| Did anyone else find it ironic that Jim Kelly
was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during Super Bowl weekend? I mean, as great
as Kelly was, and as deserving as he is to be a Hall of Famer, the Super Bowl was the site
of his four biggest failures. Kelly was a warrior, as tough as they come. As a lifelong
Bills fan, I feel fortunate to have been able to root for him for so many years and
reveled in his brilliance as he led the Bills’ pass-happy, no-huddle K-gun offense to
four straight AFC championships. Unfortunately for Bills fans, he came up short four
consecutive times in the ultimate proving ground, the Super Bowl.
It goes without saying that I was extremely happy when I heard about Kelly’s
impending induction into the Canton, Ohio, hall. I felt the same way when ex-Bills head
coach Marv Levy was honored the year before. But will those two be the only inductees from
those great Bills teams?
I sure hope not. There were several Hall of Fame-caliber players on those Bills teams.
It’s one of the great disappointments in my life as a sports fan that Buffalo
wasn’t able to bring the Vince Lombardi Trophy back to my native western New York at
least once during the Bills’ incredible run. I’ve often wondered, "What if
they had won that first Super Bowl against the Giants? Would they have won multiple
titles? Or would they have lost their drive and faded from view quicker?"
Even though the Bills failed to win it all, I think they still deserve to be considered
among the greatest teams in NFL history. Granted, I have a biased opinion, but no other
team before or since went to four consecutive Super Bowls. In fact, the Bills were 4-1 in
AFC championship games over a six-year span. Think that will ever happen in today’s
age of free agency and the salary cap?
They were also the second-winningest franchise in the 1990s behind the 49ers and had 10
winning seasons in a 12-year span from 1988 to '99. That’s no fluke. And there was a
core of players who fueled that incredible run who each merit consideration for the Hall
of Fame. Look at the glory years — 1988-93 — when the Bills sent seven
players to the Pro Bowl in ’88, five in ’89, 10 in ’90, eight in ’91,
10 in ’92, and seven in ’93. Doesn’t that speak volumes about the amount of
talent the Bills had assembled?
Kelly was the ringleader as the signalcaller of the Bills’ explosive offense. But
would he have been as good if not for the brilliant running and receiving of RB Thurman
Thomas or the receiving of WRs Andre Reed and James Lofton? Or how about the great
blocking and leadership of C Kent Hull?
The defense was led by DE Bruce Smith, one of the greatest pass rushers in the history
of the NFL. And LB Cornelius Bennett had an exceptional career with the Bills, Falcons and
Colts. And don’t forget hardworking special-teams ace Steve Tasker. Many feel he
deserves to be the first special-teamer ever inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Thomas rushed for more than 12,000 yards in a 13-year career, which places him among
the top 10 all-time. He also had 46 games of 100 or more rushing yards during the regular
season, which is the seventh-highest total in NFL history. He also is sixth all-time in
most total yards from scrimmage. He went over 2,000 combined yards twice in his career.
He was a Pro Bowler on five occasions and scored 88 career touchdowns (65 rushing, 23
receiving). He was an accomplished receiver, catching 472 passes for 4,458 yards. He holds
the NFL career playoff mark for consecutive games with a touchdown (nine).
Reed played 16 years, setting four franchise records, including most touchdowns
receiving (86). He finished with 951 career catches, placing him third all-time. He also
had 13,095 receiving yards, most of which came on crossing patterns and slant patterns
over the middle. He was a tough, physical receiver who was Kelly’s main target. In
fact, they hooked up for 665 career receptions. Reed was a seven-time Pro Bowler.
Lofton played four years with the Bills but had a great career with the Packers and the
Raiders before that. He finished with 14,004 receiving yards for a spectacular 18.3-yard
average with 75 touchdowns and 764 catches. He also played 16 years and made the Pro Bowl
six consecutive years.
Hull was the Bills’ starting center for 10 consecutive seasons and anchored a
standout offensive line during the Bills’ glory years. He was a three-time Pro Bowler
and someone whom Kelly called "the smartest guy I’ve been around on the football
field."
Smith is considered to be one of the top defensive ends in NFL history. He went to the
Pro Bowl 11 of his 15 seasons and is still planning to play in 2002 with the Washington
Redskins. He has 186 career sacks, which places him second all-time to Reggie White. His
record speaks for itself.
Bennett was a standout linebacker who was all over the field as a younger player (he
had 73 career sacks and went over 100 tackles in a season five times), then became a sage
veteran at the end of his career. He ended up playing in five Super Bowls, losing all
five. He played in four title games with the Bills, before helping the Atlanta Falcons to
the Super Bowl in 1998. He was a five-time Pro Bowler.
Tasker played 13 seasons with the Bills and was a seven-time Pro Bowler. In fact, he
was the only true special-teams player to be selected as the Pro Bowl MVP (1993). Many
consider Tasker to be the greatest special-teams player in the game’s history.
Counting Kelly, that’s a total of eight players. I realize that that’s an
awful lot of players to place into the Hall of Fame from a team that never won a league
title. But if the voters take each player’s accomplishments on their own merits, I
have to think that Smith, Thomas, Reed and Lofton are locks to make it. Bennett, Hull and
Tasker will be tougher but are no less deserving.
Why do I get the feeling that years from now, after several Bills have been honored in
the Canton hall, I’ll still be trying to explain how a team as talented as those
great Bills teams failed to win a Super Bowl title? |
