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If History is Forgotten, It’s Bound to Repeat Itself.
May 3rd 1979 - ” With the first overall pick, the Buffalo Bills select linebacker Tom Cousineau out of Ohio State University”.
It was 31 years ago this week that Tom Cousineau was made the first pick overall by the Buffalo Bills in the NFL draft. Cousineau is in exclusive company, as he is one of only two players since 1977 who were drafted 1st overall, and didn’t sign with an NFL team for the season (Bo Jackson is the other). Instead of playing for the Bills, Cousineau opted to play for the Montreal of the Canadian fooball league (the story goes they offered him double what Buffalo was willing to pay), where he played for three years. 
Cousineau would never play a game for the Buffalo Bills. He returned to The NFL in 1982, and the short story is….the Bills traded him to Cleveland for a first round pick that became Jim Kelly (another guy that would spurn the Bills in another league for three years).
That time period was a black eye for the Bills, as several players opted to play in other leagues rather than work for (or play in the climate of) Buffalo. When Jim Kelly was drafted, he openly stated that he didn’t want to play in a windy cold weather open stadium. He thought that it would kill his stats. Joe Cribbs jumped ship for the USFL as well. He was in a contract squabble, and said he would rather play close to home in Alabama than in the cold of Buffalo. Another first round pick, Phil “cowpokes” Dokes took off for the Michigan Panthers . DE Scott Hutchinson, P Greg Cater, C Kent Hull, all high profile Bills that either left for, or started in other leagues. It watered down a team that was on the upswing, and kept the Bills from reaching the greatness that they eventually recaptured near the end of the nineteen eighties. 
It’s truly a different league now.. Can you imagine Jamarcus Russell telling the raiders “No thanks” to go play in the Arena Football League? Can you see Brady Quinn passing on a career with Cleveland to go try his luck with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL? There’s no way.
There is a reason the NFL is the strongest league in professional sports. There’s a reason it’s trumped the most competition, and come out on top. NFL is smart. They know how to entertain, and they have learned how to treat their fans. I say this with the possibility that the leagues Collective bargaining agreement will the voided in November. The salary cap will be in place until the 2011 season, but after that, there is a possibility of a work stoppage, the worst thing that a company can do to itself.
Do the right thing owners, and get the deal done. You should learn from the mistakes of the past, and not give anyone the opportunity to jump in on your product.
Lets keep the football the most popular sport in America
- Pat Duffy
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