Ralph Wilson Quotes Himself While Firing John Butler

[BillsVet]

I'm not a huge RW fan, but a few years after this PC, it was Commissioner Tagliabue pushing a new CBA on the owners. Ralph (and Mike Brown) both voted against it and were roundly criticized for having done so. I remember calling him into question myself. 

 

About 2 years later, ownership opted out of that CBA early.  In this regard, RW was correct to oppose the 2006 CBA.

 

Every public figure is evaluated, fairly or unfairly, based on how they speak. I have no doubt RW was doing the best he could back then, but octogenarian humans aren't at the top of their game. The man made some terrible decisions and some good ones. I would let it be.

Edited December 14, 2017 by BillsVet

[Beast]

18 hours ago, White Linen said:

 

It's funny to take jabs at the dead?

 

Sometimes.

 

I have a few good Charlie Manson jokes. 

[KW95 - JA17]

This is funny.  Could be a SNL skit!

 

 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

17 hours ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

Didn't watch the video, don't care.

 

Posthumously disparaging Ralph Wilson when the team is still in Buffalo and coming off a classic Buffalo hometown win is distasteful and pointless to me

 

If anyone deserves posthumous disparaging, it's Ralph Wilson. I quit spending money on the Bills (tickets, gear, etc.) for the last 10 years of his life for a reason.

 

He was THE worst owner in the league for the last decade of his existence, and it's not even close.

 

 

[stevestojan]

19 hours ago, White Linen said:

 

It's funny to take jabs at the dead?

Lighten up, Susan. 

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

17 hours ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

Didn't watch the video, don't care.

 

Posthumously disparaging Ralph Wilson when the team is still in Buffalo and coming off a classic Buffalo hometown win is distasteful and pointless to me

 

....sure is besides being pointless.......he is gone but the Bills are STILL in Buffalo because of his iron clad agreement...not good enough though.....

[KW95 - JA17]

19 hours ago, White Linen said:

 

It's funny to take jabs at the dead?

 

 

Holy mother of God...even if he was alive I'd laugh at this.  Has nothing to do with the Dead.

[stevestojan]

Question: since Jesus is technically undead, are jokes about him OK? Just trying to establish the ground rules. 

 

I’ll hang up and listen.  

[Best Player Available]

6 hours ago, BillsVet said:

I'm not a huge RW fan, but a few years after this PC, it was Commissioner Tagliabue pushing a new CBA on the owners. Ralph (and Mike Brown) both voted against it and were roundly criticized for having done so. I remember calling him into question myself. 

 

About 2 years later, ownership opted out of that CBA early.  In this regard, RW was correct to oppose the 2006 CBA.

 

Every public figure is evaluated, fairly or unfairly, based on how they speak. I have no doubt RW was doing the best he could back then, but octogenarian humans aren't at the top of their game. The man made some terrible decisions and some good ones. I would let it be.

Yep, Ralph holding his ground on the CBA at the time was head scratcher. In the end he was not only vindicated but is still mentioned when conversations come up about it in the media. J. Jones is probably still fuming. Ralph was a good businessman. But it seemed he always put that end above winning teams. No revelation there. 

The SB era was all Polian, after he and later when  Butler got canned it was over. In the end he kept a NFL team viable in a poor market. For that he gets all the credit. 

The couple of times I met him he was down to earth, easy to chat with, and had a great sense of humor. 

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

19 minutes ago, Best Player Available said:

Yep, Ralph holding his ground on the CBA at the time was head scratcher. In the end he was not only vindicated but is still mentioned when conversations come up about it in the media. J. Jones is probably still fuming. Ralph was a good businessman. But it seemed he always put that end above winning teams. No revelation there. 

The SB era was all Polian, after he and later when  Butler got canned it was over. In the end he kept a NFL team viable in a poor market. For that he gets all the credit. 

The couple of times I met him he was down to earth, easy to chat with, and had a great sense of humor. 

 

 

...Ralph was a loyalist and his relationships were built on trust....after that era of upheaval and the Donohole debacle. he began promoting Brandon into positions NOT qualified for because of "trust".....he RE-TIRED Marv with new radials after Donohole again based on "trust"...his Inner Circle was woefully violated.....he got wind of Butler following AJ to SD and canned him because he violated the trust element.....ironically friends of mine were at OBD when the firing came down and I knew 30 minutes later....

Edited December 14, 2017 by OldTimeAFLGuy

[Big Turk]

20 hours ago, Gugny said:

 

It might indicate why the Bills have had 17 total winning seasons since 1970,

We'v won more playoff games than Detroit has at least 

[Coach Tuesday]

20 hours ago, White Linen said:

What's the point?  These appearances don't portray the "bulls" in a good light?  How so?  The man has passed - what a very odd thread to start.  

 

What did your screen name used to be?  I'm trying to figure out how to evaluate this response.

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

9 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

We'v won more playoff games than Detroit has at least 

 

...it all depends on the philosophy of ownership and the eventual transfer of ownership to usually children......Ralph earned the absentee cheapskate moniker in the 70's+ as far as reinvesting in the club versus watching his 25 grand investment grow as a 40 something...he eventually came around as his football interest grew but held the strings with Littmann being the REAL fly in the  ointment (1% owner gratis from Ralph protecting HIS coin).....Rooneys have been hands off and non-meddlesome during their Steelers tenure...Result? 3 HC's in 48 years and SIX Lombardis on the shelf...nuff said....DeBartolo was the owner face of the Niners but let Policy run the show....result: 4 Lombardis.....Pats Kraft may be the owner but BB is the face calling the shots....result: 5 Lombardis......Spanos turned Chargers over to his kid and you see the resulting train wreck.....Bidwell Sr turned Cards ops over to Jr and they became a competitive club......Wellington Mara turned ops over to John and the Jints are stinkers....Al Davis?....just Al...Jack Kent Cooke and the Deadskins?...always in the hunt...and the list goes on.....

[JohnC]

I am not and never was an apologist for Ralph Wilson. As an owner he was inept and outdated. While most responders are snickering with the clip my take is that the owner was right in firing John Butler.  At this stage Ralph was not a very polished speaker. However, that doesn't mean that the action he took against Butler was wrong. Butler was asked whether he was going to sign a new contract since his current contract was expiring. Not only was Butler was tired of working for a tough, meddling boss he also resented the initial contract offer which he considered insulting. Eventually the contract offer was at or at least close to a fair-market offer. Butler continued to stall. 

 

Ralph is no fool. He is a tough codger. He knew exactly what Butler was doing and what his intentions were. Butler had no intention to sign a new contract. So the boss fired him. That was an appropriate response by the proud man/owner. 

 

Ralph held a grudge against Butler because he felt that Butler was not only unloyal  but he also believed that the GM was working on a deal with another team while he was under contract. The suspicion gained credibility when Butler quickly signed a deal with the Chargers after his termination. To Ralph Wilson's credit Wilson took the initiative to see Butler while he was dying from cancer and made peace with him. That was an honorable act to take. 

 

So for those who are snickering at the clip although the style was not smooth there was substance and merit to his statement. 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

8 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I am not and never was an apologist for Ralph Wilson. As an owner he was inept and outdated. While most responders are snickering with the clip my take is that the owner was right in firing John Butler.  At this stage Ralph was not a very polished speaker. However, that doesn't mean that the action he took against Butler was wrong. Butler was asked whether he was going to sign a new contract since his current contract was expiring. Not only was Butler was tired of working for a tough, meddling boss he also resented the initial contract offer which he considered insulting. Eventually the contract offer was at or at least close to a fair-market offer. Butler continued to stall. 

 

Ralph is no fool. He is a tough codger. He knew exactly what Butler was doing and what his intentions were. Butler had no intention to sign a new contract. So the boss fired him. That was an appropriate response by the proud man/owner. 

 

Ralph held a grudge against Butler because he felt that Butler was not only unloyal  but he also believed that the GM was working on a deal with another team while he was under contract. The suspicion gained credibility when Butler quickly signed a deal with the Chargers after his termination. To Ralph Wilson's credit Wilson took the initiative to see Butler while he was dying from cancer and made peace with him. That was an honorable act to take. 

 

So for those who are snickering at the clip although the style was not smooth there was substance and merit to his statement. 

 

And then he botched things with Donahoe. And further complicated his botching of donahoe by hiring the likes of Marv, brandon and Nix.

 

Awful, spectacular in its awfulness when you think about it.

[JohnC]

6 minutes ago, joesixpack said:

 

And then he botched things with Donahoe. And further complicated his botching of donahoe by hiring the likes of Marv, brandon and Nix.

 

Awful, spectacular in its awfulness when you think about it.

As an owner Ralph Wilson made a lot of mistakes. That's not a revelation. You missed the point that I was responding to. I was discussing the Butler firing and his own press release.  You are going off in another direction that doesn't address what I stated. 

[BuffaloRush]

20 hours ago, SinceThe70s said:

 

Didn't watch the video, don't care.

 

Posthumously disparaging Ralph Wilson when the team is still in Buffalo and coming off a classic Buffalo hometown win is distasteful and pointless to me

Lighten up dude.  No one is being disparaged.  That's like saying anytime you are critical of a US President's tenure, it's posthumously disparaging him.  Give me a break.

 

Just laughing a very funny and odd moment which makes you reflect on the many suspect decisions over the past 20 years or so

[stevestojan]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

I am not and never was an apologist for Ralph Wilson. As an owner he was inept and outdated. While most responders are snickering with the clip my take is that the owner was right in firing John Butler.  At this stage Ralph was not a very polished speaker. However, that doesn't mean that the action he took against Butler was wrong. Butler was asked whether he was going to sign a new contract since his current contract was expiring. Not only was Butler was tired of working for a tough, meddling boss he also resented the initial contract offer which he considered insulting. Eventually the contract offer was at or at least close to a fair-market offer. Butler continued to stall. 

 

Ralph is no fool. He is a tough codger. He knew exactly what Butler was doing and what his intentions were. Butler had no intention to sign a new contract. So the boss fired him. That was an appropriate response by the proud man/owner. 

 

Ralph held a grudge against Butler because he felt that Butler was not only unloyal  but he also believed that the GM was working on a deal with another team while he was under contract. The suspicion gained credibility when Butler quickly signed a deal with the Chargers after his termination. To Ralph Wilson's credit Wilson took the initiative to see Butler while he was dying from cancer and made peace with him. That was an honorable act to take. 

 

So for those who are snickering at the clip although the style was not smooth there was substance and merit to his statement. 

Anyone have a TL;DR of this? 

[BuffaloRush]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

I am not and never was an apologist for Ralph Wilson. As an owner he was inept and outdated. While most responders are snickering with the clip my take is that the owner was right in firing John Butler.  At this stage Ralph was not a very polished speaker. However, that doesn't mean that the action he took against Butler was wrong. Butler was asked whether he was going to sign a new contract since his current contract was expiring. Not only was Butler was tired of working for a tough, meddling boss he also resented the initial contract offer which he considered insulting. Eventually the contract offer was at or at least close to a fair-market offer. Butler continued to stall. 

 

Ralph is no fool. He is a tough codger. He knew exactly what Butler was doing and what his intentions were. Butler had no intention to sign a new contract. So the boss fired him. That was an appropriate response by the proud man/owner. 

 

Ralph held a grudge against Butler because he felt that Butler was not only unloyal  but he also believed that the GM was working on a deal with another team while he was under contract. The suspicion gained credibility when Butler quickly signed a deal with the Chargers after his termination. To Ralph Wilson's credit Wilson took the initiative to see Butler while he was dying from cancer and made peace with him. That was an honorable act to take. 

 

So for those who are snickering at the clip although the style was not smooth there was substance and merit to his statement. 

That wasn't the point of my post - I never said it was the wrong to fire Butler.  But the way that Ralph publicly handled the press conference was a joke. In the history of the NFL how many other NFL owners quoted themselves?

 

"That's me.  I said that." LOL

[26CornerBlitz]

Start at thread to make fun of Ralph Wilson and another to praise Dunkirk Don.