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Reactions
Bills fans remember the heartbreakersCNNSI.com looked at a few of the transactions that made Bills fans shout, "Say It Ain't So." Then we opened the mailbag and let users vent on those and other dirty deals from over the years. Here is a sampling of your reactions:
Flutie is what every NFL player should aspire to be and even though I will always be a Buffalo Bills fan I know that I will find myself rooting for which ever team gives him an opportunity this season!
n.
I have been a Bills fan since I attended SUNY Buffalo in 1965. Presently living in Israel where I still follow the Bills on the Internet and watch them when they are on TV. My son, Sinai, and I even wake up at 3 a.m. to watch the Bills when they were on Monday Night Football or late ESPN games. Last week, the Bills broke my heart when they cut Doug Flutie instead of giving him the chance to be the starting quarterback. Football executives don't understand Flutie. They think a QB has to be 6-foot-4 with a great arm to be a winner. They can't accept that a 5-9 man can be such a winner. Fans understand. Flutie is Everyman. He is a mortal, he is real size, he is competitive, he is human, he has vulnerabilities in his personal life, he has the will to prove himself every day. He is us, we are him. The Bills cut him, they cut us, the fans also.
Next year, I -- as well as many Bills fans -- will have an eye on the scoreboard to see how Flutie's new team will be doing. And if Flutie's team faces the Bills, I personally will be cheering for Flutie to teach the Bills a lesson.
I just finished reading your piece on bad Buffalo Bills trades, and as a die-hard Bills fan I think you overlooked a couple: 1. Sometime in the 1970s (I don't know the exact year, but I was in grade school then), the Bills traded Bobby Moore (Ahmad Rashad) to the Minnesota Vikings. If I recall, it was after owner Ralph Wilson was not willing to pay enough. Think the Bills could have done something with him? 2. 1985: The Bills trade Tony Hunter to the Rams for Vince Ferragamo. Ferragamo was a bust at QB and was cut in mid-season. Hunter had been a decent player with the Bills and had some good years with the Rams, though he ultimately was cut too. 3. Prior to 1985 the Bills and Browns strike a deal under which Buffalo takes Bernie Kosar in the supplemental draft, thus forfeiting its No. 1 pick in the 1986 draft, and trades him to Cleveland. Buffalo had first crack in the supplemental draft because it had the worst record in 1984, and it finished with the worst record in 1985 again. Only this time they didn't have the first pick because of the Kosar deal!!! (The pain was eased only somewhat when Bo Jackson, the number one pick by Tampa Bay, went to play baseball).
By the way, your piece on Joe Cribbs was correct to a point, but if I recall he didn't do too much after being traded to San Francisco. I recall that he was traded to Indianapolis, cut and then picked up by Miami as a free agent, where he was relegated to kick-off return duty on a Monday night game in which the Bills throttled the Dolphins in 1988, in Miami to boot. Watching that was sooooo sweet for any Bills fan!
I think the thing that is really killing me the most is the fact that the Bills let Bruce Smith go. Then they say everything is OK because we've got Markus Wiley. Well, now look at the situation we are in. No Bruce Smith ... No Markus Wiley ... Who's next? I think this will look like our next headline coming out of Buffalo: FEB. 28TH 2002 -- BILLS RELEASE SAM COWART
Buffalo says "Everything is going to be alright because we still have Sam Rogers ... Oh, wait ... What we meant to say was we still have Ted Washington. Oh, wait ... Um ... Help!
Forty years later, two names still stand out in my mind. During the franchise's early years, both Carlton "Cookie" Gilchrist and Elbert "Golden Wheels" Dubenion were offensive mainstays for the Bills. Gilchrist was traded to the Broncos for Billy Joe; Dubenion likewise went west to Denver but the circumstances surrounding his leaving escape me.
But watching Dubenion pulling down Jack Kemp's passes was a thrill and Cookie could crumble any AFL line with ease.
Allowing the fans to determine personnel moves in the NFL is a recipe for disaster. While the fans and media seemed to support Flutie, not one personnel man worth anything would have chosen him for the long term over Rob Johnson. The Bills are not going to the Super Bowl this year and they know it. Johnson was the correct choice and it is a credit to the new staff that they chose him. Bills fans need to look at the Eagles and see that their fans and the media screamed for Ricky Williams, even booing Donovan McNabb when he was selected. Andy Reid was a new head coach, stuck with his philosophy, and we all know how that has turned out.
Maybe it wasn't as heartbreaking as some of the other moves the Bills have made, but letting Ron McDole go to the Redskins, where he was a key part of the "Over the Hill Gang" for a few years, was just as stupid as any move the organization has ever made. McDole was a great Bill, and was not treated by the club with the respect he deserved.
I remember crying the day Jim Kelly retired. Part of me cried for the obvious reasons, and part of me cried knowing that the Bills would never be the same. Especially after seeing what Todd Collins did as a "starter" (and I use that term loosely, seeing as how he and Alex Van Pelt swapped starts every week or so). When we signed Doug Flutie and Rob Johnson, I simply figured anyone would be better than Todd. When we began the season 0-3, I started rethinking that idea. But then this little guy named Flutie came in and amazed us all. His enthusiasm for the game and the thrilling victories he yanked out of thin air got the people interested in the Bills on a national level; the excitement level in the city increased tenfold and people invested in the Bills, which ultimately saved the franchise; and his leadership and confidence on the field made everyone feel good about "Flutie Magic." After all Doug did, after the media hyped him up to be some sort of savior ... the organization essentially humiliated him. Wade Phillips played these "QB controversy" games (which, incidentally, would never have happened with Marv Levy at the helm), he yanked the 10-5 Doug in the last game of the season for Rob, who proved nothing by beating Indianapolis, and now this. New coach, new GM, same result. I've been called a "bandwagoner" for being a Flutie fan, not a "true" Bills fan. I've been watching the Bills since I was 8, I think I qualify as a "true" fan. But this, I can not condone. We brought this man in when we were losing games, when we started winning we loved him ... but we got greedy and decided we weren't winning by enough and maybe we should try something else. Ever hear the saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? A win is a win. You think the Giants complained when Norwood missed the field goal because they only won by one point? Why, then, is pulling out last-second wins not good enough? Rob Johnson is not the answer. What has he done, exactly?
People wonder why Buffalo has a bad reputation as a sports town? This could have something to do with it: constant alienation of its stars.
I think the Bills made the correct choice by keeping Rob Johnson over Doug Flutie. Not only is he younger and someone to build a team around, but he has great arm strength which will be needed in the new system. He will be able to drop back and fire away. Flutie would need to scramble out to clear the way for a throw. I don't want to make it a height issue but sometimes the west coast offense sometimes requires quick passes in the underneath area. I think without someone leaning over his shoulder other than the coach, Johnson will prove to work out well.
My "Say it Ain't So" moment was when the Buffalo Bills announced that Bruce Smith had been released, #78 himself, the badest man ever to step on the turf of then Rich Stadium. It still stings. A close second was seeing Thurman Thomas in a "fish" uniform, I almost threw up after I heard that one. I also believe that when the Bills make the mistake of keeping Doug Flutie this week I will again say, "Say it ain't so" once more.
When the Buffalo Bills waived Thurman Thomas. I could not believe that they would do that. They had the nerve to get upset when he signed with the Dolphins. Thurman felt that he could still play and was not ready to give football up. He is the second greatest running back that the Bills had ever or will ever have.
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Buffalo fans seemed to relate to Flutie's blue-collar mentality.