The Top 5 Most Polarizing Figures in Buffalo Bills History

[BuffaloRush]

Just now, RochesterRob said:

  I disagree about your take on Kelly but if you grew up in a  house that adored him and your friends and neighbors revered him then you are apt to feel the same way.  There was a huge amount of resentment towards Kelly and it carried through our playoff win over the Oilers of which quite a number were hoping that Reich would bump Kelly to the bench for good.  I think that your perspective is too greatly influenced by your youth.

 

LOL I’m in my late 30’s.  Not very “youthful!”  

 

The only knock I remember about Kelly was that he wasn’t as good Marino.  I remember people calling into talk radio to say “If the Bills drafted Marino over Kelly, we’d have won 3 Super Bowls.”  Outside of that I feel the fan base was pretty content with Kelly but like you said because of age and location we all have different perspectives 

[MTBill]

No disrespect to you BuffaloRush - but you used the word "History" in the title of the thread without the qualifier of "Recent" or "2018's most polarizing".

 

I understand where you're coming from, but if you say in history, you will learn some history of who has been polarizing, not just recent history.

 

EDIT - During the 80's/90's - Kelly was constantly debated on the old internet news groups.  He was a jerk off the field, and he refused to sit in games he should have sat due to injury, which caused more harm than good to himself and the team.  When I would talk with family still in Buffalo, his name would come up and tempers would flare.  I think one of the things which makes for a "good" polarizing figure, they have to be entrenched for a while.  Tyrod, while polarizing, only hung around for a few years.  But debates went on for 7 years or more on many of these historical folks.  That said, if Tyrod has success in Cleveland...  well those fires will be stoked here.

Edited April 4, 2018 by MTBill

[hondo in seattle]

34 minutes ago, joesixpack said:

Doug Flutie #1, and it's not even really close.

 

 

When I saw the title of the Thread I thought the very same thing, "Flutie... and it's not even close."

 

I can't remember so many heated differences of opinion.  

[gobills1212]

26 minutes ago, BuffaloRush said:

 

Disagree.  I think that the majority of Bills fans disagree more with the other 4 on the list above Flutie.  Whaley is a clear #1

 

I think you might be misinterpreting what polarizing means.  It means that it divides the fan base.  Doug Whaley divides fan base much more than Doug Flutie does - as do the other 4 on the list 

 

Whitey?

Lol. How do you author a thread, encourage people to talk about a topic that is neither here nor there (which personally I think is kinda silly but to each their own by all means) and then totally shoot down and dismiss someone elses opinion and matter of factly state you are correct?!?! If you choose to play host of the thread that's up to you, but to ask for opinions and then just shoot em down and bluntly dismiss them isn't a good look.

If u wanna start these threads, dont be that guy on top of it.

ESPECIALLY when there is no right answer!!!

And, to avoid the I didnt give my opinion retort - Flutie captivated Buffalo in a way only OJ has done and that was more national and for the wrong reasons. The fact that all these years later people still disagree with the decision in that titans game lends credence to this argument. Whaley has the sammy trade and now a days - who cares?

+1 for Flutie.

[Cynical]

15 minutes ago, Tisker A Tasker said:

Flutie has become less polarizing as time has gone on, because Rob Johnson's career amounted to nothing. ...but at the time there were a lot of people in Rob Johnson's corner because when he was good, he was really good (including, "The Coach" Chuck Dickerson who railed on this nightly).  There was a sense of hope with Rob - that he could become a top-line franchise quarterback.  In fact, he may belong on this list more than Doug does.

 

Nah, Flutie was definitely more divisive. It's not even close.

When RJ left, nobdoy cared. When Flutie left, there were "Bills fans" (as if they were) who openly rooted for Flutie and the Chargers to beat the Bills in 2001.

Also, when Flutie played with the Chargers in 2001, it was interesting to watch the San Diego fan base go through the same exact BS Bills fans went through.

 

 

Edited April 4, 2018 by Cynical

[Jauronimo]

Jason Peters?

[Seanbillsfan2206]

Bruce Smith was an !@#$. Denver signed him to an offer sheet in 1988 I believe and he told the Bills not to match it. He was always quarreling with management. He had a bit of a cocaine problem (allegedly) and had private investigators following him early in his career. He also had a bit of a drinking problem and loved to get behind the wheel. 

 

[Tisker A Tasker]

4 minutes ago, Cynical said:

 

Nah, Flutie was definitely more divisive. It's not even close.

When RJ left, nobdoy cared. When Flutie left, there were "Bills fans" (as if they were) who openly rooted for Flutie and the Chargers to beat the Bills in 2001.

Also, when Flutie played with the Chargers in 2001, it was interesting to watch the San Diego fan base go through the same exact BS Bills fans went through.

 

 

1

 

Dear heavens.  I forgot about that game. The whole thing was made worse by Bucky Gleason writing that hit piece on Flutie in the week before the game.

[MTBill]

Oh - and probably something else which belongs on the list....

 

Bills Beat Writers (insert name here).  They end up being polarizing to fans who agree/disagree with them. 

[Success]

Taylor is around # 30.  

[BuffaloRush]

9 minutes ago, gobills1212 said:

Lol. How do you author a thread, encourage people to talk about a topic that is neither here nor there (which personally I think is kinda silly but to each their own by all means) and then totally shoot down and dismiss someone elses opinion and matter of factly state you are correct?!?! If you choose to play host of the thread that's up to you, but to ask for opinions and then just shoot em down and bluntly dismiss them isn't a good look.

If u wanna start these threads, dont be that guy on top of it.

ESPECIALLY when there is no right answer!!!

And, to avoid the I didnt give my opinion retort - Flutie captivated Buffalo in a way only OJ has done and that was more national and for the wrong reasons. The fact that all these years later people still disagree with the decision in that titans game lends credence to this argument. Whaley has the sammy trade and now a days - who cares?

+1 for Flutie.

 

Right this entire thread is polarizing which is why we are all entitled to our opinions.  I will stand by mine - in 2018 Doug Whaley is a more devisive figure than Doug Whaley

3 minutes ago, MTBill said:

Oh - and probably something else which belongs on the list....

 

Bills Beat Writers (insert name here).  They end up being polarizing to fans who agree/disagree with them. 

 

The writers work for their media outlets... not the Bills so I didn’t consider them.  I get what you are saying though

4 minutes ago, Success said:

Taylor is around # 30.  

Personally I disagree with that.  Just read some of the threads in here

[pkwwjd]

Just like adjusting stats to compare players from different eras ... we may need to understand that the nature of polarization has increased exponentially over the past two decades or so. With the evolution of message boards and the constant barrage of media reports about players and circumstances, it would appear at first glance that the most polarizing figures are also the most recent. However, I would argue that the angst caused by some players in previous generations would create full-scale fan combat in our current cultural climate. For what it's worth, there's almost no way to create a top 10 list, let alone a top 5. Simply creating the list causes polarization ...

[Marv's Neighbor]

58 minutes ago, BuffaloRush said:

 

Disagree.  I think that the majority of Bills fans disagree more with the other 4 on the list above Flutie.  Whaley is a clear #1

 

I think you might be misinterpreting what polarizing means.  It means that it divides the fan base.  Doug Whaley divides fan base much more than Doug Flutie does - as do the other 4 on the list 

 

Whitey?

Tom Donahoe.

[gobills1212]

9 minutes ago, BuffaloRush said:

 

Right this entire thread is polarizing which is why we are all entitled to our opinions.  I will stand by mine - in 2018 Doug Whaley is a more devisive figure than Doug Whaley

 

The writers work for their media outlets... not the Bills so I didn’t consider them.  I get what you are saying though

Personally I disagree with that.  Just read some of the threads in here

Aaannndddd that seems to have gone right over your head lol. There's just an etiquette that doesn't include ignorance that would be helpful to a thread of this nature if you want to play host. Asking people to participate rather than make fun of would go better for you if you nurtured the discussion rather than acting like you have an answer key to the dumbest test ever. As someone who seems to almost trying to build a name for themselves via content based on your style of posts here, youd think you wld get this.

I wld call this thread many things. POLORIZING is not one of em. 

 

[Tisker A Tasker]

I wasn't around in the 60's, but how has the Mad Bomber, Daryle Lamonica not been mentioned?

Edited April 4, 2018 by Tisker A Tasker

[CamboBill]

I think OJ needs to be on this list .. and is probably the hands down winner. he divided almost a whole country along race lines.

[KD in CA]

Clearly a list written by someone in their mid-20s.  Gilmore isn't even in the top 25 (high pick, good player, not worth huge money.  What's so polarizing?), and Taylor is questionable for the top 5;  in five years no one will be talking about 'oh what if we had kept Taylor'.

 

If we're specifically excluding OJ for his post-career issues, the other obvious #1 is Ralph.

 

 

14 hours ago, Jauronimo said:

Jason Peters?

 

Yup, that's a good one.

Edited April 5, 2018 by KD in CA

[eball]

I think a lot of you don't understand the word "polarizing"

 

#1 is Doug Flutie and it's not close by a longshot -- the fan base was ripped apart

[Like A Mofo]

1 hour ago, Bray Wyatt said:

OJ?

 

 

This list is irrelevant without OJ on it. Was polarizing from Day 1 in the NFL

[BillsFan17]

Marrone has to be up there.

 

Lynch absolutely has to be on this list.