"Mort" at it once again

[San-O]

Can anybody honestly make an agruement that Mort is WRONG about anything he has said about the Bills at this point? Seriously, some of you guys need to hike your skirt up and move on.

 

 

Donahoe was an A$$ clown, seriously.

[Philly McButterpants]

As for the draft picks you mentioned, I think only JP Losman is a true bust, or mistake, amongst the moves you mentioned. McGahee wasn't likely worth a #1 pick, but he is hardly the most un-productive first round pick in franchise, or leauge, history. He has been a moderately successful NFL player. I dont think there was really anything wrong with the Bledsoe trade at the time. The move invigorated the franchise, which needed it, and Bledsoe had his moments, particualrly early on.

 

I think every one will agree that McDoofus was, and still is a talented player. The problem is/was, the team had so many other holes at the time that drafting an RB, who had to sit for a year, while you had a 1400 yard rusher on the team, was a luxury that the team could not afford at the time.

[Big Turk]

Mort was on the Howard and Jeremy morning show this mourning talking about the bills. he didnt miss the oppurtunity to drop his pal tom donahue's name. he was asked if the bills need a "true football guy" in the front office and his response was "they had one in tom donahue".

 

yeah, he was a "great football guy" that alienated the fan base, was completely paranoid, and a total egomaniac...

 

think I'll pass thank you...

[Peace Frog]

I'll still go on record that Mike Williams was NOT a bad pick. It seemed like the right pick to make because we needed to beef up the line at the time. It isn't Donahoe's fault that he couldn't stay on the field, so I don't put that one on him.

 

I do blame him for JP, Willis McGahee, trading our #1 to the Patriots* for Bledsoe, not re-signing Pat Williams or Antoine Winfield, Gregg Williams, Mike Mularkey, and then trying to build the lines (save for Mike Williams) with second-rate talent because they were cheaper.

It was a bad pick considering he chose between Williams and Bryant McKinney. Now, who would you rather have wanted? And don't give me the tired line of "Mike had a better personality and Bryant had an attitude...blah, blah...". The Cowboys passed up on Randy Moss because of personality issues. Nuff said.

[Thurman#1]

I don't take Mort personally anymore...he is hated universally and recognized as a piker.

From Deadspin last week :

 

" Browns at Eagles: Chris Mortensen reported this week that the Browns COULD pursue Marty Schottenheimer IF Romeo Crennel ends up being fired. Note the use of “could”. You know who else they could pursue, Mort? F^%$ING ANYONE! Holy s$%t. He could have reported the team COULD try and court f^%$ing Hoyt Axton for the job and it would have been just as legitimate. Hey kids, want to be an ace journalist like Mort? Just follow these steps:

 

1. Think of possible scenario

2. Think of possible scenario resulting from possible scenario

3. “Report” that possible second scenario could take place

 

Now, you might be saying to yourself, “Wait a second. That’s not reporting. That’s just a giant pile of speculative bull sh--.” Ah, true. But now that Mort has reported it, that speculation is OFFICIAL. It’s not just some dips*&t blogger pulling s*&t out of his a$$. It’s a seasoned reporter pulling s**t out of his a%$. You see how much more credibility the speculation has now that it has the backing of a lazy corporate monolith that’s given up on having any remote semblance of journalistic standards? "

 

 

This is how journalism works. Sports reporters aren't held to Woodward and Bernstein-like standards. If you hear something but can't get corroboration from a second guy, you hedge your bet. Where is the problem?

[Chalkie Gerzowski]

Wow, one winning record in a decade.

 

Overachievers!

[Thurman#1]

You see, that is the problem that TD, Marv Levy and now, Russ Brandon will always have. Because of the financial constraints put on the franchise (whether necessary or not is another debate, the constraints exist), the Bills will always be trying to shore up their deficencies with second-rate talent. At least when TD signed the second-rate talent, he didn't pay them like first rate talent. TD's successors have plunked down some pretty heavy cash for guys who likely don't deserve the salary they are making, and likely never did. Nobody was knocking down the doors to Langston Walkers' house, begging him to sign...TD paid little for "projects". Most of them didn't pan out. But, you can't expect much better results.

 

As for not signing Antoine Winfield...remember, that is how the Bills operate. They don't normally re-sign their own, particularly if they are considered amongst the best FA's at their position on the given year.

 

Pat Williams was let go becuase the perception was that he was "done", and he ddin't fit the mold of players that the coach at that time wanted for his defense. The "done" perception was pretty common. If you can, go back to the archive from TBD, Williams had become the poster child for everything "wrong" with the Bills defense at that time. He was considered by most of the stalwarts here to be a "fat ass" who took plays off. I remember personally getting into it with a few people, stiill here, when I posted that letting Williams go was a big mistake. Most saw it as a good move at the time.

 

As for the draft picks you mentioned, I think only JP Losman is a true bust, or mistake, amongst the moves you mentioned. McGahee wasn't likely worth a #1 pick, but he is hardly the most un-productive first round pick in franchise, or leauge, history. He has been a moderately successful NFL player. I dont think there was really anything wrong with the Bledsoe trade at the time. The move invigorated the franchise, which needed it, and Bledsoe had his moments, particualrly early on.

 

What I will concede was TD's biggest failure, was selecting head coaches. I would like to be able to blame that entirely on Ralphs unwillingness to pay competitive wages for established coaches, but, I think this falls more on TD. His ego is what got him in trouble in Pittsburgh. He and Cowher clashed often. TD, I believe, was looking for coaches that could operate under his thumb.

 

What seems to be lost in all the criticism of TD, is that he was inheriting a franchise that had been doing things one way, pretty successfully, for about 15 years, under Polian/Butler. Once that era was over, the owner wanted to do things differntly. I think that money became a much bigger concern with Ralph, once the TD era began. Ralph spent in the 1990's trying to get that elusive ring...in the new century, it seems Ralph reeled things in a bit. TD was the guy hired to lay the groundwork for that. It takes some time to make such drastic changes.

 

 

 

I could not understand the Pat Williams move at the time, tried to deal with it, and I remember that as being the majority position. Hoping that Donahoe was right, but thinking that he was probably wrong.

 

Ralph has always been tight-fisted when the team is playing badly. I can't blame him for that. Who wants to pay market rate for crap. But when the team looks like it has serious playoff possibilities, he opens the pocketbook. That's Ralph, and it's pretty reasonable.

 

McGahee was a terrible pick because it was a waste of a first-rounder for a guy who was no better than the guy we already had. It would be like spending a first-rounder on a left tackle today. Moronic. McGahee wasn't a huge bust or anything, but picking an RB at that time, when we already had Travis Henry, unless he was Adrian Peterson or something, was a horrible mistake. I also thought that Mike Williams was a good pick at the time. Still, that's why I'm not an NFL talent evaluator. You get blamed for everybody you pick who busts, even if everybody thought he was good. Hell, everyone thought Ryan Leaf was good.

 

 

If you go back and look at our first round picks under Donahoe, they were horrible. They included Eric Flowers, if I'm not mistaken, but from 2000 on, they have been genuinely terrible. Our team may have ruined Losman, but you still have to blame the guy for picking a guy for the wrong situation and putting him with the wrong coach and system. And most of those guys don't even have a possibility of blaming the system. They were just bad. Lee Evans was about the only exception, and he is a terrific pickup, who also has been held back by the conditions here in Buffalo. But he is an exception, and if you look, the second and third rounders weren't much better.

 

Yeah, two very good rookie FAs, but 4 failed first-rounders and lots of other wasted picks more than makes up for that.

[Lori]

Mort was on the Howard and Jeremy morning show this mourning talking about the bills. he didnt miss the oppurtunity to drop his pal tom donahue's name. he was asked if the bills need a "true football guy" in the front office and his response was "they had one in tom donahue".

Considering the fact that Simon was no longer able to get guests from the team on the air after he jumped to GR -- entirely Donahoe's doing, following his spat with a couple of the other hosts -- I'd be genuinely curious to know what his response to this was.

[Fan in San Diego]

If he was so good, why hasn't someone hired him yet?

[EasternOHBillsFan]

Mort was on the Howard and Jeremy morning show this mourning talking about the bills. he didnt miss the oppurtunity to drop his pal tom donahue's name. he was asked if the bills need a "true football guy" in the front office and his response was "they had one in tom donahue".

 

It all is moot at this point... the past is the past, and we had a football guy in Bill Polian, but that's ancient history. We dumped McGahee, have no more Mike Williams counting against the cap, Losman is soon to be an ex-Bill, and Mort can say what he wants, but we need to focus on a drive to keep the Bills in Buffalo. Distractions are not going to help there, and by not showing up to the games, there won't BE a team left. The situation is that Ralph won't help, and nothing will change until we get a new owner. By subverting things now, NO ONE will want to buy this franchise unless they can move it. I'm staying true blue.

[billsfreak]

Whatever it means to be a "football guy", I hope we don't get another, we still haven't recovered from Donohoes tour here yet, and may not for a few more years.

[BillsWatch]

If he was so good, why hasn't someone hired him yet?

 

The line we heard when we got him as that we were lucky and he only wanted to go "so far" so he was limited in area he was willing to go, Of course this did not prevent him for being a consultant for St Louis.

[Taro T]

I could not understand the Pat Williams move at the time, tried to deal with it, and I remember that as being the majority position. Hoping that Donahoe was right, but thinking that he was probably wrong.

 

Ralph has always been tight-fisted when the team is playing badly. I can't blame him for that. Who wants to pay market rate for crap. But when the team looks like it has serious playoff possibilities, he opens the pocketbook. That's Ralph, and it's pretty reasonable.

 

McGahee was a terrible pick because it was a waste of a first-rounder for a guy who was no better than the guy we already had. It would be like spending a first-rounder on a left tackle today. Moronic. McGahee wasn't a huge bust or anything, but picking an RB at that time, when we already had Travis Henry, unless he was Adrian Peterson or something, was a horrible mistake. I also thought that Mike Williams was a good pick at the time. Still, that's why I'm not an NFL talent evaluator. You get blamed for everybody you pick who busts, even if everybody thought he was good. Hell, everyone thought Ryan Leaf was good.

 

 

If you go back and look at our first round picks under Donahoe, they were horrible. They included Eric Flowers, if I'm not mistaken, but from 2000 on, they have been genuinely terrible. Our team may have ruined Losman, but you still have to blame the guy for picking a guy for the wrong situation and putting him with the wrong coach and system. And most of those guys don't even have a possibility of blaming the system. They were just bad. Lee Evans was about the only exception, and he is a terrific pickup, who also has been held back by the conditions here in Buffalo. But he is an exception, and if you look, the second and third rounders weren't much better.

 

Yeah, two very good rookie FAs, but 4 failed first-rounders and lots of other wasted picks more than makes up for that.

Flowers was Butler, but most of the rest of what you state is spot on.

[spartacus]

Regardless of Donohoe's tenure here, we DO need a TRUE football guy running the operations here. Sorry, Russ has done a decent job, but his background is marketing and I would assume he's leaving the real football decisions to the committee of DJ, Modrak and Guy. So far, those results have not been impressive.

Brandon's background is BASEBALL marketing.

 

The Bills hired him from the Florida Marlins in 2000 where he became an expert at shilling the cheapest organization in the league

[marauderswr80]

Everything is getting old these days.....Mort chat, fire Jauron, blah blah blah, I want major changes like everyone else does, but man im just sick of it all........its like beating a dead horse here......Jauron will be the coach until 2012.....im just sick of it all.......

[BillsFan74]

Who cares what Mort says he's an idiot like Donahoe anyway.

[garchat80]

Yes, TD ignored the Lines and tried to build it with 2nd tier FA...Gandy's doing OK for AZ.. How's the Big Money spent by Marv on Walker & Dockery..etc... You never know.....Draft.. Free agency......it works but not here.......

[Fan in San Diego]

Yes, TD ignored the Lines and tried to build it with 2nd tier FA...Gandy's doing OK for AZ.. How's the Big Money spent by Marv on Walker & Dockery..etc... You never know.....Draft.. Free agency......it works but not here.......

 

I lay the blame on Peters for holding out so long and the center position being the weak link. With a good center and Peters reporting to training camp on time this Oline will be good.

[Kevin]

Mort was on the Howard and Jeremy morning show this mourning talking about the bills. he didnt miss the oppurtunity to drop his pal tom donahue's name. he was asked if the bills need a "true football guy" in the front office and his response was "they had one in tom donahue".

 

Isn't he the one that brought Bills greats like JP "j-e-t-s jets-jets-jets" Losman, Willis "OW my knee" "The Bills would be better in Toronto" McGahee, John "bulging disc" McCargo?

 

I think that ESPN should fire Mort so that he and Donahoe could sit and talk football together.

[Huuuge Bills]

Isn't he the one that brought Bills greats like JP "j-e-t-s jets-jets-jets" Losman, Willis "OW my knee" "The Bills would be better in Toronto" McGahee, John "bulging disc" McCargo?

 

I think that ESPN should fire Mort so that he and Donahoe could sit and talk football together.

 

Marv was the one who traded up to get McCargo.