It took a co-sign from Polian and some assurance from Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt to convince Wilson to hire Levy in the first place. Buffalo upset Pittsburgh in his first game and went 7-8 in Levy's first full season in 1987 before winning six division titles over the following eight seasons. Instead, he told players he expected them to be professional and work hard. "I believe that was the start of the movement right then, that very first meeting that Coach Levy had with the team."Ĭottrell said Levy "treated them like men" and "didn't have 5,000 rules" when he took over. They were so pleased that they had this guy now standing up there talking to. It started affecting the team that very first meeting. "So from that point, it was like a welcome relief with the air that he brought with him and his personality. "His first speech in front of the team - after the speech, they all gave him a big ovation," Cottrell said. In the decade prior to Levy's arrival, Buffalo had fewer winning seasons (two) than it did seasons with double-digit losses (five).īut Cottrell said something clicked the first time Levy addressed the team. The Bills' defensive line coach in 1986, Cotrell remembers when Levy took over for Hank Bullough midway through what would be a 4-12 season - which itself came following a pair of 2-14 seasons in 19. The greatest stretch in Bills history began with a Levy speech in the midst of a losing season - in Ted Cottrell's mind, at least. Listening to Levy, former defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and others describe what winning a division championship means in Western New York offers unique perspective on what coach Sean McDermott and general manager Brandon Beane accomplished this season. Similar to the present-day team, Bennett's Bills were a bottom feeder before new leadership arrived. "Hopefully this time, if we get to the big dance, we'll pull it off and us old-timers have a chance to really do the hustle or celebrate some type of way - do some kind of old-school dance to celebrate with this new school." "I feel as though it's our time," he said. He's pleased to see the AFC East look like it did during his playing days - with Buffalo on top. Surpassing the peak of the early-'90s Bills would be an impressive feat, considering the talent those teams had on the field, on the sideline and in the front office.īuffalo featured eight future Pro Football Hall of Famers during coach Marv Levy's tenure, including Levy himself, quarterback Jim Kelly, wide receivers Andre Reed and James Lofton, running back Thurman Thomas, defensive end Bruce Smith, general manager Bill Polian and owner Ralph Wilson.įormer Bills linebacker Cornelius Bennett (1987-95), a 2021 Hall of Fame semifinalist, said Buffalo fans approached the team's division title run this season with cautious optimism after such a long drought. Let's be the next team to go to four straight Super Bowls - let's win one." "Let's make our destiny - let's make our own history. "The history of the Buffalo Bills is great, but the team that we have now - we don't anything to do with what happened ," cornerback Tre'Davious White said. ET, CBS), the Bills will write their own chapter in the team's history book. That 1995 season was one of the final rides of the franchise's greatest era, when it went to four straight Super Bowls (1990-93) and last won a playoff game.Īs this year's version prepares to host the Indianapolis Colts in the wild-card round on Saturday (1:05 p.m. That's how long it had been since the Bills won the AFC East, before doing so in emphatic fashion this season, going 13-3. Buffalo Bills fans have waited 25 years for a season like this. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserįor Buffalo Bills' 1995 team, playoff surge evokes memories of last time franchise ruled AFC East
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |