Is McD the most polarizing figure in Bills history?

[BillsPride12]

As far as on field accomplishments mixed with feelings of the person OJ for sure

 

Strictly based on performance I think there is a great case for McDermott to have this claim

[Albany,n.y.]

Rob Johnson. especially to the Flutie fans. 

[Lionel Hutz]

Is there really a big portion of the fanbase that likes OJ? Was there really anyone that wanted him to be associated with the Bills again after the murder trial? 

 

Maybe it's just cause I'm younger but I've never really had a strong feeling either way about OJ's status as a Buffalo Bill.

Edited May 29 by Lionel Hutz

[oldmanfan]

All time lists are always difficult if you haven’t been around since the beggining.  I have been.  I don’t know that I’d describe McD as polarizing.  Disappointing maybe because he had 9 years.  But you have to give him credit for turning things around.

 

John Rauch was polarizing with his idea for using OJ as a decoy.  Lou Saban when he quit on us.  Lamonica or Kemp depending whose side you were on.  Tom Donahoe for sure.  Guys like Harvey Johnson, Bullough, Stephenson, or Ringo weren’t polarizing because everyone hated them.

 

Maybe the most polarizing figure in Bills history was Ralph.  Loved because he made Buffalo into a major league town, hated because for years he wouldn’t spend and he’d meddle too much.

[Robert Paulson]

McDermott  took us from clusterf$ck to very good as a head coach.

 

His defensive philosophy prevented us from going from very good to world champs.

 

He should have been gone after 13 seconds.

[wjag]

Not even close. 

[T.E.]

8 minutes ago, Lionel Hutz said:

Is there really a big portion of the fanbase that likes OJ? Was there really anyone that wanted him to be associated with the Bills again after the murder trial? 

People are confusing the word "polarizing" with "controversial."

[transient]

As an individual, Flutie was definitely polarizing. Count me among those who thought he was a politicking little backstabber that divided a locker room and took way more credit for success than he was responsible for. I certainly found myself ideologically at odds with those who proclaimed him a franchise savior.

 

I think McD has been polarizing, but in a shifting spectrum sort of way and maybe, with obvious exceptions, without the same degree of vehemence among the majority of fans during most of his time here. There were those who loudly decried him after 13s (who turned out to be right) while, I would say, a majority of fans were still behind him. That ratio swung continually and sharply over the intervening years up to his firing such that, I would say, a majority of fans could see he needed to go while there were still a vocal minority that still staunchly support(ed) him. I was inching toward the line for a season or two after 13s, and finally stepped over it for good to the side of McD gotta go mid-season 2023 (had made my mind up before the Ty Dunne "hit piece"). After that, each season it became a more visceral thing. So, as part of my own experience, I do think McD was a polarizing figure.

 

@Mikie2times, I'm with you on not realizing how much impact he was having on my Bills fandom the last few seasons until feeling that crashing wave of relief when he was fired. 🤔... Unlike you, I'm probably kind of a b!tch in real life, so it won't be as much of a relief for those around me now that he's gone. 

[Mikie2times]

46 minutes ago, T.E. said:

It's 100% Flutie.

 

McDermott isn't really polarizing, when you think about it. Even the people who wanted him gone for years (I was one of them) will tell you that he is a good person and decent coach.

 

I'm not sure how OJ is polarizing. It pretty much common knowledge that he was a murderer; I don't remember any Bills fans arguing that he was a decent guy or anything.

 

4 minutes ago, T.E. said:

People are confusing the word "polarizing" with "controversial."

Respectfully disagree with McD. We had a petition signed that he should remain our HC. He has a group of avid supporters who think he got a raw. From my perspective a pretty wide range of feelings exist here and some are on very extreme sides.  At the least he is in the discussion.

 

That is correct on polarizing vs controversial. I was sort of confused as well as many of these call outs were not polarizing figures at all. They effectively have had a one sided reaction from our fan base. OJ being chief among them. 

[Doc Brown]

It's definitely Flutie. Especially in that '99 season where I felt they were winning in spite of him.  

[Captain_Quint]

34 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

It's not McD. It's the continued fall out of "Wide right". 

We as fans have never recovered. Our Championship and our hearts were ripped out that Sunday evening.  That night changed and divided us. For many and I suspect most of us, just having a good season is not enough.  Then "13 seconds" happened and the closest we had been in decades was stolen from us again. For many of us it was an unforgivable loss. We now have the best QB in franchise history and only to be held back by coaching is agonizing. 

McD was a nice man but it was long past time to give someone else a chance to bring a Championship to our city and our fans. Our QB has embraced the burden of the past failures and carries the hopes and dreams of an entire fan base. We no longer have the luxury of time for a coach and his horrible defense holding the franchise back.

Totally agree. This is the monkey thats still on all of our backs. It's the reason for the sympathy from other teams fans that say "I always liked the Bills".

The reason why we say "Im a Bills fan, I know your pain" when someone loses in a weird fashion.

 

Until a Super Bowl is won, the most polarizing Bills piece of infamy is still "Wide Right." 

[Miyagi-Do Karate]

25 minutes ago, Albany,n.y. said:

Rob Johnson. especially to the Flutie fans. 

Agreed. I would say RJ was more polarizing than Flutie! (Is this a new RJ v Flutie controversy?!)

[BuffaloBillsGospel2014]

2 hours ago, Lost said:

Tremaine Edmunds

 

legend has it he doesn't look a day over 23.

[Bill from NYC]

I am going with Flutie because some folks (including me lol) thought that RJ was the better choice. I was sold on RJ's skillset. He had a great arm, was big, and accurate. I really expected him to be great.

 

Once I was in the parking lot of RWS drinking beer at a tailgate with the great @Bob Lamb. I asked Bob why he didn't like RJ. His answer  was "because he sucks." He saw this before I did but I was not alone. Bob's reply did stick with me.

 

In any event, Flutie was part of a qb controversy, and his personality was not all that great. Didn't he schedule a gig with his band when we were alive in the playoffs? My podiatrist went to Boston College with Flutie and said he was not a popular person fwiw.

[HurlyBurly51]

Not sure how anyone who lived through the RJ/Flutie debacle could say anything different.  Never saw the fan base as divided as it was then over that debate.

[machine gun kelly]

The RJ/Flutie thing was awful.  Bills fans were split down the middle, but OJ was over the top.

 

There are still Bills fans who appreciated what McD did for this city, the team, and there were ones who hated him at every turn.  I still struggle to understand why the HC was so hated, when it’s clear people forgot how dreadful the 17 year drought just took such a toll on Bills fans.  We were the laughing stock of the league until he came in 2017.  We were then relevant in time.  Just making the playoffs in 2017 was such a blessing.  Granted we had to redo the team in 2018.  Losing to the Texans sucked, but admittedly Josh was sugar high that day.  2020-2025, we were good and won many playoff games.  Now was it time to move on as we just hit a ceiling. Sure.

 

I am also coming around that maybe these coaching changes and changes to get younger is hopeful.  I think the way he was fired or should I say the dreadful handling of that press conference by Terry Pegula, was a joke.  The dude is no Winston Churchill.  He shouldve just let Beane handle it.  Beane can be persuasive to the media.  In the beginning, I was all for firing bith, but he has managed through these last few months well.

 

Now Brady and Leonard have to put into action.  Their hiring have been solid, and I’m wondering what a group of guys from the Payton tree can do.  Payton certainly has the resume and accomplishments for the last 20 years.

[BigAl2526]

2 hours ago, Royale with Cheese said:

I would say OJ.

Oj Simpson is the reason I became a Bills fan.  His alleged (and probable) murder of Nicole Simpson was like a stab in the heart.

[EssexBill]

Nowhere near as big as McDermott considering he was the head coach and at the team for 9 years, but I’d say Gregg Rousseau is probably the biggest polarising player now.

 

There are those who say he had a great season last season, and there are those who say he didn’t get a sniff of a QB’s crotch and was invisible when it mattered in the playoffs. I fall in the second camp, but people will disagree with me hence my answer 

Edited May 29 by EssexBill

[Buffalo716]

6 minutes ago, BigAl2526 said:

Oj Simpson is the reason I became a Bills fan.  His alleged (and probable) murder of Nicole Simpson was like a stab in the heart.

Imagine Nicoles stab in the neck 😶

[Puckman5]

Chuck Dickerson.