Buffalo Bills Video Dynasty (Madden)

[bhurst99]

July 15, 2012

No matter how much he convinced himself he was ready for the end he still feared the pain, the unknowing, the helplessness of it all.

It raced through his mind again: He was going to die.

It was God's great equalizer. No matter who you were, how much or how little you had, every man faced the same fate. There was no escape. No one to bargain with, no deals to be made. It was final.

It wasn't a thought 93-year old Ralph Wilson liked to contemplate. He knew he had led a rich, full life -- World War II veteran, successful businessman, husband and father. He had been elected to the NFL Hall of Fame as a builder for his role in the AFL and NFL as the Buffalo Bills owner. Even the stadium where he his team played bore his name. He couldn't have wished for a better life. By any measure, it had been extraordinary.

There were so many mornings he told himself he was ready for the next world, ready as any man could possibly be for death. That the nagging pains of old age were too much to bear. That once your body deteriorated to a certain point you were no longer living; you were just surviving.

But he knew all that was a lie. There was so much beauty in this world, so much to cherish.

He loved the crisp Autumn Sundays when Ralph Wilson Stadium was so alive. Grinning fathers and sons tossing footballs in the parking lot before games. The smell of sausages cooking on open grills. The sound of laughter between friends, the roar of crowds at kickoff. The electricity of it all!

Football was more than just a sport in western New York. It was part of the very fabric of the community. If you lived in Buffalo it was an integral part of your identity. It didn't matter if you were black or white, female or male, a lawyer or a warehouse worker. Everyone was united on Sunday. Everyone wanted a win for their Buffalo Bills.

The Bills were his greatest accomplishment and his greatest failure.

He had founded the team, kept the Bills alive when the steel and manufacturing industry collapsed and the city's population decreased to the point that in 2000 its population was less than it was in 1900. He had done it with the lowest ticket prices in the NFL. The team soared to great heights and was the talk of the NFL when it became the first and only team to appear in four consecutive Super Bowls between 1990 and 1993.

But that was a long, long time ago.

The four losses in the Super Bowl had cemented the city's inferiority complex. To make matters worse the team had missed the playoffs 12 consecutive years, an eternity. He had refused to accept his Hall of Fame award at the half time of a home game as scheduled because he feared he would be booed and cursed.

He heard the chatter grow louder everyday that the team would be better off with new owners, better after he was dead!

This team that had brought him such happiness and such joy to the community was now bringing him hatred. How could that have happened? It was impossible!

Ralph Wilson looked out the window of his executive office at the sun-drenched empty stadium. He pictured the stadium full of fans standing and cheering wildly like they had in the 1990s. He promised himself he would see that again before he died.

He was going to turn this football team around.

He had signed one of the best defensive players in the league, defensive end Mario Williams to a six-year, $100-million dollar contract. He didn't care if people thought it was too much money tied up for one player. It was his money.

His name was not going to become synonymous with losing. He was going to go out a winner and he was prepared to make one more change to make sure that happened.

Death was going to have to wait a little longer.

[Gronk4M13]

Following.

[bhurst99]

Quote: Originally Posted by Gronk4M13

Following.

Thanks. I'll try to make it a good read.

[glassjaw05]

Great opening, definitely following.

[jct32]

Always following a bhurst dynasty.

[bhurst99]

July 22, 2012

Ralph Wilson read the words "cleaned house" in the media report and immediately turned off his computer in disgust. He hated that phrase.

"Cleaned house" ignored the feelings and complexities of the people dismissed. These were the people who spent seven days a week planning for the next game, stayed up until 3 am in the morning watching game tape, fell asleep from exhaustion in their office. They were the face of the franchise in front of the media. They sacrificed much of their family life for the club. It was no wonder why so many football people were divorced.

There was nothing worse than telling a coach or a general manager that he was a failure in your eyes. When Wilson had dismissed someone in the past, he could see in their eyes that he had ripped out their heart and soul.

It was an awful feeling to prepare yourself to fire someone. You stayed awake for days before telling a coach your decision, rehearsing your speech in your nightmares, struggling to find the right words to thank them for their service and tell them they had 30 minutes to clean out their desk and leave. It was an impossible contradiction: Thank you for your time, we appreciated that you sacrificed seeing your kids grow up for the club. Now get lost.

Destroying a man's spirit should never be referred to simply as "cleaning house"

But terminating the contracts of Buffalo Bills general manager Buddy Nix and coach Chad Gailey was a necessary evil. Wilson couldn't afford to have them carry on through another failed, mediocre season. His time left on this Earth was short.

If Wilson was going to take the blame for the failures of the franchise you better believe he was not going to sit around and delegate football decisions. He had always stayed in the shadows, allowing the general manager, his assistants and the coaching staff to make decisions he rarely questioned while he simply signed the cheques.

And how had that worked out? No playoffs for the past 12 years. No championships since joining the NFL.

Wilson didn't want to be the general manager alone. He knew he needed strong football minds around. He had seen the disaster that accompanied fellow owners Al Davis and Jerry Jones when they attempted to make their teams' personnel decisions. He simply wanted more control over what happened on the field and for once the final say. He was aware of the limitations of his age and the demands the job required.

He was determined to do as much as he possibly could with every breath he had left to personally turn around this team. He was going to make this his final mission of his life. It gave him energy just thinking about it.

Wilson knew no one could ever know that he was in charge of personnel decisions. If that leaked the fans would revolt. The very same fans whom he loved and adored and wanted to reward with a championship would never stand for the idea of a 93-year old taking charge of the football decisions. He would be a laughing stock.

He had to stay in the shadows. He needed someone willing to take the title of general manager but not have all of that position's powers, more of an advisor than a real general manager.

And he desperately needed that person to do it in complete secrecy, never revealing the truth and defend Wilson's decisions as though they were his own.

Wilson thought it best that the same person be named both general manager and coach as coaching the team on a day-to-day basis would provide more of a distraction and make it less likely he would meddle in Wilson's decisions. He smiled as he considered his project.

Wilson leaned back in his chair and restarted his computer. He knew the perfect person to contact for the job.

[hudso3]

This is good, following.

[JaymeeAwesome]

As much as I hated to see the end of the 09 Eagles dynasty, I'm excited to watch this new one from you!