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Why owners should not listen to non-professionals


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https://deadspin.com/hunter-s-thompson-told-jim-irsay-to-draft-ryan-leaf-ov-1827387829

Hunter S. Thompson predicted, in the most general sense, the coming of Donald Trump, or at least the flourishing of the reactionary, retaliatory, mutually-assured-destructive base that put him and his ilk into power. (He also noted, as early as anyone, that the American experiment had peaked and perhaps failed.) But, seer or meerly perceptive, Thompson was no match for the vagaries of NFL talent evaluation; he was just as much an idiot as the rest of us.

Thompson was (unexpectedly and yet entirely logically) a friend of Colts owner Jim Irsay, and a month before the 1998 draft, Thompson weighed in on the burning question of the time: Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf? In a letter to Irsay, copied to both ESPN head John Walsh and Johnny Depp, Thompson advised Irsay that Leaf was the safer draft pick because “he looks strong & Manning doesn’t.”

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There were a lot of “experts” who thought Leaf was the better pick as well. If Leaf wouldn’t have blown their meeting off the night before the draft history could have played out much differently. But this is actually pretty awesome

Edited by Seanbillsfan2206
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19 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

 

ROTFL!  Any idea what Depp film he was talking about?  Would that be "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"?  Nice find!

 

The whole thing seems bizarre, in a cool way!

 

I think I heard that argument about a draftee looking like a "China Doll" who won't survive in the NFL recently, applied to a player in this draft.... hmmm, hmmm, who was that?

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1 minute ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

ROTFL!  Any idea what Depp film he was talking about?  Would that be "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas"?  Nice find!

 

 

The reference there, of course, is to "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," which featured Johnny Depp playing the role of Thompson.

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Being a long time fan of the Dr. I feel this was again his sarcasm.

  He may have been speaking more about the money than the players. Saying that ..  he could  not loan him enough for Manning (valued higher than Leaf )

 but maybe once the movie came out he would be able to afford Leaf.

I had to read the letter a couple times. Because Hunter was an Rabid Sports Fan (gambler ) and Football was something he discussed and argued many times over with Richard Nixon.

 

 God rest his restless soul

Edited by 3rdand12
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The funny part is the "professionals" are about as wrong as the "non-professionals" when viewed over time with a large enough sample size.

 

Which is why you don't trade up, you trade down.  # of picks is always better than perceived value of pick on draft day.  Why? Because no one really knows who will pan out, be incredible, or be terrible.

 

 

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Generally I agree, but this time I I'll take excecption.  Our draft was solid, but could have been better.  My personal opinion our dire need was offensive linemen, we lost three.  Say what you want Taylor got us to the playoff by himself with Mc Coy and mediocre receivers at best.  We did improve big time on defense in draft, but regressed on offense just as significant. I think after seeing this years schedule, the Bills are going to have a long season on the offensive side of the game,, lack of depth, experience and talent.  Shady is going to have trouble having as much success as usual with new player up front unless they can adapt to the perfect blocking scheme.  Back up running back is still a question mark.  Charles Clay, I hope they were going to trade him, he is costly and often injured.  As a fan I see too much unwarranted loyalty to certain player by coaches and other players are judged when all facts aren't considered equally.  In the case of Tyrods benching.  That was piss poor coaching anyway you look at it.  Towards the end of the season the defense was the problem and that was addressed.  If we could have kept Taylor one more year and still got another QB, maybe even Allen it would have been a win win situation.

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