oldmanfan Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Just now, ganesh said: Was there any talk about trading up for Elway in that draft ? Not that I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ganesh Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 3 minutes ago, oldmanfan said: Not that I recall. cool thanks...Of course without twitter, mobiles, internet, most of the news would have had to come from Talk show radios and News papers and those take time..so no immediate impacts.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldmanfan Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Just now, ganesh said: cool thanks...Of course without twitter, mobiles, internet, most of the news would have had to come from Talk show radios and News papers and those take time..so no immediate impacts.. It was a simpler time to be sure. And Baltimore had made it abundantly clear they were taking Elway anyway. As clear as him saying he'd never play for the Colts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 On 4/29/2018 at 7:30 AM, Skins Malone said: For those who were old enough to remember...what was the reaction when Kelly initially wouldnt come here? Did you believe it was just a matter of time before he came here or he was never going too? No im pretty sure the rumor was cocaine. When Jim Kelly spurned the Bills in 1983, it was viewed as a catastrophe, and it happened not only while memories of Tom Cousineau's 1979 refusal to sign were fresh but also as the Bills were facing the prospect of Joe Cribbs leaving for the USFL as well. Cribbs' legal case carried on through the 1983 season, but he was gone thereafter. Between those memories and the fact that Chuck Knox had left angrily, things were as bad as they have ever been in Bills nation. The 1983 team showed flashes to get to 8-8, but then came the abortions of 1984 and 1985. It's probably better that there was no Internet back then, because the TBD discussions would have been thermonuclear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly the Dog Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Just now, oldmanfan said: It was a simpler time to be sure. And Baltimore had made it abundantly clear they were taking Elway anyway. As clear as him saying he'd never play for the Colts. Yep. There was no chance of trading up to #1. Elway may have said he wasn't playing for the Bills either. The Colts were pusies and caved to his threat that he would play baseball instead, as he was drafted by the Yankees, but that was never a real threat IMO. He was pretty much the best QB prospect ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punching Bag Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 (edited) On 4/29/2018 at 1:49 AM, Nihilarian said: I bring it up because the Bills owner seemed to spare no expense on some really great team doctors back then. Rusty Jones was the teams S&C coach and Marv called him his "secret weapon" as the team would go to play Miami in 90-degree weather and the Dolphin players would be gassed hands on the hips and the Bills players were in much better condition. Ralph had connections to Buffalo medical schools even then. I was working once and saw Ralph with several professors and a dean or assistant dean. And yes Rusty Jones was definitely a "secret weapon" for Bills. He unretired and is now working for Colts. https://www.stampedeblue.com/2018/2/16/17021290/is-the-colts-secret-weapon-a-guy-they-just-pulled-out-of-retirement I do not think it is a surpise considered who is head coach (Frank Reich who had him as a coach for 9 years) and Colts GM who had him in Chicago prior to retirement. Edited May 1, 2018 by Limeaid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichRiderBills Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 Food for thought to look at Marino's completion percentage and TD/ Int ratio. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bing Bong Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 9 hours ago, RJ (not THAT RJ) said: When Jim Kelly spurned the Bills in 1983, it was viewed as a catastrophe, and it happened not only while memories of Tom Cousineau's 1979 refusal to sign were fresh but also as the Bills were facing the prospect of Joe Cribbs leaving for the USFL as well. Cribbs' legal case carried on through the 1983 season, but he was gone thereafter. Between those memories and the fact that Chuck Knox had left angrily, things were as bad as they have ever been in Bills nation. The 1983 team showed flashes to get to 8-8, but then came the abortions of 1984 and 1985. It's probably better that there was no Internet back then, because the TBD discussions would have been thermonuclear. Does this mean we can collectively hate Trump strictly for sabatoging the bills with the USFL? Very nervous about this attempt at comedy mods pls lmk if I blew it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 On 4/28/2018 at 10:33 PM, ganesh said: This might be for the old timers who kept track of drafts (I did only after 1990)... We had four QBs go in the 83 draft with Kelly taken ahead of Marino. Considering the college resume of Miami. was there hair splitting in Buffalo at picking the wrong QB from Pennsylvania? In the end it did not matter as both Kelly and Marino had stellar careers where they took their teams to SuperBowls (albeit never won one) and enshrined themselves in the HOF. Of course there wasn't social media or as many call-in radio shows back then. I don't remember so much the controversy about Marino vs Kelly in terms of pro readiness or likelihood to bust. Kelly was considered a questionmark because of his shoulder injury, but there were all those rumors about Marino and white powder. They were both considered good QB with the skills to succeed in the NFL as I recall. The controversy where it was seen as a Yuge Mistake was when Kelly was lighting it up in the USFL while Marino was playing in the NFL. Kelly never signed and took off for the USFL that spring and You Bet then there was a lot of "trouble in the tipi" especially when the "Phins" plugged Marino right in and went to the SB in '84. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 (edited) 10 hours ago, ganesh said: Was there any talk about trading up for Elway in that draft ? Colts took Elway as the 1st pick and Elway refused to play for them, forcing a trade with the Broncos Edited May 1, 2018 by row_33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlonce Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 (edited) No issue at all. There was was only one can’t miss QB in that class,Elway. All the rest had problems, just like this years class. Kelly had major shoulder surgery and there were questions of his recovery from it. Marino was said to enjoy coke,party boy and so on. That was an era when QBs were not protected,it wasn’t an offense oriented league and running games were of vast importance. So there wasn’t as much fascination with the QB position. It was very important but there wasn’t much press regarding it. Todays social media, and instant availability of news/sports shines a spotlight on athletes. Look at how people dissect a players every move. Edited May 1, 2018 by dlonce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 11 hours ago, Cripple Creek said: If you’re comparing it to Allen/Rosen then you’re way off base. I get the concerns about Allen, I just choose to not lose my mind over it. Would some have wondered about JK? Sure. The firestorm would have started when he chose Houston (USFL) over Buffalo though, not with the draft itself. That's my memory. It wasn't the draft per se, In those days there wasn't a rookie payscale so negotiations took a while, teams lowballed guys and agents advised them to wait. So fans were all excited about Kelly and then off he goes to the USFL and the gnashing and wailing were loud and vigorous, rising to a crescendo in 2 years when Marino was leading the Dolphins in a Superbowl and Kelly was still spurning us. There was a lot of clamor to draft another QB, which we finally did (Reich) in 1985 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bing Bong Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 On 4/28/2018 at 10:56 PM, 2003Contenders said: Guess you mean the 1983 draft, rather than the 1986 draft... Marino fell in that draft because allegations had been leaked to the press (reputedly by Miami) that he had a drug problem. The team that was most famously duped was the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team that was originally planning on drafting the local kid. Beane leaked the Josh allen Twitter. HOT TAKE. Machiavellian af Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RJ (not THAT RJ) Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 9 hours ago, PetermanThrew5Picks said: Does this mean we can collectively hate Trump strictly for sabatoging the bills with the USFL? Very nervous about this attempt at comedy mods pls lmk if I blew it Heck, as much as it pains me to say it, we should be grateful to him for being such a fool that he destroyed the USFL quickly enough for Jim Kelly to come back to Buffalo... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bing Bong Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 4 hours ago, RJ (not THAT RJ) said: Heck, as much as it pains me to say it, we should be grateful to him for being such a fool that he destroyed the USFL quickly enough for Jim Kelly to come back to Buffalo... Fair enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 Most fans didn't care nearly as much about the draft back then and had a negligible amount of information to analyze compared to what they have now. Heck, teams themselves were relying on Street & Smith guides to take players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA OC Bills Fan Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 5 hours ago, RJ (not THAT RJ) said: Heck, as much as it pains me to say it, we should be grateful to him for being such a fool that he destroyed the USFL quickly enough for Jim Kelly to come back to Buffalo... Yes, it wasn’t Trump who started the USFL or who took Kelly to Houston. But it was Trump who destroyed the USFL by moving from Spring to Fall and then suing the NFL for antitrust. Perhaps the USFL would have soon failed anyway, but could have taken a bit longer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagon Circler Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 While Idon't remember seeing Kelly in college, I do remember seeing Marino a couple of games. I remember a great throwing motion, but he threw a lot of interceptions. he certainly dropped in the draft, but I don't remember being shocked. The draft wasn't as big a deal then as it is now. When Buffalo drafted Bruce Smith first, I'd barely heard of him! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts