BenchBledsoe Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Did you guys just hear John Madden's comments? WOW! We we're almost the Miami franchise in the AFL. And Ralphie has some Silver and Black in his blood (part owner in the early days of Oaktown)!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 The real story: the Raiduhs would have gone under if Ralph hadn't bailed them out. And yet, Al freakin' Davis is in the HoF and Ralph isn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadBuffaloDisease Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Didn't Ralph also bail-out the Patriots? Or am I thinking of the Raiders? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Madden Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 You misheard him...the Bills franchise never almost moved to Miami, he wanted to put a team there in 1960 prior to creation of the Bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kasper13 Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Ralph originally wanted to place the Bills in Miami or Minnesota but both fell through and I believe it was a Buffalo News reporter that knew Mr. Wilson and called him up and told him to come to Buffalo. He did and the Bills were born. Ralph also bought a share of the Raiders so they would not fold. Al Davis eventually bought the share back. Ralph also gave former Patriots owner Billy Sullivan a loan so the Patriots would not fold. In addition to being one of the founders of the AFL, Mr. Wilson did more to save the AFL than anyone else did. How he is not in the Hall of Fame is a GD Shame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Fong Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 In addition to being one of the founders of the AFL, Mr. Wilson did more to save the AFL than anyone else did. How he is not in the Hall of Fame is a GD Shame. 159332[/snapback] It is a shame and only serves to prove what a farce the process is and how ignorant the voters are that elect the inductees. I'd love to see Ralph get in before it's too late. To hell with giving him a posthumous reward, give it to him NOW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Bills Maven Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 For the record, Ralph prefered Miami originally because he was familiar with the area. He owned and still owns a winter home in the Palm Beach vicinity. The city of Miami did not want the upstart AFL as a tennant for the old Orange Bowl and rejected his application for a lease. Miami did not want a new league for two reasons - The city had a bad experience with collecting rent from the old Miami Seahawks of the old All-America Football Conference in the mid-to late '40's and two- at the time the University of Miami did not want to share the stadium. Ralph was offered by AFL founder Lamar Hunt the choice of several cities - Atlanta, Louisville, St.Louis, Cincinnati and Buffalo. A Detroit sports editor friend of Ralph's suggested Buffalo - similar to Detroit on a smaller scale - and arranged to have him meet the then sports editor of the Buffalo News, Paul Neville who sold Ralph on Buffalo, a good football city that lost it's bid to be absorbed into the NFL when the old AAFC folded after the '49 season. Buffalo at the time had what was considered a functional stadium, War Memorial - later dubbed, "The Rockpile", which hosted NFL exhibition and college all-star games throughout the '50's. Ralph took a chance with a $25,000 franchise fee and the rest is history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HopsGuy Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Using an online inflation calculator, $25k in 1959 is about 152k in 2003 dollars. The Bills are worth about $564 million according to a recent Forbes report. Nice investment, Ralph. Fools Club, indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribo Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 You misheard him...the Bills franchise never almost moved to Miami, he wanted to put a team there in 1960 prior to creation of the Bills. 159296[/snapback] You may be correct in that PRalph didn't want to move the Bills (I don't know), but no one misheard him. Madden said that Ralph wanted to move the Bills to Miami. I just watched it on tape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRH Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 You may be correct in that PRalph didn't want to move the Bills (I don't know), but no one misheard him. Madden said that Ralph wanted to move the Bills to Miami. I just watched it on tape. 159516[/snapback] Madden says a lot of dumb things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thailog80 Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Nice of Madden to elaborate wasnt it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zamboni Man Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Weren't the 49ers in Buffalo before they were in San Francisco? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRH Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Weren't the 49ers in Buffalo before they were in San Francisco? 159543[/snapback] No, both the 49ers and Buffalo Bisons played in the old All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in the 1940s and early 1950s. The 49ers, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts all joined the NFL when the AAFC folded (which may help explain why the Browns and Colts were put in the AFC after the NFL-AFL merger). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KRC Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 No, both the 49ers and Buffalo Bisons played in the old All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in the 1940s and early 1950s. The 49ers, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts all joined the NFL when the AAFC folded (which may help explain why the Browns and Colts were put in the AFC after the NFL-AFL merger). 159550[/snapback] Actually, it was not the 50's, just the 40's (46-49). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRH Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Actually, it was not the 50's, just the 40's (46-49). 159563[/snapback] You agree with the rest of my post, though, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckeyebrian Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 As posted by others, Ralph bailed out Al Davis to keep the Raiders from folding. BTW, anyone hear that douchebag Michaels refer to Jack Kemp as the QB for the Chargers and NEVER mention that he QB'd the Bills to two AFL champoinships? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsGuyInMalta Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 So the Raider and Patriot fans have us to thank for keeping their teams in business? Whoa, thats a total mind-screw job right there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRH Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 As posted by others, Ralph bailed out Al Davis to keep the Raiders from folding. BTW, anyone hear that douchebag Michaels refer to Jack Kemp as the QB for the Chargers and NEVER mention that he QB'd the Bills to two AFL champoinships? 159635[/snapback] I heard that! :I starred in Brokeback Mountain: Al Michaels. The graphic (part of an AFL retrospective) showed Kemp as the Bills' quarterback but then Michaels just said "Jack Kemp was the first quarterback of the Los Angeles Chargers," and moved on to Sid Gillman. :I starred in Brokeback Mountain: Michaels again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 Buffalo at the time had what was considered a functional stadium, War Memorial159360[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuckincincy Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 No, both the 49ers and Buffalo Bisons played in the old All-America Football Conference (AAFC) in the 1940s and early 1950s. The 49ers, Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Colts all joined the NFL when the AAFC folded (which may help explain why the Browns and Colts were put in the AFC after the NFL-AFL merger). 159550[/snapback] And in 1947, the Bisons changed their team name to the Bills. After the demise of the AAFC, folks in Buffalo tended to support the NFL Browns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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