The Red King

If we cut him, we get absolutely nothing out of it, open the door for other players to try the same scumbag negotiating tactics and face the very real possibility of playing against him twice this season in a Pats uniform. You can't justify that. I agree with prior posters who suggest we package him up in a trade with the Giants to lighten the cost of their #2 overall draft pick.

Wait, I thought football was literally killing him. Isn't that why he was retiring? Was he misdiagnosed? Did his health issues miraculously clear up? If I didn't know better I'd almost think Richie was lying about his health as a negotiation tactic, but he wouldn't do something that scummy, right? :roll: The question of whether the renegotiation was fair or not is irrelevant. He signed the contract. That should count for something. Players shouldn't be able to just take a signing bonus then ask to be let go. That contract is signed in good faith by both sides, one party is agreeing to provide a service for a certain amount of time, in return for clearly noted compensation. That contract becomes binding when both parties sign it. If the Bills release him, they gain nothing for it, while Richie stands to gain a lot. Worse, he could go anywhere, including a divisional rival. Do you really want him in a Pats uniform protecting Brady this season? And even if the Bills were feeling generous, Richie's behavior is inexcusable. He didn't ask nicely or privately. First, he "retired" for health reasons, then magically recovered. Then he asks publically on Twitter with whimsical emoticons for a release? No. Just no. Hell no. I'm fine with trading him away, to a team we won't see soon or frequently. Get something for him at least. But just releasing him rewards his behavior and that opens the door for others players to pull this same kind of garbage.

Nothing wrong with nosebleeds, that's where we were, too. Once people started leaving, we debated moving down to lower seats, but it just didn't feel right. The upper seats were where we had sat all season, and worked well enough for us! The Raiders were actually two years prior. I was still in Omaha and remember watching the game at the bar we normally went to. I still chuckle when I think back. When Norwood missed that extra point I was thinking "I hope that doesn't come back to haunt us!" 51-3...yeah, it was about as haunting as the Scary Movie franchise. ;-) If I recall, after The Comeback, we went to Pitt and beat them, then went to Miami for the AFC Championship, avenging ourselves on the dasterdly Dolphins that had the audacity to swipe the AFC East championship from us the last week of the season.

Wilson had a close friendship with the owner of the Lions, and if I recall even lived part of each year in Detroit. As a result of that friendship, Buffalo always played Detroit the last preseason game. When Ralph passed away, the tradition apparently ended with him.

Well, the free agency whirlwind is dying down, and a lot of people are getting antsy about the draft, so I figure why not start a positive thread that has nothing to do with the offseason to help distract us all? The idea is simple, post your favorite Bills' memory here. Mine is the Greatest Comeback in NFL History, though not necessarily for obvious reasons. I was born here in Buffalo, but when I was 2 1/2 years old, the plant my dad worked at closed. He was offered a chance to transfer to one of two cities and took it, so we moved to Omaha, NE. My dad raised me a Bills fan, which was tough. Buffalo was not a good team (this was the late '70s, early '80s) and Omaha really wasn't close enough to an NFL city to be a devoted fanbase, so all of my friends and classmates all jumped on a different trendy, bandwagon team each year, then promptly gave me grief for sticking with Buffalo. My dad taught me loyalty, how being a fan meant sticking by your team, good or bad. When the '90s hit my dad and his fellow transfers even went half-in on a satellite dish for a local bar so we could all watch Bills games. The kicker was watching them lose Super Bowls XXV and XXVI. But then things aligned. I was set to graduate high school in '92. That same year, the company offered my dad a buyout. He was close to retirement anyway, and the timing meant a move would not disrupt me academically. So he took it, and we moved back to Buffalo. First thing dad did was buy us season tickets for the Bills, in a group with a number of his other retired co-workers. It was wonderful, we'd all meet at one co-worker's house, pile into his urban assault vehicle, swing by to pickup pizza and wings at Blasdell's, then get to the stadium good and early so we'd have time to tailgate before the game. Sure enough, the Bills made the playoffs, looking for a third straight Super Bowl appearance. It would be my first live playoff game. Little did I know what I was going to experience. Of course, this wasn't any ordinary playoff game. This was The Comeback, Oilers at Bills, one week after Houston wrecked the Bills in the regular season finale, costing them the AFC East title and forcing them into a Wild Card spot. The first half went much the same, the Bills got stomped, and after the second half opened with a pick-6 my dad was convinced it was over. I remained the eternal optimist though, and when Beebe tore down the sideline I excitedly nudged my dad and told him "Look! They're going to come back.", he gave me a tired smile and a "Yeah, right." Then the impossible happened and Buffalo clawed their way back in, yard by yard, point by point. Now you have to understand my dad was a quiet, reserved man. The only time I really saw him emote was when watching football or hockey, and that was normally just in small bursts when he got overexcited and shouted something out. This game was different. It wasn't a small burst. As the game went on, as the comeback mounted and the crowd somehow got louder, my dad let his guard down. He started to grin, get more excited, go wide-eyed like a kid. He would cheer and high-five people around him, talk to his former co-workers. But...what sticks with me to this day...is all the excitement, the nudging and such...it was mostly with me. Like all of us, he was sharing this experience with everyone around us, but...primarily with me. I knew my father loved me, I had lived my life with him. I knew how he said it, showed it. But this, it's hard to put into words. He was happy about the comeback, yes, but I could tell he was happiest because he was sharing it with me. Football was always a bonding experience for us, but in that moment, at that game it became so much more. I got to see him with his guard completely down, something that had not happened before, and would not happen after. And in that time, I got to see how much having me with him at the game meant to him. When the winning kick went through, the raw emotion was overwhelming. Of course we tailgated after the game. Hell, we didn't leave the parking lot until around 9 PM. That's my best Bills' memory. And now I get to carry on in his place. Thought I was out of luck when my son showed no interest in sports, but then my daughter surprised me. She's been watching the Bills' faithfully the last couple years. Celebrated her 10th Birthday last year and she asked to go to her first live Bills game. Her birthday fell on a Sunday, discovered they were actually playing a home game that day, so I ended up taking her. She loved it, even though the Bills got crushed. Brought back memories of my dad getting me into football, and the game above. So, to all of you, if you had to pick one, what are your favorite Bills' memories?

Each team playing on Thursday should be coming off a bye, just to make it fair. That, and the players may need the extra time to prepare their eyes for the optic searing Color Rush experience. Most look like what you'd get if you fed a unicorn skittles and it threw up on the team's away jerseys.

He didn't like taking a pay cut, saw the Bills make the playoffs and thought himself an indispensable part of that. He likely thought he could squeeze Beene for more money. When Beene said "Nope!", he flippantly announces retirement, and waits for the Bills to try and bribe him back. Unfortunately for him, I don't think Beene gives in to threats or demands. Richie's done. As for the Hall of Fame, not even close. Ironically another strong year or two with Buffalo could have helped his case. Ah well...

Words fail. It's amazing how quickly people are willing to completely write off a season before it begins. "We traded away some players, the season's over!!!" "We traded up in the draft, the season's over!!!" "An offensive lineman retired. The season's over!!!" "The waterboy has a hangnail, the season's over!!!"

Alright, lemmie see if I made sense of this thread. Aliens have mind controlled Whaley, who is whispering in Beene's ear to force Incognito to retire. As a result AJ's wife will become a widow who can then be promptly wooed by the aliens, because Mars needs women?

There is a plan here, and I'm willing to see it through before passing judgement. We got to 9-7 and ended the drought last year, a season many people even analysts said was utterly doomed after our last offseason. Remember all the talk of tanking? How the week one matchup with the Jets was a preview of the battle for the top pick this upcoming draft? Bottom line, we're only at halftime for this offseason. At least wait until after the draft is over before dooming the Bills this season.

Wait, I know I'm getting old, and I tend to forget things, but I think I still know numerical order. If I'm not mistaken, not just 1, but 1 *and* 2 both come before 3, right? That didn't get changed? So, can someone please explain to me how Mayfield is a "lock" at #3 for the Jets? Nothing is a lock at #3. The Browns or Giants could nab him at 1 or 2...or they could trade those picks to a team that could take him, Bills included, before the Jets even have a chance. The farce is strong in this one... >.<

I did, but the example holds. He wasn't the only one saying the season was already over at that point.

I love absolutes. Didn't Rodak, after all the trades last offseason, say the season was over before it began...and then we broke the drought? While I understand the intent of the thread, the assertation that we will, with 100% certainty, not make the playoffs for a full three years should we trade up to #2 is a rather silly one. Anything can happen. Found it: http://www.espncricinfo.com/blog/buffalo-bills/post/_/id/28518/bills-set-up-tyrod-taylor-to-fail-blow-up-2017-season-with-shocking-trades "BUFFALO -- Turn out the lights on the Buffalo Bills' 2017 season, because it is over before it started."

2018: 9-7...we'll look better then 2017, but I think the schedule will be rougher. We'll beat the Pats once, though. Likely the second matchup. 2019: 11-5...since speculation is fun I'll go out on a limb and say we sweep the Pats, marking an end of a dynasty and prompting retirement from Brady and Belly in the face of Father Time and an AFC East rival that finally isn't a pushover.

It's weird. I don't hate the Pats outright. I hate Bellie for throwing a tantrum by running up the scores in the almost perfect season, I hate Brady for crying and whining for a penalty every time he's sneezed on, and I hate Gronk for thinking the sideline was a WWF ring. But, if all three were to suddenly retire, I'd be far more ambivalent toward the team. That being said, I remember the Dolphins hate of the '90s, and it pales to that of the '70. My dad really, really hated that team. Kept mentioning how during their perfect season, Buffalo actually had them beat after intercepting. But since Schula was on the rules commitie he kept getting calls, including a phantom call to negate the interception. There was a lot of venom in his words.

TT is a quarterback for a team that needs consistancy more then quality. Buffallo used to be such a team, but outgrew him, Cleveland is such a team, making the trade good for both teams. By the time the Browns outgrow him, their rookie should be ready to take over. And you can't overlook the draft pick and cap relief we got in the trade as well.

Wow...I...haven't heard an excuse like this since a certain Bills' backup justified his poor play by saying the reason he sucked was that he didn't study the playbook since he wasn't expecting to play. Not saying Manziel is wrong, but he's wrong to say it. I always tell my kids when you make a mistake you need to do three things, admit the mistake, apologize for it, and do what you can to make it right. This...is not taking responsibility. Yes, at the end he said it was all his fault, but his earlier words say otherwise. I wonder what reaction he expected to get. Sympathy? People thinking, "Really wasn't going to give him a chance, but he's right...it was Cleveland's fault for not realizing he was...well...Manziel. In light of that, sign him up! If he still sucks, it will be our fault for not realizing he still sucks." Just...true or not...you don't *say* things like that. >.<

Ish. New helmet is fine, but the unis...it's like they chose powder blue as a signiture color (for obvious reasons), then said use the Seahawks as a base, but swap out the neon green with powder blue. The numbers, well, no sugar-coating how hideous they look. Grey on the shoulders looks like they ran out of fabric and just had to grab something to finish off the unis, even if it was grey. Not the worst unis, like some of the ideas, just...some really head-scratching decisions.

I'll say it again, Brady would not be Brady behind our O-Line, or most O-Lines in the league right now.

The secret to Brady's success is pass protection. If you can get to him, you can rattle him. One reason he carves the Bills up year in and year out. He's also quite old. Were Brady to be traded, that team better have one hell of a front line blocking for him. If not, the "goat" won't even last the season, nonetheless win a championship.

See my prior comments. Every team in the league had a passing play of 50+ yards. At least one. Everyone that is, except the Bills. In 15 1/2ish games TT could not do this even once. I know the receiving corp is meh, but you cannot look me in the eye and tell me that not one single play in all those games did he ever have a receiver open deep. The film clearly showed he did and he either did not throw it, or missed his receiver. Bad receivers lead to fewer deep throws, not *no* deep throws. That's on TT. Again, the receivers are as much to blame for the lack of offensive production...but at the same time TT is as much to blame as the receivers. Will AJ fix the offense? Not alone, but he should at least be able to stretch defenses and give McCoy a little running room.

People are not saying TT was the sole reason the offense was bad. Even earlier this thread I noted the receiving corp was sub-par. A very good receiver might well have made the catch at the end of the Carolina game. A very good QB would have put that pass where a sub-par receiver could catch it. Sadly, we had a sub-par deep passer throwing to a sub-par receiver. We're not putting the offensive woes solely at TT's feet, but we are holding him accountable for the factors he had control over. His reluctance to throw deep, even when he did have receivers open deep, and his inaccuracy when actually throwing deep are on him, and resulted in opposing defenses simply stacking the box. If TT had managed to hit his receivers deep when open, but they just weren't open often...then you could absolve TT and place blame solely on the receivers, but we all know that didn't happen.

Buffalo's receivers did not mystically repulse the football into the dirt. Bad receivers are not open as often as good ones, but when they did get open it was all on TT to get the ball on-target, something he failed at regularly, more frequently the longer the throw. I think we all remember the end of the Carolina game. How many balls underthrown? How many in the dirt. And, of course, that's when he even saw the open receiver and threw to him. Yes, the Bills' receiver corp was subpar, but that does not excuse TT's lack of vision and downfield accuracy. AJ, if he plays, should push the ball downfield more, even with the same set of receivers. Which, in turn, should spread the defense, giving McCoy a chance to run into something other then a brick wall resulting from a stacked defense.

Might be the NBA draft. After all, the Bills did make the NCAA Basketball tournament this year. XD

This is how you do an April Fools Day post. Kudos to the OP, this one was creative!