For all you Ralph haters

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

My irritation with the old man is that he has CONSISTENTLY shown a lack of willingness to work with strong front office personnel. The only two he's hired, TD and Polian, ended up in disaster. As a consequence, we've been stuck with the likes of Levy running the show -- which means consistent mediocrity.

[birdog1960]

many remain unconvinced of wilson's committment to winning..if he truly is committed to it then he is really, really bad at it (over a 50 year period) or he's incredibly unlucky. i favor the theory that winning is not the highest priority. regarding his staying in buffalo, this could be explained by the agreement made with the govt at the time of the afl/nfl merger that allowed the deal to skirt the anti-trust laws. i don't find it particularly virtuous that he kept his word to congress to keep his team in place.

[JohnC]

So after 50 straight years, he's changing?

 

Yes, he is older and very tired. Not only is he physically frail but mentally diminishing. Whether you are rich or poor no one can stop the life cycle.

[Assquatch]

This draft showed me he is finally hands off. I thought so with the Gailey hiring, but now that we drafted 'non fan favorites' or 'ticket sellers' I feel he is seeing the light.

Don't walk into the light, Ralph!

[billsfreak]

Except when they asked Nix right after the draft if Ralph was deeply involved in it, and Nix replied, "Ralph is deeply involved in everything. He's the owner."

I guess that blows DarthICE's theory out of the water doesn't it? I am not sure anyone "hates" Ralph, alot of people think that he is no longer capable of being a good owner in the current NFL, which after seeing the past decade, is very understandable.

[ddaryl]

I hate Ralph for not having a plan to keep the Bills in Buffalo after he passes

 

I hate Ralph for firing Polian

 

I hate Ralph for not be capable of hiring good personell to run this franchise

 

I hate Ralph becuase the 35 years I have been watching this team he has produced a loser team more then 60% of the time, and only had 1 real decent streak where we were a great team.

 

Ralph can suck it

[RealityCheck]

Ralph Wilson's meddling with the team is well documented, and I am not trying to diminish the damage that he has done to his own team at times. However it's no ones place to demonize him for it. He has also done quite a few things right. Judging by how emotional and illogical many of these posters are I would think that the team would be far worse in their hands. If I was the owner we would be in big trouble too. The point is this is his team, he earned it and made tremendous sacrifices to do it. Could any of us on these boards pulled it off? Of course not because none of us have. Exploring hypotheticals is great for people who don't have to make decisions by any deadlines or accountability, you could just talk endlessly after the fact. Has RW made a lot of mistakes? Sure, too many in the pursuit of a championship. Is he a bad guy? No f****** way!

[Rico]

Ralph.

[Coach Tuesday]

I will stand up and admit that I absolutely hate Ralph Wilson. He has taken what is essentially a public handout (because of the de facto antitrust exemption) and run it like a used car franchise, in a market that is just starving for a winner. And I pity the Bills fans who drink the cool aid year after year, spending their hard-earned cash on a shiny lemon. Every single freakin year.

[birdog1960]

Ralph Wilson's meddling with the team is well documented, and I am not trying to diminish the damage that he has done to his own team at times. However it's no ones place to demonize him for it. He has also done quite a few things right. Judging by how emotional and illogical many of these posters are I would think that the team would be far worse in their hands. If I was the owner we would be in big trouble too. The point is this is his team, he earned it and made tremendous sacrifices to do it. Could any of us on these boards pulled it off? Of course not because none of us have. Exploring hypotheticals is great for people who don't have to make decisions by any deadlines or accountability, you could just talk endlessly after the fact. Has RW made a lot of mistakes? Sure, too many in the pursuit of a championship. Is he a bad guy? No f****** way!

what was dick jauron's great crime? he seems almost universally hated here because he was a bad, losing coach. what's so different about a losing owner?

[Buftex]

I don't hate Ralph Wilson, but, I think he has been, for the most part, a very poor owner, as far as fans are concerned.

 

It seems that the few fortunate stretches of success that this franchise has experienced in my 35 years as a fan were more "dumb luck" than shrewd planning. When this team has been successful, or flirted with success, Mr Wilson has, inevitably, made some error to snuff it out. For all the patting him on the back for keeping the Bills in Buffalo, people fail to mention that he has grown very wealthy on his small investment in Buffalo. I don't blame him for that, it is to be lauded...but don't fool yourself into thinking Mr Wilson has cared as much about winning as he has not losing money. He was one of the earliest pioneers of the owner holding a city over a barrel to get what he wants as far as a stadium went.

 

Mr Wilson, in his old age, seems to be more concerned about winning now, because the legacy of his franchise is really pretty poor, as far as on-field performance goes. Now, he wants to win, when he doesn't have the means he used to have.

 

I honestly believe, as The Philster says, there is a plan to keep the Bills in Buffalo. In fact, I am pretty sure of it. For that, I am grateful. However, is it pride that is delaying him from saying anything to relieve the stress of the fan base, on this issue? Why not introduce the new owners, and let them start building a winner, and just sit back and enjoy? It worked out beautifully for Art Modell.

[Delete This Account]

Ralph has always been more interested in making money than winning football games.

 

Ralph originally wanted to put the team in Miami, but when Miami rejected him he gave sloppy seconds to Buffalo.

 

Ralph has always had a reputation as being cheap, especially with the coaching staff.

 

Ralph fired Bill Polian. The Bills have generally always been mediocre/bad except for the short period of time that Bill Polian was running the show. He put together those great teams of the early 90s. Once Ralph fired him, he went to start-up Carolina and took them right to a conference championship game. Then he went to Indianapolis, drafted Peyton Manning, and has been in charge there ever since.

 

Ralph refuses to put together a plan to ensure the Bills stay in Buffalo after he dies. He knows his kids will just sell the team to the highest bidder and he is fine with that.

now wait a second. you're going to bring up something that happend 51 freakin years ago, and say that establishes his reputation. keep in mind, the AFL was the one that pointed Mr. Wilson to Miami.

as for Polian, i would hope he drafted Peyton Manning. if he hadn't then i'd have questions about his ability to judge talent.

 

your other points are well noted, but why not blame Mr. Wilson for the snow while you're at it.

 

jw

[billsfreak]

now wait a second. you're going to bring up something that happend 51 freakin years ago, and say that establishes his reputation. keep in mind, the AFL was the one that pointed Mr. Wilson to Miami.

as for Polian, i would hope he drafted Peyton Manning. if he hadn't then i'd have questions about his ability to judge talent.

 

your other points are well noted, but why not blame Mr. Wilson for the snow while you're at it.

 

jw

There were alot of so called "experts" who criticized him at the time of drafting Manning because they just knew that Ryan Leaf would be the better pro. Polian is the best GM in the league and has been for over 2 decades, hands down. He has won Executive of the Year awards with three different organizations. He took an expansion team and had them in the conference championship game in what, their second season. Not only did Ralph fire Polian, he then chased his successors (namely John Butler) out of town, who then went to San Diego and built a winner there. Ralph deserves alot of credit for what he did years ago, but over the past 18 years or so he has been one of the worst owners in the NFL, and anyone with common sense cannot argue that. He has really only ever hired one head coach who was successful before he got here (Chuck Knox) and he didn't want to stay past once his contract expired, namely because he knew that he wasn't going to be able to win here. Sure he hired Levy, but he really had no success before he got here. Ralph has pretty much gone the cheap route with head coaches since he has been here, and that has translated into one of the most losing franchises since the NFL/AFL merger.

[Kelly the Dog]

Call me a RW apologist if you want but no matter how infuriated I've been @ some of his decisions over the past 30+ years he was the one that brought the Bills to Buffalo and kept them there. I honestly believe that 9 out of 10 other owners would have bailed and moved to a more luxurious city.

Lets face it, he could move to LA and they would probably build him a billion $ stadium plus provide him other incentives to get out of dodge.

Exactly how I feel. I love the old coot. He's just nuts.

[CardinalScotts]

the past few months theres been a lot of ralphy junior bashing going on the TBD walls. Im just wondering why? why does every say he's mr. moneybags? If its about the fact that we havent signed a big free agent in the past few years (with the exception of T.O. but i would rather forget he ever existed), there's a strong ideology in football that you dont build your team around nomad free agents, you build through the draft. I think we can all agree that this is true and that the draft is what is important for building a team.

 

and if Ralph Wilson was all about the money, he would definitely draft differently. ways to save money in the draft: draft low income positions (safety, Guard, Center, DL, TE), avoid high income players (QB, cornerback, RB, WR, LT), and trade down. In the bills' last 15 1st rounders, 10 of them have been either a QB, cornerback, RB, WR, or LT, including a QB and WR in the same first round in 2004. and they have only traded up in that time period. never down.

 

one more thing, tagliabue and goodell have been dying for a team to play in Los Angeles. its hard to imagine they didnt put the pressure on Ralph to pack his bags and head for So Cal. but Wilson stuck with the city despite the crappy economy. lets be honest, its a horrible business move. but Ralph is still here doing his best.

 

so why all the negative garbage being thrown at him the last few months?

 

it's not the players where he is cheap it's, owning a nfl franchise anywhere is like a license to print money

 

the headcoaches always not among the lowest THE lowest in the league

never hires football people to make football decisions instead we get Russ Brandon

tiny scouting department things like that ways to cut corners that good teams do not do

 

finally we have a real gm who knows how to draft and build a team

an actual nfl mind at head coach when i think back to jauron almost makes you laugh

we are on our way but how long does Ralph have left ?

[transient]

There were alot of so called "experts" who criticized him at the time of drafting Manning because they just knew that Ryan Leaf would be the better pro. Polian is the best GM in the league and has been for over 2 decades, hands down. He has won Executive of the Year awards with three different organizations. He took an expansion team and had them in the conference championship game in what, their second season. Not only did Ralph fire Polian, he then chased his successors (namely John Butler) out of town, who then went to San Diego and built a winner there. Ralph deserves alot of credit for what he did years ago, but over the past 18 years or so he has been one of the worst owners in the NFL, and anyone with common sense cannot argue that. He has really only ever hired one head coach who was successful before he got here (Chuck Knox) and he didn't want to stay past once his contract expired, namely because he knew that he wasn't going to be able to win here. Sure he hired Levy, but he really had no success before he got here. Ralph has pretty much gone the cheap route with head coaches since he has been here, and that has translated into one of the most losing franchises since the NFL/AFL merger.

 

Revisionist history. IIRC, Ralph tried to pin Butler down on a contract extension, and Butler kept putting him off until Ralph forced the issue, and it became clear that Butler had already planned to leave. Also, when he left the Bills were in such cap hell that the first order of business was to purge the team of overpaid players on the downside of their careers resulting in a ton of dead cap space. Whether he stayed or not, the next 3-4 years would have looked the same until they got their financial house in order.

[transient]

Might want to check your BAC before you post, Darth. The Spiller pick was all about selling tickets. 100000000%. Spiller was the most exciting pick the Bills could have made in the draft besides taking Tebow -- and they weren't going to take Tebow at 9 because not even the Bills are that fukking crazy.

 

Not saying Spiller isn't good. He clearly is. But when you pick a one or two down RB at 9 when you already have 2 1,000 yard rushers on the team and a roster full of holes, you're hoping to add some excitement on Sundays to sell tickets rather than worrying about just winning and losing.

 

Actually, I think he could do both. Admittedly, I'm not a college football fan, but when you see a stat on a player that 20 of 51 career touchdowns were over 50 yards, you gotta think that he can make things happen on his own. Add him to a moribund offense, and he can make both your line and QB look better if he's that good. Sells tickets, and helps you win. Could make the rebuilding a bit more palatable.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

Revisionist history. IIRC, Ralph tried to pin Butler down on a contract extension, and Butler kept putting him off until Ralph forced the issue, and it became clear that Butler had already planned to leave. Also, when he left the Bills were in such cap hell that the first order of business was to purge the team of overpaid players on the downside of their careers resulting in a ton of dead cap space. Whether he stayed or not, the next 3-4 years would have looked the same until they got their financial house in order.

I think this is fairly accurate.

 

There were a lot of rumors John and his wife didn't like the weather in Buffalo. I remember that one of them got into a winter car wreck in the year or two before they left town.

 

Butler might have been putting Ralph off because he had no intention to re-sign. Then Ralphie forced the issue.

 

Also, Donahoe, in spite of many dubious decisions, was left to pick up the salary cap mess left by Butler. That part is also true.

[shoretalk]

Might want to check your BAC before you post, Darth. The Spiller pick was all about selling tickets. 100000000%. Spiller was the most exciting pick the Bills could have made in the draft besides taking Tebow -- and they weren't going to take Tebow at 9 because not even the Bills are that fukking crazy.

 

Not saying Spiller isn't good. He clearly is. But when you pick a one or two down RB at 9 when you already have 2 1,000 yard rushers on the team and a roster full of holes, you're hoping to add some excitement on Sundays to sell tickets rather than worrying about just winning and losing.

When you pick potentially the best player in the draft who has the potential to score each time he touches the ball ... that is about winning football and changing football philosophies!

 

I think Fred Jackson is a great back who can get us yards at every touch but he is not a Spiller who can go all the way every time ... Marshawn has almost literally shot himself in the foot and when Coach Dick put him back in after Jackson had been our best player I knew that nothing good would happen.

 

Picking Spiller is saying ... let's get the best player who can help us immediately rather than going for mediocre. If we had made a move like Denver did for Tebow that would have been for ticket sales ... but this draft is about putting the best possible team out on field!

 

Now, let's get them all signed!

[birdog1960]

now wait a second. you're going to bring up something that happend 51 freakin years ago, and say that establishes his reputation. keep in mind, the AFL was the one that pointed Mr. Wilson to Miami.

as for Polian, i would hope he drafted Peyton Manning. if he hadn't then i'd have questions about his ability to judge talent.

 

your other points are well noted, but why not blame Mr. Wilson for the snow while you're at it.

 

jw

i think you picked the low hanging fruit. i've owned a small business for many years...competitors faced with the same challenges are everywhere..some have failed and a some have done better financially. I like to think that our product quality has been near the top and to me that's just as important as the financial success. they are synergistic. ultimately, I'm responsible for making it happen or not, in all circumstances, snow or no snow, recession or boom times..just as is wilson but he's consistently put out a very poor product. I think he can be blamed for that.