Our thoughts on Jim Kelly when he fled for the USFL

[Bing Bong]

I never hear this talked about.. but what were fans' sentiment about Kelly up and leaving Buffalo to dry for Houston?

 

In a way I can't blame him, he wanted to stay warm.. I imagine most Quarterbacks want to play their best football in weather they prefer (take Brees/Warner/Culpepper out of the dome and they don't quite play their best ball). And he got a gargantuan salary (correct? Was one of the marquee players the USFL stole away with their terrible plan to outbid players).

 

Good god that must have stung. Especially with Jim Kelly tearing it up over there, having a good team built for him (did his absence help us nab some more high draft talent?), and Dan Marino who we passed on, landing on the rival Dolphins having the greatest season by a mile for a Quarterback in his sophomore year.. 

 

I never hear these 2 years discussed around fans. Yet we b**** about players on other teams finagling contracts and cutting bait elsewhere. All sounds heartbreaking.

 

Did we know the USFL would fold? Did we despise Trump (lol) for poaching players like that? Did we have grudging resentment for Jim Kelly his first year or 2 before he became beloved. I've heard the story about after this episode. What was going on with y'all before? Too drunk to remember those days is my guess.

[fansince88]

As you can see by my screen name I dont remember them from a personal side. Watched just football then. That said. great question.

[HOUSE]

It was horrible , people screaming out windows, kids stayed home from school, banks were closed....

 

 

 

Edited March 5, 2019 by HOUSE

[Bing Bong]

11 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

It was horrible , people screaming out windows, kids stayed home from school, banks were closed....

 

 

 

Nice. Sounds like Buffalo turned into a 3rd world country. If that's not fandom I don't know what is.

 

"Alcoholism was rampant in Buffalo's skid row"

 

People lost fortunes in a Buffalo stock crash for no reason. All the farms were barren and dust was everywhere

 

Think about how much fights people have gotten about Pat Mahomes. Marino is nuclear annihilation compared to Pat.

Edited March 5, 2019 by BarkleyForGOATBackupPT5P

[HOUSE]

I remember tear gas at UB

[oldmanfan]

We thought he was a jerk to put it mildly

[K-9]

Sucked at the time and we all felt like jilted prom dates. The “Ralph is Cheap” chorus was loud and persistent as the Bills botched the negotiation at the 11th hour. 

 

Turns out it was possibly the best thing to happen as Kelly’s time with Mouse Davis taught him how to read defenses and be a better QB.. He was far more pro ready by the time he got here. Given our team in ‘83, I believe he would have struggled for a few years vs. having the kind of off the charts success he had in Houston. 

[Bing Bong]

4 minutes ago, oldmanfan said:

We thought he was a jerk to put it mildly

I would too. But I have a strong player's power agenda so while I'd be super ticked... I'd totally understand the money and Houston decision. Man did what he wanted to do.

 

I'd be more upset with Bill Polian for not doing his homework on Jim's preference and underestimating the USFL and NOT GETTING DAN MARINO... during those 2 years. Would be more mad at the GM than Jim.

3 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Sucked at the time and we all felt like jilted prom dates. The “Ralph is Cheap” chorus was loud and persistent as the Bills botched the negotiation at the 11th hour. 

 

Turns out it was possibly the best thing to happen as Kelly’s time with Mouse Davis taught him how to read defenses and be a better QB.. He was far more pro ready by the time he got here. Given our team in ‘83, I believe he would have struggled for a few years vs. having the kind of off the charts success he had in Houston. 

The team he eventually joined was quite stacked right. Did his absence get us more key picks? I forget, but I always thought Bruce came just before. Not sure about Thurman or the rest of the non-star supporting cast.

[Chandler#81]

We took Tony Hunter (TE from Notre Dame) with our 1st, 1sr rounder. Taking Kelly at 14 filled a need, but when he jumped most anger was aimed at the FO for not gittin’erdone! He was OK @ the U, but he set the football world on fire with the Gamblers. Once Trumps lawsuit killed the League, Ralph sprang for the $8M and GOD showed up Opening Day ‘86.

 

The rest, as they say, is history.

[Bing Bong]

9 minutes ago, Chandler#81 said:

We took Tony Hunter (TE from Notre Dame) with our 1st, 1sr rounder. Taking Kelly at 14 filled a need, but when he jumped most anger was aimed at the FO for not gittin’erdone! He was OK @ the U, but he set the football world on fire with the Gamblers. Once Trumps lawsuit killed the League, Ralph sprang for the $8M and GOD showed up Opening Day ‘86.

 

The rest, as they say, is history.

Did you assume the USFL would last longer or was it's downfall all but apparent.. knowing you'd get Jim Kelly soon one way or another.

 

I'd point my anger on FO for underestimating the USFL and not doing their homework on Jim Kelly making it clear he hated the idea of playing in Buffalo. Nevertheless they picked the right quarterback in retrospect. Those 2 years I'd be the knee jerk idiot calling for his head.

Edited March 5, 2019 by BarkleyForGOATBackupPT5P

[BobbyC81]

It was all that secretary’s fault.  She should’ve known better not to put the call thru from the USFL.  Anybody have any insight?  Was she fired after that? Did she accept money from the USFL rep? Inquiring minds want to know!

[Bing Bong]

2 minutes ago, LittleJoeCartwright said:

It was all that secretary’s fault.  She should’ve known better not to put the call thru from the USFL.  Anybody have any insight?  Was she fired after that? Did she accept money from the USFL rep? Inquiring minds want to know!

This thread will solve all unsolved mysteries and get to the bottom of this.

 

But seriously??? **** her lol.

Edited March 5, 2019 by BarkleyForGOATBackupPT5P

[K-9]

10 minutes ago, BarkleyForGOATBackupPT5P said:

The team he eventually joined was quite stacked right. Did his absence get us more key picks? I forget, but I always thought Bruce came just before. Not sure about Thurman or the rest of the non-star supporting cast.

The ‘83 and ‘84 teams were bereft of talent on both sides of the ball to say the least. The core of our dynasty teams arrived in the ‘85 draft and beyond. Kelly and Talley were the only key pieces obtained before then, although Greg Bell ended up being a key chip in the trade for Bennett. Yeah, I think Kelly, as a young QB with a very limited supporting cast, would have struggled initially. 

[eball]

The really sad part is that Kelly wasn't even the first player to jilt the Bills.  Tom Cousineau (No. 1 overall pick in '79) said sayonara and went to the CFL rather than play for Buffalo because they offered him twice the salary.

[Not at the table Karlos]

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

Sucked at the time and we all felt like jilted prom dates. The “Ralph is Cheap” chorus was loud and persistent as the Bills botched the negotiation at the 11th hour. 

 

Turns out it was possibly the best thing to happen as Kelly’s time with Mouse Davis taught him how to read defenses and be a better QB.. He was far more pro ready by the time he got here. Given our team in ‘83, I believe he would have struggled for a few years vs. having the kind of off the charts success he had in Houston. 

Wasnt Jim about to sign with us but someone from usfl called the bills and asked to speak to Jim or his agent.  The secratary or something came and interrupted the meeting and gave Jim the phone. 

[cwater10]

Your question may have been best answered by Roger Waters and David Gilmour in 1979

 

"I don't need no arms around me

And I dont need no drugs to calm me.

I have seen the writing on the wall.

Don't think I need anything at all.

No! Don't think I'll need anything at all.

All in all it was all just bricks in the wall.

All in all you were all just bricks in the wall."

 

It was easily the most dispiriting time ever to be a Bills fan.  The drought of 2000 -2017 was mind numbing mediocrity for the most part.  This was something quite different.  For Baby Boomer Bills fans, the 10 year period from 1976 - 1986, the experience of waking up every day to read the Courier Express, watching a 4 minute local sports report (or 3) every evening, just trying to live the good life of being a Bills fan,  was brutal.  And strangely, it was also wonderful.  It was, as Marv would eventually say, exactly where and when we wanted to be.  It was like a twisted dream that drew on emotions that would have been expected from...  let's say: The Great Depression, Woodstock, and some other horrific historical reference that was so inhumane, that a football metaphor would be completely and irresistibly inappropriate for.  By the time Jim opted for the USFL and declared that being drafted by Buffalo made him cry, it was just another brick in the wall.  Still, it somehow made viscous cosmic sense to Bills fans just like losing that 4th Super Bowl did. 

 

In 1976, we came crashing to earth from the euphoric ride of the OJ era.  First OJ held out and demanded to be traded to LA.  Then, on the eve of the opener, he signed with Buffalo once again, and all seemed normal.  We all exhaled that the thrill ride of OJ would continue and at least the offense would keep us on the edge of our seats.  After a 2-2 start, Fergy suffered a broken back somewhere in that haze, and they never won again.  2 -12 in 1976 led directly to 2-12 in 1977.  OJ tore up his knee, and would never again be relevant (until he was again... in ways that we could not believe, until we had to believe it).  Because of prior trades and expansion, those twin 2-12 finishes did not even net us a #1 overall pick.  Instead we drafted Phil Dokes.  Remember him?  If you do, it's just scar tissue.  If you don't, there is good reason. 

 

Finally, 1979 brought us a good break and the OJ trade gifted us the #1 pick overall.  After much fanfare, we selected a linebacker, Tom Cousineau from Ohio State.  Cousineau was apparently a role model for future Buffalo highly drafted stars.  He said thanks, but no thanks and opted to sign with the freakin' Montreal Allouettes of the CFL.  Seriously...  we lost the #1 overall pick to the CFL.  Can you imagine the Twitter meltdown if that happened today?  Yep, it was another brick in the wall to feed tortured Bills fans souls.  More hemlock please!

 

Somehow the Bills landed on their feet and had a great draft anyway, landing foundational players in Jerry Butler, Fred Smerlas, Jim Haslett, Jeff Nixon and good depth in Rod Kush and Ken "Baby" Johnson.  A pleasant 1979 turnaround to an encouraging 7 - 9 (sound familiar), actually did usher in a brief period of Woodstock like euphoria for Bills fans.  1980 began with breaking the Miami "curse" of the 1970's (0-20).  The curse was every bit as vile in the 70's as "The Drought" was for modern day Bills fans.  Soon the city was all singing "Talking Proud" and players were dancing and partying on field.  Goal posts came down.  Chuck Knox was the football messiah that we had been dreaming of.  With the # 1 defense and Ferguson in a groove, Super Bowl dreams were real, even likely.  And then more bricks....  Fergy with a gruesome ankle injury on the eve on the playoffs followed by an apparent playoff victory in San Diego blown up in shocking and sudden Billsy fashion as Rod Smith (who?) goes like 85 yards with a minute left.  WTF?  Another playoff season followed in 1981.  1982 arrived with promise of more playoff fun, and the Bills started 2-0 after a thrilling come from behind home victory over Minnesota on Thursday night.  Times were good, right.  Look out!  INCOMING BRICKS!

 

At that point the NFL Players went on strike for a month or two, and nothing was ever the same for Bills fans.  For added foreshadowing effect, 3 days after that thrilling Bills victory over Minnesota, the beloved Courier Express just went out of business.  The player strike followed a day later.  Bricks everywhere!  When the smoke cleared the Bills were a mess and just tanked the rest of the abbreviated season.  After the season ended in misery, Chuck Knox said "get me outta here" and decided that Seattle would be a nice place to live.  An angry Joe Cribbs would soon decide to spend what seemed like an eternity demanding more money or a trade, while checking in daily with reporters from "his mother's home in Sulligent, Alabama", instead of on the field with The Bills.  He would soon take his talents to Birmingham, Alabama of the USFL.  One last ray of hope was that The Bills had recouped some measure of compensation for the Tom Cousineau debacle in the form of an extra first round pick in the upcoming draft when Cousineau decided that The CFL was not so cool and he wanted back into the NFL.  Buffalo traded his rights to Cleveland for a first.  Yes, Cleveland Rocks!  

 

That pick, of course, became Jim Kelly.  A moment of silence to digest the kick in the gut that we all felt when, almost on queue, Kelly turned around and pulled a "Cousineau" and refused to come to town. It really was the final brick in the wall.  1984 brought 2-14.  1985 brought 2-14.  Darcy Regier never imagined this kind of suffering.  

 

So, in summary...  for those of you that were not around, don't remember or maybe don't care, this should give you a sense of why we lined the streets in welcome when Kelly finally came to town in 1986.  The 4 Super Bowls that followed were so great and so Buffalo!  I would not have missed a minute of any of this.  

 

God bless Tim Russert's soul, and "GO BILLS!"

Edited March 5, 2019 by cwater10

[JMF2006]

1 hour ago, HOUSE said:

It was horrible , people screaming out windows, kids stayed home from school, banks were closed....

 

 

 

That's about how I remembered it  ;)

 

Just another snub to down in the dumps franchise at the time.

 

[JMF2006]

Well said CWater10 :)

 

That's the perfect Coles notes version :) 

[K-9]

34 minutes ago, Not at the table Karlos said:

Wasnt Jim about to sign with us but someone from usfl called the bills and asked to speak to Jim or his agent.  The secratary or something came and interrupted the meeting and gave Jim the phone. 

Yep, something like that.

[nucci]

Really pissed off

58 minutes ago, cwater10 said:

Your question may have been best answered by Roger Waters and David Gilmour in 1979

 

"I don't need no arms around me

And I dont need no drugs to calm me.

I have seen the writing on the wall.

Don't think I need anything at all.

No! Don't think I'll need anything at all.

All in all it was all just bricks in the wall.

All in all you were all just bricks in the wall."

 

It was easily the most dispiriting time ever to be a Bills fan.  The drought of 2000 -2017 was mind numbing mediocrity for the most part.  This was something quite different.  For Baby Boomer Bills fans, the 10 year period from 1976 - 1986, the experience of waking up every day to read the Courier Express, watching a 4 minute local sports report (or 3) every evening, just trying to live the good life of being a Bills fan,  was brutal.  And strangely, it was also wonderful.  It was, as Marv would eventually say, exactly where and when we wanted to be.  It was like a twisted dream that drew on emotions that would have been expected from...  let's say: The Great Depression, Woodstock, and some other horrific historical reference that was so inhumane, that a football metaphor would be completely and irresistibly inappropriate for.  By the time Jim opted for the USFL and declared that being drafted by Buffalo made him cry, it was just another brick in the wall.  Still, it somehow made viscous cosmic sense to Bills fans just like losing that 4th Super Bowl did. 

 

In 1976, we came crashing to earth from the euphoric ride of the OJ era.  First OJ held out and demanded to be traded to LA.  Then, on the eve of the opener, he signed with Buffalo once again, and all seemed normal.  We all exhaled that the thrill ride of OJ would continue and at least the offense would keep us on the edge of our seats.  After a 2-2 start, Fergy suffered a broken back somewhere in that haze, and they never won again.  2 -12 in 1976 led directly to 2-12 in 1977.  OJ tore up his knee, and would never again be relevant (until he was again... in ways that we could not believe, until we had to believe it).  Because of prior trades and expansion, those twin 2-12 finishes did not even net us a #1 overall pick.  Instead we drafted Phil Dokes.  Remember him?  If you do, it's just scar tissue.  If you don't, there is good reason. 

 

Finally, 1979 brought us a good break and the OJ trade gifted us the #1 pick overall.  After much fanfare, we selected a linebacker, Tom Cousineau from Ohio State.  Cousineau was apparently a role model for future Buffalo highly drafted stars.  He said thanks, but no thanks and opted to sign with the freakin' Montreal Allouettes of the CFL.  Seriously...  we lost the #1 overall pick to the CFL.  Can you imagine the Twitter meltdown if that happened today?  Yep, it was another brick in the wall to feed tortured Bills fans souls.  More hemlock please!

 

Somehow the Bills landed on their feet and had a great draft anyway, landing foundational players in Jerry Butler, Fred Smerlas, Jim Haslett, Jeff Nixon and good depth in Rod Kush and Ken "Baby" Johnson.  A pleasant 1979 turnaround to an encouraging 7 - 9 (sound familiar), actually did usher in a brief period of Woodstock like euphoria for Bills fans.  1980 began with breaking the Miami "curse" of the 1970's (0-20).  The curse was every bit as vile in the 70's as "The Drought" was for modern day Bills fans.  Soon the city was all singing "Talking Proud" and players were dancing and partying on field.  Goal posts came down.  Chuck Knox was the football messiah that we had been dreaming of.  With the # 1 defense and Ferguson in a groove, Super Bowl dreams were real, even likely.  And then more bricks....  Fergy with a gruesome ankle injury on the eve on the playoffs followed by an apparent playoff victory in San Diego blown up in shocking and sudden Billsy fashion as Rod Smith (who?) goes like 85 yards with a minute left.  WTF?  Another playoff season followed in 1981.  1982 arrived with promise of more playoff fun, and the Bills started 2-0 after a thrilling come from behind home victory over Minnesota on Thursday night.  Times were good, right.  Look out!  INCOMING BRICKS!

 

At that point the NFL Players went on strike for a month or two, and nothing was ever the same for Bills fans.  For added foreshadowing effect, 3 days after that thrilling Bills victory over Minnesota, the beloved Courier Express just went out of business.  The player strike followed a day later.  Bricks everywhere!  When the smoke cleared the Bills were a mess and just tanked the rest of the abbreviated season.  After the season ended in misery, Chuck Knox said "get me outta here" and decided that Seattle would be a nice place to live.  An angry Joe Cribbs would soon decide to spend what seemed like an eternity demanding more money or a trade, while checking in daily with reporters from "his mother's home in Sulligent, Alabama", instead of on the field with The Bills.  He would soon take his talents to Birmingham, Alabama of the USFL.  One last ray of hope was that The Bills had recouped some measure of compensation for the Tom Cousineau debacle in the form of an extra first round pick in the upcoming draft when Cousineau decided that The CFL was not so cool and he wanted back into the NFL.  Buffalo traded his rights to Cleveland for a first.  Yes, Cleveland Rocks!  

 

That pick, of course, became Jim Kelly.  A moment of silence to digest the kick in the gut that we all felt when, almost on queue, Kelly turned around and pulled a "Cousineau" and refused to come to town. It really was the final brick in the wall.  1984 brought 2-14.  1985 brought 2-14.  Darcy Regier never imagined this kind of suffering.  

 

So, in summary...  for those of you that were not around, don't remember or maybe don't care, this should give you a sense of why we lined the streets in welcome when Kelly finally came to town in 1986.  The 4 Super Bowls that followed were so great and so Buffalo!  I would not have missed a minute of any of this.  

 

God bless Tim Russert's soul, and "GO BILLS!"

Getting to the Superbowls was great....