NoHuddleKelly12 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 (edited) 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 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBILL12 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterbluesky Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMF2006 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beast Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 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.’ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushypeaches Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt_In_NH Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 WNY was butthurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bing Bong Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 (edited) 7 minutes ago, mattynh said: WNY was butthurt And New England drafted Tony Eason. Grounds for butthurt IMO. Edited March 5, 2019 by BarkleyForGOATBackupPT5P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bing Bong Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albany,n.y. Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 (edited) For cwater10: The final edition of the Courier Express. Edited March 5, 2019 by Albany,n.y. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Brown Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 26 minutes ago, Albany,n.y. said: For cwater10: The final edition of the Courier Express. Sad day that was. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwater10 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 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? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoHuddleKelly12 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 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? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bing Bong Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albany,n.y. Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 (edited) 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. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 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! 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 I can’t remember ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cwater10 Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Albany,n.y. said: 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. Great memories... That was my senior year at Bonaventure, then I was on the road as well. I get back at least once a year. I now live in Southwest Florida, but Buffalo will always be home. I think that is the spirit that caught Kelly by surprise once he spent some time here. Houston could never offer that! Glad he came around and happy that he stayed. Following The Bills has been a journey. My family had season tickets from the OJ years and I finally let them go in... 1989. That worked out well. My first four seasons as a non season ticket holder were all Super Bowl years. I figured it was a sign to say away But following from afar has been great, especially since the internet arrived. It always amazes me how many "Bills Mafia!" yells I get wherever I wear my Bills gear around here and out west too! Great fans from all generations... Can't touch 'em... I still remember the "Go Sabres, and Take The Bills With You!" bumper stickers from the 70's. We would see them and laugh. We would have been heartbroken if they ever did go. Thank you Terry and Kim. Everyone is right where they belong. Except for that guy who sat in front of me in section C from 1981 - 1987. That guy belongs in custody! Maybe he is... Good thread. Good night! Edited March 6, 2019 by cwater10 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iinii Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 19 hours ago, Chandler#81 said: We took Tony Hunter (TE from Notre Dame) with our 1st, 1sr rounder. Taking Kelly at 14 filled a need, but when he jumped most anger was aimed at the FO for not gittin’erdone! He was OK @ the U, but he set the football world on fire with the Gamblers. Once Trumps lawsuit killed the League, Ralph sprang for the $8M and GOD showed up Opening Day ‘86. The rest, as they say, is history. Too bad GOD can’t win Super Bowls... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chandler#81 Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 1 hour ago, iinii said: Too bad GOD can’t win Super Bowls... He works in mysterious ways??♂️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Success Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 On 3/5/2019 at 5:58 AM, oldmanfan said: We thought he was a jerk to put it mildly Exactly this. But he won us back over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bing Bong Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 19 hours ago, Doc Brown said: 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. MCM was the beginning of my fandom lol. Love started right away in an absolute heart break. 10 hours ago, iinii said: Too bad GOD can’t win Super Bowls... He wins games for Russell Wilson. Russell says so in his PCs. The messiah quarterback.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vorpma Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 20 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? Honest Harry and Ruby! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 I don't remember it being that big a deal, lots of players were doing it, the Bills were horrible. Revisionist history has tried to cram Kelly's years into the big national history of The U, but I don't remember much at all about Miami until Kosar beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl for its first huge win. Miami was never on TV or in major sports reporting, it was a lot sparser back then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 I dunno, but that's a TSW thread I'd have liked to have seen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 6 hours ago, row_33 said: I don't remember it being that big a deal, lots of players were doing it, the Bills were horrible. Revisionist history has tried to cram Kelly's years into the big national history of The U, but I don't remember much at all about Miami until Kosar beat Nebraska in the Orange Bowl for its first huge win. Miami was never on TV or in major sports reporting, it was a lot sparser back then... Miami was a doormat for years until Schnellenberger got there and started turning things around. They improved significantly during Kelly's tenure but weren't really a national championship contender until after he left and that '83 team made it to that Orange Bowl. btw....Kelly was recruited to the U by ....... Lou Saban! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iinii Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 21 hours ago, Chandler#81 said: He works in mysterious ways??♂️ Like Keyser Soze? 13 hours ago, BarkleyForGOATBackupPT5P said: MCM was the beginning of my fandom lol. Love started right away in an absolute heart break. He wins games for Russell Wilson. Russell says so in his PCs. The messiah quarterback.. What about the games he loses? Is it like snake handlers? Russell must be backsliding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nihilarian Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 On 3/5/2019 at 10:20 AM, vorpma said: During this time period the Bills Front Office had a horrible reputation dealing with players and negotiating contracts. Stew Barber, an All Pro Tackle from the AFL days handled all negotiations and totally dropped the ball losing many - Cousineau, Cribbs, Kelly, and we almost lost Haslett (remember the bumper sticker "Pay Haslett and cut Barber). Fred Smerlas wrote that Barber resented the raising salaries and the players receiving what be assessed as unreasonable and inflated paychecks for playing football and actually openly displayed his hostility. Not sure if Barber was still in place for the Kelly debacle for Bill Polian slowly turned it around. Buffalo Bills GM Stew Barber was a complete moron on so many levels. What pissed off Tom Cousineau was that he was invited by the then-Bills GM Stew Barber to dinner in Buffalo...then never showed up, never called...nothing! Then, the initial offering by the Bills vs the Montreal Alouettes was less than half of what MA was offering. Of course, Ole Tom would head up north. This upset the new Bills HC Chuck Knox who managed to build a solid team despite the GM being a moron. Knox had brought his scouting director (Norm Pollom) with him from the LA Rams and those two were given carte blanch to do whatever they needed by the owner. Still, Barber was involved in negotiations and managed to upset many Bills players by lowballing them. I have to say this was partly on the owner's philosophy because, in the end, Wilson didn't want to pay Chuck Knox either, even after Knox rejuvenated the city of Buffalo by making the Buffalo Bills relevant again. The Bills hadn't beaten the Miami Dolphins over the entire decade of the 1970s and in that 1980 season opener in which the Bills beat Miami 17-7, Bills fans tore down the goal posts! Yes, Ralph Wilson gave Chuck Knox a top ten NFL salary when he hired him, (being desperate as he was at the time ) but this was five years later. In truth, my take is Knox grew tired of Wilson and his overly frugal ways and wanted a way out. Wilson being Wilson, hires Kay Stephenson, Hank Bullough as his next two head coaches. Meanwhile, that ex-Rams scouting director (Pollom)wanted to hire a young scout named Bill Polian. Now that the Bills had lost Knox to Seattle and the Bills were losing big time again with back to back 2-14 seasons Bills fans decided they had better things to do on Sunday so the stadium was more than half empty game after game. Wilson was getting desperate again because if things didn't change he knew he would be forced to sell all or part of his beloved team, or move it. Luckily, his GM/VP at that time suffered a serious injury (Terry Bledsoe), so Wilson fired him and promoted Polian to GM. Y'all can thank Bill Polian for talking owner Ralph Wilson into making Jim Kelly the highest paid QB in the league. Jim wanted to be a Raider as Al Davis had sent him on a vacation trip to London with two Raiderettes. Money talks, so Jim signed with Buffalo! Yes, Kelly didn't want to play for the Buffalo Bills when he was drafted by Buffalo and the weather was only one factor as Kelly noticed that the Bills lost Cousineau to Canada over money. I think Bills owner Ralph Wilson was the bigger reason and Polian not only talked Wilson into paying Kelly, but he also talked him into upgrading the stadium, paying top free agents. Let's not forget the 87 trade for Cornelius Bennett on Halloween that helped turn that defense around. Four straight super bowls! I think you can give a lot of credit to Bill Polian for those runs. Now, let's hope Beane/McD does as well. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vorpma Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 4 hours ago, Nihilarian said: Buffalo Bills GM Stew Barber was a complete moron on so many levels. What pissed off Tom Cousineau was that he was invited by the then-Bills GM Stew Barber to dinner in Buffalo...then never showed up, never called...nothing! Then, the initial offering by the Bills vs the Montreal Alouettes was less than half of what MA was offering. Of course, Ole Tom would head up north. This upset the new Bills HC Chuck Knox who managed to build a solid team despite the GM being a moron. Knox had brought his scouting director (Norm Pollom) with him from the LA Rams and those two were given carte blanch to do whatever they needed by the owner. Still, Barber was involved in negotiations and managed to upset many Bills players by lowballing them. I have to say this was partly on the owner's philosophy because, in the end, Wilson didn't want to pay Chuck Knox either, even after Knox rejuvenated the city of Buffalo by making the Buffalo Bills relevant again. The Bills hadn't beaten the Miami Dolphins over the entire decade of the 1970s and in that 1980 season opener in which the Bills beat Miami 17-7, Bills fans tore down the goal posts! Yes, Ralph Wilson gave Chuck Knox a top ten NFL salary when he hired him, (being desperate as he was at the time ) but this was five years later. In truth, my take is Knox grew tired of Wilson and his overly frugal ways and wanted a way out. Wilson being Wilson, hires Kay Stephenson, Hank Bullough as his next two head coaches. Meanwhile, that ex-Rams scouting director (Pollom)wanted to hire a young scout named Bill Polian. Now that the Bills had lost Knox to Seattle and the Bills were losing big time again with back to back 2-14 seasons Bills fans decided they had better things to do on Sunday so the stadium was more than half empty game after game. Wilson was getting desperate again because if things didn't change he knew he would be forced to sell all or part of his beloved team, or move it. Luckily, his GM/VP at that time suffered a serious injury (Terry Bledsoe), so Wilson fired him and promoted Polian to GM. Y'all can thank Bill Polian for talking owner Ralph Wilson into making Jim Kelly the highest paid QB in the league. Jim wanted to be a Raider as Al Davis had sent him on a vacation trip to London with two Raiderettes. Money talks, so Jim signed with Buffalo! Yes, Kelly didn't want to play for the Buffalo Bills when he was drafted by Buffalo and the weather was only one factor as Kelly noticed that the Bills lost Cousineau to Canada over money. I think Bills owner Ralph Wilson was the bigger reason and Polian not only talked Wilson into paying Kelly, but he also talked him into upgrading the stadium, paying top free agents. Let's not forget the 87 trade for Cornelius Bennett on Halloween that helped turn that defense around. Four straight super bowls! I think you can give a lot of credit to Bill Polian for those runs. Now, let's hope Beane/McD does as well. Many who post on TBD have no idea what bad times really are! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 8 hours ago, KD in CA said: Miami was a doormat for years until Schnellenberger got there and started turning things around. They improved significantly during Kelly's tenure but weren't really a national championship contender until after he left and that '83 team made it to that Orange Bowl. btw....Kelly was recruited to the U by ....... Lou Saban! Kelly should have gone to Penn State. He would have been a helluva linebacker! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bing Bong Posted March 7, 2019 Author Share Posted March 7, 2019 8 hours ago, iinii said: What about the games he loses? Is it like snake handlers? Russell must be backsliding God had other athletes to help. Huge sports fan that guy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoHuddleKelly12 Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 2 hours ago, K-9 said: Kelly should have gone to Penn State. He would have been a helluva linebacker! ? Anthony Phillips agrees with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 1 hour ago, NoHuddleKelly12 said: Anthony Phillips agrees with you. Thanks. I never saw this on TV. Just from the other side of the stadium. I knew he broke his leg, but I also knew it saved the touchdown, the game, and probably the season. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted March 7, 2019 Share Posted March 7, 2019 11 hours ago, KD in CA said: Miami was a doormat for years until Schnellenberger got there and started turning things around. They improved significantly during Kelly's tenure but weren't really a national championship contender until after he left and that '83 team made it to that Orange Bowl. btw....Kelly was recruited to the U by ....... Lou Saban! yup, and they have now revised the history to include the Kelly years as part of The U's domination. I remember Miami as having an occasional ranking in Sports Illustrated, the South or Southeast region (??) but they never played anybody. Kind of like Florida International these days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iinii Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 15 hours ago, BarkleyForGOATBackupPT5P said: God had other athletes to help. Huge sports fan that guy. God plays favorites? Or just the money line? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 4 hours ago, iinii said: God plays favorites? Or just the money line? Both concepts are very mysterious things, not comprehensible to mortal man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Another Fan Posted March 8, 2019 Share Posted March 8, 2019 He didn’t sound like the best character guy as well his first couple years. As alluded it was a different world then before the internet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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