VJ91 Posted December 29, 2009 Posted December 29, 2009 Mike Holmgren may or may not make a great President in Charge of Football Operations....of Bill Parcells ilk in Miami, for the Browns. That point has been debated already. Personally, I would have liked the guy to have the same position here. But I have a different question. Just what great football "traditions" are there in Cleveland, compared to Buffalo? OK, the Browns entered the NFL 10 years before the Bills entered the AFL, and from 1950 to 1959, they won NFL Championships early and often that first decade under Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown. They won their last NFL Championship in 1964. But how many fans from that 1950 to 1959 era are left today to celebrate that 60 year old "tradition"? The Bills ironically, won their first AFL Championship in 1964, that last year the Browns won the NFL Championship. Comparing both franchises "traditions" since that Championship season of 1964 for both, the Cleveland tradition pales greatly! I could care less about looking up exact number of divisional championships or wildcard playoff seasons for the Browns since 1964, but every one knows two things about them since then: (1) They have NEVER played in a Super Bowl, while the Buffalo Bills have played in FOUR. (2) Their scum bag owner Art Modell left the "tradition-rich" Browns without a team for 3 seasons in the late 90's. while the Bills have never left Orchard Park. What kind of "tradition" is that for the past 46 years in Cleveland? What, the fans "forced" Modell to leave behind the Browns name and ugly plain white and orange uniforms to rot for three years while he took the hundreds of millions from Baltimore and built a Super Bowl WINNING new Ravens team in 5 short years??? That's what the "great" fans of Cleveland call TRADITION?? Wow, how impressive. Maybe if those same tradition-rich fans of Cleveland would have voted for a new stadium to be built during the 25 years Modell begged them for one, they never would have lost their NFL team for 3 years in the first place. Since they lost their first "tradition-rich" NFL team to Baltimore, the great fans of "tradition-rich" Cleveland were rewarded by being forced to pay non-traditional PSL's for their seats to their new stadium for the past 10 years. How great, huh?? The Bills may be struggling to compete financially today, but I will take Buffalo tradition over Clevelands' any day!! Good luck, Holmgren, despite all that "tradition", the Browns suck even more then the Bills!
Metal Man Posted December 29, 2009 Posted December 29, 2009 Mike Holmgren may or may not make a great President in Charge of Football Operations....in the Bill Parcells ilk in Miami, for the Browns. That point has been debated already. Personally, I would have liked the guy to have the same position here. But I have a different question. Just what great football "traditions" are there in Cleveland, compared to Buffalo? OK, the Browns entered the NFL 10 years before the Bills entered the AFL, and from 1950 to 1959, they won NFL Championships early and often that first decade under Hall of Fame coach Paul Brown. They won their last NFL Championship in 1964. But how many fans from that 1950 to 1959 era are left today to celebrate that 60 year old "tradition"? The Bills ironically, won their first AFL Not to mention that technically that isn't even the same team anymore. The new Cleveland Browns have been nothing but garbage since rejoining the league. I can't understand how Holmgren would laugh us off and then go to some other team who at best is just as pathetic as us.... The only thing I can think of is that RW and the Bills have a pretty bad rep around the league as a poor place to be.... But still.... Worse than Cleveland?
Corp000085 Posted December 29, 2009 Posted December 29, 2009 8 Championships 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 AAFC 1950, 1954, 1955, 1964 NFL Long ago, or recent, that's enough tradition there to never ever ever ask about tradition for that team.
All_Pro_Bills Posted December 29, 2009 Posted December 29, 2009 Not to mention that technically that isn't even the same team anymore. The new Cleveland Browns have been nothing but garbage since rejoining the league. I can't understand how Holmgren would laugh us off and then go to some other team who at best is just as pathetic as us.... The only thing I can think of is that RW and the Bills have a pretty bad rep around the league as a poor place to be.... But still.... Worse than Cleveland? I suspect the fundamental reason Holmgren took the Cleveland job was the level of automomy he was granted to run the entire show. Something other posible opportunities did not clearly provide. Citing tradition as a reason for accepting the job is just standard sports cliché.
VJ91 Posted December 29, 2009 Author Posted December 29, 2009 9 Championships 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949 AAFC 1950, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1964 NFL Long ago, or recent, that's enough tradition there to never ever ever ask about tradition for that team. Hey, that's great - 9 Championships for the Cleveland Browns. I never said they had no tradition. My point is that since that last Championship in 1964, some 45 years ago, the Buffalo Bills "tradition" is much better. And it made me laugh to listen to Mike Holmgren go on and on about the great Browns' tradition, while he never even gave Russ Brandon the chance to fly out to Seattle and talk to him about the Buffalo Bills.
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