This team started to go south when we lost Polian

[jpdex12]

Listening to him on ESPN Radio this morning made me realize all the more that this team started to falter when we lost Polian. He made the Bills of the 90's who they were and did the same in Indy. He brought Marv to Buffalo and sought the talent that formed the fantastic Bills teams of the 90's. We sucked before he came in and after he left and he blew up Indy and grabbed Manning like he grabbed Kelly and put a good couach like Marvy in place in Indy with Dungy and they were ni teh playoffs 7 out of the 7 years that Dungy was there.

Polian was the key to it all and who was it that ran him off? The Ahole owner we have?

[SeatownBillsFan21]

Ahh yeah it sure did and it will never be the same so we should all get use tto losing for awhile

[Billz_fan]

From an article in 93, I knew it was bad when it happened. The run was over.

By GERALD ESKENAZI
Published: February 5, 1993



Bill Polian, the bold and highly regarded general manager of the Buffalo Bills, was dismissed yesterday, only four days after his team became the first one to lose three straight Super Bowl games.

But this was not a case of an unhappy owner with a winning-is-everything philosophy. Rather, there were long-standing differences between the 50-year-old Polian and the people who worked for 74-year-old Ralph Wilson, the Bills' owner.

Speaking from his home in Hamburg, N.Y., last night, Polian said: "I think it was time. There have been some changes in the front office in Detroit." That is the home of Wilson's financial empire, which includes auto-parts manufacturing plants and four television stations. Wilson Kept His Word

Polian stressed, however, that he would "always be grateful" to Wilson, the Bills' only owner in their 33-year history, even though, Polian said, Wilson told him before the season he would restructure the front office.

Wilson was said by his Detroit office yesterday to be unavailable "for a few days."

Polian said he had told his longtime friend, Coach Marv Levy, in midseason "that I was leaving in case he wanted to make any plans of his own."

Polian said that Wilson had spoken to Levy and "made it clear to Marv there will be no coaching changes."

Polian's departure was the third dismissal in a matter of weeks involving successful football people. Previously, coaches Mike Ditka at Chicago and Dan Reeves of Denver were let go.

No successor to Polian has been named, but this latest move indicates that the Bills' treasurer, Jeffrey Littman, a Wilson appointee with whom Polian reportedly clashed, will exercise greater power. Polian, meanwhile, said he wanted to remain in football. He will be paid for the two remaining years on his contract. Built an Elite Club

Polian, who had been the Bills' general manager since 1986, helped to transform a team that had fallen on hard times into the American Conference's elite club. Indeed, over the last four seasons, the Bills had the National Football League's best record.

It was apparent that Polian's tenure was coming to an end, even before the Bills were trounced by the Dallas Cowboys, 52-17, Sunday in the Super Bowl. The defeat was Buffalo's third straight in the championship game.

Polian joined the Bills' front office in 1984. When he was elevated to general manager in 1986, the Bills had put together consecutive seasons of 2-14.

Three years earlier, they had failed to sign their top draft pick, Jim Kelly, who went to the United States Football League.

But Polian signed the strong-armed Kelly after the U.S.F.L. folded. In 1987, he made the complex, three-way deal with the Rams and the Colts in which Cornelius Bennett went to Buffalo. He became a Pro Bowl linebacker.

Wilson was so pleased at the direction the Bills were taking, he said, "Bill Polian is the first general manager we've had who really knows football since the franchise's early years."

The Kelly and Bennett deals were sandwiched around Polian's selection of Levy as head coach late in the 1986 season. Levy was an almost-forgotten 58-year-old who had wound up as the operations director of the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League. Five years earlier, he had been dismissed as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, where Polian had worked for him as a scout.

The Bills went on to win the A.F.C. East title four straight seasons before making the playoffs as wild-card entrant (with an 11-5 record) last season.

Polian said he enjoyed Buffalo, even though he spent his early years in New York. He grew up in the Bronx, where he attended Mount St. Michael's Academy, and graduated from New York University.

He was a local fixture as a referee in the Catholic High Schools Athletic Association and an assistant football coach at Manhattan College, the Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, L.I., and Columbia University.

[TacklingDummy]

Kelly, Thomas, Bruce, Manning, Freeney, Harrison have made many people look good.

[Typ0]

he knows how much you need a QB to succeed.

[Griz78]

One thing that always gets me when Ralph has a meeting is that Littman is always involved. For some reason, i think he has soem major pull in the organization and is telling Ralph what to do. I believe he makes Ralph cheap and as an accountant he just worries about the bottom line.

The more we learn about things perhaps Chris Mortensen is right and the Bills will never be great until some certain people are gone.

[billsfanone]

I call it the curse of polian
http://www.billszone.com/fanzone/showthread.php?t=166620

[Jan Reimers]

Ralph canned the very best talent evaluator in football. We have never recovered.

[lukabrossi]

this team will never have another person associated with this franchise like Polian.

[THATHURMANATOR]

Listening to him on ESPN Radio this morning made me realize all the more that this team started to falter when we lost Polian. He made the Bills of the 90's who they were and did the same in Indy. He brought Marv to Buffalo and sought the talent that formed the fantastic Bills teams of the 90's. We sucked before he came in and after he left and he blew up Indy and grabbed Manning like he grabbed Kelly and put a good couach like Marvy in place in Indy with Dungy and they were ni teh playoffs 7 out of the 7 years that Dungy was there.

Polian was the key to it all and who was it that ran him off? The Ahole owner we have?
*******DING DING DING DING DING**********

Congrats for being the One Millionth person to post this same exact thing!!!
CONGRATS!!!
<img src=http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a249/Junebugbaby87/Icons/YouLoseGoodDaySir.gif>

[justasportsfan]

he knows how much you need a QB to succeed.
he knows that you need a HCoach with good assistants to make that Qb succeed.

[TedMock]

For some reason it often goes unmentioned that Polian went to the expansion Carolina Panthers for 3 years between Buffalo and Indy. Carolina was in the NFC Championship game in year 2. He was also executive of the year 2x's in Carolina and 5x's overall.

[ddaryl]

and why was Polian fired ???

because he had the audacity to call Ralph's *****y daughter a *****.

[patmoran2006]

Kelly, Thomas, Bruce, Manning, Freeney, Harrison have made many people look good.
and who drafted them? Bruce and Manning were top picks and no brainers, but Freeney, Harrison, Kelly and ESPECIALLY Thurman were drafted because Polian knew what they could do.

And there are countless more not mentioned by you.

[Ebenezer]

and why was Polian fired ???

because he had the audacity to call Ralph's *****y daughter a *****.
And as great as a GM as he was he was rightfully fired...the same would happen in any business where you go into your bosses office and start slinging names at his kids...

[DynaPaul]

I don't even know why this is a thread. I think Polian's departure and the subsequent decline has already been entered as a fact in Bills history. There's really no disputing that Polian built the awesome 90's team and is a top notch talent evaluator. It's also a fact that he built up Indianapolis the same way. It's a fact that Wilson made his biggest football mistake by letting him go. Had Polian stayed here we would have been competitive for YEARS longer than we were.

[acehole]

Dont forget AJ smith as he has built a contender in SD.



I don't even know why this is a thread. I think Polian's departure and the subsequent decline has already been entered as a fact in Bills history. There's really no disputing that Polian built the awesome 90's team and is a top notch talent evaluator. It's also a fact that he built up Indianapolis the same way. It's a fact that Wilson made his biggest football mistake by letting him go. Had Polian stayed here we would have been competitive for YEARS longer than we were.

[ALL D]

Polian was the answer to the Bills success... My favorite GM of all-time

[jpdex12]

And as great as a GM as he was he was rightfully fired...the same would happen in any business where you go into your bosses office and start slinging names at his kids...

I have to believe that Polian was probably spot on being such a good football talent evaluator he must have also been a great character evaluator. In that case, Ralph's daughter must be a *****!

Maybe an owner shouldn't let their meddling kids get involved with the team. Then let some two bit douche accountant dictate the future of your team. We all should have known then that this team was f'ed for quite some time and that Ralph is really only a backer who dragged himself on the coat tails of a successfull football mind in Polian.

Take your A hole kids and accountant and leave them the hell out of Buffalo football. While you're at it, sell the god dang team to someone that wants to keep the frigger in our state and raise a truly successful team. You are basically "f"ing the city and the fans by your geriatric decisions and by holding out for who the hell knows what with the reluctance to sell this team and make sure that you know what is going to happen to it before you take a dirt nap. I'm sick of this crap! I love this team and am sick of watching crap year after year.

[xXSpIkes5IXx]

John Butler built a pretty solid team in the late 90's. The problem with Butler was that he mortgaged the future, put us in salary cap hell, and we ended up releasing Sam Rogers, Doug Flutie, Marcellus Wiley, John Holocek, Antoine Smith (though he sucked) and Ted Washington. Not to mention the release of Bruce Smith, Thurman, and Andre the year before.

THAT is what we never recovered from.