vegas55 Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 As part of the local pre game show on channel 2 Sunday, this question was posed for viewers to call in and vote; who was the best Bills player from the 90s/Super Bowl era. It came as no surprise that fans who took the time to call in and vote got it completely wrong - Andre Reed finished first, Bruce Smith was 4th. Determining who is best player is usually a tough call but not in this case. Reed, Kelly and Thomas were great players obviously, but nobody outside of Buffalo ranks any of those guys in the top ten all time at their position. With Reed and Thomas, top twenty would be a stretch. Bruce Smith, on the other hand, is universally recognized as either the best or second best all time at his position. He was far and away the best player from those teams. But I shouldn't be so hard on those fans who voted. This same topic was discussed on WGR a while back, with Jerry Sullivan participating. Jerry never fails to disappoint when it comes to terrible takes and general ignorance of all things football. Genius Jerry voted for Thurman Thomas. In part, I believe, because Bruce was "mean" to poor Jerry on occasion. And in fairness, Bruce was known to have a short fuse when dealing with loudmouth know it alls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Yeah, its Bruce Smith. Reed, Kelly, Thomas, etc were all great players, but dependent on others to some degree. Bruce Smith was just a freak and top 1 or 2 all time at his position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Bruuuuuuuuce! One of the best players of all time and the record for most career sacks in NFL history. HAMMER TIME!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1B4IDie Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 As part of the local pre game show on channel 2 Sunday, this question was posed for viewers to call in and vote; who was the best Bills player from the 90s/Super Bowl era. It came as no surprise that fans who took the time to call in and vote got it completely wrong - Andre Reed finished first, Bruce Smith was 4th. Determining who is best player is usually a tough call but not in this case. Reed, Kelly and Thomas were great players obviously, but nobody outside of Buffalo ranks any of those guys in the top ten all time at their position. With Reed and Thomas, top twenty would be a stretch. Bruce Smith, on the other hand, is universally recognized as either the best or second best all time at his position. He was far and away the best player from those teams. But I shouldn't be so hard on those fans who voted. This same topic was discussed on WGR a while back, with Jerry Sullivan participating. Jerry never fails to disappoint when it comes to terrible takes and general ignorance of all things football. Genius Jerry voted for Thurman Thomas. In part, I believe, because Bruce was "mean" to poor Jerry on occasion. And in fairness, Bruce was known to have a short fuse when dealing with loudmouth know it alls. The new owner doesn't have to clean sweep the front office they need to clean sweep the media. If Jerry Sullivan were sent to Siberia it would be a dawn of a new age in The Buffalo News. 1.7B can take care of a lot of problem. Back on Topic, there is no discussion about the Best Player it is Bruuuuuuce! and only Bruuuuce! The discussion would be who is the second best player. I'd go with Thurman because of versatility but you know it's hard to argue against Kelly. Its like 2a and 2b, imo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills Fan in Beantown Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Many greats, but there will only be one Bruce. The discussion would be who is the second best player. I'd go with Thurman because of versatility but you know it's hard to argue against Kelly. Its like 2a and 2b, imo. Agreed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Jackson Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 If it's best player it's Bruce and it isn't that close. There were some great players on that team but Bruce is as dominant as anyone ever. They guy had 200 sacks and played in a 3-4!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 You can make a very legit argument that Bruce Smith is the greatest Buffalo Bill of all time, depending on your criteria. If we are just talking as pure football players, it has to be OJ or Bruce. Now, if you are talking about performance and intangibles, Jim Kelly has a legit claim to that title. There may have been no more important a player in team history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 You can make a very legit argument that Bruce Smith is the greatest Buffalo Bill of all time, depending on your criteria. If we are just talking as pure football players, it has to be OJ or Bruce. Now, if you are talking about performance and intangibles, Jim Kelly has a legit claim to that title. There may have been no more important a player in team history. Very true. Jim Kelly was one of the first to come to mind but he probably isn't even a top 10 QB all time, wasn't the best QB in the league at any time, and he wasn't even the best player on the team, but he meant (and continues to mean) so much more to our team and our community OP, you should turn this thread into a Poll and let us vote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1B4IDie Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 (edited) You can make a very legit argument that Bruce Smith is the greatest Buffalo Bill of all time, depending on your criteria. If we are just talking as pure football players, it has to be OJ or Bruce. Now, if you are talking about performance and intangibles, Jim Kelly has a legit claim to that title. There may have been no more important a player in team history. I can see that, because Bruce Smith could get 200 sacks and be on a perennial 2-14 team. Jim Kelly elevated Thurman and Reed to unstoppable levels. You put Bernie Kosar on the team in place of Kelly and there are no 4 straight Super Bowls. You put Aundray Bruce in there instead of Bruce Smith and Kelly might still force the team to get to a Super Bowl. Still Bruce Smith was an unblockable force of nature. As a player he is the pure best Football player on that team. It wasn't only god given athletics he put in work to go from the Chubby kid from VT to a freakin Molded Behemoth . . . Bad Things Man. Edited August 6, 2014 by Why So Serious? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 No arguement here over Bruce being our Best 90's Player, though I agree with Buftex about Jimbo's intangebles. My arguement is with how low the OP ranks Thurman Thomas 'Top 20 would be a stretch'. TT led the League in all-purpose yards 4 STRAIGHT YEARS, was a stellar pass blocker and an unstoppable force in the K-Gun. Bill Arnsbarger -long time DC of the Dolphins said when asked how to stop Thomas, "Trade for him!" That fabulous offense that now enshrines Lofton, Reed & Kelly would not have been possible without the multi-talented Thurman Thomas. He's certainly Top 10 All-time and a strong case can be made for lower than that. Sanders (who he kept on the bench @ OSU), Simpson & Sayers couldn't help their teams with W's and he was far more versatile than many pure runners. The pounding he took over a decade of playing and performing at an outstanding level has him at or near Top 5 in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Braedenstearns Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Bruce! But Thurman is up there IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Formerly Allan in MD Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Marv Levy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vegas55 Posted August 6, 2014 Author Share Posted August 6, 2014 No arguement here over Bruce being our Best 90's Player, though I agree with Buftex about Jimbo's intangebles. My arguement is with how low the OP ranks Thurman Thomas 'Top 20 would be a stretch'. TT led the League in all-purpose yards 4 STRAIGHT YEARS, was a stellar pass blocker and an unstoppable force in the K-Gun. Bill Arnsbarger -long time DC of the Dolphins said when asked how to stop Thomas, "Trade for him!" That fabulous offense that now enshrines Lofton, Reed & Kelly would not have been possible without the multi-talented Thurman Thomas. He's certainly Top 10 All-time and a strong case can be made for lower than that. Sanders (who he kept on the bench @ OSU), Simpson & Sayers couldn't help their teams with W's and he was far more versatile than many pure runners. The pounding he took over a decade of playing and performing at an outstanding level has him at or near Top 5 in my book. That's why in my original post I stated nobody OUTSIDE of Buffalo would put Thurman in top ten or even 20 being a stretch. I mean, come on now. For years ESPN and multiple football outlets and experts have compiled lists of greatest running backs of all times. Thurman has NEVER been anywhere the top ten in any of those polls. Are you really saying Sayers, Simpson, Brown, Dickerson, Campbell etc etc would not have thrived and won with those great Buffalo teams. I appreciate your loyalty, but putting Thurman in top 5 is beyond silly. Even Jerry Sullivan wouldn't go there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowery4 Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Bruce the best on that team. Kelly 2nd, it is relative to position. Bruce took over some games, Kelly did too but not as dominating...but offense has been favored in the rules since that era, so Bruce (and the 3/4 goes in there somewhere too). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Bruce! But Thurman is up there IMO. Thurman was a great all-purpose back, but guys like Marshall Faulk and Emmitt Smith did it better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Malooga Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 (edited) Bill Polian...without him, is any of this possible...or are any of these guys even on the team? It didn't say anything about players, just the best Buffalo Bill from the 1990's. A beautiful house or building is never credited to the construction workers, it is always credited to the architect. That is Bill Polian. EDIT: And he built FOUR absolutely gorgeous "houses/buildings," unlike anything we'll ever see built again. Edited August 6, 2014 by Bob Malooga Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dpberr Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 (edited) What about Bryce Paup? I think he needs to be in the conversation. He had one hell of a dominant 1995 season. Arguably the best free agent the Bills have ever signed. I think he's in the top 5 of the 90s. Edited August 6, 2014 by dpberr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Mark Pike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jokeman Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Jim Kelly and Andre Reed is how'd I rank them in terms of quality/value to the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kirby Jackson Posted August 6, 2014 Share Posted August 6, 2014 What about Bryce Paup? I think he needs to be in the conversation. He had one hell of a dominant 1995 season. Arguably the best free agent the Bills have ever signed. I think he's in the top 5 of the 90s. No, he was a nice player that had a good year but no way is he too 5. Bruce, Thurman, Andre, Kelly, Bennett is my top 5. Then you have Tasker, Hull, Conlan, Washington, & Talley. I have Paup in the next tier with Spielman, Odomes and Henry Jones. I am sure that there are some forgotten in there. Paup was a function of rushing opposite Bruce IMO. He was good though, just not great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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