Retrospect: Dam you NYC/Pittsburgh/Donahoe

Watching Big Ben and Aaron Rodgers the last two weeks shred the Bills defense got me thinking. What could have been if we lost one more game. It was the 2003 Season, and the Bills were in the mists of one of their biggest disappointing seasons to date. It was the year after the Bills traded for Drew Bledsoe and made 3 huge splashes in the offseason by signing Takeo Spikes, Lawyer Milloy, and Sam Adams. The Bills had an incredible offense in 2002, but their defense was a disaster. With the signings of the 3 pro bowlers on defense, the Bills seem to be on the right track to having a balance team in 2003.

Of course, that didn't happen and the Bills were a disaster. The offense broke records in offensive futility for the team. The Bills were 4-7 and going no where fast. Of course lady luck came shining on the Bills in week 13 and 14 of the season. Buffalo was pitted against the lonely Jets and Giants, and the rest was history. The Bills ended up beating both teams in back to back weeks to climb to an uninspired 6-7 record. The Bills ended up losing the last 3 games by 50 points combined. Why am I bringing this up? The Bills, Jets, and Steelers finished with identical 6-10 records, and because the Bills had a better division record than the Steelers and Jets, the Bills picked at 13th in the 2003 NFL Draft, while the Steelers and Jets picked 11th and 12th.

The Steelers and Bills both needed quarterbacks for the future. The Bills had the aging Bledsoe, while the Steelers had Tommy Maddux. The Jets didn't need a QB, because they had a young Chad Pennington (before his arm problems). With the 11th pick in the draft, the Steelers selected a MAAC quarterback from Miami of Ohio. The guy's name was Ben Roethlisburger. Two Superbowl trophies later, he's the biggest fixture for the Steelers since Terry Bradshaw. Why couldn't we just throw one of the NYC games?!

Of course, with the Bills not having Big Ben on the board they went with Lee Evans with the 13th pick. Some experts thought GM Tom Donahoe panicked by not getting Big Ben. The GM gave up a 1st (2004) and 2nd round pick (2003) to Dallas to move back into the first round, and select JP Losman with the 22nd pick. Besides losing Big Ben and gaining Losman, what made matters worse was what the Bills gave up. Dallas used the Bills 2nd round pick to select running back Julius Jones. Even though Jones was a bust for the Cowboys, the next pick was by the Colts who selected Bob Sanders, who has a NFL defensive MVP award under his belt. Think he could of looked good in a Bills uniform?

The nightmare doesn't end there. In the 2004 NFL Draft, the Cowboys used the Bills 20th pick in the first round to select Marcus Spears. A pretty good player in his own right, but just 4 picks later the Green Bay Packers were on the clock. Just like the Bills the year before, the Pack needed to find a young QB to be the heir apparent to Brett Favre. The Packers selected a QB whose draft stock was slipping at the time. Aaron Rodgers became the Packers 24th pick of the 2004 NFL Draft. DOE!

Flash forward to the present, Aaron Rodgers is coming off an outstanding first year as a starter in the NFL. Big Ben may have issues with his motorcycle and girls, but he's going to be apart of the Steelers for at least the next 10 years. JP Losman is playing slots in Las Vegas preparing to be the face of the UFL League (yeah, that will put butts in the seats). Tom Donahoe hasn't been heard from since being fired by the Bills after the 2005 season. And Drew Bledsoe is retired in some log cabin in Montana. Pretty fitting to be surrounded by trees that have more movement than he did in the pocket.

Can you imagine where the Bills would be now if they didn't beat one of the NYC teams or had they not panicked about not getting a QB in the 2003 draft? Maybe Tom Donahoe would still be running the team. Maybe the Bills would of made the playoffs by now. Hindsight is 20/20, but when it comes to losing for over a decade, you can't help but feel a little down.

Retrospect: Evans & T.O. vs Reed & Lofton

Both Duo's stats don't tell the story

Since most Bills fans always get gushy and teary eye when they think of the 90's Bills. Let me use a little name association. James Lofton and Andre Reed. Both hall of famer's (Reed is in my book) games were very complimentary towards each other. Reed was the go over the middle guy whose claim to fame was his yards after the catch. The dude was tough as nails and made a living off breaking tackles and taking it to the house. James Lofton on the other hand was all about speed. Growing up as kid I can remember watching Lofton make it look so easy. Kelly would just air it out as far as he can and Lofton wouldn't even look back at the ball. He would always make the same over the shoulder catch for 50 yards and a touchdown. The two of them played together for 3 years and combined for 350 catches, 5,541 yards, and 39 touchdowns, which ranked #1 for wide receiving duos in the NFL for that stretch. I'm sure you readers know where I'm going with this. Comparing Lofton and Reed to Owens and Evans. But the stats don't tell the story about what both duos had in common.

Lofton was going on his 3rd team in five years and his best days seemed to be ancient history. Lofton was drafted 6th overall in the 1978 draft by the Packers. The future hall of famer had a very successful run with Pack for 9 years and average an eye popping 18 yards a catch and almost 10,000 yards receiving. Lofton was then signed off plan B by the Raiders in 1987. Lofton's numbers slid to only 1,329 yards receiving in two years with LA. The Raiders thought Lofton's days were numbered and was subsequently cut during the 1989 season. At the age of 34 and in the twilight of his career the Bills took a chance. Lofton wasn't expecting to make much of an impact let alone make the Bills team. Terrell Owens doesn't have to worry about making the roster but like Lofton, T.O. is in his mid 30's (35) and people are saying his best days are numbered.

Andre Reed on the other hand was entering his 6th season in the NFL and was just coming off his first pro bowl and 1,000 yard season. But the Bills lacked a play making number 2 wide receiver, hell I'll go one better then lack, they were god awful. Their 2nd leading wide receiver was the immortal Flip Johnson, who had 25 catches for 303 yards. More importantly, Reed had struggled down the stretch of the 89' season, catching just 23 passes for 336 yards in the team's last 5 games. Reed's issue was that teams knew he was the Bills biggest weapon in the passing game, and when teams doubled Reed there was no way Flipper Johnson was going to make them pay. Like Reed, Lee Evans is going into his 6th season and has been a victim of the double team and not having a legit number two receiving threat.

Lofton and Reed were match made in heaven and more importantly they needed each other. Reed was looking for that edge to put him in elite status in the NFL, while Lofton was looking for one more day in the sun. Lee Evans has always been the guy everyone outside of Buffalo knew was a special player, but hasn't been able to make that jump from a good wide receiver to an elite one. Owens may not be in the same "left for dead" situation as Lofton was, but his critics have been on him for dropped passes and his skills not being what they once were.

Owens has the same game that Reed had (working the middle), and has the same chip on his shoulder that Lofton had trying to prove that he still got it. Evans has been that deep ball threat that Lofton was, and is just entering his prime as Reed did. Going into this season you have to wonder, who needs each other more, Evans or Owens? I really can't answer that question, but I can tell you who needs that duo the most. They happen to be the same team Lofton and Reed played for.

-Joe-

"Reed is a HOF, end of story"

Retrospect: Thomas proves that Favre's legacy will be just fine.

The night of February 11, 2000..I remember I was at a bar in Canada called Daily Planet (great name right..), and I was chilling on a black leather couch talking to a random girl (yes some of us computer nerds do have game). In the mists of my make out session, I looked up at the TV and the ESPN Bottom Line said, "Bills cut Andre Reed, Thurman Thomas, and Bruce Smith." All of a sudden I didn't care what this girl looked like and quickly ran looking for my best friend. When I found my friend and told him the news, it was as if we had just been in some movie where a life changing situation had occurred. Just utter shock. It was the first time that the NFL provided a new vocabulary word, cap casualty. I'm sure Packer fans will all remember where they were when they saw Brett Favre was retiring (and un-retiring).

Thurman is reeled in by the Fish

Shortly after the purge, Thomas was in negotiations with the hated Dolphins and eventually signed with them. Now you may be saying, "so what? he signed with a new team because the Bills didn't want him anymore, that crap happens all the time, Bret Favre is still a prima donna." Yes, Favre is a prima donna and has carried out this where is he going to play to a new extreme. It's like the Obama's deciding what type of dog they are going to adopt. But where the similarities begin is the fact that Thomas wanted revenge against his old team. He went out of his way to take less money to play for the Dolphins because he desperately wanted to show Mr. Wilson that he made a huge mistake in cutting him. And what better place then Miami to go where the Bills and Dolphins at that time had one of the most heated rivalry in football. Doesn't this all ring a bell with what Brett Favre is doing?

The chip

What also didn't help was that Thomas was one of the most angriest players that I can remember. I remember a interview I heard after a game in December of 1993 where the Bills had just lost to the Raiders. Thurman was asked if he had thought teams were catching up to the Bills and if there were issues in the locker room. Thomas was live on the radio in the locker room and started dropping "F" bomb after "F" bomb. That's when I realized that whenever you doubted Thurman, you better get the censor button out. Thurman played with a chip on his shoulder. That chip soon became a meteor after being cut by the Bills.

Dolphins vs Bills

It was week 6 of the 2000 season and it was Thurman's first and only game against his former team. The Dolphins won the game 22-13, but that wasn't the story. I remember the game because of Thurman and the way he was acting. Thomas only touched the ball 10 times for 50 yards. But the stat line doesn't tell the story about how Thurman played. The dude was HYPED! angry, whatever word you wanted to use. He would get up after a 7 yard gain and start talking trash to John Holecek. I'm not trying to make this game sound as if it was vintage Thurman Thomas 1992, but I can't remember a time seeing him or another player get so worked up or angry after gaining 5 yards on a run. It was Thurman's best day in the sun that year, 3 weeks later Thomas blew out his knee and his career was over.

The Favre/Thomas Correlation

So what we got here are two players who were sent packing by the teams that they had been with for the majority of their careers. The teams they played for that gave so many memories to their fans. Both players felt they were unjustly thrown out to pasture. Both players were then hell bent on getting revenge against their old bosses. Both players (Favre on the verge) went out of their ways to sign with their former teams arch nemeses. Revenge is profitable, but gratitude is expensive and these two wanted both.

Why will Favre's legacy not be tarnished

I know some of you might be saying, "well Thurman didn't play the cat and mouse game of retiring and acting like a girl who needed attention like Favre did." That is true, but like all of life's heartbreaks, time will heel all wounds. Packers fans are the same as Bills fans. They represent small town roots when it comes to their teams. When Bills fans think of Thomas, they don't think of the 2000 season or about Thurman's hell bent mentality to shove it to the organization. And thats the key, #34 didn't have issue what the fans, just like Favre doesn't. Favre may get some boos when he returns to Lambeau Field against the Packers. But 2-3 years down the line when the Packers call him up to retire old number 4, Packer Fans will wash away the last 2 years with thunderous applause at the ceremony.

Joe

"I'm stuck at work right now"