POLL: Ralph Wilson's Greatest Mistake As Owner

[User Manuel]

Vote and thoughts

[THATHURMANATOR]

Polian in a landslide.

[TheGhostofJimKelly]

I have to agree with Polian.

[BlackMetalNinja]

I think Polian would be almost unanimous... The guy has done nothing but prove how great he is at building a team. I'm sure Indy sends thank you letters to OBD on a weekly basis.

[bigbub2352]

Polian no doubt about it, are team has been a joke since, and look at his personnel AJ SMITH, he is a good GM too, and the other guy i cant remeber his name but he was good to

[Mad Bomber]

This is a no-brainer. Firing Polian without a doubt.

[Romes]

firing polian but hiring TD should have been nominated.

[bigbub2352]

firing polian but hiring TD should have been nominated.
couldnt agree more

[User Manuel]

firing polian but hiring TD should have been nominated.

good point.

[ajsdx]

how about not setting up a succession plan?

[kgun12]

Even before I looked at the choices, I was going to say Polian

[Dr. Lecter]

Letting Butler and AJ Smith go.

Football wise, Polian. But, as I have said, nobody gets away with talking to the bosses daughter like he did.

Letting Butler go, even if his cap skills needed to be greatly improved or he needed that part limited was what really killed the team.

[Buffatexas]

correct me if I am wrong, but didnt Polian go to Carolina when he left here? Don't get me wrong, Polian is a great GM but honestly, when your team is in a position to take Peyton Manning in the draft you had to have sucked to get to that point. And lets be honest, where would the Colts have been with out Peyton?

[streetkings01]

Polian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[streetkings01]

correct me if I am wrong, but didnt Polian go to Carolina when he left here? Don't get me wrong, Polian is a great GM but honestly, when your team is in a position to take Peyton Manning in the draft you had to have sucked to get to that point. And lets be honest, where would the Colts have been with out Peyton?You do know that the Panthers were within 1 game of the Super Bowl under him right?

[blackonyx89]

Buying the franchise and this includes the Super Bowl run, never ultimately committed himself to bring in the talent to win at least one of those Super Bowls.

As far as the rest of the Bills history, he was complacent in being a sub-par franchise. Shame on you Ralph!

[Buffatexas]

You do know that the Panthers were within 1 game of the Super Bowl under him right?

I am fully aware of that, and so were the jags that year if I am not mistaken. I am not trying to say that Polian was a crappy GM, he wasnt and to stay with the theme of the post, I dont think that firing Polian was Ralphs worst move. I think that giving the title of president to Donahoe was Ralphs worst move because we are still feeling the effects. Unlike Polian where Free Agency was just in its infancy (the old plan b) and we had the depth to cover losses like Wolford, Odomes & Ballard.

[Billz_fan]

Polian.

I remember Bill Polians parting words as he left this job. He said cherish this group of players, they are special and it will be some time before you see anything like it again.

Now thats not a quote but it's very close. He was right.

I found it

"They're a very special group of men. Cherish them, you will not see their like again."

[Buckets]

Polian, Even though technicaly I don't think it was a firing it was another example of Ralph's holding the purse strings too tight.

[streetkings01]

Polian.

I remember Bill Polians parting words as he left this job. He said cherish this group of players, they are special and it will be some time before you see anything like it again.

Now thats not a quote but it's very close. He was right.

I found it

"They're a very special group of men. Cherish them, you will not see their like again."and the he followed it up with "Until I get to Indy losers"

[ryjam282]

Where is the choice for letting Doug Flutie go? When was the last time we went to the playoffs?? Oh yeah, when he was QB.....

[Historian]

Polian.

Not signing Cousineau would be second in my book.

It led to Knox's eventual departure.

[Dr. Lecter]

Polian.

Not signing Cousineau would be second in my book.

It led to Knox's eventual departure.

I assume you mean the 2nd time around for signing Cousineau? (Since the first time was at Knox's arrival)

Since the trade resulted in Jim Kelly and TC never did much, it ended up the right move.

[Historian]

Either time.

Perhaps we advance to the SB against the Eagles in 1980 with every player Knox wanted.

Or against the Niners in 1981.

[Historian]

In fact, hiring Knox over Walsh in 1978 was probably even a BIGGER mistake...

[raphael120]

Can another option be the biggest mistake Ralph made as an owner be making himself an owner?

[Typ0]

I am choosing other....Ralph Wilson's biggest mistake is buying the team.

[venis2k1]

how bout starting a team in a city full of ungrateful fans.

[YardRat]

how bout starting a team in a city full of ungrateful fans.

His first choice was Miami.

[Typ0]

how bout starting a team in a city full of ungrateful fans.


yes, we should be grateful that while actual qualified talent is being snatched up by other teams we need to spend weeks in an internal evaluation because "that's the way we've done it for years. We sure have a great need to protect that losing tradition.

[Mr. Cynical]

Easy. Polian. End of story.

Before him, poor to average team.

After him, poor to average team.

With him, top contender.

Do the math.

[Michael82]

If only we kept Polian. Maybe this team would still be one of the top teams.... :sigh:

[Nighthawk]

If only we kept Polian. Maybe this team would still be one of the top teams.... :sigh:

Hands down, firing Polian was the biggest mistake that Ralphy ever made. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to correct the problem in 15 years!

[Nighthawk]

Easy. Polian. End of story.

Before him, poor to average team.

After him, poor to average team.

With him, top contender.

Do the math.

Well said.

[Hard Nose Football]

Hiring John Rauch.

[justasportsfan]

Letting Hobert go.

[ddaryl]

there is no doubt. When he fired Bill Polian our team was never the same and has never recovered.

[theanswer74]

Benching Doug Flutie was the worst mistake ever. Flutie says it came from the top, and the top was Ralph Wilson. A QB starts the year, makes the playoffs, and gets benched for a backup that shown he couldnt win. Even if Johnson left the field leading, that was because of our coaching staff, Flutie IMO would have won that game by 2 scores.

Polian was big, but John Buter and AJ Smith were here and were very good.

Butler left on his own for who knows what reason, could be many things including Ralph.

[justasportsfan]

Butlers last few years sucked. Flowers? He also didn't want to work for Ralphy anyways. Can't say I blame him either.

[Historian]

86.7% in agreement.

A Zone first.

:snicker:

[Dr. Lecter]

Benching Doug Flutie was the worst mistake ever. Flutie says it came from the top, and the top was Ralph Wilson. A QB starts the year, makes the playoffs, and gets benched for a backup that shown he couldnt win. Even if Johnson left the field leading, that was because of our coaching staff, Flutie IMO would have won that game by 2 scores.

Polian was big, but John Buter and AJ Smith were here and were very good.

Butler left on his own for who knows what reason, could be many things including Ralph.

What was Flutie's career NFL playoff record as a starter?

[BillsFever21]

Only Ralph Wilson would fire a GM like Bill Polian. This is hands down the worse move. It's not even close.

This just shows how poor of an owner Ralph is. It's also no coincidence our team has been either a joke or not a real contender for 75%+ of the years of operation. Outside of the SB years(when Polian was the GM) our team was a joke, minus a handful of seasons here and there. And even Ralph proved his worth then without going the extra mile to deliver the championship back then too.

John Butler(got rest his soul) and then even AJ Smith would be nice to have right now. Ralph's cheapness lost us ALL of them guys. Some of the best guys in the business who all went on to bigger and better places and turned other bad franchises into winners. Franchises that used to be like our franchise currently is.

It is not surprising though. How many real NFL minds want to work under Ralph Wilson. Limited as to what players you can bring in because of the self imposed cap restraints and then just dealing with Ralph to begin with. Then not even to mention you have Ralph trying to play GM and make the QB decisions all the time.

This is why we continue to get the people in the front office that we do now. People who are just happy to have the job and not competent enough to make a difference.

I can't wait until the day that Ralph is no longer the owner of this team. If that means there is no longer a team in Buffalo then that is the breaks and there isn't anything we can do about it. What difference does it make anyway if the team doesn't care about winning and hires these yo yo's for the cheapest rate possible.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

There have been so many that it's hard to choose just one, but here's my choice:

Trading Daryl Lamonica to the Raiders in one of the most one-sided trades in history (along with the side-deal that sent Tom Keating to Oakland as well).


Why? Because doing so robbed the Bills of their ability to be continue their winning ways at a time when the team was aging and transformed Oakland from a pathetic loser that was virtually bankrupt into the RrrrrAiders. It allowed Howard Cosell to poke fun at the team and get away with labeling the city "the armpit of the East" at a time when things were still salvageable, in terms of the image and economics of the city, but things were teetering on the brink of the economic abyss that the region ultimately fell into. It helped usher in an era that Buffalo, its self-confidence and self-image have not yet recovered from.

And, if you guys think that things have been bad for the Bills, that they have been a laughingstock, since Bill Polian left, you have no clue.... As bad as the Bills have been in recent years, if you think that has been awful, can you even imagine what it was like to live through a one win Bills' season--all the while watching the QB that R.Wilson gave away leading the Raiders to the Super Bowl and, then, winning one, as he and his team are being showered with accolades?

If it wasn't the worst of R.Wilson's mistakes or the first, it helped to set the stage for the rest and went beyond the football field by helping to contribute to the inferiority complex that has plagued the region ever since those dark days when the Bills and the economy seemed to fall off the edge of a cliff at the same time.

Losing Polian was bad, but I can understand it, even if the reason was stupid. I can understand that Wilson wanted to prop up the Oakland franchise until the AFL could reach a merger deal with the NFL. But, I can't understand why he would send the future of his own franchise to the Raiders and, in doing so, cut the ground out from underneath his own team. That, to me, is beyond stupid.

[Historian]

Someone needs to add this latest charade to the poll...

[Michael82]

Someone needs to add this latest charade to the poll...
Agreed. :sigh: