As the Buffalo Bills general manager from 1986-1992, Bill Polian was the architect for the team’s success in the 1990s. Next month in Canton, Ohio, Polian will join former Bills Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, James Lofton, Marv Levy and Bruce Smith in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
“You almost can’t put it into words,” Polian said on a conference call Thursday. “The Hall of Fame is not something someone like myself every envisioned.
“When you think Hall of Fame, you think of people like Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays and Frank Gifford and Chuck Bednarik and people like that. Not people like me. So it’s almost difficult to get your head around it. But having studied the history of the game and having understood what so many Bills players have been enshrined in recent years that I was fortunate enough to be with, it’s just an incredibly momentous occasion and an incredible honor to think that you’re there with people you’ve revered and looked up to all your life.”
When Polian took over the Bills in 1986, the team was coming off back-to-back 2-14 seasons. After going 4-12 and 7-8 in his first two seasons as general manager, Polian and the Bills made the playoff every year from 1988-1992, which includes three AFC Championships.
Polian said the game plan to build the Bills into a contender was a simple one.
“Our approach was to put the very best team that we could on the field, to put the past behind us and not be dragged down by it,” said Polian. “Not to have that as a legacy that somehow affected us. And most importantly, to put the very best team we could on the field. To be very aggressive in terms of not settling for second best, not making excuses, not allowing atmospheric or outside issues come into play. It was a straightforward, single-minded ‘let’s put the best team we can on the field and let’s win.’
After the Bills third straight Super Bowl loss, owner Ralph Wilson fired Polian. Once Polian became the general manager of the Carolina Panthers in 1995, he knew it would be difficult to put together a team like the Bills because of the advent of free agency and the salary cap.
“It was unlikely that there would be another team that was as good top to bottom as our team was, as the Cowboys of that era was and the 49ers who kind of bridged both eras. It’s a very unique team — all three of those teams are very unique teams in pro football history because it’ll be very difficult unless there’s a major change in the labor situation and the collective bargaining agreement to put together a complete team like those three teams were.”
In addition to Polian and the six other Bills from the great 1990s teams, he believes center Kent Hull and Steve Tasker should also receive a bust in Canton.
“He (Hull) was the real life living embodiment of what John Wayne played on the movie screen,” said Polian. “He carried with him a leadership mantle that far exceeded his incredible talent.”
Polian also added that Tasker was the greatest special teams player he has ever seen.
“There was nothing on the field Steve could not do,” said Polian.
Polian was Levy’s Hall of Fame presenter in 2001. Next month, Levy will return the favor when Polian is officially inducted on August 8.
We have become so close over the years,” Polian said, “through 40 years of friendship and 20 years of working together. Everything that I am as a football person is really a reflection of Marv and his philosophies and how he does things. So it is only fitting. There was really no choice. Someone said to me, ‘Boy, you announced your choice of a presenter very quickly,’ when the selections were announced. In my mind, there was no choice.”
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