Gordio

I remember my dad took my friend & I to that game. Opening week of the 86 season. I was 13. When they announced the offense & it was Kelly's turn to be introduced you could just hear "from the University of Miami" & you could not hear the rest because the crowd was so loud. Kelly was something that day too. You just knew watching him play that day that Bills finally found their QB. Man good memories.

You are correct sir. It was a then record & pundits were astonished by the "crazy money thrown around." It was a good deal with the Bills too & the city. They needed a star, a guy this town could be proud of & boy did Kelly deliver. Dr Z wrote about his first game, here is some of the article, kind of captures the mood of the city It's easy to lose perspective here. It's easy to get carried away. Let's just say, coolly and unemotionally, that the National Football League debut of Buffalo rookie quarterback Jim Kelly was nothing short of sensational. Jim Kelly is Joe Namath with knees. The Bills lost to the New York Jets 28-24 on Sunday, but it wasn't Kelly's fault. He threw three touchdown passes, exactly one third of the Bills' total production last year. He brought the Bills back twice in the fourth quarter, once giving them a three-point lead and then moving them to within four points, and he might have pulled off some kind of miracle at the end if the defense had held and given him one more shot. But these are, after all, still the Buffalo Bills, and the Jets socked them for 210 yards and 14 points in that final period. All Kelly could do was watch New York eat up yards and minutes. But Lordy, wasn't the new guy something? Joe Willie with knees. The resemblance between Namath and Kelly is striking, not technically but emotionally. The same dirt toughness, western Pennsylvania toughness. O.K., knock me down, but I'm gonna get up and come right after you. The Jets gave Kelly the whole package Sunday: They packed eight men up near the line; they showed the rookie quarterback every variation of the old Bear 46 Defense; they sent in rushers in waves—at one point they rushed six defensive linemen—then in long-yardage situations they backed off and rushed only three and played coverages. The Jets got to Kelly plenty, but the damage was done after he had released the ball. Officially New York recorded only one sack. Kelly was knocked goofy near the end of the first half, when he put his head down and tried to run over a defensive back, and he blanked out; Greg Bell, a halfback, had to call the next play. Mark Gastineau blindsided Kelly and bruised his back. Kelly got his ankle twisted when he fell over Gastineau three series later, and on his last touchdown pass the Bills' quarterback fell as he pulled away from the center, but scrambled to his feet, rolled to his right and, fighting off a rush, threw a four-yard pass off his back foot to tight end Pete Metzelaars deep in the corner of the end zone for the touchdown that brought the Bills to within four points, 28-24, with 3:55 remaining. "I knew he'd be tough," Gastineau said, "but this was ridiculous." Bills center Kent Hull wasn't surprised. He remembers Kelly from the USFL days, the 75 sacks he suffered in 1984 with the Houston Gamblers' exciting run-and-shoot offense, his ability to come off the deck and inflict heavy damage quickly and efficiently. "We sacked him three times when we played Houston in the Meadowlands," said Hull, a former New Jersey General. "The last time, he didn't get up. Everybody thought he had a broken finger. We thought we had seen the last of Jim Kelly, but he went in and got it taped up and came back and threw a touchdown pass that nearly beat us. "Before I met him I figured he'd sit the year out and hold an auction. But after I met him at the Generals' minicamp this spring, I knew there was no way he could be out of football for a year." That, of course, was just fine with Buffalo's coach, Hank Bullough. " Jim Kelly," Bullough said, "is our future." Future of both the team and the franchise. During the giddy three weeks between Kelly's signing of an $8 million contract on Aug. 18 and his first appearance on the field, some people went so far as to suggest he was the future of the city of Buffalo itself. Kelly's impact even reached as far south as West 43rd Street in Manhattan where the The New York Times led its Metropolitan section last Saturday with a story about the euphoria in Buffalo. Almost two decades before, Namath salvaged a franchise, and he brought credibility to an entire league, and, at the time, his $427,000 contract was more of a bombshell than Kelly's was. But Joe Willie was operating in New York City, and no one went so far as to suggest that the Apple was on the way out until he showed up. In Buffalo it's different. In three weeks Kelly has given a beleaguered city an identity. Kelly can't reopen the steel mills. He can't bring back the industries that have abandoned Buffalo for the Sun Belt. But he can cut the gloom, he can brighten up the physical and emotional eyesore called the Buffalo Bills, with their back-to-back 2-14 seasons, and provide a lift for so many people in that city. Jim Kelly is god, read a banner at Rich Stadium on Sunday. I'M IN A JIM PACKED STADIUM, read another. When he rode in a limo through downtown Buffalo on Monday, Aug. 18, after he had signed the contract, hundreds of fans lined the way, waving, cheering. Six hundred people, including New York Governor Mario Cuomo, showed up at a chamber of commerce luncheon a week later, reviving a tradition that had lapsed for three years. There are Jim Kelly footballs on sale and a deal for a line of Jim Kelly hats is near. Two days before the Jet game, The Buffalo News ran a story about Kelly's signing with Buffalo radio station WGR to do 10-minute Monday and Friday spots for more than $2,000 a week. O.K., so in L.A. or New York it's a yawn, but not in Buffalo, a town where you can still buy a pretty decent home for less than $50,000. "Actually his radio fee is more," one of Kelly's agents, Greg Lustig, said in the locker room Sunday. "It's a little more than $40,000 for the season." Though Buffalo is a blue-collar city, no one seems to begrudge Kelly any of his financial rewards, including the $8 million contract, which breaks down to a $1 million bonus now, another million in 1988, and a five-year base pay that rises from $1 million per annum to $1.4 million. If you throw in the insurance policy the club bought him, you're over the $8 million mark. "He's a good guy, and he's a tough guy," Bullough says. "When he signed the contract people said, 'Boy, he got a lot of money.' I said, 'No he didn't. He got the market value.' If he had waited a year and then let people bid for him, he could have gotten a lot more. Ninety percent of the players in his position would have waited, but he's a football player, and he wants to play." The Bills figure that Kelly's signing and the excitement it generated covered his bonus for this year and part of his 1986 salary. According to their marketing and sales director, Jerry Foran, they quickly sold 6,500 season tickets—at an average of $120 per. Then there were the extra single-game sales that brought Sunday's attendance to a Rich Stadium record of 79,951—plus the additional ticket sales for later games in '86. We averaged 38,000 per home game last season," Foran said on Thursday, "and right now we don't have a game under 40,000. We sold 38,000 tickets in the six days after his signing. We had to hire 21 extra people to work the ticket windows, and we worked in the office until midnight." The marketing director put the total revenue generated by Kelly at around $1.5 million. "If Sunday's game is exciting, we don't even have to win as long as we're competitive. This could mean our season," Foran said. "Every game could be close to a sellout. We've got 83 ticket outlets all over western New York now. We never used to [have that many]." "Sunday's game," said Bill Polian, the Bills' general manager, "could be the most important in the history of the franchise. It could be our future." Kelly came into the Jet game with 19 full practices under his belt and many more meetings—boy what meetings. "We have meetings to set up meetings, and meetings to follow meetings," Kelly said a few days before the game. Even the 20-minute lunch break is a meeting. "Lunch today was a turkey sub. People ask me what I think of Buffalo. What can I tell them? Hey, I haven't even seen it. I've been out once. At night I watch the tapes of practice. "Sometimes your head starts hurting. You feel that you just can't absorb any more football. So I get out the Tylenol. The whole point is that I don't want to embarrass myself out there—or my teammates. At the University of Miami when I'd make a call it was, say, 70 Texas. Seventy is the protection, Texas the play. With Houston in the USFL it would be something like Rip 60, Z Go. Here? A typical call would be Trey Right Zoom Flare 2-2-2, H Option, F Sail. You're expected not only to read defenses but call the backs' assignments, the line blocking, the protection, everything. "There are times when I can read a defense, and I know what to audible into, but I have to think about the language. Getting into it is a problem. It's like being in a foreign country and trying to speak the language." Bob Leahy, the Bills' quarterback coach, said the operation would be modified to fit Kelly. Routes would be lengthened, blocking adjusted to avoid mismatches, such as a back trying to pick up Gastineau, a mismatch favored by the Jet defensive coordinator. Bud Carson, who likes to move Gastineau all over the field, creating all sorts of problems for the opposition's offense. " Jim Kelly will get a pass rush tomorrow; he can count on that," Carson said Saturday night. "Our guys are anxious to indoctrinate him. This is not the U.S. Football League. I'm sure that someday he's going to be a great quarterback, but when they knock you down in this league, you don't get up right away." Well, Kelly got up and threw for 292 yards, completing 20 of 33 passes, with no interceptions, for three touchdowns. It's as impressive a debut as any of the Hall of Fame quarterbacks managed in his first rookie start. In his first game, Dan Marino had three touchdown passes, but he also threw two interceptions. If you want to argue that the 26-year-old Kelly is not a true rookie, that his two years in the USFL should count for something...well, he compares very well with the guys in the same situation. Frankie Albert and Y.A. Tittle, after arriving from the All-America Football Conference in 1950, went 7 for 17 and 5 for 12, respectively. Otto Graham, in that landmark 35-10 victory over the Eagles in '50, threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns—but he also had two interceptions.

I think Buddy wants out of this spot bad. Yeah yeah, I know that is not what he does but I think he wants to drop down & get more picks. Whether he could find a partner or not is what this draft is all about. Like you said, if there is a guy or 2 on the board that teams want @ 8 like Austin, he may find a partner.

No problem. I am not sure what I think of Jones. Everytime I watched him either A.) His receivers were wide open & throws he had to make did not have to fit into tight windows, or B.) He was under pressure & did not look good when heat was brought on him. I think I would rather take my chances with Nassib or Barkley. Just my opinion.

I just got out of an interesting meeting with some guys that lets just say are fairly familar with the Bills. Out of the one gentlemens mouth & I quote "There is a real power struggle going on, Marrone wants his boy Nassib, Buddy is really bit in the ass over (wait for several posters to jump off the bridge) Landry Jones." I can't see them taking Jones with a 1st round pick(doesn't he have a 3rd round grade) Maybe Nix will take Jones with our 2nd & take Millner/Austin/one of the LBs with our first round pick. Take it for what it is worth, which is not a hell of alot. Just thought I would share.

That would be the one guy that if still on the board would give me pause for taking Barkley. I would still take Barkley though. Come on Buddy, enough with the lip service about drafting a QB & let's pull the trigger on Barkley.

Did you actually see the hit in the UCLA game that he got injured. Any QB in the NFL would of injured his shoulder on that play. That is not being frail, that is getting the wood laid on you.

I am with ya on Thursday. Since they switched it, the draft is just not that big of deal to me. Although Saturday, with the weather looking decent my son has a baseball game in the morning & it should be done by noon. I was thinking about bringing the TV out on the patio with the draft on & switch over to some ball games & make a day of it. Have not asked any of my friends, I will probably just keep it low key, get a couple ribeyes, see if my son wants to play the old man in a 5 game series in wiffle ball & make a fire at night. Oh yeah & get a case of beer iced down in the cooler. Should be a fun little Saturday, looking forward to it. BTW, not to steel this post, but I called Direct TV Friday & threaten to cancel my service. The girl gave me the MLB baseball package for free, $15 off my account for the next 6 months & the NFL Ticket for a one time payment of $39.99. So now I got every baseball game. I have been loving it so far.

Very true. Having playmakers helps any QB.

I will just add that to compare guys like Sanchez & Booty to Barkley is silly. Barkley was a 4 year starter, put up great numbers all 4 years. Booty & Sanchez were 1 year starters. Rob Johnson started for a year & half I believe. You nailed it with Palmer, that guy was everything you wanted in a 1st round pick until he blew out his knee on that cheap shot from the steelers in that playoff game. He was never the same after that.

Every year people know what teams we are playing just not the dates but when the schedule comes out people are like I can't see us winning more then 2 games. We have the 7th easiest schedule in the NFL based on last seasons results & only 5 teams that we play made the playoffs last year. Does not sound too bad to me.

& you got to remember too they will probably be 4-9 by that point so does it really matter where they stay?

Same here. We used to do the same thing on Saturday. We would golf early in the morning, come back to my house, get a keg, grill out, play poker, have the draft on one tv & the ball games on the other tvs. It was really a great day. I hardly even watch it anymore. Just try to click it on when the Bills are about to pick.

They have an RV place right on Southwestern before the Stadium. Not sure if they rent them or not but some of the ones they got look awesome. Not sure what the name of it is.

Barkley has twice the arm that Pennington ever had. I don't what games you are watching. Comparing Barkley to a guy like Penny is ridiculous imo.

Exactly, Barkley's arm is fine. No it is not a cannon, but believe me he will get the ball where it needs to go & his understanding of the game will make up for any short comings. This isn't Fitz where talking about, Barkley could fling it 50-60 yards + in the air. His arm strength is fine.

Excellent analysis & reasoning my man. Well done. As many know on this board I have been on the Barkley bandwagon for awhile now. Just don't understand the hatred that posters have for this guy. 4 year starter, incredable numbers, 12K passing yards, 140 tds against only 60 some ints, leader, intangibles are off the charts. I said this before & got laughed at but I think this kid has D Brees written all over him. No he is not going to throw a football from his knees thru the goal posts from the the 50 yard line like such great QBs like Russell & Boller, but this guy will get it done when it counts most on Sundays. I do worry about the culture shock coming from So Cal to B-lo but this kid could handle it. Come on Buddy take a chance on Barkley. You won't be sorry.

Back in the late 90's it was the year actually the Yankees set the all time regular season win record I went with my friend for the weekend to NY to see the Yanks play the Redsox. It was maybe early June. Now I am a Mets fan so I can not stand the Yankees or the Red Sox. My friend is a die hard Yankee fan. The Saturday game we sat up in the upper decks & I did not notice any problem. Of course I was pretty loaded so I don't remember too much. The Sunday game even though the plan was to drive down to Philly & catch the Mets game my friend somehow talked me into going to the Yankees game again. I reluctantly agreed because I think the pitching matchup was enticing(I know Pedro was pitching for the Sox & I think Clemons was pitching for the yanks) + I was really hungover & did not feel like making the drive to Philly. We ended up sitting in the bleachers. It was about 95 degrees that day & man were there ever some tensions in the bleachers. This young couple were both wearing Red Sox jersey & I honestly did not think they were going to get out of their alive. There were NYPD in ailes, not security guards, but NYPD. Eventually the fans were so brutal & it was getting so violent the police escorted them out of there. I never witnessed anything like it in a sporting event before.

If you want the next QB for the Bills to be an unathletic version of Rob Johnson part 2 Glennon is your guy.

I have no idea.

Horrible mock draft. BTW, Glennon is not the reason Wilson transferred to Wisconsin. Glennon couldn't carry Wilson's jock. Wilson transferred because Obrien gave him an ultimatium to give up baseball which he was not prepared to do at the time. Glennon had nothing to do with it. Glennon sucks.

Entertaining story, appreciate it. The playoffs are a different animal. I have been to a ton of road games for the Bills & I just don't get people trying to flaunt their team's colors in enemy territory. Sit down, relax, have a few beers, slap the occasional high five & keep a low profile. That is my motto. Call me a p*ssy, a wimp whatever but in the end a football game win or lose is not really worth spending a night in jail for & get your head pounded in. Show the opposing team which your a guest in some respect. It works both ways too. I really never get into harrassing opposing team's fans @ the Ralph, but I don't mind when it happens. Even though we suck, if another teams fans are going to come into our house, even though we suck they should be seen & not heard. I even told my son, who loves the Falcons, when we go to the game this year he is not wearing his Matty Ice jersey. My wife thinks I am being stupid but I don't feel like getting into a fight with some alchy that decides it is a good idea to throw a beer at my 9 year old son for wearing a Falcons Jersey.

Screw your & Joe B's safety pick @ 8. Losing organizations pick safeties @ 8. So with that being said I am sure the bills will do it. Voccarro is not even that good. I would rather have the kid from USC or Elam & both of those guys could be around in the 2nd round.

Totally agree. Kobe has had a great career but MJ in a class by himself imo. I am turning 40 next month & at least in my time their is 2 guys that have completely dominated a team sport & that is MJ & Gretzky.