sports. Secondarily, for an owner, is how well run your organization is run and respected. By those measures, Ralph fails - miserably. For the entire history of this organization, losing, and losing big time, has been the norm. My god, in a league where the entire design is to ensure parity, his team has not made the playoffs once in this century. Much of the overwhelming failure of this franchise in terms of winning is tied directly to Wilson, his constant meddling and tight fisted fiscal policy. Consider the following: he is the only owner in the history of the NFL to lose the overall number one pick in the NFL draft to THE CANADIAN FOOTBALL LEAGUE. By 1984, after owning the team for 24 years, his franchise was such a train wreck that Jim Kelly wanted nothing to do with it, and ran to the USFL. Read Kelly's book. Likewise he lost Joe Cribbs to the USFL, and lost Ahmad Rashad over a salary difference of $10,000. In those brief periods of actual success, Wilson's meddling destroyed consistent success. Chuck Knox era was destroyed by his meddling and cheapness - he failed to sign #1 pick and actually ordered Knox to draft a player different from the one Knox wanted based on Wilson's daughters recommendation. Knox could not wait to get out of Buffalo (just like Kelly, a few years later). Our shining years of Super Bowl success were undercut by Wilson's firing of future hall of fame GM Polian. Wilson lost Polian's talented successor at GM, John Butler, because Ralph, in this modern NFL era, paid GM Butler the grand sum of $250,000 per year. As well, the NFL and his fellow owners had to order Wilson to pay Wade Phillips the final year of his contract, a whopping $750,000. And sanctioned him for initially refusing to do so. Ralph was only worth 500 million at the time. I know the usual response is Ralph is above criticism and worthy of HoF because he kept the team in Buffalo but that's nonsense. If you have an above average NFL player who consistently chooses to take less money and stays with his team his entire career he does not get into the HoF because of that. It's not a criteria. The criteria for the hall of fame should be sustained excellence, and anybody who honestly reviews the history of this franchise can only see sustained incompetence. Wilson received, in franchise appreciation and yearly income, over 1 billion dollars. That should be award enough for anybody, especially somebody who was such a complete failure in producing a winning franchise. He doesn't need to be elevated to sainthood, and should not be exempt from honest criticism. And for the Buffalo fans who supported his losing teams, and who built and payed for the stadium that bears his name, the very least he could have done was put a non binding statement in his will that "all things being roughly equal, descendants desire is that preference be given to a buyer committed to keeping the team in Buffalo". But no, he could not even do that. Apparently one billion dollars plus was just not enough.

I hope his boys turn out to be better citizens than their loser dad http://goingconcern.com/2010/3/former-nfl-player-avoids-prison-for-tax-fraud

Read the previous post or better yet try using google before making a fool of yourself with your "hand shake, back door " comments. It was after all WGR reporter Hamilton who originally raised this, not the OP.

No no and no. The OP is not referring to the revenue sharing agreement as it pertains to TV contract etc. The agreement Hamilton and the OP are talking about is an agreement where small city franchises receive an extra distribution (10 million + ) on top of regular revenue sharing. This is the sharing that ceases when a new owner takes over.

Hamilton was asked about Ralph on WGR today and one of his takes was priceless as a demonstration of just how clueless the local media is, including a guy (Hamilton) who covers the Bills. In the context of how Ralph was so loyal to Buffalo, Hamilton mentioned how Ralph "stood up" to the NFL and secured revenue sharing for small city franchises like the Bills. Hamilton did concede that the Bills were very profitable before Ralph got his revenue sharing. The actual fact of the matter is that Ralph did hold out and force the NFL into a revenue sharing agreement that financially benefited the franchise. Ralph stated at the time that a franchise like the Bills "could not survive" without revenue sharing. But in an absolute betrayal of the WNY area, Ralph negotiated this revenue share agreement with the provision that revenue sharing would only happen while Ralph owned the Bills. As soon as a new owner takes control, the revenue sharing ceases. So if Ralph really believed that the franchise could not survive without revenue sharing, he proceeded to negotiate a deal which would not allow the team to survive in Buffalo under new ownership. However you view this, it's just ridiculous for Hamilton to point this out as an example of Ralph's loyalty to WNY. It is in fact just the opposite. The revenue sharing agreement he secured benefited one person, and one person only - Ralph Wilson

There's a very good chance, based on a number of mocks ( including Kipers) that Sammy Watkins falls to the 7 spot. The Bills should be prepared to make a move to that spot and grab him. Number One playmaker/receiver in this draft, and the pure #1 type receiver the Bills need. Keep Stevie around for another year, and allow Watkins in year 2 to blossom into that role as Bills # 1 threat for years to come. Hopefully Bills will not be in position to draft a player like this for quite a while.

It's somewhat comforting to see the Bills front office making intelligent football decisions. Case in point - signing Aaron Williams instead of Byrd. Much cheaper, much younger and more upside. After struggling for two years, Williams 2013 season was an eye opener. Great job at safety, great attitude and when injury forced him to play corner, he did a great job there as well. Byrd a good player, but if push comes to shove he cannot play the cornerback - AW can. Versatility and talent. The Bills made a wise investment giving Leodis a nice extension last year. They gave AW an affordable but lucrative extension this year. They have a talented number one pick in Gilmore. There is only so much money you can spend on a defensive backfield, and if the Saints want to pour that much money into a good but not great safety, so be it. The Bills did the right thing here.

Really how many times have you seen an NFL punt returner be intimidated into muffing a punt? And a Tasker type has to give the punt returner room to field a punt. And what team would intentionally hold, thereby completely eliminating the chance of returning a punt for a TD or long return.

I don't really get your objection to rule one - if a punt is muffed the holding call would be enforced - flag is only picked up if a fair catch is called for and successfully completed. And why in the world would a receiving team intentionally hold ? That would negate any punt return.

I will give Roger Goodell credit for at least considering rule changes that may help the game. Whatever you think about the merits of eliminating the kicked extra point, at least Goodell considers changes and is not tied down completely to the past. The tyranny of the status quo it's called, and so many sports are damaged by their fear of change. So here's two rule changes I would love to see. Both are designed to lessen the impact/role of the refs and their calls, which are so often wrong and/ or impact the game in a negative way. Rule change 1 - if a team receiving a punt calls for and completes a fair catch, no holding call should ever be assessed on that team. If a ref saw a hold and threw the flag it should be picked up. The call, IF it was correct, had zero impact on the play anyway. The receiving team gained no advantage, even if they did hold. Rule 2 - holding calls on a clearly defined running play, should be 5 yards, not ten. Penalty yardage is supposed to equate to what would occur if the penalty was not committed. That's why pass interference is a spot of the foul penalty, and why holding on a pass play is 10 yards, as many sacks can be for 10 or more yard loss. But a running play is rarely stopped for a 10 yard loss, and the hold, if it did not happen, usually would have resulted in no gain or small gain, not a 10 yard loss. Too many times a good offense gets on a roll, runs the ball well only to have a marginal or bad holding penalty on a run play called, resulting in 10 yard penalty and putting the offense in a big hole. And the refs so often make bad calls on holds they think they see on a run play. Say what you will about these changes, at least they lessen the impact of bad calls.

Both linebackers will be great pros, and of course a UB guy on the Bills would be nice. But we cannot draft an LB with our first pick. In the first place, our new defensive coach and scheme does not emphasize the linebacker position. Second, and most important, look down the road a bit. It's clear Alonso is going to be a great player, and I assume Mack will be as well. So as their first contracts expire, which will be fairly close in time, both will command a huge salary. No team can afford to spend that much money on the linebacker position. We would have to choose one or the other. Let's not send a first round pick on a guy we will have to let go due to salary cap issues.

Dareus chronically late all season gets a 1st quarter suspension and 1st half suspension - after Bills eliminated from playoffs. Pats, in the playoffs with a great shot at getting to Super Bowl effectively boot Spikes off team for rest of season - for being late. Listen up Doug - now that's accountability.

And it has nothing to do with him missing the last two games. He is simply not Marrone's type of player, and he has been a thorn in Marrone's side all year. It was in late November that Coach had to have a sit down with Stevie, but little was made of it at the time. Stevie spun it like it was a meeting to discuss his frustration with Bills lack of success. Marrone said nothing. Stevie's spin was BS - Marrone is not having a major sit down with a player because the player is unhappy with team record - please. Stevie is a me first guy who comes up small in big situations. That big contract does not help. Here's an overlooked example which illustrates a coaches frustration; The KC game - interception in end zone returned for TD. Game changing play - it was third and goal - Tuel facing a 9 man front checks into a quick slant pass. Stevie has one job on the play - clear the slant area out by taking his man into back of the end zone. What does Stevie do? A double stutter step and a push off of his defender; which gets Stevie wide open in back of end zone but which fails to carry out the design of play - that is, to clear the slant area. Expecting a QB, especially a rookie QB facing a 9 man front to readjust on the fly there was ridiculous. Stevie got himself wide open for the benefit of Stevie; but he failed to carry out his assignment and put his QB in a terrible spot. That's why coaches get so frustrated with him. Of course Stevie being Stevie doubled down on his selfishness by standing in the end zone and throwing up his arms. Good bye Stevie and good riddance.

Give credit where credit is due; one of the best moves made by the new Bills regime was recognizing the talent of Leodis McKelvin and rewarding him with a contract extension. I thought he was the Bills best db in 2013, and in many games was a flat out, shut down corner. Somehow his ability/potential completely eluded Wanny, as did many things. I still recall the last minute loss to the Titans in 2012, where they completed the game winning TD pass on a 4th and 9 play. Wanny had Justin Rogers and Byron Scott out there unsuccessfully attempting to cover a wide receiver and tight end; while Leodis sat on the bench.

" It sounds like the exact same thing". These post are written, not spoken. So I can't fathom how a post "sounds". The written words were pretty clear, and the words state that the notion that the Bills fans are great is a myth, is not remotely the same as "Bills fans suck". How does that sound?

So let me understand your take here is "We suck as fans" (direct quote) is the same thing as saying that it's a myth that Buffalo fans are great. Are you serious?

I never said "we suck as fans" - where in the world did you ever get that quote. Review the posts - you just made that up. Nice. And I don't have to compare season ticket sales to a " historically great franchise". Go ahead and compare our season ticket sales to ANY team that made the Super Bowl, and see how our great season ticket support compares. Feel free to do your own research if you think the Bills season ticket support was comparable; again, the OP was all about how great Bills fan support is compared to other cities; I simply disagree. But my response was based simply on the OP; which was how great the Bills fan support is compared to other cities. I simply disagree with that notion - that's all.

So why can't you respond to the pathetic season ticket sales for a Super Bowl team. Name me one other NFL franchise that had that level of success that had that lack of season ticket support. Even a small market like Green Bay, whose teams were terrible during that period, had much much better support. This entire string of posts, after all, was initiated by the claim that Bills fan support is so superior to other cities. So the burden of proof is on you, not me, to support the notion that Bills fans are so much more supportive than other cities.

But the Cowboys bought and paid for their stadium, they did not have the taxpayers build it for them! And Jerry paid hundreds of millions for the team, not $25,000. So for all the revenue advantages they have over the Bills, they also have enormous operating costs that the Bills do not have.

Well why not read some of the previous posts here from fans that attended playoff games in that era? Like the Jacksonville playoff game that was blacked out and the stadium "resembled a morgue" . That's not my post. Regardless of the size of the stadium, what's your excuse for the pathetic season ticket sales - 30 to 40 thousand for a Super Bowl team? I anxiously await your excuse for that complete lack of support.

No it was not. Multiple playoff games were blacked out because of failure to sell out - a playoff game? Season ticket sales for a Super Bowl team were pathetic. How in the world do you define the failure to sell out playoff games as "fantastic attendance"

Huge difference between a public company beholden to stockholders and a privately held company like the Bills. Even with that, many public companies operate at a loss; but count on appreciation in value. And very many owners of sports franchises sacrifice profit for success. Ralph has sacrificed success for profit ; disgraceful for a billionaire.

My point exactly. Multiple playoff games blacked out. Lousy season ticket sales for a team that went to the Super Bowl. And so many fans who did not want them to go to the 3rd or 4th Super Bowl because they did not want to lose another one. Yea - great fans indeed

You mean like the crowds we had in the playoff years of the 1990s. Like the great Houston come back game ? The playoff game that was blacked out in Buffalo because the great Buffalo fans could not sell out the game. Like the multitude of great Buffalo fans that gave up on the team and left that game early. It's a complete myth that Buffalo has great fans; even with our Super Bowl teams we had low season ticket sales and trouble filling seats. That's the reality.