I feel very lucky to have seen this guy play in his best years

[BuffaloBill]

Jim Kelly usually gets the focus for the Bills "Glory Years" but pound for pound Bruce Smith may have been the best Bill of that era. In his prime there was nobody better at his craft. While he gets attention for the sacks the guy was also solid against the run. I do not believe there is a player in the NFL today who is his equal.

 

Enjoy Highlights

[Original Byrd Man]

Jim Kelly usually gets the focus for the Bills "Glory Years" but pound for pound Bruce Smith may have been the best Bill of that era. In his prime there was nobody better at his craft. While he gets attention for the sacks the guy was also solid against the run. I do not believe there is a player in the NFL today who is his equal.

 

Enjoy Highlights

Thanks for the link. I thoroughly enjoyed watching Bruce's exceptional career at the Ralph. I don't care what the NFL writers say, Bruce will always be Numero Uno to me.

[jumbalaya]

I say Bruce was the best DE ever to play. Reggie W can kma. One of the more less talked about parts of Bruce's game was run defense. How many times did he slide inside to stop a run up the middle. He was awesome at that. Only thing that frustrated me about his game was when he went flying in for the sack and they threw the screen over him. Now and then it could have dawned on him to fake the rush and cover the back. That said nobody was a better DE. He and LT are the two best defenders to ever play the game.

[Chandler#81]

'Don't it always seem to go, you don't know what ya got 'til it's gone..'

 

80K screamin' "BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE!" He was a marvel, on a marvelous team, coached by a Marv who's also enshrined in Canton.

The oddity, IMO, is that I think Phil Hanson was the 2nd best DE in team history and played w/ Smith for most of his career.

[Buftex]

I agree...even after the Super Bowl run was over, and even after Kelly was gone, I always looked forward to seeing Bruce play. You really had the feeling, always, that you were watching, not just a great Buffalo Bill, but one of the very best ever.

 

'Don't it always seem to go, you don't know what ya got 'til it's gone..'

 

80K screamin' "BRUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCE!" He was a marvel, on a marvelous team, coached by a Marv who's also enshrined in Canton.

The oddity, IMO, is that I think Phil Hanson was the 2nd best DE in team history and played w/ Smith for most of his career.

 

Thing about Hansen was, he was always solid, but you (or at least I) didn't really start to appreciate how good he was, until late in his career.

[dgrid]

Man, was that a hit on Elway!

[Fedido]

He killed Boomer! is he dead?

 

hell of a hit and way to get off the line. I miss those days.

[Albany,n.y.]

Once real free agency started, those of us who were around then knew we would never see as talented a Bills team as the 4 time Super Bowl teams ever again. In this era you can't keep all those Hall of Famers & borderline HOFers together that Polian put on one team.

 

Now someday we might win a Super Bowl, but the team won't have all that talent as long as those Super Bowl era Bills teams had. I remember going to the AFC Championship gave vs KC and thinking I better cherish every moment because it will probably be the last one of that era.

[Buffalonian-at-Heart]

Jim Kelly usually gets the focus for the Bills "Glory Years" but pound for pound Bruce Smith may have been the best Bill of that era. In his prime there was nobody better at his craft. While he gets attention for the sacks the guy was also solid against the run. I do not believe there is a player in the NFL today who is his equal.

 

Enjoy Highlights

 

Why does it matter how much Bruce Weighed vs. Kelly?

[BuffaloBill]

Man, was that a hit on Elway!

 

 

I could sit and watch Bruce highlights for hours. I feel the same about Barry Sanders .... both had the ability to make you ask yourself "is that even possible?" after you sat there and watched them do it.

[dgrid]

I remember going to the AFC Championship gave vs KC and thinking I better cherish every moment because it will probably be the last one of that era.

vs Montana I believe ?

[Rubes]

That hit on Boomer was just vicious. It really did look like he killed him.

[Corp000085]

vs Montana I believe ?

 

Yes. Bruce knocked him out. Montana puked on the sideline.

[DrDawkinstein]

Jim Kelly usually gets the focus for the Bills "Glory Years" but pound for pound Bruce Smith may have been the best Bill of that era. In his prime there was nobody better at his craft. While he gets attention for the sacks the guy was also solid against the run. I do not believe there is a player in the NFL today who is his equal.

 

Enjoy Highlights

 

Thanks for posting the clip! It really brought me back. I was lucky enough to get to see most of those plays in person with my father (I wouldve been 9-13 in those days).

 

Some of the wisest words he's ever spoken to me, were back during those years. The Bills would pull off another amazing play/victory, and my dad would say "Remember every second of this. Football like this doesn't come around very often. This is not a normal team, and you may never see it again."

 

Unfortunately, due to the modern league's CBA and the fact that Ralph still controls the team, he was more right than I had hoped. Luckily, I have a handful of plays burnt into my memory from him saying that.

[T master]

Bruce was definitely if not the top one of the all time Bills !! There was only one guy that i ever saw that Bruce had a hard time getting around and that was Tony Boselli of the Jags it was a stalemate every time !!

 

But he was the only one usually Bruce was gonna get ya eventually !!! BRUUUUUUUCE !!!

[BuffaloBill]

Bruce was definitely if not the top one of the all time Bills !! There was only one guy that i ever saw that Bruce had a hard time getting around and that was Tony Boselli of the Jags it was a stalemate every time !!

 

But he was the only one usually Bruce was gonna get ya eventually !!! BRUUUUUUUCE !!!

 

 

Richmond Webb described playing against him as "60 minutes of pure hell." I guess he included sideline time just thinking about him

[QB Bills]

It still amazes me that he's not automatically considered the best Bill ever. I really don't even think there is a debate. Played in a 3-4 with subpar nose tackles. Was consistently double and triple teamed, yet is the all-time leader in sacks. Kelly, Thomas, Reed, OJ, etc..all had excellent careers, but none of them would be considered even in the top 10 at their positions except maybe OJ. Yet there is case to be made that Bruce is the greatest defensive player of all-time...definitely the greatest DE.

[BuffaloBill]

It still amazes me that he's not automatically considered the best Bill ever. I really don't even think there is a debate. Played in a 3-4 with subpar nose tackles. Was consistently double and triple teamed, yet is the all-time leader in sacks. Kelly, Thomas, Reed, OJ, etc..all had excellent careers, but none of them would be considered even in the top 10 at their positions except maybe OJ. Yet there is case to be made that Bruce is the greatest defensive player of all-time...definitely the greatest DE.

 

It is amazing to think how much talent the Bills had on the roster over that span of time. In the days of FA you are not likely to ever see anything close again. Polian should go into the HOF for simply keeping that roster stocked for so long.

[CookieG]

No, guys like him don't come around every year, or every decade. He just happened to come around at the same time as Reggie White. There haven't been 2 with the combination of speed and power as those two since...well, forever.

 

After LT became a star, every year you would hear about the "next Lawrence Taylor". Some good players, Bisquit, Derrick Thomas, and some busts...Aundray Bruce, Duane Bickett, Quentin Coryatt, etc. None ever were, but there were also comparisons. But the comparison seemed to be an annual thing for a while.

 

But you rarely heard anyone talk about "the next Bruce Smith" or "the next Reggie White". There were none who were worthy of the comparison.

 

Just a whole different level.

[Original Byrd Man]

Richmond Webb described playing against him as "60 minutes of pure hell." I guess he included sideline time just thinking about him

I worked with a guy years ago who was a Webb fan. One day on ESPN they were showcasing Webbs career and most of the clips were against who else but Bruce. Well on most of the plays Webb had the help from Simms the left guard, and on the plays where he was one on one he held Bruce each time. He was truely a sight to behold. I would have a hard time choosing between BS or OJ as both were legendary talents. I'm just happy to have been able to watch both of their careers.