longtimebillsfan Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 (edited) In a recent and exclusive interview conducted by the buffalo News with Simpson, OJ said that during his playing days Wilson did not want to build a championship team because then "everyone would want a raise". I know OJ is not the most credible source, but living through those Bills teams of the 70's and looking back at the way Ralph managed it makes sense. My family had season ticket from 1973 until I let them go in 2011. I had moved to Las Vegas and could no longer get enough buyers to purchase the tickets. Being in the stand and being one of the many fans shouting Juice, Juice, Juice was an incredible experience. But like most bills fans, I gave my heart and soul to this team and anguished over every loss. If Wilson really felt this way, I am kind of PO'ed. It makes me more grateful that we have Pags as our owner. I truly believe he wants to build a winner. I did not see a thread started on this topic and I thought it was a good break from all of the "my college qb is better than your college qb" threads that we have endured and will continue to do so until the draft. Edited March 22, 2018 by longtimebillsfan 3 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldTimeAFLGuy Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Just now, longtimebillsfan said: In a recent and exclusive interview conducted by the buffalo News with Simpson, OJ said that during his playing days Wilson did not want to build a championship team because then "everyone would want a raise". I know OK is not the most credible source, but living through those Bills teams of the 70's and looking back at the way Ralph managed it makes sense. My family had season ticket from 1973 until I let them go in 2011. I had moved to Las Vegas and could no longer get enough buyers to purchase the tickets. Being in the stand and being one of the many fans shouting Juice, Juice, Juice was an incredible experience. But like most bills fans, I gave my heart and soul to this team and anguished over every loss. If Wilson really felt this way, I am kind of PO'ed. It makes me more grateful that we have Pags as our owner. I truly believe he wants to build a winner. I did not see a thread started on this topic and I thought it was a good break from all of the "my college qb is better than your college qb" threads that we have endured and will continue to do so until the draft. ...Fred Goldman says he's VERY credible.....and now back to your topic...I've shared my opinion numerous times entering year 56 of following this club about the RW chronology....he invested $25 grand in 1960 for the fledgling AFL, a big sum then but he was wealthy from trucking and insurance....he loaned 400 grand to the Raiders to keep them afloat and offered a loan to the then Boston Patriots but they declined.....back to back AFL Championships ensued in 1964 & 1965......so as a young 40 something entrepreneur, he sat back and watched his investment grow with zero reinvestment...hence, he EARNED the "cheapskate absentee owner from Detroit" moniker for the 70's and 80's.....and then his interest other than investment grew in the 90's bringing Polian on board.....take it from there......... 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longtimebillsfan Posted March 22, 2018 Author Share Posted March 22, 2018 You and I are of a similar era. My first memories of the Bills are from 1963. As a youthful observer, I had high hopes for our team. I appreciate the lengths that Wilson took to keep the team in buffalo, but this still blows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vorpma Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 11 minutes ago, longtimebillsfan said: You and I are of a similar era. My first memories of the Bills are from 1963. As a youthful observer, I had high hopes for our team. I appreciate the lengths that Wilson took to keep the team in buffalo, but this still blows. Great post, my family owned season tickets from 1960 until the late 1980's, I remember the mid 1970's when the Bills were back in contention and I have to agree with OJ's statement that the Bills were one of the best teams in the NFL in 1975. I don't think Ralph was committed to building a winning team during that era, however, he did cut loose some cash in the mid 1980's and built a dynasty. Well into the late 1990's he was still spending cash - we signed Jim Jeffcoat as a free agent from Dallas and paid him three million a year to rush the QB on third and long. The Bottom Line is the team is still here and he could of moved it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DFT Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Mrs Lippy’s car...... IS GREEN! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longtimebillsfan Posted March 22, 2018 Author Share Posted March 22, 2018 (edited) 46 minutes ago, vorpma said: Great post, my family owned season tickets from 1960 until the late 1980's, I remember the mid 1970's when the Bills were back in contention and I have to agree with OJ's statement that the Bills were one of the best teams in the NFL in 1975. I don't think Ralph was committed to building a winning team during that era, however, he did cut loose some cash in the mid 1980's and built a dynasty. Well into the late 1990's he was still spending cash - we signed Jim Jeffcoat as a free agent from Dallas and paid him three million a year to rush the QB on third and long. The Bottom Line is the team is still here and he could of moved it! You're right. As Wilson came to grips with his mortality, I believe he did want to win it all. He gave it everything he had during the mid 80's on. I forgot about Jeffcoat. He was a really good player for the cowboys. Edited March 22, 2018 by longtimebillsfan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nucci Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Saban said he had trades lined up to help the defense and Wilson said no. Saban then quit in '76 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longtimebillsfan Posted March 22, 2018 Author Share Posted March 22, 2018 Lou was a great coach for the Bills. It is surprising he came back for a second tenure with the bills having dealt with Ralph before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDIGGZ Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 back then the team was worth about as much as you would spend on a mid size car today. Ralph was well to do but he was no Pegula. the AFL was hanging on by a thread. because of sacrifices they made back then we have a league to talk about today so we can't judge 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RochesterRob Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 18 minutes ago, nucci said: Saban said he had trades lined up to help the defense and Wilson said no. Saban then quit in '76 Pretty much how I remember it. In Ralph's defense he did not want a war of salary escalation where the top bidders had the SB bought. Ralph during the 1970's was already treading behind Lamar Hunt and Bud Adams in terms of money to name a couple of other owners. So the bigger revelation here is there was really no reason for Adams to have had all the poor Oilers teams that he had. I think at that time the NFC pretty much had old line owners of which their wealth was mostly tied to their teams so even a 5 million dollar contract would have been brutal. For perspective Kelly got 5 years 8 million dollars back in 1986 when everybody lit a candle for Polian to bring Jimbo here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vorpma Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 25 minutes ago, nucci said: Saban said he had trades lined up to help the defense and Wilson said no. Saban then quit in '76 The two big names were Mike Curtis and Ted Hendricks, both free agent Linebackers on the Colts, Buffalo signed neither despite rumors of talks. Buffalo News ran an article in mid October reporting friction between Ralph and Saban over his veto of possible trades. Lou resigned and 1976 and 1977 were really miserable seasons! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longtimebillsfan Posted March 22, 2018 Author Share Posted March 22, 2018 Those were the days. Both good times and bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4_kidd_4 Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 Someone put it so perfectly in the other thread about this. Paraphrase; Ralph was from a time and place when pro teams were mostly run as income sources for owners and not toys for bored billionaires. /ralphischeapbologna 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 1 hour ago, longtimebillsfan said: Lou was a great coach for the Bills. It is surprising he came back for a second tenure with the bills having dealt with Ralph before. I think he came back because his wife enjoyed playing bridge with my mother. I could be wrong... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
longtimebillsfan Posted March 23, 2018 Author Share Posted March 23, 2018 29 minutes ago, Augie said: I think he came back because his wife enjoyed playing bridge with my mother. I could be wrong... That could be the motivation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColoradoBills Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 1 hour ago, 4_kidd_4 said: Someone put it so perfectly in the other thread about this. Paraphrase; Ralph was from a time and place when pro teams were mostly run as income sources for owners and not toys for bored billionaires. /ralphischeapbologna Here is an excerpt from a history about the AFL New York Titans/Jets. But the money problem raised its ugly head as soon as we swung West for our last exhibition game and the season opener at Oakland. Each player was supposed to receive $50 per exhibition game. The exhibition was played and lost with no sign of a check. We held our first team meeting and issued our first ultimatum. "No pay, no play," Curley Johnson said. It had a nice ring and it became our second team slogan. The first team slogan was "don't cash it with anybody you like," referring to Titan paychecks. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldmanfan Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 Ralph was more frugal than he should have been after the merger. Polian was the guy who finally convinced him he had to open up the checkbook. A lot of it was Littman. That said I wouldn't believe a thing coming out of Simpson's mouth. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RochesterRob Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 (edited) 12 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said: Here is an excerpt from a history about the AFL New York Titans/Jets. But the money problem raised its ugly head as soon as we swung West for our last exhibition game and the season opener at Oakland. Each player was supposed to receive $50 per exhibition game. The exhibition was played and lost with no sign of a check. We held our first team meeting and issued our first ultimatum. "No pay, no play," Curley Johnson said. It had a nice ring and it became our second team slogan. The first team slogan was "don't cash it with anybody you like," referring to Titan paychecks. Interesting to get more background on those times. A fair amount of disparity amongst the owners. 5 minutes ago, oldmanfan said: Ralph was more frugal than he should have been after the merger. Polian was the guy who finally convinced him he had to open up the checkbook. A lot of it was Littman. That said I wouldn't believe a thing coming out of Simpson's mouth. I don't know that Ralph had a choice at that point. When Seattle got the Seahawks that reduced Ralph's bargaining power in terms of threatening relocation. I know the talk was Phoenix or Jacksonville in public but I think that Ralph had very little support in reality for either location. Edited March 23, 2018 by RochesterRob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldmanfan Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 6 minutes ago, RochesterRob said: Interesting to get more background on those times. A fair amount of disparity amongst the owners. I don't know that Ralph had a choice at that point. When Seattle got the Seahawks that reduced Ralph's bargaining power in terms of threatening relocation. I know the talk was Phoenix or Jacksonville in public but I think that Ralph had very little support in reality for either location. I don't think Ralph relied on the Bills for income. His insurance business was quite successful. But he was frugal to be sure. Hard negotiator. Both with players but also for the league. A big reason he made the Hall was his involvement in negotiating the first big TV deals post merger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BadLandsMeanie Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 2 hours ago, oldmanfan said: Ralph was more frugal than he should have been after the merger. Polian was the guy who finally convinced him he had to open up the checkbook. A lot of it was Littman. That said I wouldn't believe a thing coming out of Simpson's mouth. I agree except that thought his confession was pretty convincing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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