2000 Bills Team Question

[corta765]

So the 2000 Bills I was 11 years old for at the time and while I did go to a game and watch them I honestly do not know how fans viewed the season other then the QB controversy. They got out to 7-4 only to fall to 8-8 and miss the playoffs entirely.

 

Was the season viewed as wasted potential given the defense or with the QB controversy and special teams issues did that cause too much damage to move forward?

 

Genuinely curious for those who were older and remember more of it

[Bills fan since 87]

We were coming off two playoff seasons (Granted; wild cards as the Pats and even Jets were starting to emerge in the division).  You could tell we were in for a dip by seasons end.  I think they played Flutie the last game and of course he was great (something that he really hadn't been in these later years).  I was 24, with tons of Bills success not far in the rearview mirror.  We'd be fine.  With that said...

 

I never would have expected the 3-13 the next season however, and then the drought.  To me it felt like it was just a retool and we'd be back to the Bills.  2001 is when I knew just how far we had fallen.

 

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Bills fan since 87

[TheCockSportif]

My recollection of the season is:

1. Rob Johnson finally strutted his level of suckitude for all to see
2. Flutie was sniping publicly at his own team
3. The 2000 draft wasn't that great
4. The team was in cap hell and released a lot of veteran talent going into the season

Basically, they weren't good enough all season long and kind of packed it in by the time that the season was coming to an end.  It's been so long that I may have misremembered some points, but that season was the beginning of the drought, and remember going into the 2001 season with trepidation.

 

[Buffalo Boy]

The things I remember :

    Thurman was a Dolphin and we drafted Eric Flowers.

😞

[Uncle Buck]

This Wiki article pretty much wraps it up - Disappointing finish and Ralph fires Wade for Gregg Williams for 2001. Thus the drought of losing on the cheap began....

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_Buffalo_Bills_season

[mushypeaches]

special teams were a nightmare

lack of talent and depth finally caught up with us

the team's spirit was broken after the way the 99 season ended plus releasing 3 HOF'ers

Season #3 of QB drama left everyone fatigued

 

And if you couldn't see 3-13 coming in 2001 with the utter dearth of talent we had going into that year, well you were either very young or had a Rob Johnson poster above your bed

[Freddie's Dead]

Wade continued the mistake of starting Scrub Johnson, which basically flushed the season down the turlet.  Firing Bruce DeHaven as the scapegoat for the Music City Forward Pass and hiring the inexperienced and incompetent "Pump it Up" Ronnie Jones as the new Special Teams coach caused the Bills Best Special Teams in the NFL to plunge to the absolute bottom.  Flutie could not handle playing behind an inferior QB, and ripped the team apart because he should have been starting and wasn't.  After the season ended, Wade refused to fire Ronnie Jones (he rolled over on starting Johnson in the Wild Card game, and rolled over on firing DeHaven, but he drew the line at firing Ronnie Jones ).  Ralph promptly fired Wade (or did he resign?  We may never know.), and proceeded to make arguably the worst hire in Bills coaching history, Gregggggggggggggggggggggggggg "The Bullhorn" Williams.  And the drought was on.

[corta765]

1 minute ago, mushypeaches said:

the team's spirit was broken after the way the 99 season ended plus releasing 3 HOF'ers

 

I forgot about Bruce, Andre, & Thurman all got released. I wonder having their vet presence if that would've allowed the team to stabilize itself at the back end.

[smuvtalker]

1. We had the worst special teams units in league history, like ever.  Opponents average starting position was like their 37 yardline.  Christie's leg absolutely died that year.

2. The 2000 NFL draft saw us take:

1st - Eric Flowers, DE

2nd - Travares Tillman, FS

3rd - Corey Moore, LB

4th -  Avion Black, WR

5th -  Sammy Morris, RB

6th -  Leif Larsen, DE

7th -  Drew Haddad, WR

7th -  Dashon Polk, LB

3. Rob Johnson started the season for us, Flutie mailed it in.

4.  We were sitting decent at 7-4, then proceeded to go on a 4 game losing streak to quietly and efficiently end our playoff chances, and won a meaningless finale against the Seahawks..

Edited January 7, 2022 by smuvtalker

[corta765]

Just now, smuvtalker said:

 

7th -  Drew Haddad, WR

 

 

Haha so going to UB football games he is proudly listed as one of their drafted alumni. I cannot ever remember him suiting up a game for the Bills. Namiean Roosevelt I at least remember making some plays and having some time in the sun

[Freddie's Dead]

1 minute ago, smuvtalker said:

1. We had the worst special teams units in league history, like ever.  Opponents average starting position was like their 37 yardline.  Christie's leg absolute died that year.

2. The 2000 NFL draft saw us take:

1st - Eric Flowers, DE

2nd - Travares Tillman, FS

3rd - Corey Moore, LB

4th -  Avion Black, WR

5th -  Sammy Morris, RB

6th -  Leif Larsen, DE

7th -  Drew Haddad, WR

7th -  Dashon Polk, LB

3. Rob Johnson started the season for us, Flutie mailed it in.

4.  We were sitting decent at 7-4, then proceeded to go on a 4 game losing streak to quietly and efficiently end our playoff chances, and won a meaningless finale against the Seahawks..

 

Hey, Sammy Morris Jr. was pretty good.  And it's Erik Flowers, people.

[HOUSE]

I remember Chris Mohr was the punter, does this help ?

[eball]

Crappy draft.  First season post Thurman, Bruce, Andre.  Johnson named starter.  That said, they were 7-4 and probably on their way to the playoffs despite the worst ST in the history of football when Sam Cowart -- who was having an All-Pro year -- ruptured his achilles in the first half at Tampa in a game the Bills were controlling.  They lost that one and spiraled from there.  It was the beginning of the drought.

 

Takeaways:  Wade Phillips shot himself in the foot with the knee-jerk reaction of firing DeHaven after the Tennessee playoff loss.  He brought his buddy in who was a disaster.  The culture was shot and their talent got them to 8-8.

 

[Billy Claude]

10 minutes ago, smuvtalker said:

1. We had the worst special teams units in league history, like ever.  Opponents average starting position was like their 37 yardline.  Christie's leg absolute died that year.

2. The 2000 NFL draft saw us take:

1st - Eric Flowers, DE

2nd - Travares Tillman, FS

3rd - Corey Moore, LB

4th -  Avion Black, WR

5th -  Sammy Morris, RB

6th -  Leif Larsen, DE

7th -  Drew Haddad, WR

7th -  Dashon Polk, LB

3. Rob Johnson started the season for us, Flutie mailed it in.

4.  We were sitting decent at 7-4, then proceeded to go on a 4 game losing streak to quietly and efficiently end our playoff chances, and won a meaningless finale against the Seahawks..

 

 

The draft was so bad that the conspiracy theory people argued that John Butler purposedly messed it up as he knew he was leaving after the season.  This led to the other big reason for the crash in 2001 and the drought in general -- hiring Tom Donahoe as GM to replace Butler.

 

But definitely the incredibly bad special teams cost them one or two games.  With reasonable special teams they might have made the playoffs.

 

 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Billy Claude

[billsfan1959]

All I remember about 2000 is starting my descent into the Buffalo Bills' 17 circles of hell...

[smuvtalker]

21 minutes ago, Billy Claude said:

 

 

The draft was so bad that the conspiracy theory people argued that John Butler purposedly messed it up as he knew he was leaving after the season.  This led to the other big reason for the crash in 2001 and the drought in general -- hiring Tom Donahoe as GM to replace Butler.

 

But definitely the incredibly bad special teams cost them one or two games.  With reasonable special teams they might have made the playoffs.

 

 

A theory definitely not easy to debunk....aside from Sammy Morris, I don't distinctly remember any of these other Bills to have done much.  I remember hearing how Avion Black had real potential, Leif Larsen was supposedly like the strongest player at the combine, and how Eric Flowers was this speed dem.....er...excuse me I'm gonna be sick

Edited January 7, 2022 by smuvtalker

[corta765]

14 minutes ago, Billy Claude said:

 

 

The draft was so bad that the conspiracy theory people argued that John Butler purposedly messed it up as he knew he was leaving after the season.  This led to the other big reason for the crash in 2001 and the drought in general -- hiring Tom Donahoe as GM to replace Butler.

 

But definitely the incredibly bad special teams cost them one or two games.  With reasonable special teams they might have made the playoffs.

 

 

You could make a sizeable case that the draft failings in 2000 & 2002 (2001 actually was good) really damaged the talent base for the Bills which set in motion much of what occurred after as veteran talent left.

 

To me the true base of the drought is 2000-2003 between some bad drafts, Donohoe, poor draft mgmt/capital pick wise, QB mis-mgmt with Bledsoe and Losman, and overall lack of culture that developed. So many decisions happen so fast without a plan and a lot of going back and forth on direction that eroded any real true talent base from developing. It is kinda remarkable the fact they still did draft some impact players like Schobel, Clements, McGhee, etc.. despite how much they flubbed. From 2000-2004 they had 3 different coaches alone. In retrospect it was just such a mismatched mess. Somewhere there is an alternate universe where the opposite happened and the Bills drafted Aaron Rodgers haha. 

 

With that said I have always believed had the Bills made the playoffs in 2004 the direction of the franchise would've been far different.

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

30 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

I remember Chris Mohr was the punter, does this help ?

You knew to keep your wallet at hand in those days, too!

 

[Just Jack]

29 minutes ago, Billy Claude said:

The draft was so bad that the conspiracy theory people argued that John Butler purposedly messed it up as he knew he was leaving after the season.  This led to the other big reason for the crash in 2001 and the drought in general -- hiring Tom Donahoe as GM to replace Butler.

 

I remember watching an episode of the Paul Maquire show on Empire Sports.  John Butler and Steve Christie were the guests.  Paul mentions that Christies contract was up for renewal.  The shocked look on John Butlers face was all I needed to see, to know he was either leaving himself, or going to be let go, if he did not know who on the team had contracts ending. 

Edited January 7, 2022 by Just Jack

[Livinginthepast]

I went to the Tennessee rematch game at the Ralph which was on Sunday night football to start that season. My friend had bought tickets but the Bills had lost them in the mail, so they replaced them with some really nice seats about 3 rows up from the sideline at about the 10 yard line. Best fan experience ever at the Ralph that day.  The other memories I have from that season are that the Bills should have been much better than they were and the team blew so many opportunities.  The loss to Minnesota away was a gut punch because the Bills played really well in that game but blew it at the end.  There were a couple of other close losses as well. I also remember Wade seemingly giving up on the season even though we were still alive. Saying something like "we're pretty much out of it" which although realistic was unforgivable for a HC to say. At the end of the season people were calling for Wade's head which was stupid then and in retrospect a terrible move by the organization. The next year, the wheels came off with a terrible new coach, GM and awful uniforms.