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1969 Buffalo Bills -the long road back


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On 4/10/2021 at 6:07 PM, WotAGuy said:

I wish I had known all these old films would be available 24/7 for free. I spent hours and hours and mucho dinero to collect these MFers over the 90s and 00s. 

I have been collecting them for years...have every season highlight film...great effort and some $ involved.  But YouTube has mad my collection pretty obsolete I am afraid!

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Always good stuff.  In the 1969 opener, the Rockpile crowd actually cheered the Jets during introductions for beating the Colts in SB III.  The Jets win was for the entire AFL and all AFL fans appreciated it.

 

I believe by 1969, NFL Films was handling the AFL as well.  With the merger agreement, AFL Films was absorbed by the Sabol family.

 

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21 hours ago, Utah John said:

 

His coach, Rauch or maybe someone who replaced him, said he was going to use OJ as a decoy.  Seriously.  

 

So Simpson wasn't very productive or dominant at first, and as I recall a halfback (as they were called then) named Calvin Hill, for Dallas, stole OJ's thunder.  It wasn't until Lou Saban came in, the Bills rebuilt their O line, and they decided to focus on running OJ, that things turned around.  The lousy years from 68-72 made 73, with OJ getting 2004 yards and the Bills getting Rich Stadium, all the sweeter.  

Think about this: Simpson played four years of college ball (two years of JC and two years at USC) and when he was a rookie, in 1969, he was already 22 years old.  Nowadays, a player like him certainly would have come out a year early.  He then spent his first three years in the league barely being used, even though he was a Heisman Trophy winner and the number 1 overall pick in the draft.  Under today's system, the Bills would have had to decide on his fifth year option at that point!  So by the time the Bills figured out that they should give the ball to Simpson early and often, in 1972, he was already 25 years old--at the point where RBs in today's game are typically cut loose after the end of their rookie contracts.  He then went on (at 25 to 29 years old) to have his run of five astounding seasons, when he was IMO, the greatest running back in NFL history, and before injuries ended his career.  Oh, what could have been....    

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3 hours ago, Buftex said:

I have been collecting them for years...have every season highlight film...great effort and some $ involved.  But YouTube has mad my collection pretty obsolete I am afraid!

Do you actually have FILMS?!? That would be awesome!

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6 hours ago, Buftex said:

I have been collecting them for years...have every season highlight film...great effort and some $ involved.  But YouTube has mad my collection pretty obsolete I am afraid!

Glad most of the full games I collected are all on YouTube now too! 🤦🏻‍♂️

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