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New stadium official groundbreaking - Monday morning (6/5/2023)


Draconator

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Amazing to think of how far this team has come in the past decade.

Thinking back to 2014, the Bills were in the middle of a historic playoff drought, their image and culture were in the dumpster, and Ralph Wilson's passing -- followed by the looming bids from entities like Jon Bon Jovi and Donald Trump -- meant that the team staying in Buffalo at all was no sure thing.

Fast forward to June 2nd, 2023. The Bills have quality ownership, a state-of-the-art training facility, a top 10 GM and head coach, excellent team culture, an elite franchise QB, and a perennial Super Bowl contending roster coming off a string of division titles. The Bills are now a team that players accept less money to play for, due to the team culture and the very real chance at a Lombardi. 

And best of all? They're three days away from breaking ground on a new stadium that will keep them here for at least the next quarter century.

Amazing. 

Edited by Logic
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16 minutes ago, Logic said:

Amazing to think of how far this team has come in the past decade.

Thinking back to 2014, the Bills were in the middle of a historic playoff drought, their image and culture were in the dumpster, and Ralph Wilson's passing -- followed by the looming bids from entities like Jon Bon Jovi and Donald Trump -- meant that the team staying in Buffalo at all was no sure thing.

Fast forward to June 2nd, 2023. The Bills have quality ownership, a state-of-the-art training facility, a top 10 GM and head coach, excellent team culture, an elite franchise QB, and a perennial Super Bowl contending roster coming off a string of division titles. The Bills are now a team that players accept less money to play for, due to the team culture and the very real chance at a Lombardi. 

And best of all? They're three days away from breaking ground on a new stadium that will keep them here for at least the next quarter century.

Amazing. 

Well said.. 

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1 hour ago, Logic said:

Amazing to think of how far this team has come in the past decade.

Thinking back to 2014, the Bills were in the middle of a historic playoff drought, their image and culture were in the dumpster, and Ralph Wilson's passing -- followed by the looming bids from entities like Jon Bon Jovi and Donald Trump -- meant that the team staying in Buffalo at all was no sure thing.

Fast forward to June 2nd, 2023. The Bills have quality ownership, a state-of-the-art training facility, a top 10 GM and head coach, excellent team culture, an elite franchise QB, and a perennial Super Bowl contending roster coming off a string of division titles. The Bills are now a team that players accept less money to play for, due to the team culture and the very real chance at a Lombardi. 

And best of all? They're three days away from breaking ground on a new stadium that will keep them here for at least the next quarter century.

Amazing. 


And yet people continue to B word that NYS gave them money to build a stadium

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1 hour ago, BillnutinHouston said:

 

Not sure what your intent here is, but you might want to review how much his estate was directed to give away on his behalf.

 

 

It was a joke.   I loved Ralph, but lets be real here.  There probably wouldn't be any Von Miller signings or paying our QB highest contract in the league type deals if he were still around.  

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6 minutes ago, Lost said:

 

 

It was a joke.   I loved Ralph, but lets be real here.  There probably wouldn't be any Von Miller signings or paying our QB highest contract in the league type deals if he were still around.  

I agree.  Ralph just didn't like spending money on the team. Doesn't mean that he wasn't generous. In fact, he showed great character on behalf of the small-market teams.

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14 minutes ago, JohnNord said:


And yet people continue to B word that NYS gave them money to build a stadium


If the state HADN'T given them money for the stadium and the team left for greener pastures, those same people would have been complaining about lost revenue for the state. 

Some people just like to complain and will always find a way to do so, no matter the circumstances.

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1 hour ago, Lost said:

 

 

It was a joke.   I loved Ralph, but lets be real here.  There probably wouldn't be any Von Miller signings or paying our QB highest contract in the league type deals if he were still around.  

 

He did pay Mario Williams and I'm sure that Jim Kelly made close to top QB dollar for his era.  And Takeo Spikes was paid.  And Bryce Paup.  There were also rumors at one point in the drought that he was willing to pay Mike Shanahan top coaching dollar to come to Buffalo (which Shanahan rejected).  So there are several examples of Ralph and the Bills paying out the big bucks, but I agree that there were lots of times during the lengthy Ralph era were Ralph appeared to be unwilling to spend at the levels that the competition was spending.

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4 hours ago, Lost said:

 

 

It was a joke.   I loved Ralph, but lets be real here.  There probably wouldn't be any Von Miller signings or paying our QB highest contract in the league type deals if he were still around.  

In August 1986, Ralph Wilson DID make Jim Kelly THE highest paid player in NFL history at the time when he signed Kelly to his first contract here. Just saying. 

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1 hour ago, Billznut said:

In August 1986, Ralph Wilson DID make Jim Kelly THE highest paid player in NFL history at the time when he signed Kelly to his first contract here. Just saying. 

He also made Bruce the highest paid defender in nfl history …, also had the most million dollar salaries in 1991…

 

also made Derrick dockery the highest paid guard in the nfl …

 

OJ was also the highest paid player in the nfl 

 

Ralph wasn’t cheap … he made bad decisions 

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10 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said:

He also made Bruce the highest paid defender in nfl history …, also had the most million dollar salaries in 1991…

 

also made Derrick dockery the highest paid guard in the nfl …

 

OJ was also the highest paid player in the nfl 

 

Ralph wasn’t cheap … he made bad decisions 

Two out of those three were fantastic decisions and that ain't bad.  

 

The Toronto Series was bs though and will always leave a stain on a complicated legacy imo.  

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10 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

Two out of those three were fantastic decisions and that ain't bad.  

 

The Toronto Series was bs though and will always leave a stain on a complicated legacy imo.  

Derrick dockery tho… 😂😂

 

I kid … god bless Ralph 

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16 minutes ago, Doc Brown said:

Two out of those three were fantastic decisions and that ain't bad.  

 

The Toronto Series was bs though and will always leave a stain on a complicated legacy imo.  

I guess the Toronto series accomplished what he wanted, a automatic  sellout. hopefully a few more seasons at the Ralph. teams sucked then anyway

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6 hours ago, Lost said:

 

 

It was a joke.   I loved Ralph, but lets be real here.  There probably wouldn't be any Von Miller signings or paying our QB highest contract in the league type deals if he were still around.  


Josh Allen would’ve been benched after the thanksgiving game in dallas after John Brown threw a TD to singletary 

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4 hours ago, Logic said:


If the state HADN'T given them money for the stadium and the team left for greener pastures, those same people would have been complaining about lost revenue for the state. 

Some people just like to complain and will always find a way to do so, no matter the circumstances.


First as Buffalo Bills fan the tiny new Bills stadium scoreboard sucks big time for $1.5 billion dollars stadium we get a minor league scoreboard why? Is that something Bills Mafia is also excited about? Does the Bills Mafia has no standards or any Buffalo pride to not call PSE out on stuff like that? The potential Bills Mafia nonsense like that staying quiet in meetings with Bills marketing people are potentially going to run the Buffalo Bills team out of town someday? For not calling out the Buffalo Bills on stuff like that because Bills Mafia think it’s going to save the Bills long term going all cheap in every way like the Buffalo Bills organization wants just telling them what they want to hear type of thing? And it is actually going to do the opposite when Buffalo Bills fans feel ripped off and tire of the lack of amenities yet paying sky high prices at the new Bills stadium. The tiny scoreboard is ridiculous in my opinion. Go Bills! Let’s Go Buffalo 

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6 minutes ago, I am leaving for good said:


First as Buffalo Bills fan the tiny new Bills stadium scoreboard sucks big time for $1.5 billion dollars stadium we get a minor league scoreboard why? Is that something Bills Mafia is also excited about? Does the Bills Mafia has no standards or any Buffalo pride to not call PSE out on stuff like that? The potential Bills Mafia nonsense like that staying quiet in meetings with Bills marketing people are potentially going to run the Buffalo Bills team out of town someday? For not calling out the Buffalo Bills on stuff like that because Bills Mafia think it’s going to save the Bills long term going all cheap in every way like the Buffalo Bills organization wants just telling them what they want to hear type of thing? And it is actually going to do the opposite when Buffalo Bills fans feel ripped off and tire of the lack of amenities yet paying sky high prices at the new Bills stadium. The tiny scoreboard is ridiculous in my opinion. Go Bills! Let’s Go Buffalo 

Enough rambling

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12 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

I may go down there just to count the number of politicians fighting over a shovel to be part of the photo op. 😂


When you are down there ask about the dome

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9 hours ago, Billznut said:

In August 1986, Ralph Wilson DID make Jim Kelly THE highest paid player in NFL history at the time when he signed Kelly to his first contract here. Just saying. 

 

7 hours ago, Buffalo716 said:

He also made Bruce the highest paid defender in nfl history …, also had the most million dollar salaries in 1991…

 

also made Derrick dockery the highest paid guard in the nfl …

 

OJ was also the highest paid player in the nfl 

 

Ralph wasn’t cheap … he made bad decisions 

 

 

You guys may be right.  My memory of the Bills after their SB run was it just seemed like we could never seem to afford more than one marquee player at a time.   

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7 hours ago, I am leaving for good said:


First as Buffalo Bills fan the tiny new Bills stadium scoreboard sucks big time for $1.5 billion dollars stadium we get a minor league scoreboard why? Is that something Bills Mafia is also excited about? Does the Bills Mafia has no standards or any Buffalo pride to not call PSE out on stuff like that? The potential Bills Mafia nonsense like that staying quiet in meetings with Bills marketing people are potentially going to run the Buffalo Bills team out of town someday? For not calling out the Buffalo Bills on stuff like that because Bills Mafia think it’s going to save the Bills long term going all cheap in every way like the Buffalo Bills organization wants just telling them what they want to hear type of thing? And it is actually going to do the opposite when Buffalo Bills fans feel ripped off and tire of the lack of amenities yet paying sky high prices at the new Bills stadium. The tiny scoreboard is ridiculous in my opinion. Go Bills! Let’s Go Buffalo 

 

You seem real smart.

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