Albany,n.y. Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 (edited) I'm just a year or so age-wise from being able to remember Greg Bell play. BUT...every youtube Bills video I watch (BillCody1960 = GOD!!!) from the Bell's time has him looking like a hall-of-famer. Today I was watching the Bill-Cowboys 1984 game and Greg Bell dominated leading us to a huge upset of the shi*-boys. Simple Question: Does Greg Bell get due credit? Only FICO knows for sure. Just when you think things couldn't get any dumber, there's always someone to prove you wrong. Edited September 10, 2011 by Albany,n.y. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob's House Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 I'd put Greg Bell's name up there right next to CJ Ah You's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBillsSD Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Biscuit was great, but no way in heck would a trade ever happen like that again. Nowadays you can get Pro Bowl players for a 3rd or 4th round pick and back in 1987 the Bills gave up 2 first round picks, a 2nd round pick and a Pro Bowl running back for Bennett-then had to pay half of Bell's salary the first year in order for the Rams to accept Bell (they wanted Ronnie Harmon). Bell was a malcontent and hardly no team in the league wanted anything to do with him, despite him making the Pro Bowl as a rookie. The Rams got 3 first round picks, 3 second round picks and some scrub for a running back who already had half a dozen seasons in the league. Check out the link for the below Los Angeles newspaper article where Bell has some not so kind words for our owner. Halloween Trade Best part of that link is looking at the league leaders and seeing Kelly, Reed, Thurman, and Wide Right all at or near the top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seq004 Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Cribbs was better without a doubt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offside Number 76 Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 If you read the quote in the article vince linked to, you'll see why Greg Bell will not go up on the wall while Wilson owns the team (he basically said that he hopes Wilson owns the team for 100 years and never wins a SB). Not that he belongs up there anyway. He doesn't. Above-average players who were with the team for three and a half years don't go up on the wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Squirrel Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 (edited) I was trying to remember the circumstances of Bell's departure and kept making a connection to the strike; I retrieved my copy of "Relentless" and discovered there really wasn't one. Bell had been injured before the strike. The team stayed mostly unified; Riddick, Seals, McKeller, and a couple nobodies crossed the line, but the rest of the team stuck together. Early on, Smerlas, Joe Devlin, Bell, and others tried to intimidate the scabs at a hotel the team put them up in. Devlin had a big dog with him, and Bell pointed to a replacement player and said, "Sic 'em". The hotel kicked them out. Shortly after the strike, Bell said he was ready to play. They told him to stay home. The big trade happened a couple days after that. Bell had two excellent years with the Rams...both over a thousand yards, and 33 TDs combined. For some reason he went to the Raiders the following year, didn't accomplish anything, and that was that. On results, Bell ranks WAY down on the list of best Bills RBs; he had the talent to rank much higher. I think he was one of those superficial nitwits who wanted to play under the bright lights, and turned off his teammates. If he had been patient, he could have had Thurman's career. Edited September 11, 2011 by Red Squirrel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted September 11, 2011 Share Posted September 11, 2011 (edited) I remember him calling Smerlas a racist too. Young man had an axe to grind. Who, Smerlas? He was (and still is) a huge axe grinder...good player, but not a good guy, in my book. Smerlas was/is a racist...but that doesn't mean Bell belongs on the Bills wall...Cribbs is the best running back (besides Cookie) not on the wall already. I would put Antowain Smith up there, before Bell. As for that Cowboys game, that was two really bad football teams going at it...it seemed like a bigger deal at the time, because nobody realized, yet, how bad the Cowboys would be that year, or the next. Bell had one huge run...that doesn't put him on the wall...this is just funny...****, Robb Riddick was a better running back than Bell. Edited September 11, 2011 by Buftex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveinElma Posted October 19, 2011 Share Posted October 19, 2011 Who, Smerlas? He was (and still is) a huge axe grinder...good player, but not a good guy, in my book. Smerlas was/is a racist...but that doesn't mean Bell belongs on the Bills wall...Cribbs is the best running back (besides Cookie) not on the wall already. proof? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buffaloboyinATL Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 I remember him calling Smerlas a racist too. Young man had an axe to grind. I remember hearing a story back in the day that part of why Bell was traded is because many on the team disliked him. Apparently he used to drive around in a red Ferrari and one of the linemen or linebackers intentionally drove his pickup into it one night just to make a point. Just a rumor but I always thought it seemed plausible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SactoBillFan Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Cribbs was better without a doubt. What he said.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atlbillsfan1975 Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 We should have given them Harmon ... Maybe then we would have been in 5 straight Super Bowls ... Especially in light of the fact that Harmon owed some bookies some major bucks. Never will know if he really threw the game or not, but sure looked like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted October 20, 2011 Share Posted October 20, 2011 Bell on the wall? Come on man! I would put Flutie there before Bell. Mike Montler needs to go in before Greg bell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I'm just a year or so age-wise from being able to remember Greg Bell play. BUT...every youtube Bills video I watch (BillCody1960 = GOD!!!) from the Bell's time has him looking like a hall-of-famer. Today I was watching the Bill-Cowboys 1984 game and Greg Bell dominated leading us to a huge upset of the shi*-boys. Simple Question: Does Greg Bell get due credit? There are so many things wrong with the post, I will only mention one: The 1984 Cowboys game is the ONLY Youtube video of the Bills with Bell. Or, rather, it was, before all of BillCody1960s videos were taken down. So, if you think that "every" video shows him being great, you have watched one. Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 Joe Cribbs >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Greg Bell Yep! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Hansen Forever Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 What about Lou Saban? He was the only coach to win a championship. Cribs was good too, but come on, Lou has been waiting 40+ years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkyMannn Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 What about Lou Saban? He was the only coach to win a championship. Cribs was good too, but come on, Lou has been waiting 40+ years! I think RW has personal issues with Saban. Never happen. But he should be on there Greg Bell = Bills Wall of Mediocrity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 aside from the fact that Bell was mediocre and could not hold Joe Cribbs jockstrap, I believe Bell begged to get the hell out of Buffalo and had no love for the city. Is this trolling just like you misspelled grammar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whites Bay Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I'm sure I'm missing something basic (like my last post in which I put Jairus Byrd in the First Round category - apologies). But I just searched a few minutes for Top Bills Running Backs. We're all hot-and-bothered about Cribbs. I think we're dining on memories. He had 4,445 yards according to Yahoo Sports. Fred Jackson has 3,461 yards according to Yahoo Sports. So in less than a season, Freddo is going to be the 4th-ranked Buffalo Bill in franchise history. As such, for all of you barking about Greg Bell and Joe Cribbs, I have to take my hat off to Bills Management as it relates to waiting until the final tally is in. Can you imagine putting Cribbs up there and watching Freddo blow him away by 2,000 - 3,000 yards? I'm guessing the front office will wait awhile on that decision. It might be Fred! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typical TBD Guy Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 I'm sure I'm missing something basic (like my last post in which I put Jairus Byrd in the First Round category - apologies). But I just searched a few minutes for Top Bills Running Backs. We're all hot-and-bothered about Cribbs. I think we're dining on memories. He had 4,445 yards according to Yahoo Sports. Fred Jackson has 3,461 yards according to Yahoo Sports. So in less than a season, Freddo is going to be the 4th-ranked Buffalo Bill in franchise history. As such, for all of you barking about Greg Bell and Joe Cribbs, I have to take my hat off to Bills Management as it relates to waiting until the final tally is in. Can you imagine putting Cribbs up there and watching Freddo blow him away by 2,000 - 3,000 yards? I'm guessing the front office will wait awhile on that decision. It might be Fred! Interesting little debate here. I think I agree with you. I think Jackson will eventually go down as the 4th best RB in Buffalo Bills history, right in front of Cribbs and just behind Cookie, Thurman, and OJ. Speaking of Bills RB rankings and also going back to the original topic, I can already come up with 10 Bills RB's better than Greg Bell: 1. OJ Simpson 2. Thurman Thomas 3. Cookie Gilchrist 4. FRED JACKSON (my prediction when his Buffalo career is over) 5. Joe Cribbs 6. Travis Henry 7. Willis McGahee 8. Marshawn Lynch 9. Terry Miller 10. Antowain Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted October 21, 2011 Share Posted October 21, 2011 (edited) I'm sure I'm missing something basic (like my last post in which I put Jairus Byrd in the First Round category - apologies). But I just searched a few minutes for Top Bills Running Backs. We're all hot-and-bothered about Cribbs. I think we're dining on memories. He had 4,445 yards according to Yahoo Sports. Fred Jackson has 3,461 yards according to Yahoo Sports. So in less than a season, Freddo is going to be the 4th-ranked Buffalo Bill in franchise history. As such, for all of you barking about Greg Bell and Joe Cribbs, I have to take my hat off to Bills Management as it relates to waiting until the final tally is in. Can you imagine putting Cribbs up there and watching Freddo blow him away by 2,000 - 3,000 yards? I'm guessing the front office will wait awhile on that decision. It might be Fred! Indeed you are missing something basic! While no one's barking about Bell (aside from the near-unanimity that he's not deserving of any honor the Bills might bequeath a player), there has been a bit of an outpouring for Cribbs. What you missed and may have forgotten is that he spent two years of his prime playing for the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL. In those two years "Super Joe" had two 1000-yard rushing seasons and accumulated nearly 600 carries. As many fans remember, Cribbs was also an excellent pass receiver as well as returning kickoffs and punts… so he was very heavily used. Besides his heavy use and small size, the other factor which conspired to shorten Cribbs' career was the fact that the USFL played a spring/summer schedule. In 1983 he played for the Bills. He played for Birmingham in '84 and '85 and returned to the Bills for the '85 NFL season. As a result, he played in the equivalent of 4 full seasons (64 games) over a period in which an NFL player would have played in only 3 seasons. Bottom line, the diminutive Cribbs was an excellent and underrated player who played two years of his prime in another league… This hurt his NFL statistics as well as shortened his football career. He will go down in history as a player who was not properly appreciated. Speaking of appreciation, don't expect Cribbs to get any from the Buffalo Bills. He sued the Bills and won the lawsuit to get his release from them in order to jump to the USFL. We all know how Ralph holds grudges… Cribbs will never get anywhere near the Wall of Fame, deserving or not. Edited October 21, 2011 by San Jose Bills Fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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