Russ Brandon and others...

[Fadingpain]

Unless you have insider knowledge, I don't know how you can blame Brandon - or Kim, or Terry, or whoever.

 

Nor do I understand why we need to look that hard.

 

It's clear that our roster is not as talented as some others. Blame Whaley.

 

And it's clear that we're not coached as well as some other teams. Blame Rex.

 

I don't see why we need to look farther than the obvious.

 

While neither guy is horrible, Whaley is no Bill Polian and Rex is no Bill Belichick. They're both pretty average at their jobs and they're giving us average teams.

 

The question is, I guess, is this their ceiling? Will they learn from their mistakes? Will they make changes to their staffs to better the results? If not, let's move on.

 

If we don't move on in an appropriate time frame, it becomes time to blame Terry and Kim. I'm not there yet.

I am by no means a Whaley supporter, but I would give him the benefit of the doubt and say there is time for him to learn, gain experience and improve as a GM--at least conceptually.

 

Rex? Forget it. His next move is retirement from the game of football and anything he was ever going to become as a coach has now been fully realized.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Fadingpain

[Mango]

I'm certainly not a fan of Brandon's but how exactly is he to blame for the futility we have experienced? Whaley drafts the players and Rex has alot of input as well, I'm sure. Brandon's role was predominantly in the business end of things (ticket sales, various promotions etc..) with the exception of Ralph's last couple of years when he and/or his family appointed Brandon as caretaker... That ended when the Pegula's took over the team... Before Whaley took over, Buddy Nix was running things on the football side... Buddy/Whaley drafted EJ for instance... Whaley traded up to get Watkins... If you want to assess blame start there... I'm all in favor of Pegula hiring a true football czar...

 

He was literally our GM at one point, after Marv left. So there is that. He was also pretty open about being the one for the Marrone pick. Our own GM has said Rex was not his first choice, and Russ told the owner not to let Rex leave the building without a contract.

 

Soooo. Tell me more about how he isn't involved in football operations. He may not be responsible for 20 years of suck. But he is for atleast 10.

[Fadingpain]

When the Pegulas bought this team they were very forthcoming about having littte knowledge about the NFL way and football in general. They need people around them to give advice on the actual football operations, not the business side, but the football side. Who exactly to you think has their ear in these matters. If Rex and Whaley go in the next couple of years do you as a diehard Bills fan want Russ Brandon anywhere near making those decisions? In any context? I know I sure as hell don't cause every football decision he has made or had I put on in the forum of public knowledge has had a direct result of us being a middle of the pack team with no clear direction forward at best. Call the Pepe's on or title whatever you want but the Pegulas need a football expert to make these important football decisions, not the marketing guy who feels like he's covered in teflon. How can anyone disagree with that is beyond me. Let Russ, if he must stay, do his marketing thing and his only input should be in those matter. Personally I'd rather he just get fired cause a monkey could sell out the stadium and come up with massive campaigns like lead the charge and others. Did anyone here buy a ticket or merchandise cause Russ wanted us to lead the charge? Didn't think so. The opportunity for real actually change is at hand and I hope the Pegulas have the guts to do the right thing and not be happy with this middling product we've been seeing for, let's be honest, over 20 years now. Thank you to them forever for keeping the Bills in Buffalo but we would like a chance at a championship at some point as well.

There's the rub!

 

Russ IS ONLY DOING BUSINESS stuff, on paper. But you know damned good and well he is chatting with Terry all the time, and a guy like Russ will be more of a constant in the organization, over time, than a coach or GM. Coaches and GMs come and go but Russ will be around forever...making him much more likely to be that voice in the ear of Pegula...and you know he already is.

 

As someone already posted, what in the world was Brandon doing interviewing or even sitting around Pegula's Boca McMansion talking to Rex Ryan!? Was he "only business side of the operation" on that night?

 

Russ loves this stuff; he is fueled by a desire to be in that inner circle and is the sort of guy who thinks he is King of the World b/c he has inside access to a pro football team and can do dumb **** like walk around on the field before a game while the players warm up.

 

He thrives on that stuff...

 

Get him and everyone else who has been around here forever the hell out of the organization, just on principle.

Do not give him the chance to influence Pegula in any way.

 

Let him go be a brilliant sports marketer for a different franchise.

 

As everyone has said and knows, this product sells itself.

Edited December 8, 2016 by Fadingpain

[fridge]

Years ago, there was a well sourced, well written piece about this very problem in the Buffalo News during the early days of the Doug Marrone era.

 

 

How was it acceptable for an NFL Head Coach, and GM to not have control over who they want to run their athletic training department? If Marrone wanted Bud Carpenter gone, how on earth does "the business guy" have a say in that decision? This, above all other problems the Bills have, in my opinion is the biggest problem to the team's 21st century growth. And yes, I know Jeff Littmann is no longer employed by the team. But every one else named a "lifer" in said piece from 2014 remains.

 

 

If you've been employed by the Bills since 1985, you need to go. Now. The Pegulas can easily hire the top MBA/sports business graduate from wherever school to run their business at a 3rd if not a 4th of the salary Russ earns. Same for their jerky, and difficult to deal with PR staff, at the top of the heap is Scott Berchtold who has a very negative reputation among respected media members in this market.

 

 

What exactly does Jim Overdorf do by the way? You can hire an analytics guru, some whiz kid MIT Stats masters degree, to run excel and make better salary cap decisions than they currently make.

 

 

At the very least it would be some relief for a very cynical, burnt out fan base who await the yearly Russ Brandon buzz word postmortem speech on WGR. "Continuity," "Inventory," "Market size," "Synergy," "OneBuffalo" "Injuries." The man is a suit-wearing, corporate, smiley, glad-handing, sycophantic, soulless, buzz-word, market-researched, spineless sell out. The dude represents everything wrong with professional sports business culture. Somehow, after 20 years, he is completely absolved of any responsibility, and GETS PROMOTED. How typical.

 

 

The team recognizes him as a GM from 2008-2009.

 

 

His football decisions alone deserve him a place on the heap of fired Bills employees. He's directly responsible for the Bills in Toronto series, and subsequent extension of said series, arguably his greatest failure. He drafted Aaron Maybin. Traded their starting LT to the Eagles a week before the 2009 season started. Signed Terrell Owens in one of the cheapest, hollowest publicity stunts from a team that's made several dubious free agent signings. These are just moves from 2 seasons under his watch as official GM. I can keep going.

 

I applaud your very well written message, but I fear it will fall mostly on deaf ears.

 

A lot of people think that we are crazy for simply wanting accountability and removing Russ Brandon from the organization. They assume that we're somehow blaming all of our years of futility on one guy. They think we're pinpointing him as a sacrificial lamb and a scapegoat for an organization that has had such turmoil it couldn't possibly be as simple as one guy's fault. The problem here is that I agree with these Brandon supporters on this. It's not all Brandon's fault, but at times he's been solely responsible for the team, and it's been largely inadequate during those times. Other times he simply hired the people who were responsible for the team on the field, and again we've been meddling at best.

 

There have been several key players involved to help create our team's lack of success. Some of these people are past head coaches and GM's (many of which are Brandon hires). Others play a smaller role (Scott Berchtold is a great example as you pointed out). A lot of the hold overs from the Wilson era are not renowned league-wide. These are not top-dogs, just dogs.

 

A lot of hype surrounding our team is often manufactured. Some of it's obvious (your T.O. point fits here), but there are other examples as well. For one, Doug Marrone was very likely touted most by his agent (many reports say that his agent made up a lot of Marrone's league-wide hype which leaked all over the media), and the Bills were reciting his agent's lies when presenting him as a hot head coaching candidate. I don't even know if it's gross incompetence at that point, or if they truly believed a middling Syracuse University coach was actually being considered by many teams as a guy to hire. There is a lot of misinformation about this, but I don't doubt for a second that Brandon was played by Marrone's agent - you have to remember that following a 9-7 campaign (I believe our first winning season in 10 years), he could only find himself as the Offensive Coordinator of the Jaguars.

 

I hear that Brandon is tremendous at his job. Most of the examples of this are debatable (Did you hear that K9 - it's not written in stone, you can actually debate the degree to which Brandon is responsible for the team's unshared revenue during a league-wide spike in interest), but even if some are true, I see no reason to believe an ivy league business school grad could not do the same. Our ad campaigns are simple and unimpressive. Our Rochester training camp is simple and obvious regional marketing. We have little to no reach in the middle of the state. The Canadian expansion did not earn us many (if any) new fans.

 

What we know involving Brandon is pretty simple. He's had at times an overarching role within a losing organization. He's been with the team during the NFL's largest rise in success. When faced with the prospect of a new owner, he was promoted and not released. I expect to see him in his current position for the next twenty years.

[BillsVet]

I am by no means a Whaley supporter, but I would give him the benefit of the doubt and say there is time for him to learn, gain experience and improve as a GM--at least conceptually.

 

Rex? Forget it. His next move is retirement from the game of football and anything he was ever going to become as a coach has now been fully realized.

 

Whaley has more years working in an NFL front office than Rex has as a NFL coach. Why does Whaley get more time to learn and Rex doesn't? For the record, I think both of them have demonstrated their (lack of) prowess in their respective positions.

 

I suspect much of the fault lies in the fact fans see Rex and his decisions on game days. Whaley is more behind the scenes, doesn't do well in front of the media, and his decisions aren't as obvious.

[K-9]

 

This always sounds so personal for you. Why do I need to reconcile anything? I don't think for a second that he's not a permanent fixture. His recent promotions tell us this, and it's painfully obvious to anyone paying attention that Russ Brandon will be the President for a long, long time. I still despise the guy. I'd think the Buffalo Bills forum is a great place to discuss that, no?

 

 

Help me understand how I can detest the Buddy Nix, Doug Marrone, and Rex Ryan hires, acknowledge that Russ Brandon was a significant contributor in those hires, and still be supportive of him as the President.

 

Keep in mind that I am a fan that only cares about winning. Perhaps I'd rather someone else be having a critical say in those decisions?

You use words like "despise" and "detest" and you say I'm the one taking it personally? It's a phucking game for crissakes.

 

I don't care if Russ Brandon comes or goes, I just have a low tolerance for some of the utter bullschit that gets tossed around here, especially by those who suggest anyone can sell tickets, etc. That is an absolute clueless disregard for what he accomplished at a time it was difficult, AT BEST, to accomplish. I respect that, that's all.

 

 

 

I don't think so. In fact my friend actually said that Rusty urged Pegula not to bring in a football Czar telling him it wasn't necassary & Rusty is the big reason why Polian didn't want to come here. He didn't want a football man in here because my guess is that the football Czar would look at the past 17 years of this franchise, look at who has been here the longest, look at the complete failures of this franchise & tell Rusty & his side kick Oherdorf to both hit the road. This guy is a snake & he will do anything he can to build a big wall around that inner circle close to Pegs. & do not for a minute think this guy doesn't want in a personal moves. In fact there was an old article when Wilson was alive that stated that some of the GMs would get a laugh out of Rusty, because in these league meetings he would portray & come off as some football guru but the guy doesn't have the background to carry on a intelligent conversation about football with these other GMs. I am not sure why you or K-9 have such a hearton for this guy(I think you guys are both very intelligent posters on this board, 2 of the most intelligent). I don't know how any bills fan could support this POS A-hole anymore & that is exactly what he is.

Like I said above, I don't care if Russ Brandon comes or goes, but that "hearton" you suggest is nothing more than respect for the job he did at a difficult time in team history. You and others can pooh-pooh that all you want and say "what do the late nineties have to do with anything" and I'll tell you, what he established then had a TON to do with the team moving forward on much stronger financial footing and that DIRECTLY relates to today.

 

Oh, and highly doubt the story about Brandon trying to come off as some sort of football guru in front other GMs, etc. He and John Butler were joined at the hip for the first few years of Brandon's tenure, at Butler's behest BTW, and Brandon was often embarrassed by his lack of understanding when they'd review game and practice film, which they did quite often. I suppose it's possible Brandon morphed into a far less humble version of himself later on, but that seems like a stretch knowing how scared he was to make a unilateral personnel decision as a "GM" (something he never believed he was) and then later as team President. Maybe he should have, given that the "consensus" approach hasn't always yielded good results.

 

Finally, with regard to the czar; Orton retired, Marrone quit, and Polian had a change of heart as a result. That simple. But it doesn't fit the narrative that Brandon made the Pegulas change their mind. Don't believe me, ask Bill Polian himself. Your friend with the RV should have done that, too.

[JohnC]

 

This always sounds so personal for you. Why do I need to reconcile anything? I don't think for a second that he's not a permanent fixture. His recent promotions tell us this, and it's painfully obvious to anyone paying attention that Russ Brandon will be the President for a long, long time. I still despise the guy. I'd think the Buffalo Bills forum is a great place to discuss that, no?

 

 

Help me understand how I can detest the Buddy Nix, Doug Marrone, and Rex Ryan hires, acknowledge that Russ Brandon was a significant contributor in those hires, and still be supportive of him as the President.

 

Keep in mind that I am a fan that only cares about winning. Perhaps I'd rather someone else be having a critical say in those decisions?

The Buddy Nix hire was a Ralph Wilson hire. The owner was given a list of names that Brandon and others put together. The only name that Wilson was familiar with was Nix who previously worked in the organization.

 

Doug Marrone was under consideration by a number of teams. He was on the interview circuit and under serious consideration by other organizations. So his hiring was not an out of box hire. It's acknowledged that during his stint with the Bills that he wasn't a pleasant and engaging fellow to deal with. But it is my opinion that looking back at his tenure the team was on an upward trajectory. It was well known that the irascible Marrone clashed with Whaley over the qb situation. The unlikable Marrone was right in his assessment that the qb situation was untenable. That was a Whaley commission/omission that irked the coach very much.

 

Brandon was in the room when prospective coaches were being interviewed by the Pegulas. Kim was smitten by Rex's presentation. (Full disclosure: I consider Rex to be a huckster and a fraud and ill-equipped to be a modern day HC in the NFL.) My understanding is that Whaley favored Hue Jackson but didn't say no to Rex's hiring. He should have been stronger and more vociferous in stating his opinion but he didn't. He went along with it.

 

Looking back it seems people are looking for the fall-guy in the Rex hire. It was a collaborative effort as most coaching hires are. From my perspective it was a big mistake. Debating who is most responsible for that particular hire at this point is not useful. It gets you nowhere. In my opinion this was very much a Kim Pegula hire. But that is not so odd because she is an owner and has the final say.

 

Getting back to the Brandon issue he is not now intimately involved with the specifics of the football operation because he is the CEO of the wide ranging Pegula sports conglomeration. Is he informed about the big decisions? Of course, and he should be. The issue now is looking forward and not wasting energy looking back.

 

The one thing that will change the dynamics of this franchise more than anything else is getting a legitimate franchise qb. The Bills have had a void at that position since the retirement of Jim Kelly, two freaking decades ago. If you want to inflate a deflated franchise find a qb that can read defenses and throw accurately. Quibbling over the structure of the organization is not the real issue that is weighing down this lumbering ship.

Edited December 8, 2016 by JohnC

[K-9]

... The one thing that will change the dynamics of this franchise more than anything else is getting a legitimate franchise qb. The Bills have had a void at that position since the retirement of Jim Kelly, two freaking decades ago. If you want to inflate a deflated franchise find a qb that can read defenses and throw accurately. Quibbling over the structure of the organization is not the real issue that is weighing down this lumbering ship.

Your entire post was good, but I thought this last paragraph summed it up nicely.

 

Can you imagine if front offices thought like fans and wallowed in the past? In football, from the owner to the scouts, you have to have the mentality of a cornerback; the ability to instantly forget getting toasted and getting on to the next play. You can only look forward.

Edited December 8, 2016 by K-9

[DriveFor1Outta5]

You use words like "despise" and "detest" and you say I'm the one taking it personally? It's a phucking game for crissakes.

 

I don't care if Russ Brandon comes or goes, I just have a low tolerance for some of the utter bullschit that gets tossed around here, especially by those who suggest anyone can sell tickets, etc. That is an absolute clueless disregard for what he accomplished at a time it was difficult, AT BEST, to accomplish. I respect that, that's all.

 

Like I said above, I don't care if Russ Brandon comes or goes, but that "hearton" you suggest is nothing more than respect for the job he did at a difficult time in team history. You and others can pooh-pooh that all you want and say "what do the late nineties have to do with anything" and I'll tell you, what he established then had a TON to do with the team moving forward on much stronger financial footing and that DIRECTLY relates to today.

 

Oh, and highly doubt the story about Brandon trying to come off as some sort of football guru in front other GMs, etc. He and John Butler were joined at the hip for the first few years of Brandon's tenure, at Butler's behest BTW, and Brandon was often embarrassed by his lack of understanding when they'd review game and practice film, which they did quite often. I suppose it's possible Brandon morphed into a far less humble version of himself later on, but that seems like a stretch knowing how scared he was to make a unilateral personnel decision as a "GM" (something he never believed he was) and then later as team President. Maybe he should have, given that the "consensus" approach hasn't always yielded good results.

 

Finally, with regard to the czar; Orton retired, Marrone quit, and Polian had a change of heart as a result. That simple. But it doesn't fit the narrative that Brandon made the Pegulas change their mind. Don't believe me, ask Bill Polian himself. Your friend with the RV should have done that, too.

Selling tickets isn't what the modern NFL is about. The money is made from corporate endorsements and the like. That's why the NFL put a team back in LA. They know the hard to impress people of LA will stop buying tickets, but the money will then come from the large number of corporate entities in LA. Buffalo will never be able to compete economically against bigger cities in that area. That's why we needed someone like Pegula with local ties to keep this team in the area. No one else would have regardless of how many seats Rusty can sell. The best way for the Bills to increase their profit margin would be by winning. You'd see Bills merch flying off the shelves across the country. Rusty selling tickets really isn't what saved this franchise at all.

[JohnC]

 

 

I don't think so. In fact my friend actually said that Rusty urged Pegula not to bring in a football Czar telling him it wasn't necassary & Rusty is the big reason why Polian didn't want to come here. He didn't want a football man in here because my guess is that the football Czar would look at the past 17 years of this franchise, look at who has been here the longest, look at the complete failures of this franchise & tell Rusty & his side kick Oherdorf to both hit the road. This guy is a snake & he will do anything he can to build a big wall around that inner circle close to Pegs. & do not for a minute think this guy doesn't want in a personal moves. In fact there was an old article when Wilson was alive that stated that some of the GMs would get a laugh out of Rusty, because in these league meetings he would portray & come off as some football guru but the guy doesn't have the background to carry on a intelligent conversation about football with these other GMs. I am not sure why you or K-9 have such a hearton for this guy(I think you guys are both very intelligent posters on this board, 2 of the most intelligent). I don't know how any bills fan could support this POS A-hole anymore & that is exactly what he is.

Referring to the highlighted area do you think that the multi-billionaire Pegula is a fool? Do you think that he is going to hire an ingratiating hack to run his wide ranging sport conglomeration? Let's get serious here. Brandon had no prior association with Pegula before the team auction. If you want to be critical of Brandon for his football astuteness that is worth a discussion. But when it comes to the business side of the operation Pegula hired someone who not only knows the business and had demonstrated his competency in that area but he also hired someone who had excelled in implementing a business plan on a franchise with limitations and challenges and did a marvelous job.

[DriveFor1Outta5]

Referring to the highlighted area do you think that the multi-billionaire Pegula is a fool? Do you think that he is going to hire an ingratiating hack to run his wide ranging sport conglomeration? Let's get serious here. Brandon had no prior association with Pegula before the team auction. If you want to be critical of Brandon for his football astuteness that is worth a discussion. But when it comes to the business side of the operation Pegula hired someone who not only knows the business and had demonstrated his competency in that area but he also hired someone who had excelled in implementing a business plan on a franchise with limitations and challenges and did a marvelous job.

Terrry Pegula isn't a fool, but he's a businessman and not a football man. Pegula probably loves Brandon from the business side of things. Pegula is to Buffalo what Trump was NYC back in the day. He practically owns the city. He probably sees Brandon as a guy who can help him further those interests. None of us are arguing against Brandon from a business aspect. We have a problem with the input he has on football operations. There isn't much else to say. You either believe he has input or you don't. Those of us who believe he has a bit too much say in football matters aren't fans of the guy. That's the issue we have with Brandon. Edited December 8, 2016 by DriveFor1Outta5

[K-9]

Selling tickets isn't what the modern NFL is about. The money is made from corporate endorsements and the like. That's why the NFL put a team back in LA. They know the hard to impress people of LA will stop buying tickets, but the money will then come from the large number of corporate entities in LA. Buffalo will never be able to compete economically against bigger cities in that area. That's why we needed someone like Pegula with local ties to keep this team in the area. No one else would have regardless of how many seats Rusty can sell. The best way for the Bills to increase their profit margin would be by winning. You'd see Bills merch flying off the shelves across the country. Rusty selling tickets really isn't what saved this franchise at all.

The "money" is made from broadcasting rights, but the UNSHARED money is made by those corporate deals as you said.

 

So we are in agreement that Russ Brandon's work, especially from the late nineties and through the previous CBA that Mr. Wilson was derided for voicing concerns over until other, smaller market owners said, "Hey, he was right, let's look at this a little closer", put us on much better financial footing was quite impressive given the WNY economy and other factors. Never was about selling tickets as some around here think.

[thebandit27]

 

 

I don't think so. In fact my friend actually said that Rusty urged Pegula not to bring in a football Czar telling him it wasn't necassary & Rusty is the big reason why Polian didn't want to come here. He didn't want a football man in here because my guess is that the football Czar would look at the past 17 years of this franchise, look at who has been here the longest, look at the complete failures of this franchise & tell Rusty & his side kick Oherdorf to both hit the road. This guy is a snake & he will do anything he can to build a big wall around that inner circle close to Pegs. & do not for a minute think this guy doesn't want in a personal moves. In fact there was an old article when Wilson was alive that stated that some of the GMs would get a laugh out of Rusty, because in these league meetings he would portray & come off as some football guru but the guy doesn't have the background to carry on a intelligent conversation about football with these other GMs. I am not sure why you or K-9 have such a hearton for this guy(I think you guys are both very intelligent posters on this board, 2 of the most intelligent). I don't know how any bills fan could support this POS A-hole anymore & that is exactly what he is.

 

I don't have a "hearton" for the guy. I actually don't care one way or another.

 

The reason I debate this is mostly because I've heard much differently than your friend, and from more than one individual that would know.

 

Moreover, it makes absolutely zero sense that Russ would want anything to do with personnel matters--in the eyes of the owner, that would make him more culpable for the lack of results on the field.

 

 

The Buddy Nix hire was a Ralph Wilson hire. The owner was given a list of names that Brandon and others put together. The only name that Wilson was familiar with was Nix who previously worked in the organization.

 

Doug Marrone was under consideration by a number of teams. He was on the interview circuit and under serious consideration by other organizations. So his hiring was not an out of box hire. It's acknowledged that during his stint with the Bills that he wasn't a pleasant and engaging fellow to deal with. But it is my opinion that looking back at his tenure the team was on an upward trajectory. It was well known that the irascible Marrone clashed with Whaley over the qb situation. The unlikable Marrone was right in his assessment that the qb situation was untenable. That was a Whaley commission/omission that irked the coach very much.

 

Brandon was in the room when prospective coaches were being interviewed by the Pegulas. Kim was smitten by Rex's presentation. (Full disclosure: I consider Rex to be a huckster and a fraud and ill-equipped to be a modern day HC in the NFL.) My understanding is that Whaley favored Hue Jackson but didn't say no to Rex's hiring. He should have been stronger and more vociferous in stating his opinion but he didn't. He went along with it.

 

Looking back it seems people are looking for the fall-guy in the Rex hire. It was a collaborative effort as most coaching hires are. From my perspective it was a big mistake. Debating who is most responsible for that particular hire at this point is not useful. It gets you nowhere. In my opinion this was very much a Kim Pegula hire. But that is not so odd because she is an owner and has the final say.

 

Getting back to the Brandon issue he is not now intimately involved with the specifics of the football operation because he is the CEO of the wide ranging Pegula sports conglomeration. Is he informed about the big decisions? Of course, and he should be. The issue now is looking forward and not wasting energy looking back.

 

The one thing that will change the dynamics of this franchise more than anything else is getting a legitimate franchise qb. The Bills have had a void at that position since the retirement of Jim Kelly, two freaking decades ago. If you want to inflate a deflated franchise find a qb that can read defenses and throw accurately. Quibbling over the structure of the organization is not the real issue that is weighing down this lumbering ship.

 

I applaud your very well written message, but I fear it will fall mostly on deaf ears.

[Gordio]

 

Whaley has more years working in an NFL front office than Rex has as a NFL coach. Why does Whaley get more time to learn and Rex doesn't? For the record, I think both of them have demonstrated their (lack of) prowess in their respective positions.

 

I suspect much of the fault lies in the fact fans see Rex and his decisions on game days. Whaley is more behind the scenes, doesn't do well in front of the media, and his decisions aren't as obvious.

 

 

I think Whaley has done some good things with this roster. I also think he has done some things that would get most GMS on other competent organizations fired by now.

[thebandit27]

Selling tickets isn't what the modern NFL is about. The money is made from corporate endorsements and the like. That's why the NFL put a team back in LA. They know the hard to impress people of LA will stop buying tickets, but the money will then come from the large number of corporate entities in LA. Buffalo will never be able to compete economically against bigger cities in that area. That's why we needed someone like Pegula with local ties to keep this team in the area. No one else would have regardless of how many seats Rusty can sell. The best way for the Bills to increase their profit margin would be by winning. You'd see Bills merch flying off the shelves across the country. Rusty selling tickets really isn't what saved this franchise at all.

 

Not for nothing, but the season ticket base has more than doubled since Russ was hired back in '97

[Gordio]

Your entire post was good, but I thought this last paragraph summed it up nicely.

 

Can you imagine if front offices thought like fans and wallowed in the past? In football, from the owner to the scouts, you have to have the mentality of a cornerback; the ability to instantly forget getting toasted and getting on to the next play. You can only look forward.

 

 

Yeah if team did that they might be a spectator from the playoffs for the better part of 2 decades...oh wait

[DriveFor1Outta5]

 

 

I think Whaley has done some good things with this roster. I also think he has done some things that would get most GMS on other competent organizations fired by now.

"Competent" is the key word here. It makes me laugh that some people talk about this organization like it is competent. It's really difficult to miss the playoffs 16 straight years in the NFL. Something is wrong somewhere that needs to be fixed. That's why so many people including myself are guilty of pointing at Brandon. I think there are plenty of issues in this organization that need to be fixed. He just happens to be thrown out as the face of this mess so it's only natural that we pick on him. I'd personally replace Brandon as well as a lot of other people in this organization.

 

Not for nothing, but the season ticket base has more than doubled since Russ was hired back in '97

Please don't take this wrong, but I truly am curious. What has Rusty done to do this?

[Gordio]

 

Not for nothing, but the season ticket base has more than doubled since Russ was hired back in '97

 

 

I hardly give Rusty credit for that. Back in the 90's there were empty stadiums all over the league. The league is a totally different animal the last 15 years. The NFL sells itself. Christ, back in the 90's fantasy football wasn't even evented was it.

 

Far as my friend it is someone I have known my whole life & trust & he has very close workings with Pegs. You could believe what you hear, I will believe what I hear.

[Andrew Son]

"Competent" is the key word here. It makes me laugh that some people talk about this organization like it is competent. It's really difficult to miss the playoffs 16 straight years in the NFL. Something is wrong somewhere that needs to be fixed. That's why so many people including myself are guilty of pointing at Brandon. I think there are plenty of issues in this organization that need to be fixed. He just happens to be thrown out as the face of this mess so it's only natural that we pick on him. I'd personally replace Brandon as well as a lot of other people in this organization.

Please don't take this wrong, but I truly am curious. What has Rusty done to do this?

Problem is "this" organization has not missed the playoffs 16 straight years. This organization is two years old

[26CornerBlitz]

Problem is "this" organization has not missed the playoffs 16 straight years. This organization is two years old

 

Frustrated fan view vs. the Pegulas' view. Guess which POV wins.