Just talked with a source about Gailey's future and QB in draft

[better days]

Re: Just talked with a source about Gailey's future and QB in draft

I wasn't trying to say it was a good trade. Just saying that is hindsight, that when the trade was made it wasn't thought to be so one-sided. People lamented it because Powell got hurt and Flores didn't play well, while Lamonica turned into a good player.

Long time Bills beat-man Bob DiCesare wrote this about it:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/news/2001/03/01/sayitaintso_bills/

That is all I was trying to say, that the deal at the time wasn't considered bad, that they had good reasons to try and make the deal. It didn't work out.

Bob DiCesare was a baby when that trade was made. I was a young teen at the time & remember it well. I remember MANY games Lamonica would come in when the Bills were behind & win the game, throwing the ball downfield. DiCesare is wrong when he wrote Lamonica hadn't shown much, he showed PLENTY.

[ServoBillieves]

Re: Just talked with a source about Gailey's future and QB in draft

Lamonica was a backup to Kemp his entire career on the Bills, and it is hard to fault them for trading him at the time. He only started 4 games in 4 seasons, and he was a much better player after being traded to Oakland.

His career numbers with the Bills:

150/353 (42.5%), 2,499 Yds (7.1 YPA), 16 TD, 23 Int, 55.0 QB Rating

His career numbers with the Oakland:

1,135/2,239 (50.7%), 16,620 Yds (7.4 YPA), 147 TD, 111 Int, 76.5 QB Rating

In hindsight, they should have kept Lamonica and moved on from Kemp, but at that time the trade made more sense.

HEY! Aren't you forgetting another important statistic?!

9/19 for 90 yards 1 TD/0 INT for the SC Sun! IMHO his best statistical season.

[gebobs]

Re: Just talked with a source about Gailey's future and QB in draft

I'm not angry..............now, but I was at the time of that trade. I'm just trying to set the facts straight.

You have a better memory than me. I was 12 when the Sabres traded Shack for Robert. Though I know in hindsight that the trade was great, I couldn't say at all what I thought about it at the time. Heck, I can't even say what my reaction was to the trade that brought Hasek and that was just 20 years ago.

[better days]

Re: Just talked with a source about Gailey's future and QB in draft

You have a better memory than me. I was 12 when the Sabres traded Shack for Robert. Though I know in hindsight that the trade was great, I couldn't say at all what I thought about it at the time. Heck, I can't even say what my reaction was to the trade that brought Hasek and that was just 20 years ago.

Well, as I said, I was a young teen at the time & a DIEHARD Rabid Bills fan just like I am today. I remember that trade all too well

[gebobs]

Re: Just talked with a source about Gailey's future and QB in draft

Well, as I said, I was a young teen at the time & a DIEHARD Rabid Bills fan just like I am today. I remember that trade all too well

I'm sure you do. But isn't it possible that what you remember about the reaction is from months later after it began to flesh out? When GingerP first said that the trade was seen as good at the time, I was all over him. I remember watching games with my dad and his friends and listening to them moan as Lamonica lit it up.

The trade happened on the first day of the 1967 draft. Can you really say, without any doubt whatsoever, that your reaction right then and there was one of disgust? Even more, can you really say, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this was the reaction around Buffalo? I can't. My dad was 43 at the time and he can't. My brother was 14 and he can't.

All I can go by is the link that GingerP gave and that I read earlier too. I have looked and looked for evidence of local reaction in the immediate aftermath, but I can't find anything. It says that Davis was hesitant because he thought the price for Lamonica was too high. Is it possible that Wilson thought he was getting fair value? Is it possible that many Bills fans agreed?

I just want you to consider that possibility. If you still feel the same way, then I'll take you at your word.

[better days]

Re: Just talked with a source about Gailey's future and QB in draft

I'm sure you do. But isn't it possible that what you remember about the reaction is from months later after it began to flesh out? When GingerP first said that the trade was seen as good at the time, I was all over him. I remember watching games with my dad and his friends and listening to them moan as Lamonica lit it up.

The trade happened on the first day of the 1967 draft. Can you really say, without any doubt whatsoever, that your reaction right then and there was one of disgust? Even more, can you really say, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this was the reaction around Buffalo? I can't. My dad was 43 at the time and he can't. My brother was 14 and he can't.

All I can go by is the link that GingerP gave and that I read earlier too. I have looked and looked for evidence of local reaction in the immediate aftermath, but I can't find anything. It says that Davis was hesitant because he thought the price for Lamonica was too high. Is it possible that Wilson thought he was getting fair value? Is it possible that many Bills fans agreed?

I just want you to consider that possibility. If you still feel the same way, then I'll take you at your word.

Well, if the price for Lamonica was high, that is because Lamonica was a young fully developed QB. If your dad was 43 at the time, that would make him 88 today, not surprising he can't remember. I was 16 at the time, a HARDCORE Bills fan & can definitely say when I read about that trade in the paper I was heartbroken & disgusted.

There was no internet at the time & I was too young to hang out in bars, but I don't remember talking to anybody that was happy about that trade at the time. If there is anybody on this board that was about my age or older & they want to admit they were happy with that trade, I would love to read that post.

[HAMMER]

Re: Just talked with a source about Gailey's future and QB in draft

Good God you people take this stuff personal, lighten up Francis.

[gebobs]

Re: Just talked with a source about Gailey's future and QB in draft

If your dad was 43 at the time

My bad, 41.

that would make him 88 today, not surprising he can't remember.

He hasn't lost his mind just yet. Still practicing law at 86.

I was 16 at the time, a HARDCORE Bills fan & can definitely say when I read about that trade in the paper I was heartbroken & disgusted.

OK, I said I'd take your word at it.

[stuckincincy]

Re: Just talked with a source about Gailey's future and QB in draft

The Kemp vs. Lamonica debate was pretty active. If I had to guess, I'd say most folks were dismayed about the trade. Obviously, salt was poured into the wound in the 1967 season, as BUF plummeted to 4 and 10. Powell and Flores showed little, while Lamonica led OAK to a 13 -1 record, winning the AFL championship. He tossed 30 tds, and had a completion percentage of 50.8 - both high numbers in the days of bump and run, head slaps and so on.

BUF's subsequent letting-go of Haven Moses, James Harris, Ahmad Rashad, and Ron McDole was...inexplicable.