ICE Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Jim kelly had his struggles in 96, but we still made the playoffs. There has always been the infamous 'Hand shake' agreement between RW and JK. although JK had declined some, please don't even try to say that he would have done worse than Todd Collins or BJ Hobart! No way. Kelly to me needed another year with Quinn Early (Miss used IMHO) and Moulds. Moulds was just a rookie punk that year (off the field issues). I think a 3 year extention should have been done. another season with Moulds/Early would have been a result we all would have been pleased with. We could have bypassed the upcoming RJ/Flutie thing by drafting a Guy to have Kelly help groom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Kelly was horrible at teh end and we had to part ways Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICE Posted November 24, 2004 Author Share Posted November 24, 2004 Kelly was horrible at teh end and we had to part ways 132312[/snapback] And just how did that RJ thing work out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalkie Gerzowski Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 And just how did that RJ thing work out? 132319[/snapback] about as good as that Collins, Hobert, Bledsoe thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 And just how did that RJ thing work out? 132319[/snapback] What kind of non-sequitor logic is that? Kelly sucked at the end and RJ sucked. What difference would of it made if it was Kelly that sucked instead of RJ? I prefer to remember JK as a decent player. Nothing sadder then seeing an athlete that does not know when to hang it up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalkie Gerzowski Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Nothing sadder????? Kelly had the one relatively poor year in 1996. It's not like he was on a 2.5 year freefall like Bledsoe. Relatively poor and the team still hosted a playoff game......the last one for this franchise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Things do look very clear through those hingsight goggles... but I would be careful about making such a definitive pronouncement. Even though I would have been delighted to see Kelly hang around, and the idea of avoiding the entire Flutie-Johnson era is quite fetching, we should not forget: 1. That during the 1996 season Kelly had suffered a serious hamstring injury that cost him three games and left him largely immobile even after his return. 2. That, partially as a result of his injury, Kelly took many more hits than he had before, leading to comments about his "statuesque" qualities. 3. That Kelly committed several costly turnovers in his final games (including an ill-advised shovel pass in the playoff against Jax) which raised questions about his judgment. 4. That Kelly had feuded openly with the coaching staff over their desire to move away from the K-Gun, a system for which the team no longer had the personnel. and finally... 5. That the previous 4 issues, combined with the strong play of Todd collins (I know, I know, that sounds weird, but it was true at the time) in games against Dallas and the Colts, made many think that it would be easier to make the transition than it turned out to be. Such an opinion was widespread among both knowledgable football people and on barstools and nascent internet discussion boards across Bills Nation. You would have had a hard time finding anyone who would have argued in favor of a three-year extension for JK after 1996, and most people agreed it was time to go. Alas, most people also though that Todd Collins would make it as a pro QB. Most people were mistaken. That was, however, as in most such cases, due not to lack on intelligence or ill will, but due to the simple fact that most people, even multimillionaire club owners, cannot predict the future. Go Bills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realist Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Here goes that hindsight is 20/20 thing again. I remember everyone saying that year get rid of Kelly, he needs to retire or be traded. If Ralph knew what was in store for him the next few years, he probably would have extended him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Simple. Trading Daryl Lamonica for Tom Flores and Art Powell. Followed by dumping Haven Moses and Ahmad Rashad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Oh god, not this !@#$ing argument again. This came up during conversations this past weekend at RWS. That the same people saying we should have kept Kelly longer are the same people that were yelling for his head on a platter during his last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICE Posted November 24, 2004 Author Share Posted November 24, 2004 Nothing sadder then seeing an athlete that does not know when to hang it up And there is no better way to describe Drew Bledsoe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICE Posted November 24, 2004 Author Share Posted November 24, 2004 Oh god, not this !@#$ing argument again. This came up during conversations this past weekend at RWS. That the same people saying we should have kept Kelly longer are the same people that were yelling for his head on a platter during his last year. 132378[/snapback] Find one post EVER where I said I wanted Kelly gone. I would take him NOW over the stevestojan we have had since he left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PIZ Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 All the fans were calling for Kelly to retire. I remember it like it was yesterday. I have to say, though, that Kelly's last year was better than this year's Drew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICE Posted November 24, 2004 Author Share Posted November 24, 2004 Ok understand this with JK, he was coming back from major Shoulder Surgery. Had lost the WR he threw hundreds of passes to. Had TWO new WR's Quinn Early and Eric Moulds. Hell it was so bad they started Steve Tasker as our slot WR!!! If he had another season with Early and Moulds he would have done well the next year. Oh and even though he had a statistically bad season, we made the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICE Posted November 24, 2004 Author Share Posted November 24, 2004 1. That during the 1996 season Kelly had suffered a serious hamstring injury that cost him three games and left him largely immobile even after his return. Agreed, but that wasn't his fault 2. That, partially as a result of his injury, Kelly took many more hits than he had before, leading to comments about his "statuesque" qualities. Agreed and again that happens to the best of them. 3. That Kelly committed several costly turnovers in his final games (including an ill-advised shovel pass in the playoff against Jax) which raised questions about his judgment. Read my post about the personel he had. Hell even Billy Brooks was gone (bad move). He had two new WR's he had to get comfortable with. 4. That Kelly had feuded openly with the coaching staff over their desire to move away from the K-Gun, a system for which the team no longer had the personnel. Give him one more year. Get a REAL slot WR in FA and he would have been fine. BUT in all fairness to the Coaches, the KGun time had passed. In fairness to Kelly we had stevestojan for an OC.and finally... You would have had a hard time finding anyone who would have argued in favor of a three-year extension for JK after 1996, and most people agreed it was time to go. Alas, most people also though that Todd Collins would make it as a pro QB. Most people were mistaken. That was, however, as in most such cases, due not to lack on intelligence or ill will, but due to the simple fact that most people, even multimillionaire club owners, cannot predict the future. bottom line that thinking has cost us for the last 9 seasons (97-04). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Paulson Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Kelly chose to retire than to make it easier to get into the Hall of Fame. he wanted to get in before Marino and Elway and that was a down year for the Hall. he wanted to be sure because- you never know sometimes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PIZ Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 ICE, but you seem to forget that we had the promising, talented, 2nd round pick TODD COLLINS just being wasted on the bench. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatKID_II Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Fast is that JK said out right he would not play behind the Bills lines... He was done... His 12 year career took its toll on his body and he was done... It was time for the team to go in another direction... But Todd Collins was not the right direction... Oops... -fK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICE Posted November 24, 2004 Author Share Posted November 24, 2004 Fast is that JK said out right he would not play behind the Bills lines... He was done... His 12 year career took its toll on his body and he was done... It was time for the team to go in another direction... But Todd Collins was not the right direction... Oops... -fK 132416[/snapback] It was time to go in another direction? Well we did...right in the stevestojaner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest_BUFTEX_* Posted November 24, 2004 Share Posted November 24, 2004 Jim kelly had his struggles in 96, but we still made the playoffs. There has always been the infamous 'Hand shake' agreement between RW and JK. although JK had declined some, please don't even try to say that he would have done worse than Todd Collins or BJ Hobart! No way. Kelly to me needed another year with Quinn Early (Miss used IMHO) and Moulds. Moulds was just a rookie punk that year (off the field issues). I think a 3 year extention should have been done. another season with Moulds/Early would have been a result we all would have been pleased with. We could have bypassed the upcoming RJ/Flutie thing by drafting a Guy to have Kelly help groom. 132306[/snapback] While I don't remember the exact numbers anymore, Kelly was actually the third highest rated QB in the NFL over the last 6 weeks of the 1996 season. There are lots of rumours out there about what was going on with Jimbo that last season, but whatever his deamons were, he appeared to have conquered them, at least on the field, by the end of the season. He had a horrid first half of the season (almost Blesoian in fact), highlighted by a mysterious injury in practice...Jimbo was pushed out a little early, IMO. Fans can be pretty ugly sometimes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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