Losman

[Mr. WEO]

He really tried hard?

 

 

He was never a student of the game. His glaring weakness was his inablility to recognize what was happening around him. Yet he was never a guy who wholed himself up in the film room, like Manning and Brady do. He was an intramural football superstar who, I'm assuming, figured he was so good that he could just make things up and make things happen.

 

There is no evidence that he ever progressed from this state.

 

He was intellectually very lazy. This will never change. Why is that so admirable? This guy was not willing to do for his team what it takes (even for the best QBs) to succeed. How does that make him such a "great guy"?

[Red]

I was happy for Losman when he signed with the Raiders this week. In honor of his signing, I wore my Bills Losman jersey. I started to wonder why it is fans like me still like the guy. I guess it's because I know he has a lot of potential and the fact that he went through a ton of coaching changes while in Buffalo. That being said, he still holds on to the ball too long. Regardless, it's funny that a lot of fans, like me, still like the guy. Trust me, I never break out the Rob Johnson jersey.

 

First things first, you once BOUGHT a Rob Johnson jersey?!!?!?!??!?!?

[Chas]

and you still have theRob Johnson jersey in your closet, it has not been burned?

[Gordio]

That, and he's a good person. That's why we like him.

 

 

I am not being a wiseguy but how do you know he is a good person? Do you know him personally? There has been more then one of his former teammates that have called him a jerk in the media before. Go look up some of the old articles from the beat writers when he was UCLA, they were none too flatterring of the guys personality. Coming into the draft he was labelled a coach killer & Dave Wanstead said he would not take him with the last pick in the 7th round because of his attitude. Bill parcells himself said because of his bad attitude he was coach killer. Troy Vincent had to go out & teach the kid a lesson because he came in as a rookie all cocky. Ask the vets on the 2005 Bills what they thought of Losman & his attitude. I mean say what you want how it was a bush league move by Vincent, but guys like Vincent, Spikes, Fletcher, Milloy, Moulds are respected a hell of alot more in NFL circles then Losman will ever be. Mike Mularkey put him in at new England to embarrass him because he was not putting in the time to learn the playbook. My point is noone knows how these guys really are; including me, so please do not assume that he is a good guy. Based on some of these reports, Losman could possibly have an attitude problem. H*ll even in the offseason, if some of the reports are true that he turned down backup jobs, & was holding out for starting job, shows that he thinks he is better then he really is. What team in their right mind would ever give the starting job to Losman after watching him play for the last 3yrs. & spare me the crap about him just wanting to play, unless he was backing up Favre or Manning, there would be a good chance as a #2 he would see the playing field at some point during the season.

[Offside Number 76]

I am not being a wiseguy but how do you know he is a good person? Do you know him personally? There has been more then one of his former teammates that have called him a jerk in the media before. Go look up some of the old articles from the beat writers when he was UCLA, they were none too flatterring of the guys personality. Coming into the draft he was labelled a coach killer & Dave Wanstead said he would not take him with the last pick in the 7th round because of his attitude. Bill parcells himself said because of his bad attitude he was coach killer. Troy Vincent had to go out & teach the kid a lesson because he came in as a rookie all cocky. Ask the vets on the 2005 Bills what they thought of Losman & his attitude. I mean say what you want how it was a bush league move by Vincent, but guys like Vincent, Spikes, Fletcher, Milloy, Moulds are respected a hell of alot more in NFL circles then Losman will ever be. Mike Mularkey put him in at new England to embarrass him because he was not putting in the time to learn the playbook. My point is noone knows how these guys really are; including me, so please do not assume that he is a good guy. Based on some of these reports, Losman could possibly have an attitude problem. H*ll even in the offseason, if some of the reports are true that he turned down backup jobs, & was holding out for starting job, shows that he thinks he is better then he really is. What team in their right mind would ever give the starting job to Losman after watching him play for the last 3yrs. & spare me the crap about him just wanting to play, unless he was backing up Favre or Manning, there would be a good chance as a #2 he would see the playing field at some point during the season.

 

 

I have no idea whether he was a good teammate. Perhaps he wasn't--in fact, given what you wrote, he probably wasn't. But given his public actions, and even the way I personally had seen him act in public (same neighborhood), he seems like a good person.

[billsfreak]

I was happy for Losman when he signed with the Raiders this week. In honor of his signing, I wore my Bills Losman jersey. I started to wonder why it is fans like me still like the guy. I guess it's because I know he has a lot of potential and the fact that he went through a ton of coaching changes while in Buffalo. That being said, he still holds on to the ball too long. Regardless, it's funny that a lot of fans, like me, still like the guy. Trust me, I never break out the Rob Johnson jersey.

I think he is liked because he put in the off season work, embraced the city (unlike Rob Johnson who couldn't wait to leave), he had all the physical tools, he just plain gave it his all but it didn't work. I am not sure that there is really a lovefest for him, just not any reason to plain hate him and bad mouth him in every post on here (especially ones that don't even have anything to do with him), like a handful of idiots on this board do.

[thebug]

I think he is liked because he put in the off season work, embraced the city (unlike Rob Johnson who couldn't wait to leave), he had all the physical tools, he just plain gave it his all but it didn't work. I am not sure that there is really a lovefest for him, just not any reason to plain hate him and bad mouth him in every post on here (especially ones that don't even have anything to do with him), like a handful of idiots on this board do.

 

 

[Gordio]

I think he is liked because he put in the off season work, embraced the city (unlike Rob Johnson who couldn't wait to leave), he had all the physical tools, he just plain gave it his all but it didn't work. I am not sure that there is really a lovefest for him, just not any reason to plain hate him and bad mouth him in every post on here (especially ones that don't even have anything to do with him), like a handful of idiots on this board do.

 

 

I do not hate him, I just think he is a lousy qb & I am glad he is not with the Bills anymore. I just do not understand the lovefest for a guy that accomplished nothing on the football field while he was with the Bills.

[Gugny]

In answer to your question . . . I never really did develop a soft spot in my heart for Losman.

 

It's been said that Losman embraced Buffalo. That's one way of looking at it. Another is that he wanted to be liked by the fans of his new team. He gained social rewards for having bought that house near Elmwood Avenue, and for his neighborhood cleanup efforts. Would he have done those things if, instead, he had expected indifference or even social penalties?

 

On another thread, someone mentioned that he drank a number of shots of some expensive liquor, at $150 a shot. Maybe he just liked the taste, but maybe he was trying to impress people. If the latter is the case, it would argue that he's insecure.

 

Compare that to a guy like Jim Kelly. He snubbed Buffalo for a couple years, opting to play for the Houston Gamblers instead. Once he finally came to Buffalo--not by choice, incidentally--he was welcomed like a conquering hero. Now that he's retired, and can live wherever he feels like, he's opted to stay in Buffalo. His charity--Hunter's Hope--was created because of his son's serious illness. Jim Kelly's relationship with the city of Buffalo strikes me as being more genuine and sincere than Losman's.

 

In answer to your original question, I think that as Bills fans, we haven't had much to cheer about since the day Jim Kelly and his teammates hung up their cleats. That's caused an element of wanting to believe the best about current Bills players. Losman gave people that. They could see his physical gifts, and imagine how good a quarterback he could be if some combination of "coaching" "experience" and other factors allowed his mind to catch up to his body. They saw his cleanup efforts and his house as evidence that Losman had embraced Buffalo, just like Jim Kelly did (eventually).

 

Unfortunately, the hope Losman gave people was a mirage, both on and (probably) off the field. He was not the Jim Kelly people wanted him to be.

 

Twenty years worth of relationship building goes a long way. Jim Kelly was a great QB, and it's an awesome foundation he's created for a terrible disease. But let's be real, here. The guy is and always has been an arrogant prick. That said, there's never been anything "fake" about him, and that's admirable. I'm not sure, and I doubt anyone on this board is sure, if J.P. did things because he wanted to win people over, or because he was sincere. He wasn't here long enough. I'd like to believe he was sincere. And I think Kelly has proven his sincerity, but he's had a heck of a lot more time to do it.

[C.Biscuit97]

He cleaned up the neighborhood once when he was trying to get PR when he was a starting QB. Of course, as a backup, he couldn't be bothered to help again.

 

I really like JP and wanted him to succeed. But it's so sad the standards people in Buffalo have some time. Because a guy bought a house in Buffalo, people loved him. It could be argued that TO has done more ofr charity in Buffalo in one year than Losman did in his 5 years. And he got paid millions of dollars to be bad at his job 75% of the time.

 

I have no hard feelings towards JP but people need stop acting like he was Mother Teresa. He was another in a long line of bad Buffalo QBs who lived in Buffalo to be close to the bar scene and save money on taxes.

[Guest dog14787]

He cleaned up the neighborhood once when he was trying to get PR when he was a starting QB. Of course, as a backup, he couldn't be bothered to help again.

 

I really like JP and wanted him to succeed. But it's so sad the standards people in Buffalo have some time. Because a guy bought a house in Buffalo, people loved him. It could be argued that TO has done more ofr charity in Buffalo in one year than Losman did in his 5 years. And he got paid millions of dollars to be bad at his job 75% of the time.

 

I have no hard feelings towards JP but people need stop acting like he was Mother Teresa. He was another in a long line of bad Buffalo QBs who lived in Buffalo to be close to the bar scene and save money on taxes.

 

 

I liked what JP brings to the table at the QB position or I wouldn't be backing him up.

[Gugny]

I liked what JP brings to the table at the QB position or I wouldn't be backing him up.

We know this all too well, Dog!!! No idea WHY ... but we know!!!

[C.Biscuit97]

I liked what JP brings to the table at the QB position or I wouldn't be backing him up.

 

 

What's that? The ability to play decent in 1 out of every 4 starts??? Are you a Rex Grossman fan too? I'm not trying to diss you because I liked JP. But he wasn't a NFL caliber starting QB and leagues like UFL & CFL are filled with JP types. And as a Bills fan, the last thing you should root for is Losman to succeed. It's similar to rooting for RJ, except JP bought a house in the city and cleaned up once.

[yall]

He really tried hard?

 

 

He was never a student of the game. His glaring weakness was his inablility to recognize what was happening around him. Yet he was never a guy who wholed himself up in the film room, like Manning and Brady do. He was an intramural football superstar who, I'm assuming, figured he was so good that he could just make things up and make things happen.

 

There is no evidence that he ever progressed from this state.

 

He was intellectually very lazy. This will never change. Why is that so admirable? This guy was not willing to do for his team what it takes (even for the best QBs) to succeed. How does that make him such a "great guy"?

 

How do you know this?

 

He may have just lacked the ability, not necessarily the work ethic.

[Guest dog14787]

What's that? The ability to play decent in 1 out of every 4 starts??? Are you a Rex Grossman fan too? I'm not trying to diss you because I liked JP. But he wasn't a NFL caliber starting QB and leagues like UFL & CFL are filled with JP types. And as a Bills fan, the last thing you should root for is Losman to succeed. It's similar to rooting for RJ, except JP bought a house in the city and cleaned up once.

 

 

You have your opinion and I have mine, maybe our pathetic coaching and FO doesn't register with you.( which I knows not true) I have no problem being a fan of someone who used to be a Bills player. Take Jabari Greer for instance, I'm assuming the majority of the board wishes him well and isn't that the same thing. When you wish someone well you are wishing for them to succeed right.

[C.Biscuit97]

You have your opinion and I have mine, maybe our pathetic coaching and FO doesn't register with you. I have no problem being a fan of someone who used to be a Bills player. Take Jabari Greer for instance, I'm assuming the majority of the board wishes him well and isn't that the same thing. When you wish someone well you are wishing for them to succeed right.

 

Fair enough but there's a huge difference in my opinion. Losman cost us millions plus a 1st, 2nd, and 5th round. Plus, he generally sucked in 75% of his games played. Greer was an undrafted free agent who didn't make much and became a very good player.

 

But I'll agree to disagree and just think you're a little insane to think Losman is anything better than a borderline 3rd stringer.

[Guest dog14787]

Fair enough but there's a huge difference in my opinion. Losman cost us millions plus a 1st, 2nd, and 5th round. Plus, he generally sucked in 75% of his games played. Greer was an undrafted free agent who didn't make much and became a very good player.

 

But I'll agree to disagree and just think you're a little insane to think Losman is anything better than a borderline 3rd stringer.

 

Time will tell my friend, time will tell.

[DrDawkinstein]

the real question is why would anyone NOT like "the guy"?

 

im not talking about the player, but as a person he has never wronged anyone here. he never got in trouble. he never disrespected the city or the franchise. actually, quite the opposite.

 

anyone who harbors ill feelings towards JP is being incredibly immature and a little weird about the whole thing.

 

we took a chance on him, he tried hard to be a good QB and a good local resident, between our horrible coaching staffS and his limited ability, it didnt work out.

 

its unfortunate, but thats no reason to not like an actual person. anyone saying otherwise is taking this GAME a little too seriously.

[BillsZubaz]

He really tried hard?

 

 

He was never a student of the game. His glaring weakness was his inablility to recognize what was happening around him. Yet he was never a guy who wholed himself up in the film room, like Manning and Brady do. He was an intramural football superstar who, I'm assuming, figured he was so good that he could just make things up and make things happen.

 

There is no evidence that he ever progressed from this state.

 

He was intellectually very lazy. This will never change. Why is that so admirable? This guy was not willing to do for his team what it takes (even for the best QBs) to succeed. How does that make him such a "great guy"?

 

 

You are completely off base on most of your points here. Yes, JP's glaring weakness was indeed that he could not process the play happening around him. This is the reason he did not succeed in Buffalo as the kid had all of the physical tools you could want...

 

 

I would be curious what makes you say "he was never a student of the game?" and "He never wholed himself up in the film room.".... considering that his QB coach Sam Wyche (widely considered a great QB coach) publicly praised JP's work ethic and time spent studying film. I'm paraphrasing but I recall Wyche stating that JP had one of the best work ethics he had ever seen...I think he would know a little better than you....

[Gordio]

the real question is why would anyone NOT like "the guy"?

 

im not talking about the player, but as a person he has never wronged anyone here. he never got in trouble. he never disrespected the city or the franchise. actually, quite the opposite.

 

anyone who harbors ill feelings towards JP is being incredibly immature and a little weird about the whole thing.

 

we took a chance on him, he tried hard to be a good QB and a good local resident, between our horrible coaching staffS and his limited ability, it didnt work out.

 

its unfortunate, but thats no reason to not like an actual person. anyone saying otherwise is taking this GAME a little too seriously.

 

 

Like I said, I just think Losman sucks & he always will suck. I could care less if my qb bought a house in the city or cleaned up the fruit belt once in his life, I want him to win games. Losman was one of the biggest busts in Bill's draft history, which is saying something consdidering our past. I would list the biggest draft busts like this(& please keep in mind that I am 36 & really did not start getting into the bills until 1983.

 

1. Mike Williams - this has got to be the pick considering he was the 4th pick in the draft

2.) Tom Cousineau(sp?) - before my time but from what I understand got drafted by the bills, did not want to play for them, played in Canada & then joined the browns.

3.) Tony Hunter - I believe was drafted before Kelly in the same year/round. Never amounted to much.

4.) JP Losman - It is not so much where we drafted him it is what we gave up for him. Had a career 11-25 record, I have seen him make more stupid plays then I care to remember

5.) Erik Flowers/John Mcgargo

 

I am probably missing some guys, but that is my list for the biggest draft busts in bills history.