Our thoughts on Jim Kelly when he fled for the USFL

[NoHuddleKelly12]

Kelly has often said himself that the last thing he expected was the hero’s welcome that he received when he did finally come back to Buffalo like the prodigal son—and the rest as they say is history. Personally I’m glad I was too young to have experienced the dash to Houston in any meaningful way, so that all of my football memories of him are basically from 90 onwards as a Bills fixture already. 

 

Also, I’d say he’s more than made up with the community by this point, and bleeds everything Buffalo.

Edited March 5, 2019 by NoHuddleKelly12

[BBILL12]

If I remember correctly, it still took a year or so for him to really mature after he got here. The term "Bickering Bills" comes to mind. Love him now, but he was a a#@hole when he started here.

 

[Misterbluesky]

3 hours ago, Buffalo_Gal said:

Yup. 

The year he bailed on us,we had some home games with only 15-20 k in the stadium.

Edited March 5, 2019 by Misterbluesky

[JMF2006]

1 hour ago, Steve O said:

So yeah, what CWater 10 said on page 1. They were called Cliff notes in the 70's, when did they become Coles notes?

 

Canada buddy 

 

That's what they were called up here  

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coles_Notes

[bbb]

6 hours ago, eball said:

The really sad part is that Kelly wasn't even the first player to jilt the Bills.  Tom Cousineau (No. 1 overall pick in '79) said sayonara and went to the CFL rather than play for Buffalo because they offered him twice the salary.

 

Exactly.  I hated Kelly, I hated Cousineau.  Everybody effed us.  It sucked. 

[Beast]

I hated it.

 

The funny thing is, looking back, I rooted for the Gamblers because of him.

 

Strange.

Edited March 5, 2019 by Binghamton Beast

[Chandler#81]

7 hours ago, BarkleyForGOATBackupPT5P said:

Did you assume the USFL would last longer or was it's downfall all but apparent.. knowing you'd get Jim Kelly soon one way or another.

 

I'd point my anger on FO for underestimating the USFL and not doing their homework on Jim Kelly making it clear he hated the idea of playing in Buffalo. Nevertheless they picked the right quarterback in retrospect. Those 2 years I'd be the knee jerk idiot calling for his head.

Yes, I assumed the USFL was fairly legit. They were better than the AFL at raiding great college players, but some franchises (Houston) were nearly bankrupt. Thankfully, trump brought his winning deal art to the table and lost the whole league..

 

Kelly was very immature-for a long time after this as well. Couldn’t care less what some punkazz kid thought of being a Bill on Draft day. ‘You come play for us cuz that’s the way it’s done in the big time, biotch.’

[mushypeaches]

Kelly was really not well liked until well into his 5th year when the K-Gun started clicking.  Up until then, most of the fan base remained very skeptical and often railed on him on a week-to-week basis.  Not that he played particularly badly, but our offensive philosophy was mostly conservative at best and he often tried to force the issue.

 

Not hard to think about how this could play out in the near future with Josh Allen.  Poor line play, plus conservative coaching and play calling will keep him from reaching his ceiling from a play perspective.  But his positive attitude, leadership, and running ability probably already have him ahead of Kelly from a fan approval perspective.  Maybe based more on lower expectations than anything else though.

 

 

[Matt_In_NH]

WNY was butthurt

[Bing Bong]

7 minutes ago, mattynh said:

WNY was butthurt

And New England drafted Tony Eason. 

 

Grounds for butthurt IMO.

Edited March 5, 2019 by BarkleyForGOATBackupPT5P

[Bing Bong]

1 hour ago, Chandler#81 said:

Thankfully, trump brought his winning deal art to the table and lost the whole league..

Yeah but Trump proved his art of the deal makes him a winner.. of $1.

 

Pyrrhic victories are still victories. - Art of the Deal, Chapter 1

What does Pyrrhic mean again? - Art of the Deal, Chapter 1

Edited March 5, 2019 by BarkleyForGOATBackupPT5P

[Albany,n.y.]

For cwater10: The final edition of the Courier Express.

Edited March 5, 2019 by Albany,n.y.

[Doc Brown]

4 hours ago, Peevo said:

 

 

Wow, and I thought we Millennials had it bad with the 2000's drought. 

 

 

You do.  Especially the younger half of the millenial generation who have no recollection of the SB's and barely remember th Flutie/Johnson era.

[K-9]

26 minutes ago, Albany,n.y. said:

For cwater10: The final edition of the Courier Express.

Sad day that was.

[cwater10]

24 minutes ago, Albany,n.y. said:

For cwater10: The final edition of the Courier Express.

Oh man...  Like it was yesterday.  Thanks for the memory, Albany.  My inner Phil Ranalo just smoked a cigar.  What's new Harry?

[NoHuddleKelly12]

4 hours ago, BarkleyForGOATBackupPT5P said:

Wow.. I never thought about it, but the man had immense pressure after jilting a team and showing back up to all that fanfare. I know he went off in the USFL.. but cmon, it's USFL. Props to Jim Kelly for having the nads to not skip a beat and give the fan base everything he took from them and more.

Millennial Bills fans are awesome. We have NO reason for it! We're just plowing ahead with 1 playoff game in 20 years. And we ain't band wagoners from the 90s teams either lol. Just aware that good things used to happen for the Bills.

I think it's safe to say that any shifting with the winds "bandwagoners" who jumped on in the 90's, jumped back off oh, I dunno, 17 or so years ago for bigger bandwagons elsewhere?   Those of us still around who came of age during that fantastic run, have more than proven our loyalty bona fides by still being here a generation later, with nary more than a solitary playoff game to show for it! 

9 hours ago, K-9 said:

Yep, something like that.

I believe the "4 Falls of Buffalo" and/or the ESPN 30 for 30 "From Elway to Marino" mentioned that "secretary flub" episode too?

[Bing Bong]

10 minutes ago, NoHuddleKelly12 said:

I think it's safe to say that any shifting with the winds "bandwagoners" who jumped on in the 90's, jumped back off oh, I dunno, 17 or so years ago for bigger bandwagons elsewhere?   Those of us still around who came of age during that fantastic run, have more than proven our loyalty bona fides by still being here a generation later, with nary more than a solitary playoff game to show for it! 

 I believe the "4 Falls of Buffalo" and/or the ESPN 30 for 30 "From Elway to Marino" mentioned that "secretary flub" episode too?

Nah it's pretty unanimous on this board that the millennial Bills fans are the greatest generation.  

[Albany,n.y.]

3 hours ago, cwater10 said:

Oh man...  Like it was yesterday.  Thanks for the memory, Albany.  My inner Phil Ranalo just smoked a cigar.  What's new Harry?

From that last Courier Express.  Three months later I left Buffalo and never lived there again, although I have gone back a lot of times over the years. 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2019 by Albany,n.y.

[Augie]

This isn’t so much about Kelly, because I didn’t get to play that game very much. My point is how vastly different the world is today! Back then I was living in the southeast and had no opportunity to get worked into the group lather that local folks could. No local radio, no TV coverage, no fellow Bills fans to get riled up with....maybe an occasional sentance in the USA Today sports section. 

 

NOW? ALL coverage ALL the time, and awesome message boards like this! Now I can get appropriately frustrated and agitated to the point of seeking therapy! Ahhhh, progress! 

[mead107]

I can’t remember ?