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This was a letter I wrote last week for the front page that we had ready to go should RW not have been voted into the HoF. I still stand by my conclusions.
Here is a letter I have written to Ralph Wilson should he NOT be voted into the HOF on Saturday. Please publish it only IF he is not voted in. Should he make it then I will simply ask for three hours of my life back. LOL. It's long but I think worth it. Please chime in on its content. Thanks.
January 31, 2009
Ralph Wilson, Jr.
Owner, Buffalo Bills
One Bills Drive
Orchard Park, NY 14127
Dear Mr. Wilson,
It is with regret that I inform you that the selection committee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame has failed to vote in favor of your induction into their esteemed Hall. As is the case every year, the competition for selection was intense and I am sure that you will agree that this year’s inductees are well qualified and will represent the NFL well in the Hall. Speaking as one of many Bills fans, and as a fan since 1971, I can understand the committee’s decision and, for one, completely agree. You are not qualified to be in the esteemed Hall of Fame.
It is always difficult to enter the Hall of Fame as an owner. In many ways you have been the ideal owner of a professional football team. It has been admirable the way you started a team from scratch, kept it located in one city for almost 50 years, won two American Football League (AFL) titles and, proudly, was represented in four consecutive Super Bowls; all noble accomplishments. You were instrumental in the formation, development and success of the AFL. You are almost single handedly credited with saving the Oakland Raiders when it looked like that franchise was about to fold in the late 1960s. That move probably saved the AFL and eventually forced a merger with the NFL. You foresaw problems in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement with the player’s union that many of your fellow owners failed to see and as time has proved you were correct. Your list of accomplishments is strong and under ordinary circumstances would be more than worthy of induction into the Hall. However, there are too many reasons, as listed below, that show your incessant meddling and why you do not deserve to be in the Hall.
The very beginning. Upon being granted the franchise you initially wanted to place the team in Miami. There was nothing wrong with that decision but from the beginning Buffalo was not your original selection. Complicating this was the drought of the 1970s in which the Bills failed to defeat the Dolphins and quite often were thoroughly embarrassed by the outcomes. Throughout that time you did little to nothing to produce a product on the field to prevent this.
The hiring and firing of Lou Saban – twice. For his time Lou Saban was the best football coach in the AFL. He almost single handedly resurrected a floundering franchise twice; first in the early 60s and again in the early 70s. Despite his success you made his working conditions so terrible that he was unable to do his job. After success you single handedly fired Saban, as many fans viewed it without just cause. It was your choice to fire him but your failure to replace him with anybody of competence turned the franchise each time into a complete joke for several years.
Propping up the Oakland Raiders. As was mentioned earlier you deserve credit for doing what was necessary to help the Raiders during their tough times. However, the trade of Darryl Lamonica was always a questionable move. Rumors were rumors but after it was disclosed that you helped the Raiders this trade almost looked like a matter of convenience to better help the Raiders. Understandable but your own franchise suffered in the long run. Jack Kemp was at the end of a wonderful career and Lamonica would have been the ideal replacement. Considering what it meant to the AFL losing Lamonica was forgivable; failing to replace him was not.
One playoff appearance between 1967 and 1980. The ultimate success of a franchise is measured by how often it makes the playoffs and, with some luck, wins a championship. After you fired Saban the first time the Bills went into a tail spin that lasted 14 years. During that time your team managed to make the playoffs only once. That resulted in an uninspired drubbing at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Again, had it not been for Lou Saban that one playoff game might never have happened. Previous coaches that you hired felt comfortable making O.J. Simpson into a returner and a decoy. Had it not been for Saban Simpson’s potential would never have been realized and there would not have been a 2000 yard season. To appear in one playoff game and to lose it, over the course of 30% of the team’s history is unforgivable.
The unknown threat to move the team to Seattle. Rumors have persisted for years that you may have had a deal with the city of Seattle to move the Bills there around the second Lou Saban ear. According to those rumors you pulled out of the deal and Seattle later was awarded the Seahawks. If there is any credence to these rumors it further shows that your commitment to the city of and fans in Buffalo was weak at best.
The tirade in front of the People’s Express Gate. Time has passed and I don’t remember exactly what year it was but I remember watching the news one night and you were being “interrogated” by the press. You, understandably, got annoyed. Your anger, though, was not limited to the press at hand. Your comments addressed all of the media and the fans of Buffalo. You attitude towards the fans was personally insulting. I was a teenager but I remember for the first time being disenfranchised. Being the owner does not give you the power to be abusive to the fans.
Chuck Knox. Much the like hiring of Saban (twice) you are to be credited with bringing in Knox after he got frustrated in Los Angeles. The Knox Era started slowly but was a refreshing change from the early and mid-70s. The Bills made the playoffs twice and won for the first time since 1966 won a playoff game. However, you made it almost impossible for Knox to continue here and he couldn’t wait to leave. Again, it was not the loss of Knox that was the problem. It was the failure to bring in a suitable replacement that drove the Bills closest to the lowest point in their history. It would be until 1990 before the Bills won another playoff game. One playoff win in 24 years is not the sign of a successful owner.
The Glory Years. Younger fans are quick to praise you for the resurrection of the Bills in the late 80s. Prior to that, loyal fans had to endure Hank Bullough. How you came to the conclusion the Bullough was a suitable NFL coach is still a wonder. How you allowed him to remain coach for more than a season can never be explained. The franchise teetered on the brink of being a minor league team. Fortunately for you, you hired Terry Bledsoe as the new General Manager. Blesdoe was a nice man but he didn’t have time to prove he was a quality football man. Shortly after being hired Bledsoe suffered a heart attack and had to relieve himself of his GM duties. His duties were given to a young up and coming executive with knowledge, vision and a plan. Bill Polian. Polian led the Bills to their Glory Days. Mr. Wilson, I am sorry. You do not get credit for the unfortunate health complications that fell Terry Bledsoe. If it were not for Bledsoe’s heart attack and the demise of the USFL (which with Polian’s connections provided a pipeline to quickly improve the team) there might not have been any “Glory Days”. That point may never be proved but the argument can be made. Polian led the Bills to their Glory Days but with just reason you fired him.
After firing Polian you stayed in house and promoted John Butler to GM. Fortunately for you the football department didn’t bolt and the team was able to rebound and make a short playoff run in the late 1990s. However, during this time you were unable to work with Butler and Coach Wade Philips. Your meddling led to Butler torpedoing the 2000 draft and Philips to eventually force your hand and fire him. The result was a gutting of the football department. The Glory Years were over without a Super Bowl win. For all the failures of the 70s, the 90s made up for it. However, how much credit goes to you and how much to Polian and Butler is up for discussion. Yes, you deserve credit for allowing Polian and Butler to do what he had to do financially to make the Bills a winner. However, as I am sure you know people do not advance in this world for simply “doing their job” which is what you did during that time.
The current state of Affairs. Beginning in 2000 the Bills have floundered in mediocrity. It has been nine seasons since the Bills played in a playoff game – the longest drought in team history. Since 1988 you have indirectly held the threat of relocation over the heads of fans and local politician. There have been many positive things to happen over that time. Politicians have worked with you and secured funding for improvements to the stadium and continued yearly payments to offset costs. You recently secured a deal with the Rogers Centre to play one home game there for each of the next five years while putting over $75 million into your bank account. To your credit the team is fiscally sound and despite the teams record on the field the fans consistently sell out the home games and faithfully support the team. However, that is a testament to them – not to you.
The largest failure and biggest insult to the fans, of your tenure as Bills owner has been the failure to lock in the future of the team. We, as Buffalonians, understand that the economy of Western New York is not ideal for the upscale future of the NFL. However, we do not need to read in out of town newspapers just how bad you think it is. Truth or not, your failure to give any credit to the fans for supporting the team despite the poor economy of the area is an insult to those who continue to buy tickets and faithfully fill the home stadium, named for you, at every home game – a direct slap in the face. You have promised that the team will not move during your lifetime but you have done nothing, at least that disclosed to the public, to secure the team’s future in Buffalo. As far as fans know when you pass away the team will be put up for sale by your family, bought for the highest price and moved. Is that anyway to reward the fans who have supported your team for almost 50 years? I say not.
Most people, especially as they approach 90 years old, are interested in how their legacy will be viewed. I am sure that you feel your legacy of being the only owner of the Bills and keeping them in one city will prove to be strong. However, should you pass and the Bills end up leaving the Western New York area it will be a blemish to your legacy that will wipe away all the good you think you have done. You have been rewarded with a stadium named after you, a field house named after you and riches beyond your wildest dreams for a $25,000 investment you made in 1959 yet you are failing in doing the one thing that will ultimately thank the loyal fans of the Buffalo Bills and lock in a positive lasting legacy. Of all the things listed above THAT is truly and deeply unforgivable and should be held in disdain.
There have been many positives that as Bills fans through the years we are thankful and prideful about. Not every team will win a Super Bowl and regrettably you have not been rewarded for your attempts. Sadly though, Mr. Wilson, it is your interminable meddling and failure to do what is right for the team on the field that has failed to produce long term results or a Super Bowl win and has shown you are not a quality owner. The ultimate failure to secure the future of the team in Buffalo is the last piece of proof needed showing you are not a Hall of Fame owner.
Truly, much of what you have done is worthy of consideration for the Hall of Fame, which you have had. I agree, however, with the committee. You are not Hall worthy. I may sound like just another scorned fan but please let me say this. I will continue to buy a season ticket. I will not decrease one bit the support I have shown since I was six. I will continue to spend my hard earned money and put it in your pocket. However, this is not in tribute to you. I will continue to support this team because I am a fan. A fan of the team and a fan of Buffalo. I will continue to do all I can to secure the future of the Bills in Buffalo – something that as of this time as far as we know you have not done. And for that, and the persistent way in which you have dangled the future of this franchise in front of us fans since at least 1988 if not earlier, Mr. Wilson, you are not Hall worthy and I will do all I can, even after you pass, to ensure that you never make the Hall of Fame. Mr. Wilson, prove me wrong. Prove me wrong and make me eat these words by securing the future of the Bills in Buffalo. Arrange a deal that allows you to own the team until you die but that allows the team to pass to somebody who will keep them in Buffalo. Seal your legacy and write your ticket to the Hall of Fame. Until then, I will rally to keep you out of the Hall. Even after you pass I will send these words to those who will hold your fate and hope that they will continue to fail to put you in the Hall. Mr. Wilson, do the right thing and truly and finally, thank the people that have supported YOUR team since 1959.
Sincerely,
Here is a letter I have written to Ralph Wilson should he NOT be voted into the HOF on Saturday. Please publish it only IF he is not voted in. Should he make it then I will simply ask for three hours of my life back. LOL. It's long but I think worth it. Please chime in on its content. Thanks.
January 31, 2009
Ralph Wilson, Jr.
Owner, Buffalo Bills
One Bills Drive
Orchard Park, NY 14127
Dear Mr. Wilson,
It is with regret that I inform you that the selection committee for the Pro Football Hall of Fame has failed to vote in favor of your induction into their esteemed Hall. As is the case every year, the competition for selection was intense and I am sure that you will agree that this year’s inductees are well qualified and will represent the NFL well in the Hall. Speaking as one of many Bills fans, and as a fan since 1971, I can understand the committee’s decision and, for one, completely agree. You are not qualified to be in the esteemed Hall of Fame.
It is always difficult to enter the Hall of Fame as an owner. In many ways you have been the ideal owner of a professional football team. It has been admirable the way you started a team from scratch, kept it located in one city for almost 50 years, won two American Football League (AFL) titles and, proudly, was represented in four consecutive Super Bowls; all noble accomplishments. You were instrumental in the formation, development and success of the AFL. You are almost single handedly credited with saving the Oakland Raiders when it looked like that franchise was about to fold in the late 1960s. That move probably saved the AFL and eventually forced a merger with the NFL. You foresaw problems in the latest Collective Bargaining Agreement with the player’s union that many of your fellow owners failed to see and as time has proved you were correct. Your list of accomplishments is strong and under ordinary circumstances would be more than worthy of induction into the Hall. However, there are too many reasons, as listed below, that show your incessant meddling and why you do not deserve to be in the Hall.
The very beginning. Upon being granted the franchise you initially wanted to place the team in Miami. There was nothing wrong with that decision but from the beginning Buffalo was not your original selection. Complicating this was the drought of the 1970s in which the Bills failed to defeat the Dolphins and quite often were thoroughly embarrassed by the outcomes. Throughout that time you did little to nothing to produce a product on the field to prevent this.
The hiring and firing of Lou Saban – twice. For his time Lou Saban was the best football coach in the AFL. He almost single handedly resurrected a floundering franchise twice; first in the early 60s and again in the early 70s. Despite his success you made his working conditions so terrible that he was unable to do his job. After success you single handedly fired Saban, as many fans viewed it without just cause. It was your choice to fire him but your failure to replace him with anybody of competence turned the franchise each time into a complete joke for several years.
Propping up the Oakland Raiders. As was mentioned earlier you deserve credit for doing what was necessary to help the Raiders during their tough times. However, the trade of Darryl Lamonica was always a questionable move. Rumors were rumors but after it was disclosed that you helped the Raiders this trade almost looked like a matter of convenience to better help the Raiders. Understandable but your own franchise suffered in the long run. Jack Kemp was at the end of a wonderful career and Lamonica would have been the ideal replacement. Considering what it meant to the AFL losing Lamonica was forgivable; failing to replace him was not.
One playoff appearance between 1967 and 1980. The ultimate success of a franchise is measured by how often it makes the playoffs and, with some luck, wins a championship. After you fired Saban the first time the Bills went into a tail spin that lasted 14 years. During that time your team managed to make the playoffs only once. That resulted in an uninspired drubbing at the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Again, had it not been for Lou Saban that one playoff game might never have happened. Previous coaches that you hired felt comfortable making O.J. Simpson into a returner and a decoy. Had it not been for Saban Simpson’s potential would never have been realized and there would not have been a 2000 yard season. To appear in one playoff game and to lose it, over the course of 30% of the team’s history is unforgivable.
The unknown threat to move the team to Seattle. Rumors have persisted for years that you may have had a deal with the city of Seattle to move the Bills there around the second Lou Saban ear. According to those rumors you pulled out of the deal and Seattle later was awarded the Seahawks. If there is any credence to these rumors it further shows that your commitment to the city of and fans in Buffalo was weak at best.
The tirade in front of the People’s Express Gate. Time has passed and I don’t remember exactly what year it was but I remember watching the news one night and you were being “interrogated” by the press. You, understandably, got annoyed. Your anger, though, was not limited to the press at hand. Your comments addressed all of the media and the fans of Buffalo. You attitude towards the fans was personally insulting. I was a teenager but I remember for the first time being disenfranchised. Being the owner does not give you the power to be abusive to the fans.
Chuck Knox. Much the like hiring of Saban (twice) you are to be credited with bringing in Knox after he got frustrated in Los Angeles. The Knox Era started slowly but was a refreshing change from the early and mid-70s. The Bills made the playoffs twice and won for the first time since 1966 won a playoff game. However, you made it almost impossible for Knox to continue here and he couldn’t wait to leave. Again, it was not the loss of Knox that was the problem. It was the failure to bring in a suitable replacement that drove the Bills closest to the lowest point in their history. It would be until 1990 before the Bills won another playoff game. One playoff win in 24 years is not the sign of a successful owner.
The Glory Years. Younger fans are quick to praise you for the resurrection of the Bills in the late 80s. Prior to that, loyal fans had to endure Hank Bullough. How you came to the conclusion the Bullough was a suitable NFL coach is still a wonder. How you allowed him to remain coach for more than a season can never be explained. The franchise teetered on the brink of being a minor league team. Fortunately for you, you hired Terry Bledsoe as the new General Manager. Blesdoe was a nice man but he didn’t have time to prove he was a quality football man. Shortly after being hired Bledsoe suffered a heart attack and had to relieve himself of his GM duties. His duties were given to a young up and coming executive with knowledge, vision and a plan. Bill Polian. Polian led the Bills to their Glory Days. Mr. Wilson, I am sorry. You do not get credit for the unfortunate health complications that fell Terry Bledsoe. If it were not for Bledsoe’s heart attack and the demise of the USFL (which with Polian’s connections provided a pipeline to quickly improve the team) there might not have been any “Glory Days”. That point may never be proved but the argument can be made. Polian led the Bills to their Glory Days but with just reason you fired him.
After firing Polian you stayed in house and promoted John Butler to GM. Fortunately for you the football department didn’t bolt and the team was able to rebound and make a short playoff run in the late 1990s. However, during this time you were unable to work with Butler and Coach Wade Philips. Your meddling led to Butler torpedoing the 2000 draft and Philips to eventually force your hand and fire him. The result was a gutting of the football department. The Glory Years were over without a Super Bowl win. For all the failures of the 70s, the 90s made up for it. However, how much credit goes to you and how much to Polian and Butler is up for discussion. Yes, you deserve credit for allowing Polian and Butler to do what he had to do financially to make the Bills a winner. However, as I am sure you know people do not advance in this world for simply “doing their job” which is what you did during that time.
The current state of Affairs. Beginning in 2000 the Bills have floundered in mediocrity. It has been nine seasons since the Bills played in a playoff game – the longest drought in team history. Since 1988 you have indirectly held the threat of relocation over the heads of fans and local politician. There have been many positive things to happen over that time. Politicians have worked with you and secured funding for improvements to the stadium and continued yearly payments to offset costs. You recently secured a deal with the Rogers Centre to play one home game there for each of the next five years while putting over $75 million into your bank account. To your credit the team is fiscally sound and despite the teams record on the field the fans consistently sell out the home games and faithfully support the team. However, that is a testament to them – not to you.
The largest failure and biggest insult to the fans, of your tenure as Bills owner has been the failure to lock in the future of the team. We, as Buffalonians, understand that the economy of Western New York is not ideal for the upscale future of the NFL. However, we do not need to read in out of town newspapers just how bad you think it is. Truth or not, your failure to give any credit to the fans for supporting the team despite the poor economy of the area is an insult to those who continue to buy tickets and faithfully fill the home stadium, named for you, at every home game – a direct slap in the face. You have promised that the team will not move during your lifetime but you have done nothing, at least that disclosed to the public, to secure the team’s future in Buffalo. As far as fans know when you pass away the team will be put up for sale by your family, bought for the highest price and moved. Is that anyway to reward the fans who have supported your team for almost 50 years? I say not.
Most people, especially as they approach 90 years old, are interested in how their legacy will be viewed. I am sure that you feel your legacy of being the only owner of the Bills and keeping them in one city will prove to be strong. However, should you pass and the Bills end up leaving the Western New York area it will be a blemish to your legacy that will wipe away all the good you think you have done. You have been rewarded with a stadium named after you, a field house named after you and riches beyond your wildest dreams for a $25,000 investment you made in 1959 yet you are failing in doing the one thing that will ultimately thank the loyal fans of the Buffalo Bills and lock in a positive lasting legacy. Of all the things listed above THAT is truly and deeply unforgivable and should be held in disdain.
There have been many positives that as Bills fans through the years we are thankful and prideful about. Not every team will win a Super Bowl and regrettably you have not been rewarded for your attempts. Sadly though, Mr. Wilson, it is your interminable meddling and failure to do what is right for the team on the field that has failed to produce long term results or a Super Bowl win and has shown you are not a quality owner. The ultimate failure to secure the future of the team in Buffalo is the last piece of proof needed showing you are not a Hall of Fame owner.
Truly, much of what you have done is worthy of consideration for the Hall of Fame, which you have had. I agree, however, with the committee. You are not Hall worthy. I may sound like just another scorned fan but please let me say this. I will continue to buy a season ticket. I will not decrease one bit the support I have shown since I was six. I will continue to spend my hard earned money and put it in your pocket. However, this is not in tribute to you. I will continue to support this team because I am a fan. A fan of the team and a fan of Buffalo. I will continue to do all I can to secure the future of the Bills in Buffalo – something that as of this time as far as we know you have not done. And for that, and the persistent way in which you have dangled the future of this franchise in front of us fans since at least 1988 if not earlier, Mr. Wilson, you are not Hall worthy and I will do all I can, even after you pass, to ensure that you never make the Hall of Fame. Mr. Wilson, prove me wrong. Prove me wrong and make me eat these words by securing the future of the Bills in Buffalo. Arrange a deal that allows you to own the team until you die but that allows the team to pass to somebody who will keep them in Buffalo. Seal your legacy and write your ticket to the Hall of Fame. Until then, I will rally to keep you out of the Hall. Even after you pass I will send these words to those who will hold your fate and hope that they will continue to fail to put you in the Hall. Mr. Wilson, do the right thing and truly and finally, thank the people that have supported YOUR team since 1959.
Sincerely,
" ~ yordad
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