Intelligent players + high character =

[Sirius99]

Its not about any one of these qualities. Its about the mix of them. Talent on its own can get you so far. Intelligence, same way. Same thing with a willingness to learn, and so on and so forth. When you start putting all of these characteristics together, the picture looks very appealing.

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Glad to see someone gets it.

[Ghost of BiB]

Glad to see someone gets it.

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A lot of people do. They just usually get ignored here.

 

Can't say something that makes sense. It's not controversial enough.

[DeLuca1967]

With the 2006 NFL draft almost a week behind us, let us review the moves the Bills have made.

 

Its obvious that Marv and Dick Jaroun feel that intelligence and high moral character are key elements to winning in the NFL.

 

I also did some research and found that the team with the highest percentage of college graduates on their roster are the New England Patriots and Carolina Panthers.

 

Winning teams with intelligent players with high moral character is a blueprint for winning.

 

The GM and HC believe in this philosophy and their draft choice reflect not only players that fit into the football scheme, but also carry the intelllect and character to play hard all the time.

 

Lastly, the year after Carolina played New England in the Super Bowl they had a string of injuries and still came back and fought hard and just missed the playoffs.

 

I think this is indicitive of what we will see on future Buffalo Bills teams over the next few years, and as a dedicated fan I can ask for no more then that.

 

For those who have doubted the moves the new regime have done, please read this post and reflect on the things I have stated.

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Can you explain the Peerless price signing then? Didn't the 5th round pick Kyle Williams get suspended one game by his own team for a nasty chop block?

 

And really. Isn't Marv being a hypocrit? "intelllect and character" wasn't running rampant on his team during the '90s. Didn't Bennett do time for sexual assault? Didn't Bruce fall asleep drunk at an intersection then passed out during a TV interview because of a hangover? And let's face it Jim Kelly is not the model for "intelllect". He went to the University of Miami for gods sake.

 

The Cowboys didn't have much "intelllect and character" but still won three out of four Super Bowls.

 

"intelllect and character" are nice PC buzz words that make good sound bites. But lets face it. We would all take a 350 pound kid with down syndrome and a coke habit if he could keep JP's blindside protected.

[Dibs]

Ricky Williams. Terrel Owens.  Keyshawn Johnson.  Winning players.

 

Wow that didn't take long to shut that theory out...

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But you certainly wouldn't add them to your rebuilding team would you?

Maybe(only just maybe) you would add them to your NFC championship type team to get you over the hump ala Eagles.

Players like these have not got the 'character' Marv is after.

The 'character' that is wanted is 'football character'. A team player with a serious attitude towards football.

It is not about being a good boyscout nor about being a rocket scientist.

It's all about the football.

The objective would be to fill the roster with as many talented atheletes who have this 'character' as you can. If you can't get enough to fill the roster, you make do.

[Orton's Arm]

"intelllect and character" are nice PC buzz words that make good sound bites. But lets face it. We would all take a 350 pound kid with down syndrome and a coke habit if he could keep JP's blindside protected. 

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There are two ways to win football games. Either you can have vanilla coaching and superior talent (Cowboys of the '90s) or you can have decent talent and superior coaching (the Patriots). Either way, you need players who make the most of the ability they've been given. A player who has superior talent but lacks mental toughness--such as Mike Williams--doesn't have a key role to play on any championship team. But stupid players who have mental toughness can be used at certain positions, and in certain schemes. Leon Lett had a long and productive career, despite being the mental equal of a rather cunning ox. But even though he was a player playing a simple position in a simple scheme, his stupidity occassionaly cost his team.

[Olaf Fub]

And really. Isn't Marv being a hypocrit? "intelllect and character" wasn't running rampant on his team during the '90s. Didn't Bennett do time for sexual assault? Didn't Bruce fall asleep drunk at an intersection then passed out during a TV interview because of a hangover? And let's face it Jim Kelly is not the model for "intelllect". He went to the University of Miami for gods sake.

 

 

Character got the Bills to four straight Super Bowl. It's the reason for the comeback against Houston. Marv's teams were full of players with character and intellegence.

 

On a 53 man roster, not all the players are going to fit the criteria perfectly. That doesn't mean you shouldn't strive for it.

 

Character also does not mean you have to be an alter boy.

 

After watching Jim Kelly on Quite Frankly, I find it hard to believe anyone still thinks he is a dummy.

[Ray]

Marv's teams during the 90's were full of character! He is not talking about altar boys. He is talking about players who are hard woking, professional, prepare, are respectful of the game teammates and coaches, and have persistence. You don't go to 4 straight SBs without those qualities.

He is not talking about a football player telling a lie to a girl at a bar on Friday night.

[ax4782]

First off, anyone who thinks Kelly is an idiot, clearly is more ignorant than a Coral Gable snail. Kelly ran the offense that lead the Bills through the Glory Years. Every time I've heard him speak he can express exactly what he means and he is actually relatively articulate.

 

Secondly, just because people have a screw-up or two doesn't make them "Bad Character" people. Keep in mind that Marv is after people who want to win, not people who want to make a pay check and give it a half-hearted effort on Sunday. No one on Marv's teams ever did that. I think that has been the problem over the past few years and this new mentality is exactly what the Bills need.

 

People were whining the last couple of years that the Bills lacked an identity and that we had talent but couldn't win. Now that we have a GM and a coach who have brought a new identity to the team, we're criticizing the new identity before these guys have even played a game.

[Orton's Arm]

Character got the Bills to four straight Super Bowl. It's the reason for the comeback against Houston.

Well said! When guys like Reich and Beebe showed character, the team reaped the rewards. But not all the Bills always displayed character. In the second half of that Dallas Super Bowl, the scoreboard said the Bills had a clear chance to win. But Thurman's body language and whole demeanor told a very different story. The team paid a price for this; just as it paid a price for the fact that too many players spent too much time at parties leading up to some of those Super Bowls.

[DeLuca1967]

First off, anyone who thinks Kelly is an idiot, clearly is more ignorant than a Coral Gable snail.  Kelly ran the offense that lead the Bills through the Glory Years.  Every time I've heard him speak he can express exactly what he means and he is actually relatively articulate.

 

Secondly, just because people have a screw-up or two doesn't make them "Bad Character" people.  Keep in mind that Marv is after people who want to win, not people who want to make a pay check and give it a half-hearted effort on Sunday.  No one on Marv's teams ever did that.  I think that has been the problem over the past few years and this new mentality is exactly what the Bills need.

 

People were whining the last couple of years that the Bills lacked an identity and that we had talent but couldn't win.  Now that we have a GM and a coach who have brought a new identity to the team, we're criticizing the new identity before these guys have even played a game.

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Please

 

Kelly ran an offense that had only eight plays in the game plan. He is a great QB but is no Steve Young. He is more like a Terry Bradshaw.

 

"Keep in mind that Marv is after people who want to win, not people who want to make a pay check and give it a half-hearted effort on Sunday."

 

Again. Explain how giving Peerless Price a $10 million contract fits into this. Price cares about nobody but himself. It's why he forced the Bills to trade him and it's why he was out of the league last season.

[inkman]

Can you explain the Peerless price signing then? Didn't the 5th round pick Kyle Williams get suspended one game by his own team for a nasty chop block?

 

We would all take a 350 pound kid with down syndrome and a coke habit if he could keep JP's blindside protected. 

685557[/snapback]

 

Butler was the one who laid out the cheap shot. As far as the second part, I think I found my new sig. (considering on the sabresreport I'm using your wolverine comment as my sig, I figured this would be fitting)

[Ghost of BiB]

FWIW, there are numerous examples throughout history of a smaller, less well equipped force besting a superior opponent on the battlefield through better training, leadership and tactics. Generally, it's more rule rather than exception.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

FWIW, there are numerous examples throughout history of a smaller, less well equipped force besting a superior opponent on the battlefield through better training, leadership and tactics. Generally, it's more rule rather than exception.

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Except if you're the Wehrmacht fighting the Red Army. But hey, who's counting?

 

[Ghost of BiB]

Sometimes there's just an insurmountable homefield advantage.

[Orton's Arm]

Except if you're the Wehrmacht fighting the Red Army. But hey, who's counting?

 

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Now that Marv's back, I've noticed a lot more WWII references cropping up. Yours is a good point about the Red Army, but bear in mind that by the fall of 1941, that army was fighting almost as fanatically as the Germans. Take away that fanaticism, and Nazi Germany would stretch from France all the way to China and the Pacific.