When did Steve Tasker become such a homer?

[Just in Atlanta]

I found Tasker’s take and energy on this issue odd. Brown kind of called him on it too. 

I also realize the hoopla around the week 2 preseason game is likely irrelevant.

 

[DrDawkinstein]

"When did Van Miller become such a homer for the Bills?!?" @Mister Defense in 1990, probably

[billsbackto81]

6 hours ago, Maynard said:

Tasker is a company man. It’s his source of income these days I’d imagine. 

He actually said on today's show he wouldn't trade James Cook for Jonathan Taylor straight up. 🤪

[Neo]

2014.  Not that I mind one bit.

[maddenboy]

7 hours ago, Maynard said:

Tasker is a company man. It’s his source of income these days I’d imagine. 

And there's not 32 jobs for him.  There is only this one (company).  He is not a national name, national figure, or national presence / brand.

 

if he got fired or quit, there would be no competition for his services.  Every team has ex players making / scratching a living talking about their former teams.

 

Real life after football.   Which is about 50 years or so. 

 

Edited August 22, 2023 by maddenboy

[HOUSE]

If Steve Tasker owned a bar, I would buy a beer

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

2 minutes ago, HOUSE said:

If Steve Tasker owned a bar, I would buy a beer

Did you want one of us to get the round? 🤔

[HOUSE]

1 minute ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

Did you want one of us to get the round? 🤔

No, I got this, you guys buy the next two rounds

[ChrisWatson#21]

Where have you been?  The guy would easily blow a .32 on a Bills kool-aid breathalyzer and he has been like that for decades.  He is unbearable to listen to.

[Utah John]

9 hours ago, Over 29 years of fanhood said:

In my experience employers aren’t seeking objectivity about their performance from employees. 

Most don't, that's true, but good ones often do.  I was in the military (Air Force) and I worked for the Army as a civilian.  In both cases, there were mandated annual sessions where both the supervisor and the member/employee were encouraged to discuss good and bad things.  Not surprisingly most of that flowed from supervisor down but many people took the opportunity seriously, and often things got better as a result.  

 

This isn't the situation with Tasker, where he's not having a discussion with his boss, he's talking publicly about the results of his boss's actions.  This is a whole different thing than a private conversation between two people.  

[Mc1320]

I think he became a homer the day Marv and Polian traded for him.

[Wizard]

Steve Tasker can be summed up in two quick sentences.

 

He is an all-time great Bills player, and a fan favorite player.

 

He is an all-time terrible local news coverage guy for the Bills and interviewer.

 

 

[CincyBillsFan]

9 hours ago, Mister Defense said:

On One Bills Live Tasker refuses to give or agree with any criticism whatsover as  to how Ken Dorsey has done as an offensive coordinator. By his reactions, you can often tell that Chris Brown is not on the same page, though he often defers to Tasker overall.  Someone like Maddy Glab seems to imply she has her doubts about Dorsey, expecting to see some big changes this year.

 

I am posting this because of Tasker's comments on OBL Monday 8-21, related to the Bills' offense horrendous performance against Pittsburgh.  I was curious to see if Tasker was going to level any criticism at all on the coaching staff for how un-disciplined and un-prepared the Bills looked. After all, the buck stops at the top.

 

But right on cue, and immediately, he made almost shocking excuses for the Bills performance, letting all off the hook.  He said that the Bills just want to play the Jets in the opener and didn't seem interested in this pre season game at all.  He said that over and over, couldn't get that out fast enough to open the show. But not as a criticism at all, but as a valid excuse.

 

Then he took the next step, and said that this successful veteran team is focused on the winning playoff games, indicating that a game like this had almost no importance to them; so why bother?  But again, he wasn't being critical at all, just offering a lame and strange excuse.

 

Of course in his hyper-homer like analysis he offered even more damning criticism of the Bills.  As without the mindset that all games, all plays, are important, there is no way this Bills team can contend for a championship. In response, Brown said something like this meekly at one point.

 

Tasker is one my favorite players in my decades of being a Bills fan, a vital cog in the best teams I have ever seen play in Buffalo, and smart, with great character. I also appreciated his work as a color commentator, as he was objective,  clear, and didn't overdo it, didn't speak just to hear himself talk (see: Kirk Herbstreet, the opposite).

 

But repeatedly saying the Bills are going to be a "wrecking crew" this year, and not seeing the problems most saw as the season progressed last year, and now in this pre-season, has me losing respect for his opinion. Then, his almost comical response to the Pittsburgh fiasco showed me how far down the rabbit hole he has burrowed.

 

I think that objective, honest analysis is the most helpful, and Tasker's  has become lacking in both respects, in my opinion.

 

If as the result of a PRESEASON GAME Tasker leveled any meaningful criticism beyond the Bills O needs to clean up the penalties he should lose his job.

 

 

[Dr.Sack]

I don’t think it’s very constructive burning ppl before the real bullets start flying. 

[HappyCat]

10 hours ago, Nephilim17 said:

One Bills Live isn't journalism, it's marketing. Sometimes when they get outsiders like Greg Cosell, these people make very veiled critiques of players (but never the system) but you'll be hard pressed to see Tasker, Brown or Maddy Glab (she was hired just to have a young female presence; she's not very good at dissecting football) say something bad about the team.

Tasker could really more discreet in his homerism. His income is based on the Bills, West Herr commercials and being a commentator on the Bills pre-season games.  How can he turn on the hands that feed him.

[RiotAct]

9 hours ago, FrenchConnection said:

Also, how is it that this forum currently has a huge thread memorializing the king of the homers pinned to the top and also a number of threads complaining about Tasker and other Bills homers in the local media? Do hockey homers get a pass? 

Jack Edwards has a pinned thread on these boards???

[Nephilim17]

3 hours ago, HappyCat said:

Tasker could really more discreet in his homerism. His income is based on the Bills, West Herr commercials and being a commentator on the Bills pre-season games.  How can he turn on the hands that feed him.

I get it. But maybe after 17 years of bad Buffalo football there's a part of him that wants to believe this is a great team.

I don't look to him for objective takes but I don't mind listening to the radio show either once in a while; Tasker does occasionally offer insight I find interesting. And hell, with all the doom and gloom here, I don't mind some positivity once in a while — even if it may not be always accurate.

[Ethan in Cleveland]

9 hours ago, billsbackto81 said:

He actually said on today's show he wouldn't trade James Cook for Jonathan Taylor straight up. 🤪

Neither would I when you consider the contracts. 

Skill wise obviously it would be a massive upgrade. But Taylor is a one or two year high price rental headache, while they have Cook at a much cheaper cost for the same time. 

[billsbackto81]

8 minutes ago, Ethan in Cleveland said:

Neither would I when you consider the contracts. 

Skill wise obviously it would be a massive upgrade. But Taylor is a one or two year high price rental headache, while they have Cook at a much cheaper cost for the same time. 

Sure, Cook is early in his rookie deal but Taylor is a proven commodity. He's averaged over 100 yards per game from scrimmage in his career. Unless the game plan is to continuously recycle RB's every 3 years through the draft or FA I don't understand why you wouldn't lock up a 24 year old superstar. I know its a position that's not as valued as it once was, but as far as difference makers are concerned I think I would've gave Taylor 14-15 per instead of paying Oliver 17 per. 

[Ethan in Cleveland]

14 hours ago, bobobonators said:

The negativity on this board is toxic. Only 1 team can win the Super Bowl each year. We had an amazing season last year. We’ve been on a heck of a run the last few years. For once we have stability in the FO and at HC. We have a franchise QB. 
 

Yet, people just keep clamoring for everyone to be fired. Everyone’s name has been mentioned at some point - Dorsey, McD, Beane. No one is spared on here. 
 

It has to be a reflection of the self. How miserable must some people’s existence be that they can’t find joy in anything? Its sad. 

To be fair to those of us that are open to change, how many coaches and GMs don't get fired at some point for not winning?  Tomlin, Noll, Belichick, Madden, Landry, and Walsh all wrote their own ticket because they won a Championship. Vermeil, Belichick, Reid and Dungy were fired for not getting it done in their first stops, and the latter two had successors go on to win a Championship.  

We find joy but we want a Championship. Don't know how old you are but I was born after the AFL Championships and have lived through the failures of Ferguson's ankle in 1980, getting oucoached in SuperBowl XXV, and then losing three more SuperBowls where we were physically outmatched. 

We now have the best QB in franchise history and the clock is ticking on this GM and HC. The media has already put a target on our organization and if they fail again its just a fact their jobs may be on the line. 

This is not just a Bills fan issue either. Any HC and GM with a star QB that can't get it done is under constant pressure.