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RIP Larry Felser


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If I recall correctly he was the person who made the argument for Ralph Wilson to get into the HOF. He stressed the point that RW's main contribution to the NFL was as one of the primary founders of the AFL and had a lot to do with the merger of the NFL and the AFL. .

 

After he retired from the News he used to be a regular guest on Empire Sports with Howard Simon. I always liked his insights on football. He could be a tough critic but he expressed his views without anger.

R.I.P. Larry you were a class act. I also enjoyed your time on Empire sports and your contributions to the Buffalo sports scene. You were always a straught shooter, and thats hard to find today. You will be sorely missed.

Edited by Tarkus II
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Adam Schefter@AdamSchefter 23m

Buffalo lost a great one: Larry Felser, a pioneer football reporter and fine Buffalo News columnist. RIP.

 

Peter King@SI_PeterKing 1h

My lord. Just heard Buffalo sports writing legend Larry Felser has died. I loved that guy. What a loss, for Buffalo and our business.

 

Obviously very well respected by the next generations of NFL Reporters.

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Peter King gave Larry a nice shoutout after Larry's final BN column last year.

 

I think Larry Felser, the retiring sports columnist of the Buffalo News, deserves a few words of praise this morning. Felser retired for good last week at 78 -- he'd been a semi-regular columnist for the News after stepping away several years ago -- and he left a trail of honorable reporting in his wake. Larry and Jerry Magee of San Diego and Will McDonough of The Boston Globe and Edwin Pope of the Miami Herald were the stalwart AFL reporters I will always remember when I began covering the league in 1984. And when I began voting on the Pro Football Hall of Fame selection committee 20 years ago, Felser and McDonough were the two most welcoming vets to me. I used to listen to their arguments, and Paul Zimmerman's, and learn from them so I wouldn't sound stupid when I started opening my mouth a couple of years into the process. I have to say I got some of my reverence for pro football history from Felser, from his tales of intrigue and fun covering the AFL in its birth years. It's always sad when a voice like Felser's is silenced. Not only the people of Western New York will miss his reporting and yarns. Everyone who loves football will.
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Felser's passing is certainly a bummer for WNY, but really, it's a bummer for the entire league. I'm not sure we who got to read and hear him so often (daily for many of us) recognize how respected he was outside of WNY. That to me says a lot about the man....

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Larry Felser and Jim Kelley. Did we even know how good we had it?

No, sadly, we did not.

 

Larry had contacts in every AFL and NFL city and could always offer a national perspective on any Bills-related development, which was very welcome. Plus he had enough knowledge of the game to offer reasoned criticism without throwing people under a bus or playing the 'I'm smarter than [insert GM or coach name] game.

 

As someone mentioned, the Monday Night Quarterback show on WBEN was as good as it got for Bills talk in Buffalo.

 

Rest easy, Larry, and offer up a few good opinions to the fans who've preceded you on your journey...

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