Oneonta Buffalo Fan Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 I miss Pat Williams on our D. 787969[/snapback] So do I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 I think one of the things that sticks in Pat Williams craw is that he genuinely loved to play for/live in Buffalo. I remember running into him in the Atlanta airport as we were waiting for a flight back to Buffalo and he was one of the nicest humble people you'd ever meet. He genuinely wanted to stay here and liked the area, but Donahoe never treated it like a family around here made a lot of formerly loyal people bitter. 788246[/snapback] Great post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 I think one of the things that sticks in Pat Williams craw is that he genuinely loved to play for/live in Buffalo. I remember running into him in the Atlanta airport as we were waiting for a flight back to Buffalo and he was one of the nicest humble people you'd ever meet. He genuinely wanted to stay here and liked the area, but Donahoe never treated it like a family around here made a lot of formerly loyal people bitter. 788246[/snapback] I don't doubt this. But, if you recall, TD offered him a pretty big contract too. PW went to Minnesota for a few more million. He might have loved Buffalo, but he didn't love it that much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nostradamus Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 Melvin Fowler (from the Vikes) will be facing Pat Williams. What a great match up! 787966[/snapback] I'm sure the Vikings feel the exact same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 I think one of the things that sticks in Pat Williams craw is that he genuinely loved to play for/live in Buffalo. I remember running into him in the Atlanta airport as we were waiting for a flight back to Buffalo and he was one of the nicest humble people you'd ever meet. He genuinely wanted to stay here and liked the area, but Donahoe never treated it like a family around here made a lot of formerly loyal people bitter. You're absolutely correct. I have met Pat on more than one occassion through the years. A true "gentle giant" off the field. He loved Buffalo, married a Buffalo gal, has several businesses in Buffalo, does much of his charity work in Buffalo and plans to move back to Buffalo when his playing days are done. This is one of the "character" guy you overpay a little to keep around because of what he means to the team. Any doubt he was the soul of that 03-04 D? Any doubt that his last game against Burgh in 04 was one of the finest games I ever saw a D lineman play? Yeah, they lost. Not because of Phat Pat. I will never forgive Dona-!@#$ for fugging up my team. Not re-signing Phat Pat was the worst personnel move he made in his tenure. Pat has proven last year and so far this year that he is more than playing up to his contract, which is modest by NFL standards with 6 mil guaranteed out of 13 mil. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SF Bills Fan Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 It sounds Levy and Juaron are much more respected and in tune with the players. They have to be the smartest coach GM tandem in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in Chicago Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 Even Donahoe's detractors cannot fault him for how he handled free agents. If he had picked better coaches and Mike Williams was a stud not dud, he'd still be here. 788057[/snapback] In free agency, TD was better at letting people go than bringing people in. Save for a few spots (Spikes), the people he brought in did not adequately fill in for those departed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill from NYC Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 In free agency, TD was better at letting people go than bringing people in. Save for a few spots (Spikes), the people he brought in did not adequately fill in for those departed. 788344[/snapback] Fletcher was pretty good too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arkady Renko Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 In free agency, TD was better at letting people go than bringing people in. Save for a few spots (Spikes), the people he brought in did not adequately fill in for those departed. 788344[/snapback] Um... ever heard of Eddie Robinson and Jeff Posey??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrite Gal Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 You're absolutely correct. I have met Pat on more than one occassion through the years. A true "gentle giant" off the field. He loved Buffalo, married a Buffalo gal, has several businesses in Buffalo, does much of his charity work in Buffalo and plans to move back to Buffalo when his playing days are done. This is one of the "character" guy you overpay a little to keep around because of what he means to the team. Any doubt he was the soul of that 03-04 D? Any doubt that his last game against Burgh in 04 was one of the finest games I ever saw a D lineman play? Yeah, they lost. Not because of Phat Pat. I will never forgive Dona-!@#$ for fugging up my team. Not re-signing Phat Pat was the worst personnel move he made in his tenure. Pat has proven last year and so far this year that he is more than playing up to his contract, which is modest by NFL standards with 6 mil guaranteed out of 13 mil. 788310[/snapback] My sense is that TD wanted Phat Pat back also, but the problem was that he miscalculated badly what he could get him for. Belicheck made a similar error with Lawyer Milloy where he and the teammates definitely wanted the player back based on their post exit public comments, but the guy in charge for the team erred badly in measuring the man and not treating him like family. IIRC, TD actually publicly blamed PWs agent for not transmitting word that TD was willing to offer Phat Pat a better offer than the Bills gave him. Too bad for TD and too bad for us, because it was TDs job to not get so caught up in playing chicken negotiating with an agent that he did not communicate properly with Pat that he wanted him and would pay more.. Still BB paid the price when the rest of the Pats publicly read him the riot act for not successfully concluding the negotiations and the Bills killed them in the opener and TD paid th price with an ineffective D last seasonthat ultimately led to him getting run out of town (again). I think actually the end team results in the two cases say a lot about the 05 Bills and that Pat team. BB screwed the pooch with the Milloy negotiations but did do a good job with his cronies of building a sense of family among the team. They answered the challenge of the BB screw-up and the injuries to key players by coming together and winning the SB. I do not think last year's run D sucked primarily because Phat Pat was gone. I think he is good but was quite replaceable. However, the decision to use 05 as a training camp for JP at QB rather than to give the team its best chance (though its best chance was a bad chance) at winning was what really killed the 05 team. As older players OR team leaders like Fletcher, Moulds, Adams, etc. saw that TD was not going to ive this team its best shot at winning in 05 they were not able to deal with challenges like losing Phat Pat or TKO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB2004 Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 Normally Id take this stuff as rantings of a disgruntled player but seeing his difference in attitude between marv and the donahoe regime, makes me wonder what more of the players thought of them. I still wish we had fat pat, and wish him the best in the closing of his career, just not against us. It's another great test for our oline to see how far they're coming along 787953[/snapback] It is interesting that a few good players in the NFL sometimes speak their minds publically. The truth is, I agree with Pat Williams. The previous five years were downright painful at times. The good thing is, we learned from that. That is in the past and now their is a lot of reason for optimism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 I never wanted to see Pat go....always thought we should have found a way to kee him here..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 Pat Williams got what the market would bear for him. I do not begrudge him for that. He loved Buffalo, and I am sure that he would have wanted to stay if the money was close. It is easy for people on this board to say that he should have given up the boat load of cash the Vikings agreed to pay. He was a big loss to our defense and community. He has played very well for the Vikings and (the last time I checked) a team captain. He would be great for us right now. We have paid the price for losing him given our difficulty in stopping the run in particular. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Posted September 27, 2006 Share Posted September 27, 2006 3-4 years for 13M for a stud DT hardly breaks the bank even if he had an injury or one or two good years. That was Donahoe's biggest mistake other than the hiring of the two coaches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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