DeadSpin - Convo Between Nix and Tampa GM

[Alphadawg7]

 

That's what I think. It's very embarrassing, IMO, that Nix doesn't have the GM's number though. I think Buddy plays up I'm just the dumb southern boy routine sometimes, but having the wrong number for one of the 32 GMs is pretty embarrassing. There wasn't anything said that was surprising. It's actually good to know that Buddy thinks Fitz is a back-up and Fitz needs to make a choice. It makes me believe that Fitz will restructure today on a Bills friendly deal.

 

Lets be real here, neither you or anyone on this board knows maybe even 5% of the phone numbers of the people in your phone. Technology has done that as we all just store the number and never actually dial a number, you push a single button on a name and that's it. I guarantee you not one GM in football knows other GMs phone numbers by looking at a number. Nix just called the number back that called him assuming it was the right number as his secretary transferred him the call. So he probably just dialed that number from his desk phone. He evens mentions looking up the number in his cell phone to check to see of he had the wrong number while talking to the Bucs GM because he clearly has his number in his cell.

 

The only thing he is guilty of here is trusting that a phone call he got was real...considering he is like 73 and this has never happened ever before to anyone in the NFL like this, why wouldn't he trust that the number is not a prank?

 

Nix shouldn't be embarrassed, wasn't his fault and he said nothing that wasn't already known

[GG]

You don't think a lot of posters show their lack of knowledge running a business by the stuff they complain about? You don't think posters complain about what Nix or other GMs/coaches, etc. say publicly when there is no way in hell the GM/coach should be telling the press what they really think?

 

Yes, 99% of respondents generally lack the knowledge in running a business, and based on a three year history, I would put Buddy Nix in that camp. great task master, horrible boss.

[Kelly the Dog]

Bulldog from GR had a good tweet: "Getting duped sucked. Duping people sucks more."

 

I have to agree with that. Sure it's nice to eavesdrop and hear what GMs really talk about. But who here wants their private business (embarrassing) telephone conversations recorded and then put out on the internet?

[BillnutinHouston]

And how exactly does he look inept????

 

Exactly. Is the thought that Buddy's inept because he answered his phone when a secretary put a call from the Tampa GM through to him?

 

I feel bad for the secretary right about now. Someone needs to be schooled on proper protocols for screening incoming calls.

[Fan in Chicago]

I have no problem with the "off the cuff" remarks made by Nix. What I have a problem with is him bitching about the unfairness of not having a franchise QB like the Colts. Then he goes on complaining about how hes handcuffed by Fitz, when he was the one who labeled him as our franchise QB in the first place and also the GM who refused to draft and develop a guy behind him should he fail.

 

Idk how some of you guys arent angered by this?!?!?! This man went on WGR weekly all season long and adamently defended Fitz as "his guy", and referred to him as our "franchise QB", and that fitz "has been successful before and will be successful again"

 

Handcuffed ? He clearly says that 'he has to do something else we will have to". How does this equate to saying Fitz is handcuffing him ? The FO has ultimate power in almost all cases.

 

As to your second point, do you expect the FO to come out and say negative things about your starting QB ? And admit it, throughout last season there was hardly a clear better choice. TJax should have been played but IMHO, isn't much of an upgrade. If NIx had bashed Fitz in the press, it would have first of all come across as incredibly unprofessional and secondly would have indicted Gailey's assessment of QBs - both items which no sane GM will do in public.

 

Nix has much to be blamed for over the past 3 years but this tapped call is not one of them

[QCity]

I have no problem with the "off the cuff" remarks made by Nix. What I have a problem with is him bitching about the unfairness of not having a franchise QB like the Colts. Then he goes on complaining about how hes handcuffed by Fitz, when he was the one who labeled him as our franchise QB in the first place and also the GM who refused to draft and develop a guy behind him should he fail.

 

Idk how some of you guys arent angered by this?!?!?! This man went on WGR weekly all season long and adamently defended Fitz as "his guy", and referred to him as our "franchise QB", and that fitz "has been successful before and will be successful again"

 

Im happy he doesnt like Fitz now but honestly...he should have been fired for it.

 

1) He wasn't bitching

2) He wasn't complaining

 

Lamenting would be a better word. But I know a few people that are bitching and complaining. Try to get those panties unknotted before posting.

[Kelly the Dog]

Yes, 99% of respondents generally lack the knowledge in running a business, and based on a three year history, I would put Buddy Nix in that camp. great task master, horrible boss.

That may be very true, but I was wondering specifically what you disagreed with from the post I agreed with when you said, "Honestly, really?" There wasn't anything in that post about whether or not Buddy Nix is a maroon.

[Reddy Freddy]

The most interesting comment to me was Buddy acknowledging that it's a bad time to need a QB. This is probably obvious to most, but it at least gives some indication that they're not thrilled with this draft's crop of QBs.

[Kelly the Dog]

Lets be real here, neither you or anyone on this board knows maybe even 5% of the phone numbers of the people in your phone. Technology has done that as we all just store the number and never actually dial a number, you push a single button on a name and that's it. I guarantee you not one GM in football knows other GMs phone numbers by looking at a number. Nix just called the number back that called him assuming it was the right number as his secretary transferred him the call. So he probably just dialed that number from his desk phone. He evens mentions looking up the number in his cell phone to check to see of he had the wrong number while talking to the Bucs GM because he clearly has his number in his cell.

 

The only thing he is guilty of here is trusting that a phone call he got was real...considering he is like 73 and this has never happened ever before to anyone in the NFL like this, why wouldn't he trust that the number is not a prank?

 

Nix shouldn't be embarrassed, wasn't his fault and he said nothing that wasn't already known

That's probably true. I guess it's just when he is talking like that, it's so easy to imagine that he is fumbling through a little circa 1956 spiral notebook of bevnaps and doodlings and numbers with no names attached to them and putting a pencil to his tongue.

[Fan in Chicago]

"I don't know WHAT we're gonna do at quarterback"

 

Buddy Nix

 

I have been going to Texas for work for almost a year now and I can tell you that the above sentence does not literally mean what it says. That is Southern speak for "I am in trouble regarding the QB situation and have to do something to solve the problem"

[K D]

wow this could have gone really bad for either GM. luckily neither of them retorted to smack talking any of their players. Nix said Fitz is making too much if he ends up being a backup, which is fair. He could have easily said the guy was a joke and signing him was the biggest mistake of his life. whoever did this prank is going to wish they didn't post it online. it's a federal crime and the fbi will probably be on their way to their house soon

[GG]

That may be very true, but I was wondering specifically what you disagreed with from the post I agreed with when you said, "Honestly, really?" There wasn't anything in that post about whether or not Buddy Nix is a maroon.

It was my reading that the criticism of the criticism shifted to what Nix said privately vs publicly, rather than the initial criticism that Nix was complaining about a mess he created.

[Rob's House]

I just heard the entire conversation and struggling to find what is so 'incompetent' or 'embarassing' about what the two said. It is a very harmless conversation.

 

What I did find surprising is that Nix thinks Fitz is fighting for a BACKUP spot which means he is valuing him as a marginal 2 on the depth chart. Quite telling. Also, the complaining about guys not wanting to sign may indicate that he is trying hard to get Levitre to sign - nobody else of note is waiting for a contract with the Bills

I could be wrong, but I think he meant Fitz is likely to end up in a backup role & just used a poor selection of words in his attempt to convey that.

[NoSaint]

The most interesting comment to me was Buddy acknowledging that it's a bad time to need a QB. This is probably obvious to most, but it at least gives some indication that they're not thrilled with this draft's crop of QBs.

Or that chase Daniel might be the best available FA and qbs have been terribly overdrafted the last few years meaning they might not have a shot a geno or Barkley unless they trade up at a huge price?

 

You know, if we're taking the statements as fact then placing our own meaning

 

 

I could be wrong, but I think he meant Fitz is likely to end up in a backup role & just used a poor selection of words in his attempt to convey that.

 

Possible. Also possible that they've discussed rookie starter and Jackson fighting with fitz for #2 and that's the stream of thought that led to the comment.

[TallskiWallski83]

1) He wasn't bitching

2) He wasn't complaining

 

Lamenting would be a better word. But I know a few people that are bitching and complaining. Try to get those panties unknotted before posting.

 

 

If I'm tampas GM listening to Nix on the phone Im thinking Nix is not one of the smarter guys in the group of 31 I have to work with and compete against.

 

Thats as simple as I can put it while leaving my emotions about his dealings with Fitz out of it.

[Kelly the Dog]

It was my reading that the criticism of the criticism shifted to what Nix said privately vs publicly, rather than the initial criticism that Nix was complaining about a mess he created.

Got it. I wasn't following that specific line, just reading all the posts and took his post as a general reaction and statement about the whole incident, which I agreed with.

 

One of my huge pet peeve is people taking two quotes from a guy that contradict themselves, and then implying the guy was lying or disingenuous the first time. For example, Buddy Nix was saying at the time that Fitz was his guy and we believe him to be a starting QB in the NFL, and now he says he's a backup and we're stuck with him. But in reality, I'd bet all I have that he honestly believed both to be true, he just was wrong about Fitz and changed his mind after seeing him falter too much. There isn't anything dishonest or disingenuous or wrong about those two statements at all, other than the fact Buddy was wrong in his assessment. I was, too.

[The Big Cat]

First off, apologies to the handful of fierce Nix defenders on this thread, but Nix looks like a buffoon. [EDIT: Not saying he IS a buffoon, just that that's going to be the popular perception, especially among non-Bills fans. Most of whom already think he is based on his Southern goober "not the smartest guy in the room" persona.] Anyone who gets pranked this easily comes across as very foolish, and Nix's age and demeanor add the element of making him look out of touch. Whatever. I don't particularly care, but it won't be fun dealing with the teasing at work once my co-workers hear about this. Maybe I can fly some of you guys out here to explain to them that this doesn't reflect negatively on Nix or the Bills, and that they should stop laughing?

 

Secondly, I don't like these kind of pranks -- the Domino's prank that this is based off is incredibly mean and anyone who does it is a jerk -- but I'll admit that one of my greatest fan fantasies (aside from winning the Super Bowl) is to actually hear what the front office thinks in confidence. This isn't quite that, but it's pretty close, and WAY closer than anything I've heard before. So that's cool. And I'll agree with many others that from an embarrassment perspective, it could've been a lot worse.

 

Lastly, there's one more silver lining: I'm actually enthused by a couple of Nix's comments. First, his Fitz comments are what most of us were hoping he was thinking. I know a certain poster has been harping on the idea that the Bills wouldn't and couldn't cut Fitz or else they'd lose all leverage with other free agent QBs and in the draft, but I never bought that idea, and it doesn't sound like Nix does, either.

 

The other encouraging thing was Nix's comment on the 3-day discussion window. Specifically, "I tell ya, we're having trouble signing our own guys..." Given that McLovin signed like a day or two after this call took place, I'm guessing the Bills were already close to a deal when Nix said that. Which says to me that he's mostly talking about Levitre, which in turn says to me that the Bills really want him back and are making a real effort. That's good. My main fear with Levitre is that the Bills would pull a typical Bills move and let him walk without any real effort to retain him, then draft a replacement too high. If he really won't do what Stevie did last year (sign a fair but not exorbitant deal before free agency), and someone offers him a Poszluzny-type deal, then the Bills basically have to let him walk. But at least they made an effort.

 

Good post, but as expressed above, Nix didn't get pranked. His secretary got pranked. Per Dominick's comments, sounds like GM etiquette is to answer the !@#$ing phone when your secretary has one of your colleagues on the line.

[Peter]

I have been going to Texas for work for almost a year now and I can tell you that the above sentence does not literally mean what it says. That is Southern speak for "I am in trouble regarding the QB situation and have to do something to solve the problem"

 

Exactly correct.

[PromoTheRobot]

Adam Schein just had a good laugh at "109 year old" Buddy Nix's expense on his show on Maddog Sirius Radio. Of course he forgot to mention the TB GM got punked too. Details. I mean it's not like that guy got fooled, right?

 

PTR

[Alphadawg7]

 

That's probably true. I guess it's just when he is talking like that, it's so easy to imagine that he is fumbling through a little circa 1956 spiral notebook of bevnaps and doodlings and numbers with no names attached to them and putting a pencil to his tongue.

 

HA!