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Dolphins at Bills 1980 season opener (Full game)


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On 6/9/2021 at 6:21 AM, Buftex said:

It's funny, growing up, I loved Ferguson.  Some of my older relatives hated him...the usual complaints: hangs his head, always looks miserable... for some reason, their criticism only made me like him more.  But, sometimes, going back and looking at some of these old games, I do see notice it a bit more.  

 

The biggest thing coming out of this game, for me, beside ending the streak, was the revelation of Joe Cribbs.  There just weren't too many running backs catching passes out of the backfield at that time.  Of course, Roger Craig is always known for this, but Cribbs was every bit his equal in that regards.  I swear, if Cribbs career in Buffalo hadn't been so acrimonious (Ralph was cheap!), he would be a more revered figure in Bills history, if not NFL history. He was a hell of a threat in his first stint with the Bills. Barely used in his second stint...

 

Cribs was NFL ROY in 1980 as well as a started for the Pro Bowl. Also, from wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Cribbs):

 

"When the NFL played an abbreviated 9 game schedule due to the strike-shortened season in 1982, Cribbs was only able to play in 7 games but nonetheless led the league with 90.4 rushing yards per game."

 

Pretty impressive. At the same time, according to wikipedia, it does seem as if he were a me-first guy:

 

"Cribbs was not exactly happy in Buffalo, however, as he especially disliked playing in their infamous cold-weather home games. With one year left on his contract with the Bills, Cribbs signed a contract with the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL."

 

and 

 

"Herschel Walker made the jump from college football to the USFL, becoming the league's highest paid player at $6 million over four years. This played a factor in Joe Cribbs walking out of his contract with the Birmingham Stallions. Cribbs had signed a deal in 1983 worth $2.6 million dollars to play for Birmingham, and still five years left on the contract. At the time of his walkout, Cribbs was leading the USFL in rushing."

 

Still, I was too young at the time to know all the details.

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On 6/8/2021 at 10:18 PM, Beast said:


Yep. I was 13 years old listening to the game on my boom box. Was so damned excited to beat Miami! The year prior my brother took me to the game and we watched Dempsey miss a chance to end the streak in a monsoon.

 

You were born during the Eisenhower administration.

 

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33 minutes ago, Greg S said:

 

The Bills did beat the Raiders that year at home 24-7 in week 4. The only Raiders score came off a pick 6. The Bills would have been a solid favorite if they had met in the AFC Championship game. 

This was just after the huge offseason QB trade of Stabler/Pastorini. We broke Dante’s leg in that game and ‘cast off’ Jim Plunkett took over for Oakland. The rest, as they say, is history.

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8 minutes ago, Royale with Cheese said:

 

He was really sad when the news Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz got divorced.

i heard he was also very upset when archduke ferdinand was assassinated.  

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2 hours ago, chongli said:

 

Cribs was NFL ROY in 1980 as well as a started for the Pro Bowl. Also, from wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Cribbs😞

 

"When the NFL played an abbreviated 9 game schedule due to the strike-shortened season in 1982, Cribbs was only able to play in 7 games but nonetheless led the league with 90.4 rushing yards per game."

 

Pretty impressive. At the same time, according to wikipedia, it does seem as if he were a me-first guy:

 

"Cribbs was not exactly happy in Buffalo, however, as he especially disliked playing in their infamous cold-weather home games. With one year left on his contract with the Bills, Cribbs signed a contract with the Birmingham Stallions of the USFL."

 

and 

 

"Herschel Walker made the jump from college football to the USFL, becoming the league's highest paid player at $6 million over four years. This played a factor in Joe Cribbs walking out of his contract with the Birmingham Stallions. Cribbs had signed a deal in 1983 worth $2.6 million dollars to play for Birmingham, and still five years left on the contract. At the time of his walkout, Cribbs was leading the USFL in rushing."

 

Still, I was too young at the time to know all the details.

Cribbs was hardly the first guy who didn't really want to play in the cold.  The way the NFL was then, players really had no opportunity to move to another team, unless their team released them.  No free-agency.  And, there wasn't a salary cap either.  The USFL came around, and gave guys more options.  I can't really blame him.  Kelly did the same, Steve Young....hell John Elway used his baseball option as a way of getting more money.  I know it's cliche', but they only have a couple of years to earn their big money.  Ralph would not pay anyone then.  If a guy played well, he would most likely be traded when his contract expired. If Cribbs had gotten paid, he would have been "happy" in Buffalo.  Money talks... but he had no affinity or history with the city. 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/8/2021 at 11:12 PM, Chandler#81 said:

 

Were it not for breaking a decade-long losing streak, this would have quickly become a very forgettable game.

 

 

Perhaps, but I just read that Jeff Nixon set a Bills record with four takeaways in one game (three interceptions, one fumble recovery) in that game and was named SI's Defensive Player of the Month for September 1980:

 

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

 

Pretty cool!

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I was at this game at age 14. It wasn’t my first game, but is was the first time I was at a game that was super loud. I remember the TV timeout at the 2 minute warning after we had just picked them off and had the game in hand and the crowd was like the Super Bowl playoff years. I already hated the Phins and this was the game that the posts got ripped down. We were on the Phins side upper deck and one of post uprights actually made it up to us and some morons had to be stopped from throwing it off the deck onto people below… it was nuts!!

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5 minutes ago, Billsatlastin2018 said:

Just the precursor.

 

When the Glory Years started rolling in half a decade later, you can guess how many times Marino beat Jimbo in the Playoffs!

 

That’s right- NEVER!

 

Half a decade from 1980 is 1985. There was nothing "Glory" about that season. 1984 and 1985 were some dark times for those of us around who suffered thru them.

The pieces were being put in place with the draft but the good times didn't start until 1988. 

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