Who was your all-time favorite player that was NOT on the Bills?

[hondo in seattle]

A few names come to mind...

 

I love watching RBs in action, so Jim Brown is a favorite.  His off-the-field behavior wasn't always commendable, but on the field he was a force of nature.   From my humble vantage point, Brown and Simpson were the two greatest running backs of all time.

 

Drew Brees.  I'm a Purdue alum so I followed Brees since college.  And in the pros, he did what you want a QB to do: sling the ball.  He threw for over 5,000 yards four times and more than 40 TDs twice.   If not for Tom Brady and his rings, Brees with 80,000 career yards would be in the conversation for greatest QB of all time.  

 

Earl Campbell.  This guy was a human battering ram.  I loved the way he sacrificed his body for his team.  For younger fans, think of King Henry - only tougher & better.  

 

Paul Warfield.  When I was young, I fancied myself a wide receiver, and I was a Browns fan even before I was a Bills fan, so Warfield was my first football idol.  He was such a graceful, athletic receiver who had been an all-conference RB in the Big Ten.  Diggs averaged 11.1 per catch last year.  Warfield was a deep threat who averaged 20+ yards/catch for seven consecutive seasons playing on two different teams.  It didn't matter who was throwing him the ball; he was going to get the ball downfield.    

 

Edited July 9 by hondo in seattle

[Mike in Horseheads]

Roger Staubach

[Goin Breakdown]

4 hours ago, chongli said:

 

Which one? Warner or Fitzgerald?

Good point. Fitz. 

[stuvian]

My favourite all time player is Marcus Allen. No one moved quite like he did. He was a better QB than most of the Raiders washouts too. After Raiders madman Al Davis tried to ruin him he had a renaissance with the Chiefs and Joe Montana. He was classy in everything did except his unfortunate friendship with a certain OJ Simpson.

 

If you ask me who the best football player of all time is, my answer is Marcus Allen on offense and Rod Woodson on defense.

 

Edited July 8 by stuvian

[Chicken Boo]

2 hours ago, mrags said:

Omg!!! I forgot about Priest Holmes. He was incredible. Best 3-4 year run of any player in history imo. So amazing. I rode him to 3 fantasy football championships.
 

Ill never forget the year I had him and Trent Green. I was down quite a bit in point that week. Then Green threw a screen to Holmes that went for like 90 yards and a TD. I wasn’t behind anymore. I had such an amazing team that year. Pretty sure it was 2003. 
Trent Green

Randy Moss

Terrell Owens

Priest Holmes

Travis Henry

Jeremy Stevens

 don’t remember who I had at D and K

 

I only lost one game that year. Only because Shaun Anderson went off on Monday night football to the tune of 5TDs and scored about 60pts. 

 

*Shaun Alexander

 

Yeah, Priest was amazing.  

Edited July 8 by Chicken Boo

[DrBob806]

Eric Metcalf. Why he isn't in the HOF is a mystery.

[3rdand12]

John Mackey

 88

 I was a kid but he was my 1st football hero

[Mikie2times]

I loved watching Reggie Bush at USC along with Michael Vick at Virginia Tech. Obviously Barry was pretty amazing to watch at the NFL level. All three of these guys could just do things nobody else could. 

[Paup 1995MVP]

7 hours ago, Beast said:

Both were Colts QB’s.

 

Bert Jones and Peyton Manning.

I loved watching Bert Jones as a kid.  He threw the deep ball as well as anyone I ever saw on that dirt field in Baltimore.    I also loved watching Ken “the snake” Stabler.  He was just so clutch.  And won a lot of games w the Raiders.  A lot more characters back in the day.  Game has become so technical and robotic.  At least you get a lot of improv and raw joy and emotion from Joe Allen. 

[muppy]

not on the Bills. I'm assuming that means at any time. That's kind of a tough call

 

I think I would acquiesce to a guy I followed since hubby was a ND alumni.  The name that first came to mind was actually Rocket Ismael. Either him or Tim Brown

[DeepPass]

Sweetness

[mrags]

1 hour ago, Chicken Boo said:

 

*Shaun Alexander

 

Yeah, Priest was amazing.  

I actually typed Alexander but I just have fat fingered a letter and my iPhone took over and changed it 

[ColoradoBills]

9 hours ago, I'm Spartacus said:

Fred Biletnikoff (sp?) Of the Raiders

 

You beat me to it.  Ditto on Fred.

 

Defense I would go with the same timeframe and Willie Lanier.

[Putin]

Mac Jones 

[Solomon Grundy]

Marcus Allen 

[Rampant Buffalo]

He was before my time, but I'm going with Johnny Unitas. Before Brady, the conversation for best QB ever usually came down to Joe Montana vs. Unitas. Unitas was tough as nails. I mean really, really tough.

 

He played in a pass-oriented offense, many years before pass-oriented offenses were a thing. That allowed him to put up far more passing yards per year than did other QBs of his era, such as Bart Starr. You have to like his longevity. He played 18 seasons, despite the absolutely brutal pounding QBs took back then. For his career, he averaged 7.8 yards per pass attempt. That compares favorably to Tom Brady (7.4), Drew Brees (7.6), and Joe Montana (7.5). Unitas played in an era where the rules were less favorable to passing.

 

Sadly, his body had been partially destroyed by football. Some of his joints no longer worked the way they were supposed to, most notably in his hand, arm, and legs. Looking at his stats, you notice that during the last third of his career, there was a notable decline. One wonders if injuries which never fully healed may have contributed to the decline.

[BobbyC81]

Fred Belitnikof.  He was similar to Bob Chandler, a crafty route runner with great hands and feet.

[BillsPride12]

10 hours ago, dpberr said:

Jim McMahon.  Just liked the way he played football.

 

For me, his most memorable season was one of his last - his 1991 season.  He was with the Eagles, and the Eagles were expected to compete for the Super Bowl that year behind what would become one of the greatest defenses in NFL history. 

 

Randall Cunningham is lost for the season with a torn ACL in the *first* game, and McMahon, as the backup, piloted the Eagles to a 10-6 record and into the playoffs, despite himself sustaining multiple serious injuries, including five broken ribs and barely being able to move his arm.

 

 

If he played for the Bills he would've gone down as an all-time Buffalo icon, not that he was the most talented QB to ever play the game but his personality would've fit like a glove in Western New York

[BobbyC81]

47 minutes ago, BobbyC81 said:

Fred Belitnikof.  He was similar to Bob Chandler, a crafty route runner with great hands and feet.

I also enjoyed watching Roger Staubach, Favre, Brees, Peyton Manning and A. Rodgers.

[ControllerOfPlanetX]

Bob Hayes.