Kultarr

What does make some sense, is that when you have a micromanager in the power position and then decide to make a change and let him go ... the ripple effect will be like a boulder tossed in a frog pond.

To intentionally do a poor job is never a smart move and amounts to career suicide. I don't think Jerry Gray is that sort of person myself. (He's highly intelligent and motivated by all accounts.) More likely there was a lot of confusion, chaos, and self-preservation instincts flying around OBD in the last days as Donahoe played his fiddle and OBD burned to the ground (errant sparks from the bonfires of protest sign apparently). The fact that OBD still has Gray in the wind, Mularkey's waffling and quitting, and rumor mills of "he said/she said" running wild is not good. Somebody needs to start cleaning things up and putting the house back in order. What a mess.

Implosions are best viewed from the outside.

The "character" that is not of any importance here is "he's a jolly soul", "he looks great in a suit and tie", or "he is a good product spokesman". Fat Mike excels at these, sure. The character that is important is work ethic, dedication to the team and the sport, and commitment to doing the job to the absolute best of one's ability. Fat Mike is a bust when it comes to those qualities. I have no idea if Marv would've pulled the trigger just like Donahoe. Still, Fat Mike was a RT (never a LT) drafted to be a LT, there were questions about his weight and conditioning, he had a history of leg problems (a bad knee) ... so it is not out of the question that another GM might not have taken Fat Mike.

Wait. I've actually seen the 49ers offense. "I'm gonna tell you something; I don't like this move." -- Paul Maguire

It was only his avatar.

A one year flyer on him might be a nice risk vs. reward option. Of course, I doubt he'd want to come to a team with no offense, so that'd rule out the Bills...

Hope they don't go blind that way.

Yeah, well, when the cupboards are bare ... it may take a couple trips to the Wegmans ...

Shirley u Jests!

Anyone hurt themselves genuflecting yet? Ouch!

Aye, thars da rub. Parrish will cause defensive coordinators around the NFL about 5 minutes of chuckle time while Moulds is someone they still have to respect and will roll coverages towards. It's a no-brainer indeed.

Well hung or hung well?

Hmm. I seem to recall that "Coughlin" when translated from the ancient Irish means roughly "the skin and lard upon which the juggler sits himself to eat mutton by the fire." So yeah, basically an assclown.

I seem to recall Donahoe extending the contracts of and paying roster bonuses to guys he would cut weeks/months later. Kind of bizarre for a proclaimed cap guru, if you ask me. Donahoe's really genius was his chutzpah in making the "Big Move." Draft day deal for Bledsoe got the Bills national ooohs and ahhhs. The McGahee pick. The trade for JP Losman. Picking up Lawyer Milloy. Some of the name free agents he brought in. He was great at getting the Bills name in the media in the off-season. Too bad that it usually fell apart when they started the season.

Why? The guy sucked when he was put in at LG. Sugar coat it with excuses (injuries, not his natural position, didn't get enough reps, etc.) but the fact is he couldn't block the guy in front of him as a guard. In fact, I don't think having a 400-pounder with a couple flat tires, a torqued suspension, and a bad rib cage is really what the doctor ordered up for getting average guard play. Having a guy that could run would be much preferred. (Also, stocking the line with some guys sharper than bowling balls would be nice.)

Do you mean Wayne Simmons?

Well, I thought you did call him on it. The Super Bills were not choir boys. What football team is? Marv is human like the rest of us and had/has his faults. I do happen to think that Marv was probably talking more about the character of professionalism of the players he kept on his team. Those guys were committed to doing their jobs to the best of their abilities; talent alone wouldn't have been enough for the success they had. Of course, the way the Bills franchise has disintegrated under the Donahoe regime has only increased the contrast so the halos appear all that much brighter.

Scary stuff. Old Todd's been around 11 years now. And has averaged less than 1.5 starts a year. And that due to the '97 season that got Marv thrown out of Buffalo... <sigh> Well, at least that gave us the Flutie vs. Johnson civil war.

Well, I happen to think it is Marv's right to remember his old teams in a positive light. Perhaps it is romanticizing. Perhaps it is a bit of overreaction to the critics that equate losing Super Bowls with total suckitude. One thing that gives me some ray of hope about all this: in the early part of Marv's stint as head coach in Buffalo, he had no qualms about getting rid of guys and bringing in the right players -- even "his" guys if they couldn't get with his program.

Yeah. It helps when the team can execute the basic stuff.

I'm not sure what is left to evaluate about Holcomb though. He's still the not quite good enough QB he has always been as an NFL journeyman. He's been around long enough to know the job of an NFL QB and he's not going to suddenly grow an Elway arm overnight...

Thanks for the background there, old buddy. I agree that the situation looks chaotic, even at long distance. If it does turn out to be true that Losman has already burned his bridges in Buffalo (in some sort of record time), then that would be a frightening commentary on just how badly the Bills scouting department and football operations have collapsed and spun out of control.

Are you saying that Losman is a bust at QB? He'd have to be a bust in order for MM (or the organization) to give up on him in his first season after only a few starts, with the view that giving him (or any young player that is potentially the foundation of the future of the franchise) practice reps and playing time has absolutely no benefit for anyone in an otherwise wasted season.

Is there any evidence that something like this took place? It may just be true that Losman was/is injured.