LouGrant
03-02-2003, 03:18 PM
<img src="http://www.billszone.com/images/artwander/artwander002.JPG" border="2" align="left">A decade and a half ago (1986), the Bills hired Bill Polian as General Manager of the Buffalo Bills. He hired Marv Levy as the new coach of the Buffalo Bills.
<P>
Polian took over and told his boss, Ralph Wilson, that if he wanted to get into the Super Bowl he would have to unzip the leather and spend the bucks necessary to get players that would get the Bills to the big dance. Of course, that was before the salary cap and free agency was even a twinkle in the eyes of the NFLPA and the league.
<P>
Fans who kept yawning through two straight 2-14 seasons in '84 and '85 saw a slight improvement to 4-12 in '86 when Levy took over for Hank Bullough. In the first full year of the Polian/Levy era (1987) the Bills improved to 7-8 and the following season won the AFC East with a 12-4 record. They won it again in 1989, but lost to Cleveland on Ronnie Harmon's "you-know-what" in that playoff game..........MORE...... (http://www.billszone.com)
<P>
Polian took over and told his boss, Ralph Wilson, that if he wanted to get into the Super Bowl he would have to unzip the leather and spend the bucks necessary to get players that would get the Bills to the big dance. Of course, that was before the salary cap and free agency was even a twinkle in the eyes of the NFLPA and the league.
<P>
Fans who kept yawning through two straight 2-14 seasons in '84 and '85 saw a slight improvement to 4-12 in '86 when Levy took over for Hank Bullough. In the first full year of the Polian/Levy era (1987) the Bills improved to 7-8 and the following season won the AFC East with a 12-4 record. They won it again in 1989, but lost to Cleveland on Ronnie Harmon's "you-know-what" in that playoff game..........MORE...... (http://www.billszone.com)