R.I.P. Conrad Dobler

[Marcus Aurelius]

Oh man. My childhood heroes are slowly passing.

I'm next ... we're next ...

C'est la vie

ILLA ANIMA EST

Edited February 14, 2023 by Marcus Aurelius

[QCity]

6 hours ago, Beast said:

Had a good season and a half here. I won’t forget the Monday night game in Dallas in 1981 where it unraveled for him.

 

RIP, Conrad. Thanks for the memories.

 

This is what football did to Conrad Dobler. Take a look at his legs.

 

The man had nine knee replacement surgeries. Nine.

 

Medical advancements have come a looooong way since then.

[Malazan]

Why didn't they give him a call last season? Probably had more fight in him than our line did. 

 

R.I.P. You Dastardly Bastard. 

[Freddie's Dead]

11 hours ago, Beast said:

Had a good season and a half here. I won’t forget the Monday night game in Dallas in 1981 where it unraveled for him.

 

RIP, Conrad. Thanks for the memories.

 

This is what football did to Conrad Dobler. Take a look at his legs.

 

Those leg whips took a toll.  RIP Conrad.

[CowgirlsFan]

RIP 🙏

Thank you for your contribution to the game of football. 🏈

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

 

[gobills404]

12 hours ago, wjag said:

One of my all time favorite Bills.  He played football when football was football

“Back in my day…*incoherrent rambling*”

Edited February 14, 2023 by gobills404

[Draconator]

One other fact about Conrad that I had forgotten about. 

 

He invited all the freshmen high school classes at Iroquois to build their homecoming floats in his barn. 

[Bulldog]

RIP Conrad - one of my favorite Bills of the Chuck Knox era. 

 

I have a fond memory of getting Dobler's autograph in 1980 (Bills/Raiders game that year). Still have it.  

[Beast]

5 hours ago, gobills404 said:

“Back in my day…*incoherrent rambling*”

Yeah, like it or not football was better. Defense was actually a thing.

[Wacka]

Remember reading about his exploits with Phil Vilapiano(sp?) here. 

 

Back in late 70s I worked at a Denny"s and they had a  company-wide newsletter . Back then , he and Dan Dierdorf went into a Dennys in the St. Louis area and ordered one of everything on the menu and then ate it.  The newsletter had photos of them with all the food on the table, them eating it and the empty plates. 

Edited February 14, 2023 by Wacka

[T master]

Was it any wonder he changed his number to 69 when he came to the Bills seeing as he was named the dirtiest player LMAO ...

 

RIP Conrad thanks for the memories !! 

[machine gun kelly]

When you think of Dobler, also think of Deacon Jones.  He single handedly changed the rules as he was famous for the ear slap to the ear hole.

 

Supposedly before they recorded sacks some group counted 36 sacks in 14 games.  He just was placed as tough, not cheap.

[\GoBillsInDallas/]

In 1976, the Cardinals and Chargers played a preseason game in Japan (the first-ever overseas game).

 

The Japanese had never seen American Football and were understandably confused.

 

Before the game, one of the Japanese reporters interviewed Dobler to help them understand football.

 

One Japanese reporter asked Dobler to explain the difference between offense and defense.

 

Dobler thought about and said, "Well, when you guys attacked Pearl Harbor, you were on offense and we were on defense. And when we bombed Hiroshima, we were on offense and you were on defense."

[Marvin]

Anyone else remember the Monday Night Football game where they seemingly had dedicated one camera for Dobler just to gripe about his admittedly dirty play?

[stevewin]

Earlier this year went through boxes of SI's that me and my brother saved when we were kids that have been at my Dad's house for 50 yrs - I always remember this one 

 

 

Here's the cover story https://vault.si.com/vault/1977/07/25/ill-do-anything-i-can-get-away-with

[SoMAn]

Some of you are undoubtedly too young to remember the Chuck Knox years. Even though there were the usual heart-breaking playoff disappointments, the ‘80 and ‘81 teams were sooo much fun. The roster was made up of a bunch of castoff veterans like Dobler, Villapiano, Robertson, et al.
The rookies and first year guys were my age, and they were a real cast of characters led by Smerlas and Haslett.  So, me and my buddies were still single and partying our asses off at games and watch parties. We did the whole airport greet thing (at 3am, after several cases of Labatt’s and still tripping). 
Part of the reason it was so enjoyable was that there was great hope with a top notch coach like Knox, and a personnel dept that seemed to know what it was doing. There had been only a single playoff appearance since 1966. Almost as bad as ‘the drought’. 
But then came the 1982 strike and everything changed. Owner Ralph Wilson repeated his all-too-familiar modus operandi and characteristically refused to pay market price for top talent and was rewarded with a frustrated Chuck Knox’s turning in his resignation.
Back to the drawing board and a few more coaching failures. 
But for those of us who were around to experience the team that included Dobler, there are many fond memories. Great times!  

[boater]

RIP Conrad. 72 is too young to pass.

[Manther]

RIP

[Colorado Mike]

He used to crack me up with his antics, then have me shaking my head, even as a young lad, when I'd see a big gain wiped out by a penalty