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The Top 5 Most Polarizing Figures in Buffalo Bills History


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3 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:

 

I disagree with your assessment on Whaley.  I don’t think he was very good.  He did a decent job of adding talent but had no vision or direction.  He neglected the QB position and yes he drafted poorly.  Not a good GM

but many Bills fans think he’s great 

 

When you can’t pick the coach you can’t set the vision....

 

all you can do is stock talent 

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2 minutes ago, NoSaint said:

 

When you can’t pick the coach you can’t set the vision....

 

all you can do is stock talent 

 

This. ^^^

 

Whaley could be a mediocre GM exacerbated by poor leadership from the head of the franchise. 

 

Whaley May also have been a very good to great GM hampered by poor leadership from the head of the franchise. 

 

There is one common thread in the Whaley era, and it’s basically Brandon and/or Pegula sharing football operations in terms of coaching. Because of that I won’t ever fault Whaley as being a bad GM, because he did find talent, and left the roster more talented than he found it. 

 

That doesn’t mean he was necessarily good or even great. It meant he served his role with handcuffs, and we will never actually know. I’m more PO’d at Pegula/Brandon for their management at the time. 

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5 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:

 

Yes exactly.  Why is it so hard to understand.  That’s like the The Greatest QB’s of All-Time list.  It’s the greatest QB’s as of 2018.  

 

 

Because you wouldnt simply look look at who is the best at playing qb today nor would you only using today’s metrics .

 

The context would be their impact in their own era. Not who is most well known at this moment.

 

A guy could be hugely controversial 40 years ago but not well known by kids today. 

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2 hours ago, The Jokeman said:

Really? Flutie's poor play in the last 7 or so games didn't lead to his benching?

I don't think poor play makes you the worst player on the roster. Every body has a bad stretch. But they won camp and start as long as they do because they are the best option

 

That is if you're the bills

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3 minutes ago, Mango said:

 

This. ^^^

 

Whaley could be a mediocre GM exacerbated by poor leadership from the head of the franchise. 

 

Whaley May also have been a very good to great GM hampered by poor leadership from the head of the franchise. 

 

There is one common thread in the Whaley era, and it’s basically Brandon and/or Pegula sharing football operations in terms of coaching. Because of that I won’t ever fault Whaley as being a bad GM, because he did find talent, and left the roster more talented than he found it. 

 

That doesn’t mean he was necessarily good or even great. It meant he served his role with handcuffs, and we will never actually know. I’m more PO’d at Pegula/Brandon for their management at the time. 

 

I’ll even say it concerns me he couldn’t get that power if I’m evaluating his skill set... if you can’t get bosses to empower you that can be an issue from both ends...

 

but yea- outside of qb it was an incredibly talented roster for how often we changed philosophy without him picking the coaches 

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11 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:

 

Some very decent choices but I’d disagree with the order a bit.  As far as Whaley not having supporters - you are mistaken!  There are fans here who will defend Doug to the death

 

Perhaps.... I don’t have the perspective as a old fan.  I just know that growing up, the majority of the fans base was 100% Jim Kelly.  There was no polarization there.  

 

The others are interesting choices, but in 2018 I feel there are more polarizing candidates

 

 

 

All you've done is essentially ignored everyone's points that come before your time.

 

OJ is definitely polarizing, and don't define the word for me. I know what it means. A lot of fans who don't think he should be on the wall or his existence acknowledged because of what he did. Then you have fans who don't care about the off the field stuff, and think he should remain honored as a Bill for his production. 

 

Jim Kelly definitely drew different reactions from fans. It's hard to be mean spirited towards someone going through what he's going through, but their's plenty of people out there who don't really care for Jim Kelly. Reducing how someone is viewed to the last 5 years is just rather dumb and not really telling the whole truth. People still hold it against Jim that he wouldn't come here when he was drafted. The fan base has never been 100% Jim Kelly.

4 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:

 

I disagree with your assessment on Whaley.  I don’t think he was very good.  He did a decent job of adding talent but had no vision or direction.  He neglected the QB position and yes he drafted poorly.  Not a good GM

but many Bills fans think he’s great 

 

The team he built was better than this past years one that made the playoffs.

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1 hour ago, Ol Dirty B said:

 

All you've done is essentially ignored everyone's points that come before your time.

 

OJ is definitely polarizing, and don't define the word for me. I know what it means. A lot of fans who don't think he should be on the wall or his existence acknowledged because of what he did. Then you have fans who don't care about the off the field stuff, and think he should remain honored as a Bill for his production. 

 

Jim Kelly definitely drew different reactions from fans. It's hard to be mean spirited towards someone going through what he's going through, but their's plenty of people out there who don't really care for Jim Kelly. Reducing how someone is viewed to the last 5 years is just rather dumb and not really telling the whole truth. People still hold it against Jim that he wouldn't come here when he was drafted. The fan base has never been 100% Jim Kelly.

 

The team he built was better than this past years one that made the playoffs.

 

How are the better?  Is it because you believe their better?  Their record and playoff berth says otherwise 

1 hour ago, Mango said:

 

This. ^^^

 

Whaley could be a mediocre GM exacerbated by poor leadership from the head of the franchise. 

 

Whaley May also have been a very good to great GM hampered by poor leadership from the head of the franchise. 

 

There is one common thread in the Whaley era, and it’s basically Brandon and/or Pegula sharing football operations in terms of coaching. Because of that I won’t ever fault Whaley as being a bad GM, because he did find talent, and left the roster more talented than he found it. 

 

That doesn’t mean he was necessarily good or even great. It meant he served his role with handcuffs, and we will never actually know. I’m more PO’d at Pegula/Brandon for their management at the time. 

 

....And this is exactly why Doug whaley is THE MOST POLARIZING FIGURE IN BILLS HISTORY

2 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

 

It was certainly true as a % before last season joint with Gettleman I think and both lost their jobs there was an article on it. 

 

Not sure if it still holds. And Whaley only had 3 proper drafts... 14, 15, 16... easier to bat a good % on the last 3 than say a Ted Thompson or a Rick Smith who had been doing it long enough that their fring players are out of the league. 

But it’s true!  It’s true!  I saw on The Stadium Wall, guys!  It’s true!  

 

Find me legit proof.  

 

Also the fact that players are in the NFL doesn’t nexessarily quantity success.  Todd Collins had a long career in the NFL AS A 3rd string QB.  That doesn’t make him a good 2nd round draft pick.  

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12 hours ago, MTBill said:

No disrespect to you BuffaloRush - but you used the word "History" in the title of the thread without the qualifier of "Recent" or "2018's most polarizing".

 

I understand where you're coming from, but if you say in history, you will learn some history of who has been polarizing, not just recent history.

 

EDIT - During the 80's/90's - Kelly was constantly debated on the old internet news groups.  He was a jerk off the field, and he refused to sit in games he should have sat due to injury, which caused more harm than good to himself and the team.  When I would talk with family still in Buffalo, his name would come up and tempers would flare.  I think one of the things which makes for a "good" polarizing figure, they have to be entrenched for a while.  Tyrod, while polarizing, only hung around for a few years.  But debates went on for 7 years or more on many of these historical folks.  That said, if Tyrod has success in Cleveland...  well those fires will be stoked here.

Well said!

 

The first 3 I thought of were Kelly, Flutie and Owens.  I know Owens was here a short time, but, he is probably top 5 polarizing players in NFL history.  That backed up by his length of omission from the HOF vs stats in NFL history due to image and character perceptions.

 

JMO

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13 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:

 

Disagree.  I think that the majority of Bills fans disagree more with the other 4 on the list above Flutie.  Whaley is a clear #1

 

I think you might be misinterpreting what polarizing means.  It means that it divides the fan base.  Doug Whaley divides fan base much more than Doug Flutie does - as do the other 4 on the list 

 

 

C'mon, the Flutie vs Rob Johnson debate was major and went on long after both were gone from the team.  That division was also for and against Flutie.  Nothing else comes close.

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4 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:

 

How are the better?  Is it because you believe their better?  Their record and playoff berth says otherwise 

 

....And this is exactly why Doug whaley is THE MOST POLARIZING FIGURE IN BILLS HISTORY

But it’s true!  It’s true!  I saw on The Stadium Wall, guys!  It’s true!  

 

Find me legit proof.  

 

Also the fact that players are in the NFL doesn’t nexessarily quantity success.  Todd Collins had a long career in the NFL AS A 3rd string QB.  That doesn’t make him a good 2nd round draft pick.  

 

I wasn't arguing it made them a success. It was definitely a true statement though. 

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7 hours ago, BuffaloRush said:

 

I totally disagree there is no one Moreno polarizing than Doug Whaley 

 

Right - Donahue is more universally disliked.  He’s not a GM that’s as devisive like Doug Whaley

 

In a couple years nobody will even mention Whaley. Heck, people barely mention him now. Almost everyone has moved on. 

 

People will continue to talk about Flutie and Johnson for decades.

4 hours ago, Helpmenow said:

Cookie, oJ, Kelly, kemp, Thurman and saban

 

Why Thurman?

 

Also, why Kemp? He was before my time so I don't know a ton about him.

 

I don't think OJ counts. He was beloved by everyone until he murdered people. Now pretty much everyone agrees he was a great player and also a scumbag.

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26 minutes ago, MJS said:

 

In a couple years nobody will even mention Whaley. Heck, people barely mention him now. Almost everyone has moved on. 

 

People will continue to talk about Flutie and Johnson for decades.

 

Why Thurman?

 

Also, why Kemp? He was before my time so I don't know a ton about him.

 

I don't think OJ counts. He was beloved by everyone until he murdered people. Now pretty much everyone agrees he was a great player and also a scumbag.

 

They wont mention Whaley because the Bills ended up with a real GM.  You can’t deny that fans either dislike Whaley or they feel he was a good GM who was wronged.

 

in regard to Thurman - people have different interpretations of what it means to be polarizing.  

1 hour ago, GunnerBill said:

 

I wasn't arguing it made them a success. It was definitely a true statement though. 

 

How is it a true statement?  Show me the source of this information.  Just because you want it to be true, doesn’t mean it is

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Flutie/Johnson was brutal and split the locker room.  I remember being at that season finale before the MSM at home against the Colts and Johnson looked awesome as he  outperformed Peyton Manning at least in that game.  I remember agreeing with the switch and that's the danger of having a fan (Ralph Wilson) overriding coaches.

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19 hours ago, joesixpack said:

 

Maybe you weren't around here for the flutie/johnson era.

 

I can tell you it was a LOT worse than it has been lately.

 

 

 

And dont forget the great Losman/Capt. Check-down debate.

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