My 5 All Time Favorite Bills

[Toshiero]

In no particular order

1. Daryl Talley--the heart and soul of the Super Bowl era teams.

2. Bobby Chandler--too small, too slow. All he did was get open and catch the ball

3. Roland Hooks--all purpose back who had the misfortune of being the best player (IMHO) on some not so great teams.

4. JimBraxton--overshadowed by his backfield mate, but great ball carrier in his own right, but best known as a devastating lead blocker, as well as picking up blitzing LBs like no one before or since.

5. Tom Sestak-- ex Marine who was 27 as a rookie. With more cooperative knees, he would have played longer, and have a little statue in Canton, OH.

 

Many others came to mind, like Kent Hull, Tony Greene, George Saimes, Robert James, Ben Williams, Ernie Warlick, Max Anderson, Phil Villapiano, Steve Tasker, Marlin Briscoe.

 

On the other side of the coin, my 5 least favorites:

1. Art Powell--just for being a key figure in the worst trade in team history, sending Lamonica to the Raiders.

2. Travis Henry--serial baby daddy, and criminal.

3. T. O.-- he didn't really do anything to cheese me off as a Bill, but his body of work as an attention whore and prima Donna warrants a spot here.

4. Call this an entry, Aaron Maybin and Tom Ruud. To me, same guy, different eras. First round "need" picks who showed nothing but an uncanny ability to knocked on their butts. I would have included Cousineau if he ever actually played for the Bills.

5. Willis McGahee--did anyone ever leave town in a less classy manner.

 

Kelly is #1 hands down for me

Talley

Bennett

Beebe

Metz and many more

 

Least favorite?

Hands down Moulds as public enemy #1. Woman beater AND quit on the team.

McGahee

TO

Mike 'Fat ass quitter' Williams

Henry

[BuffaloBillsMagic1]

1. OJ( yes even though he is guilty)

2. Mike Stratton( The Hit Man!) oops keith Lincoln

3. Jack Kemp, th eleader

4. Jim Kelly

5. Lou doble phone( to thos who rememebr) Saban!!!

[NewEra]

Kind of in order. It's hard to compare through the generations.

 

1- Bruce smith. IMO the best Bill of all times. I was born in 1974, so it's hard for me to judge. Just having the guy on the field made me smile. Bad things man. Bad things.

 

2- Joe Cribbs. As a little tot, he was my guy. My grandparents lived across the street from fredonia st college, so I went to training camp everyday as a kid. In those days, the players would walk from the dorms (some would ride golf carts) to the practice facility. I'd stand there all morning and afternoon waiting for Joe. I'd always walk with him and talk about his stats and how I thought he was the best RB in football. He put me on his shoulders once. Probably the best moment of my childhood. He could be my number 1.

 

3- Thurman Thomas. Too exciting not to make this list. Thurmanator.

 

4- Fred Jackson- yep, he's here. Now that I understand the game more than I did as a kid, I can grasp on how good the guy is, where he came from, how he got here and what he's done to stay here. An inspiration to all. His play on the field is special.

 

5- Andre Reed- as a rookie from kutztown st, I was walking behind Andre as he and his father were walking to the facility at fredonia. His father was giving him an inspirational talk as they walked. The look in andres eyes, the look in his fathers eyes, I'll remember forever. Focus. He knew the hard part of his journey was about to begin and he wasn't going to let it the opportunity pass him by. Another Fred Jackson type story in a way. Andre going over the middle and his run after the catch ability was a thing of beauty...and toughness. HoFer Andre Reed, from kutztown st. I billieve it will happen.

[Rob's House]

1. Doug Flutie

2. Thurman Thomas

3. Fred Jackson

4. Bruce Smith

5. Eric Moulds

[jkrules]

1. Jim Kelly

 

2. Steve Tasker

 

3. Andre Reed

 

4. Joe Ferguson

 

5. Brian Moorman

[FreakPop]

I gotta go with...

 

OJ

 

Jerry butler

 

Darryl Talley

 

Bruce Smith

 

Andre Reed

 

Love me some Freddy

[School 62]

That would be Glenn Bass.... Andy Griffith (or Griffin)

 

I'm old school, but very hard to name just 5:

Marlin Briscoe - bright light in a bad season

Thurman

Bob James another HOF career cut short by injury

Jim Kelly

Smerlas

 

 

Thank you for Glenn Bass's name. That reminds me that another player I enjoyed watching at War Memorial in those days when kids got in for a buck, is Archie Matsos along with Golden Wheels Dubenion.

[bopper2]

Thanks Jay Rubeo for mentioning Chris Spielman. I am a bit embarrassed that I never thought of him when I made my original list. If only he had played here longer! I know when he retired he was near the end of his useful time as a player, but he could have played longer. He walked away from the big paydays, and doing what he loved to be with his wife, who was battling cancer. This is in sharp contrast to former Sen. John Edwards, who in a similar situation......Oh forget it. I don't want to inject politics into this.

 

As for Bruce Smith, I had thought of him in terms of most favorite,AND least favorite. I loved putting the binoculars on him and waiting for those bad things, man, bad things. From snap to whistle, awesome. After the whistle, and off the field, not so much. I am not of fan of individual, pre planned celebrations, and found his dances to be childish and self centered. I also remember him as being one of he first to be hit with a four game suspension for substance abuse, having multiple driving under the influence incidents, and for timing minor medical procedures around the start of training cmp, so he could sit it out. Not mention having the sincerity of a used car salesman during interviews.

[SRivRoc]

Favorite:

1-Thurman Thomas

2-Jim Kelly

3-Fred Jackson

4-Lee Evans

5-Bruce Smith

Hated:

1-Aaron Maybin

2-JP Losman

3-Willis McGahee

4-Erik Flowers

5-James Hardy

[Buftex]

Can't argue much with your choices. Here's one on each list that I'll add:

 

Favorite: Frank Lewis - Just thought he was a fluid route runner and a pro's pro.

 

Least Favorite - Reggie Rogers - The Bills' only convicted killer (pre O.J., that is).

 

Don't forget Jim Dunaway (DE on Bills two AFL championship teams)...or did that happen after OJ didn't kill his wife?

 

Of course, I blame Dunaway's issues on the years, after, that he spent as a Dolphin!

Edited May 6, 2012 by Buftex

[billsfan714]

Favorite:

1. Thurman

2. Bruce

3. Andre Reed

4. Bobby Chandler

5. Tony Greene

 

Least Favorite

1. Chris Kelsay

2. Mark Kelso

3. Scott Norwood

4. Mike Williams

5. JD Williams

[Buftex]

Honestly, this is a very tough question...what criterion? Are we talking strictly for on-field play? Obviously, Bruce Smith, Jim Kelly, Thurman, OJ Simpson, Andre Reed and Cookie Gilchrist are, if not the greatest Bills of all time, right up there... and I love all those guys (though I blot out 90's OJ, and Cookie is a little before my time)...but my favorites, just guys I always liked, even if they weren't necessarily all-timers? Even narrowing that down to 5 is tough, but here goes:

 

Favorites:

 

1- Jerry Butler

2- Joe Cribbs

3- Steve Freeman

4- Robb Riddick

5- Joe Ferguson

 

Honorable mentions:

 

JD Hill, Bob Chandler, Jim Braxton, Ben Williams, Luscious Sanford, Frank Lewis, Charles Romes, Pete Metzelaars, Cornelius Bennett, Darryl Talley, Nate Odomes, Kent Hull, Kenneth Davis, Antowan Smith, Peerless Price, Travis Henry, Lee Evans, Takeo Spikes, Nate Clements, Fred Jackson, Kyle Willaims....sure I am leaving somebody out...

 

Dislikes (hate is a strong word, for any Bill), is tough too...3 of my least favorite Bills of all-time, were very good, if not great players for the Bills, but I just never liked them personally, for whatever reasons:

 

Least Favorites:

 

1- Fred Smerlas

2- Jim Haslett

3- Doug Flutie

4- Chris Burkett

5- Dick Jauron (since we are including coaches)

Edited May 6, 2012 by Buftex

[Chas]

1. Steve Tasker

2. Fred Smerlas

3. Joe Fegeson

4. Darly Talley

5. Doug Fluti

Edited May 6, 2012 by Chas

[SUNTANBILLSFAN]

1. Steve Tasker

2. Fred Smerlas

3. Joe Fegeson

4. Darly Talley

5. Doug Fluti

 

 

how do you leave Kenny Davis all he did was run for a 100 and score all the time would have been a starter if no Thurman

[Tcali]

Kind of in order. It's hard to compare through the generations.

 

1- Bruce smith. IMO the best Bill of all times. I was born in 1974, so it's hard for me to judge. Just having the guy on the field made me smile. Bad things man. Bad things.

 

2- Joe Cribbs. As a little tot, he was my guy. My grandparents lived across the street from fredonia st college, so I went to training camp everyday as a kid. In those days, the players would walk from the dorms (some would ride golf carts) to the practice facility. I'd stand there all morning and afternoon waiting for Joe. I'd always walk with him and talk about his stats and how I thought he was the best RB in football. He put me on his shoulders once. Probably the best moment of my childhood. He could be my number 1.

 

3- Thurman Thomas. Too exciting not to make this list. Thurmanator.

 

4- Fred Jackson- yep, he's here. Now that I understand the game more than I did as a kid, I can grasp on how good the guy is, where he came from, how he got here and what he's done to stay here. An inspiration to all. His play on the field is special.

 

5- Andre Reed- as a rookie from kutztown st, I was walking behind Andre as he and his father were walking to the facility at fredonia. His father was giving him an inspirational talk as they walked. The look in andres eyes, the look in his fathers eyes, I'll remember forever. Focus. He knew the hard part of his journey was about to begin and he wasn't going to let it the opportunity pass him by. Another Fred Jackson type story in a way. Andre going over the middle and his run after the catch ability was a thing of beauty...and toughness. HoFer Andre Reed, from kutztown st. I billieve it will happen.

 

 

very cool memory with Cribbs there--thumbs up!

 

I remember we were moving--this was 1966--i was just a youngin----and Billy Shaw came over to look at the house-I remember being in awe--and thinking that he looked like Hoss on BONANZA

[bbb]

Great stuff, NewEra, esp. about Cribbs. It was killer when he went the USFL. But, he still played his heart out of the '83 Bills. I think he played two full football seasons right in a row - playing in the fall for the Bills and then in the spring for Birmingham.

 

And, you can picture Andre going over the middle, catching it and never losing stride the whole time!

 

TCali - I had a similar thing around that same time. We had a Bill in the neighborhood. His name was Dudley Meredith. Played for the Oilers, too and died a number of years ago.........But, he came in and sat down and talked with my family one night, and he looked so huge in the living room. Great guy!

[Tcali]

Great stuff, NewEra, esp. about Cribbs. It was killer when he went the USFL. But, he still played his heart out of the '83 Bills. I think he played two full football seasons right in a row - playing in the fall for the Bills and then in the spring for Birmingham.

 

And, you can picture Andre going over the middle, catching it and never losing stride the whole time!

 

TCali - I had a similar thing around that same time. We had a Bill in the neighborhood. His name was Dudley Meredith. Played for the Oilers, too and died a number of years ago.........But, he came in and sat down and talked with my family one night, and he looked so huge in the living room. Great guy!

I remember Dudley.massive guy--played a lot as the main backup to Day,McDole,Dunaway and sestak.

 

Ben Williams...-very underrated.I think he was better than Schoebel.--Just not the right era for Ben.

[Kelly the Dog]

Great stuff, NewEra, esp. about Cribbs. It was killer when he went the USFL. But, he still played his heart out of the '83 Bills. I think he played two full football seasons right in a row - playing in the fall for the Bills and then in the spring for Birmingham.

 

And, you can picture Andre going over the middle, catching it and never losing stride the whole time!

 

TCali - I had a similar thing around that same time. We had a Bill in the neighborhood. His name was Dudley Meredith. Played for the Oilers, too and died a number of years ago.........But, he came in and sat down and talked with my family one night, and he looked so huge in the living room. Great guy!

To me, the 1980 Bills team, and the 1990 Bills team, the year we went to the first Super Bowl, were the only two years in team history that we had the best team in the NFL. That 1980 team with Cribbs was great. IIRC, we beat the two teams that played in the Super Bowl and the two teams that played in the previous years Super Bowl all in the same season. That San Diego playoff game was a killer.

[bbb]

I remember Dudley.massive guy--played a lot as the main backup to Day,McDole,Dunaway and sestak.

 

Ben Williams...-very underrated.I think he was better than Schoebel.--Just not the right era for Ben.

 

Yeah, that's what Dudley did. Holy crap - he died in 1987. I was thinking maybe a decade ago! 52 years old. NFL players really do have a shortened life span, that is for sure.

 

To me, the 1980 Bills team, and the 1990 Bills team, the year we went to the first Super Bowl, were the only two years in team history that we had the best team in the NFL. That 1980 team with Cribbs was great. IIRC, we beat the two teams that played in the Super Bowl and the two teams that played in the previous years Super Bowl all in the same season. That San Diego playoff game was a killer.

 

The 1980 Bills are my all time favorite, hopefully the reasons that the 2012 Bills will be young people's favorites. After years of futility while I was growing up, they finally became a great team, as you said maybe the best in the league. They did beat the two Super Bowl teams from the previous year - the Steelers and Rams - both very memorably. I can tell you almost everything about both those days.

 

And, they did beat the Raiders, but they didn't play the Super Bowl loser from that year - the Eagles.

[T master]

I would have to say Arron Schobel . All's the guy did was show up & play his guts out for a losing team , that's very note worthy .. Not to mention he has the second highest sack total in team history while playing on those losing teams !!

 

Jim Braxton was another all time favorite the same goes for him he just played his guts out !!

 

Man there are so many great Bills , Smerlas , Hull , Jeff Wright , Bryce Paup (what a great name for the way the guy played) but these are not my picks .

 

Buffalo has always been the underdog & my picks are the guys that came to work & never got much when it came to praise , so another player that was like that but always came through - Spiderman = Darryl Talley !!

 

I think Reggie Mckenzie would have to be another pick of mine . And last but not least i think Steve Tasker would have to be in my mix of picks . All of these guys just played there guts out & never get much in the line of praise .