Nov. 26, 1978 Terry Miller had himself a Day!

[Chandler#81]

2 hours ago, Augie said:

 

He was part of the team that’s invented history, so it comes natural to him.  

Got dam Whippersnapper!

[Ralonzo]

Those refs were just as bad as they are now.

[ExiledInIllinois]

25°F out... Nice!  😆

[ExiledInIllinois]

10 hours ago, mushypeaches said:

 

it's not that - it's that you listed 6 skill players and you can only have 5

I thought all 11 were skilled?

[Utah John]

I don't think it was ever clear to the public what happened with Terry Miller.  He had a fantastic rookie year, and then ... nothing.  He showed real brilliance with that quickness and speed.  Such a puzzle.

[ExiledInIllinois]

11 minutes ago, Utah John said:

I don't think it was ever clear to the public what happened with Terry Miller.  He had a fantastic rookie year, and then ... nothing.  He showed real brilliance with that quickness and speed.  Such a puzzle.

Wasn't it an injury?  Then Joe Cribbs came along and he was out like yesterday's news.  Ground to a pulp. 

 

Ds got onto him.  Notice some of those runs.  Everyone is in the box.   He must have lost the quickness?  But yeah, I'd like to hear the full story...

[Red Squirrel]

I had a complete copy of this game years ago and it was like watching a snuff film. This was one week after the Miracle at the Meadowlands and it SHOWED. The Giants had no interest in even being there, much less competing.

 

And when you think about it, it was 20% of Miller's season. So when we talk about him not doing much after 1978, we need to remember he didn't accomplish a whole lot *during* that season. Aside from this one game, against a team that seemed to be trying to get it's coach fired.

[hondo in seattle]

For many years, we were blessed with good running backs - and poor QBs.  Oddly, we face the opposite situation now.

 

 

7 hours ago, Utah John said:

I don't think it was ever clear to the public what happened with Terry Miller.  He had a fantastic rookie year, and then ... nothing.  He showed real brilliance with that quickness and speed.  Such a puzzle.

 

Here's what I remember though I can't find this anywhere on Google.  Terry got sick after his promising rookie year.  The disease (what?  can't remember) left him with poor peripheral vision.  He was never the same.  

[RJ (not THAT RJ)]

8 hours ago, Red Squirrel said:

I had a complete copy of this game years ago and it was like watching a snuff film. This was one week after the Miracle at the Meadowlands and it SHOWED. The Giants had no interest in even being there, much less competing.

 

And when you think about it, it was 20% of Miller's season. So when we talk about him not doing much after 1978, we need to remember he didn't accomplish a whole lot *during* that season. Aside from this one game, against a team that seemed to be trying to get it's coach fired.

 

What's weird about this game is that the Giants were in control, leading 17-7 in the second half, then suddenly forgot how to tackle Terry Miller and Roland Hooks. Momentum shift was bizarre.

[Red Squirrel]

11 hours ago, RJ (not THAT RJ) said:

 

What's weird about this game is that the Giants were in control, leading 17-7 in the second half, then suddenly forgot how to tackle Terry Miller and Roland Hooks. Momentum shift was bizarre.

 

The momentum shift was so bizarre it made me forget the 1st half🙃

 

 

 

 

[The Frankish Reich]

14 hours ago, RJ (not THAT RJ) said:

 

What's weird about this game is that the Giants were in control, leading 17-7 in the second half, then suddenly forgot how to tackle Terry Miller and Roland Hooks. Momentum shift was bizarre.

I’ll just say this: I am astounded by the level of detail of the memories of some of my fellow Bills fans. I barely remember Terry Miller, and I am quite sure I must have watched this game (I was still in school and I lived in the NYC market at the time). 

[Stranded in Boston]

Thanks for that, Chandler! I remember that game well -- my brothers and I were out raking leaves, listening to Van Miller's call on the radio (or maybe Al "Oh Baby!" Melzer was still doing play-by-play in '78?). Indeed, Miller was an enigma -- a promising rookie year, and then crickets -- but I recall he had an eye injury in '79 that affected his game (not to mention having to compete against the great Joe Cribbs in 1980). It was also fun to watch the Bills' offensive line first starting to gel under Chuck Knox. Joe D and Reggie M were at their peak, and Ken Jones and Joe Devlin were hitting stride at the tackle spots, where they anchored the line for better part of the next decade. Amazing how quick and athletic the OL players were on running plays; of course they probably averaged 260-280 lbs. in those days!

[longtimebillsfan]

On 6/25/2021 at 8:06 AM, mushypeaches said:

 

Except that's an illegal formation...

Also, that would give you 22 men on the field.

[Bob Chandler's Hands]

https://gazette.com/news/mitchell-football-superstar-terry-miller-talks-about-his-glory-and-his-crime-david-ramsey/article_1363fcc4-04a0-11ea-ad2e-87c76839afaf.html

 

Outstanding article on Terry Miller's life. 

Mentions his NFL career ended through a cascading set of injuries to his foot and leg and I suspect general wearing down after such a prolific high school and college career. 

[CookieG]

On 6/25/2021 at 11:33 PM, Utah John said:

I don't think it was ever clear to the public what happened with Terry Miller.  He had a fantastic rookie year, and then ... nothing.  He showed real brilliance with that quickness and speed.  Such a puzzle.

I found a recent interview with him..he said it was a toe injury. 

 

https://gazette.com/news/mitchell-football-superstar-terry-miller-talks-about-his-glory-and-his-crime-david-ramsey/article_1363fcc4-04a0-11ea-ad2e-87c76839afaf.html

 

...Miller had sprinted so far, so fast since catching that punt in Memorial Park, but his joyride crashed on his journey to the Great White North of Buffalo. He gained 1,060 yards as a rookie, ninth best in the NFL. Stardom looked just around the bend.

Next season, he suffered a severe left toe injury and rushed back to the field too quickly, leading to a series of leg injuries. Some days, he says, the toe still hurts. Two seasons later, in 1981, his battered body no longer could compete with NFL linebackers. His spectacular decade of football dominance was over. He was only 25....

 

I agree with what someone else said, his rookie year wasn't all that spectacular to begin with.  I remember an older cousin coming back from college that year and asking us how Miller was doing.  I remember my Dad and I looking at each other and saying the same thing, "he's not exactly setting the world on fire".   

 

His rookie year, he had that game and a 100 yard game in the last game of the season.  Every other game was around 50-60 yards and a YPC barely over 3.  I always thought he looked tentative.

 

And he was the RB I wanted in that draft.  He really was a stud in college.  Oklahoma St. wasn't really a powerhouse but he produced like few others.  I always saw him as a nice replacement for OJ, considering the bushel of draft picks Knox got in the trade. 

 

But it wasn't to be.  When Cribbs came in 2 years later, and I watched him hit the hole, I thought..."this is how MIller should be running."

 

4 hours ago, Bob Chandler's Hands said:

https://gazette.com/news/mitchell-football-superstar-terry-miller-talks-about-his-glory-and-his-crime-david-ramsey/article_1363fcc4-04a0-11ea-ad2e-87c76839afaf.html

 

Outstanding article on Terry Miller's life. 

Mentions his NFL career ended through a cascading set of injuries to his foot and leg and I suspect general wearing down after such a prolific high school and college career. 

Ha..you beat me by a few minutes