Hazed and Amuzed Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Bruce Smith, there's no doubt. What he accomplished in the 34 defense is astonishing. OJ was also amazing. 2000 yards in a 14 game season? Thats just sick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sabres...yawn Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 O.J. Simpson. 2.) Bruce 3.) Kelly* *excludes Super Bowl performances due to massive hangovers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Biscuit97 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Greatest Bill ever: tie between OJ (too young to see him but his #s are amazing on some bad teams) and Bruce (at the very least a top 3 DE. We you consider his #s in a 3-4 where it is much more difficult to get sacks, he may be teh best) Most Overrated Bill: Kelly. Love the guy but I'm amazed at how much some overrate him. He caused the Bickering Bills, didn't want to come here, had a terrible reputation as richard when he played, not close to the top 20 at his position, and was terrible in the playoffs. Most Underrated Bill: Kent Hull. Bills fans recognize him but natiowide never gets the crdit he deserves. Like Jeff Saturday on hte Colts, he is a huge part of running the offense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsPhan Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 EDIT: i'm talking players only.....on-field. i'm going to say Thurman Thomas...... League MVP.....and best all around all purpose RB to ever play the game !! #1- Thurman #2- Bruce #3- O.J. #4- Cookie #5- Kelly #1- Jim Kelly - Heart and soul of the best Bills' teams in history. HOF'er #2- Bruce Smith - Arguably the best pass rushing DE in NFL history. HOF'er #3- Thurman Thomas - Led the NFL in total yards 4 consecutive years. HOF'er #4- Steve Tasker - Everyone agrees - the best special teams player in NFL history - 7 time Pro Bowler - SHOULD be HOF'er #5 - Billy Shaw - The ONLY member of the HOF to play his entire career in the AFL! #6 - Andre Reed - All time Bills receiver - WILL be HOF'er soon when Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith and Chris Carter are not all eligible at the same time, like this year! #7 - Jack Kemp - Heart and soul of the Bills two consecutive AFL Championship seasons - all guts, not that much pure talent. #8 - Cookie Gilchrist - Could have been #2 in my list, if he would have played longer for the Bills. - Quite possibly the second best pure athlete of all Buffalo Bills. #9 - Elbert Dubenion - "Golden Wheels" - the most exciting wideout in Bills history, the guy was way before his time! #10 - Joe Ferguson - Spent his first 4 seasons just handing off to Simpson, then became one of the best QB's in the league during his next 5 seasons under Chuck Knox. Held all Bills' passing records until Jimbo broke them. **From 1972 thru 1976, O.J. Simpson was without question the best running back in the NFL. I watched every run he made as a Bill, through my teenage years. I won't list him in my top 10 because he became such a scum bag human being later in his life. However, for those of you that watched this man run as a Buffalo Bill behind his "Electric Company" as I did, you could not argue the fact that he was the very best pure athlete in the history of the Bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagon Circler Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Pretty much seen every game from 1966. O.J. was pretty clearly the greatest player of all time and to me, the 2nd greatest running back of all time. Before he lost his mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewEra Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Bruce Smith. No debate. Jim Kelly OJ Simpson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 #32 and it's not even close!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo 66 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Fred Smerlas, he had the best porn stache!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick in* england Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 Bruce Thurman OJ Jim TO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pygskin36 Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 i clicked in here to post Thurman as well. such a dynamic back, he was a one man offensive machine. Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuce,OJ, Jimbo,Thurman,cookie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Bruce - Greatest DE ever! 'Nuff said. Thurman - Amazingly fun to watch and best all around back to play. Kelly - HOF QB. Only HOF QB the Bills have ever had. Reed - Greatest WR in Bills history. Tasker - Transformed the entire ST position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiderweb Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 OJ Simpson - everyone else a distant 2nd. regarding Thurman thomas I can argue he's only the 4th best RB we ever had behind Cookie & OJ & Joe Cribbs Cribbs was 4 yrs and 4 probowls....returned punts and led the Bills in both receiving and rushing in 1983. Thurman had good fortune to come along as the RB in the no huddle....while Thurman was taken out of the game on 3rd downs his rookie year....joe Cribbs was running & receiving and returning punts to a start in the pro bowl his rookie year starting alongside earl campbell... In general I think the players from the Knox era are a bit overlooked when it comes to all time selections Ah, aren't you funny..... Joe Cribb's? Similar to TT in an umber of ways, but the numbers speak for themselves. TT wins the Cribbs?TT contest hands down. Cookie, an amazingly talented 250 plus RB, unfortunately spent the prime of his playing days in the CFL. OJ was our best pure runner, one of best in the history of the game, but was no where near the complete back TT was. OJ and his hands of stone wasn't very adept at catching the ball, and while OJ was rarely called on to pass block, TT was outstanding at picking up blitzes. TT, in the entirety of his career and talents, clearly ranks as our best all round RB in the history of the Bills. With that said, He ranks very highly in the greatest Bill of all-time sweepstakes, but I'm not sure he would be number 1. Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Billy Shaw, Tom Sestak, etc., might disagree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youngjebrey Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 top 3 3. drew bledsoe 2. willis mcgahee 1. scott norwood Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 There's OJ and there's Bruce Smith - the only elite players they've ever had. Everyone else is a distant third. Thurman was the third best RB in the league in his prime, so he doesn't really qualify. Kelly was excellent, but again, he was the third best QB (or so) in the league in his prime years. OJ was simply amazing, as was Smith, who I've long argued was better than Reggie White. In 1996, Smith had (as I recall) 47 pressures. That is truly unbelievable -- really. That's a newer stat, but my god it was an awesome season for him. There are two truly NFL-history-level-great seasons by Bills players: Smith in 1996 and OJ in 1973. The two second best seasons are Bruce in 1990 and OJ in 1975. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Greatest Bill ever: tie between OJ (too young to see him but his #s are amazing on some bad teams) and Bruce (at the very least a top 3 DE. We you consider his #s in a 3-4 where it is much more difficult to get sacks, he may be teh best) Most Overrated Bill: Kelly. Love the guy but I'm amazed at how much some overrate him. He caused the Bickering Bills, didn't want to come here, had a terrible reputation as richard when he played, not close to the top 20 at his position, and was terrible in the playoffs. Most Underrated Bill: Kent Hull. Bills fans recognize him but natiowide never gets the crdit he deserves. Like Jeff Saturday on hte Colts, he is a huge part of running the offense. You are nuts... Kelly, more than any player in team history, made the franchise relevant. He may not be in the "top 20" all time QB's, but he is not that far out, which when you consider how many have played the postion in the last 90 years or so, is pretty amazing. All the BS about not wanting to come to Buffalo is overrated... lets face it, very few players in the teams history would have chosen Buffalo as their place of work...Kelly was just one of the few who had other options...can't fault him for that... check your stats as well... Kelly was very good in the playoffs, not so in the Super Bowl... but neither were any of his teammates... without Kelly, the Bills likely never get that far once, let alone 4 times... take that magical run of heartbreaking magnificence out of the Bills history, and the franchise is pretty awful. It amazes me when Bills fans say crap like this. I know you are a great Bills fan (honest I do) but the way people disparage Kelly, Reed, Thurman, Bruce around here, etc to make a point is pretty crazy... let me ask you, how underrated would Kent Hull be, in your book, if he was snapping the ball to Frank Reich, or Alex Van Pelt his whole career...it goes both ways. Aren't you one of the people who is always preaching to everyone how they are "too negative" about the Bills? QB is arguably the most difficult position to play in all of team sports, so Kelly is only in the top 50 all time...that makes him the most overrated Bill of al time? As I said before, if you really belive that, you are nuts... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Gibran Hamdan Agreed. #1: Hamdan #2: Kelly (assuming he is wearing a Hamdan replica jersey) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 There's OJ and there's Bruce Smith - the only elite players they've ever had. Everyone else is a distant third. Thurman was the third best RB in the league in his prime, so he doesn't really qualify. Kelly was excellent, but again, he was the third best QB (or so) in the league in his prime years. OJ was simply amazing, as was Smith, who I've long argued was better than Reggie White. In 1996, Smith had (as I recall) 47 pressures. That is truly unbelievable -- really. That's a newer stat, but my god it was an awesome season for him. There are two truly great seasons by Bills players: Smith in 1996 and OJ in 1973. The two second best seasons are Bruce in 1990 and OJ in 1975. Barry Sanders - 2,921 receiving yards. (10 seasons) 292 per season average Emmit Smith - 3,224 receiving yards. (15 seasons) 214 per season average Thurman Thomas - 4,458 receiving yards. (13 seasons) 343 per season average. I disagree. While Sanders and Smith got more yardage on the ground Thurman was the best all around back in the league at the time and maybe since. No RB, that I've seen, came close to his ability to block. That's not something that shows up on the stat sheets but he was a marvel. His ability to receive was far better than Smith or Sanders as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Barry Sanders - 2,921 receiving yards. (10 seasons) 292 per season average Emmit Smith - 3,224 receiving yards. (15 seasons) 214 per season average Thurman Thomas - 4,458 receiving yards. (13 seasons) 343 per season average. I disagree. While Sanders and Smith got more yardage on the ground Thurman was the best all around back in the league at the time and maybe since. No RB, that I've seen, came close to his ability to block. That's not something that shows up on the stat sheets but he was a marvel. His ability to receive was far better than Smith or Sanders as well. I'm not denying that Thurman was a great player. But remember: there's the ol' eyeball test. He simply -- and very clearly -- wasn't as good as Smith or Sanders. I don't think anyone outside of Bills' fans would argue that he was better than either of those guys. Still, he was a great player. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USABuffaloFan Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 MVP of the Bills: Jim Kelly ( Nobody changed the face of the Bills more than Jim ) Best Stat guy: OJ ( 2000 yard season ), Honorable mention: BRRRRUUUUCCCEEE!!!!! Best pure athlete: Cookie Gilcrest ( Just a pure monster ) Most liked: Thurman It has been 14 years and we still have noone to replace Jim Kelly. We have had plenty of very good running back, Fred Jackson could be the best since Thurman. We have never seen as pure a football player than Cookie, he could play all 3, Defense, Offense, Special Teams We all love workhorses and Thurman fit Buffalo perfectly, even his crazy sense of humor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nostyle126 Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 pound for pound: Steve Tasker - nobody ever played their position better than he did statistically: Bruce Smith - all-time sack leader who was so disruptive OCs had to gameplan around him AFL honorable mention - Mike Stratton, who's hit heard 'round the world helped turn the tides against San Diego and bring Buffalo an AFL championship. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9...klesLincoln.jpg ...I give extra credit to players that help bring Buffalo a championship. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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