JoeF Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Joe Ferguson The June 23rd update is pretty encouraging. If you look at the June 1 updates, he and his wife are reading all the e-mails they get from fans to get a little inspiration and to pass the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Thanks for the update on the update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cåblelady Posted June 25, 2005 Share Posted June 25, 2005 Thanks for the update on the update. 367613[/snapback] Is that like seeing what condition my condition is in ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob in SC Posted June 26, 2005 Share Posted June 26, 2005 Joe Ferguson The June 23rd update is pretty encouraging. If you look at the June 1 updates, he and his wife are reading all the e-mails they get from fans to get a little inspiration and to pass the time. 367602[/snapback] Thanks for the update. I have e-mailed him again and encourage the other "old timers" to do the same. It can really help him and his wife at a very diificult time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockpile Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Is that like seeing what condition my condition is in ? 367615[/snapback] If you remember that song by The First Edition, you either lie about your age, or are very retro! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockpile Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 Just sent the following to the Fergusons: Dear Joe Ferguson, I have been a Buffalo Bills fan since 1964. I always admired you as a player and role model. The following is an article I wrote several years back for Two Bills Drive, a web fan forum. Hundreds there are praying for you and your family. God Bless. Tom Benson www.twobillsdrive.com The Buffalo Bills Other Number 12 by Tom “Rockpile” Benson There should be no doubt in any long-time fan’s mind that Jim Kelly was the greatest quarterback in Bills history; all one has to do is scan the record book for proof. But there was another number 12 at the helm of the Buffalo Bills during some of their most exciting and most frustrating years who also had the heart of a lion, Joe Ferguson. Ferguson was drafted out of Arkansas State in 1973 in the third round, after leading the Razorbacks for three years. His college accomplishments include All-Southwest Conference quarterback where he passed for 4,431 career yards. He set a school record that still stands with 2,203 passing yards in 1971. He was Most Valuable Player of the 1971 Liberty Bowl. In his rookie year with the Bills, Ferguson became the starting quarterback and played in all fourteen games, but his role went from “Air Arkansas” to a role that mostly involved handing the ball to O.J. Simpson. He only attempted 164 passes that entire year (in one game at Arkansas he had passed 51 times!), but he was an integral part of the squad that helped O.J. get his 2003 yard season. Sometimes Ferguson looked at OJ and asked himself why he was needed in Buffalo. But instead of fretting over the lack of an aggressive passing offense, he concentrated on his primary role on the team - play every down, work hard, study the game - there is always room to improve and his day would come. In 1980, the Bills won their first division title in 14 years, and the goal posts came tumbling down! This led to a playoff game against San Diego that, for me, will always be one of the most memorable contests I have ever watched. Ferguson was playing hurt; his ankle caused him so much pain that he could barely stand. But he stood in there and took a pounding, unable to scramble and injured too severely to plant his foot to throw. The Bills held a 14-13 lead until late in the fourth quarter when an across the middle slant pass put the Chargers ahead 20-14. After the game was over, the ankle was examined again. It was sprained, torn, stretched, pulled, and had a cracked bone in the back. But the hardest part for Joe Ferguson was that he knew this was likely the closest his team would get to the Super Bowl. For his tenure with the team, in fact, it was. Ferguson was widely praised when the Bills won, and crucified when they lost. The biggest misunderstanding was his posture when he left the field after an interception, failed conversion attempt, or other offensive miscue. He would walk off the field, head down, which was misinterpreted by fans as hanging his head in defeat. But for Joe it was a personal statement: whatever play he was trying to execute had not worked and he was already concentrating on what he would do the next time he got the ball in his hands. Joe Ferguson retired in 1990. In all, he spent twelve seasons with the Buffalo Bills and six more with Detroit, Tampa Bay, and Indianapolis. During his NFL tenure, he passed for 29,827 yards and 196 touchdowns (27,590 yards and 181 touchdowns as a Bill). After his career in the NFL was finished, he worked at real estate for a while, and was a football radio commentator and pre-game co-host on Arkansas Razorback Sports Network. In 1995, he filled in for two weeks for an injured David Archer as a favor to an old friend, former Bills quarterback and head coach, Kaye Stephenson, then head coach of the San Antonio Texans of the CFL. Stephenson had tried to get him to commit to the entire season, but at 45, he and his family decided playing football was no longer an option! 1995 was also the year Joe Ferguson’s name went up on the Wall of Fame in Rich Stadium. Football was still in his blood, even if he was through as a player. He served as quarterbacks coach for Louisiana Tech in 1990 and 1991, eventually returning to Arkansas as quarterbacks coach for the Razorbacks. At the age of 47, he is back at his alma mater, 28 years after he first arrived. He and his wife Sandy have a daughter Kristen, 14, and son Trey, 11. He is in excellent physical shape and still looks like he could come out and take some snaps from center! He will always be one of the players I look up to; he made the most of every opportunity that came his way. He was never a quitter. Now he is teaching those same qualities to a new generation of college and NFL hopefuls - play every down, work hard, study the game. Copyright © 1997 Tom “Rockpile” Benson. All rights reserved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazyDingo Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 I e-mailed him and said: V1Ag4RA D1R3CT T0 Y0U!! CL1CK N0W! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockpile Posted June 27, 2005 Share Posted June 27, 2005 I e-mailed him and said: V1Ag4RA D1R3CT T0 Y0U!! CL1CK N0W! 368416[/snapback] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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