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Concussions, Flutiemania, a 'Miracle.' Bills QB Rob Johnson relives it all...


Ann

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I was going to toss this in the QB thread, but nawww.... This is a great read and answers many questions about the '99 season and Tennessee playoff game
 

 



From the article:


</snip>
 

Johnson: One thing that got Doug (Flutie) pissed, in the beginning, was that my stats were better than his. But he won more than me. So he’d say I held onto the ball too long — so I wouldn’t get incompletions and my stats would be better. I’m like, OK, take three to five incompletions of throwing it away… that was not the reason. That really bugged me. So, I confronted him on that. And then he said if he was in the playoff game we would’ve won. And I said, “Yeah, if you were on special teams, you could’ve made the tackle.” Just shit like that.
 

</snip>
 

It wasn’t bad. It got bad when I was playing well and he was sitting because then he’d go behind my back and say shit or call up a press member and say something. That’s the most annoying part.
 

</snip>
 

You guys were roommates? What was that relationship really like?
 

Johnson: It got bad. That next year, he didn’t play really well and that bugged me because they wouldn’t put me back in. We had the No. 1 defense and he wasn’t very good. We sucked on offense. We were winning because of our defense and our run game. They put me in late in the year and that’s when I started in the playoffs.
 

</snip>

 

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It’s probably time for you to come on back to Buffalo and wave that flag before a game then? They win now so everyone looks back at your teams with reverence and nostalgia.
 

Johnson: I’ll definitely get back there. Funny thing: Josh Allen trains at my high school because the guy that my Dad mentored and tutored took over his job at Elite 11 — Jordan Palmer. So my Dad coached him. My Dad coached Carson and then he had Jordan of course and then I coached Jordan when he was trying to make it into the pros. So, indirectly, I’m helping out still.
 

</snip>
 

That offseason Josh Allen spent with Jordan Palmer seemed to completely change his game, too.
 

Johnson: Jordan’s very good and my Dad was an amazing quarterback coach. My Dad would develop guys from a real young age. When you get these pro guys, you’re just tweaking a few things. He’s with Brian Daboll most of the time and Josh did it. We kind of just work ‘em out to tell you the truth. When you’re in the pocket, you don’t have time to make sure your hips are all right… that’s all the offseason bullshit. Josh is an amazing athlete and he’s worked his ass off. Jordan has helped him but I give the credit to all the quarterbacks. We had Kirk Cousins. My Dad had him since he was young and Kirk’s an amazing guy but Kirk is a stud. He threw the ball great before we got him. And he works his ass off. He started in DC the last game of the year and, two days later, he calls me and says, “Hey, Rob, do you want to get some workouts in?” I was like, “You want to get the soreness out?” He said, “No, I want to start throwing.” I’m like, “Holy shit.”
 

Elite 11, my Dad started that. Once ESPN got involved and started picking the guys, he wasn’t into that anymore. He started it at the grassroots with Andy Bark. So I helped him out with that when I was still playing. And when I was done, he always trained the guys for my agent into the draft.
 

</snip>

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1 hour ago, Sherpa said:

Really great interview.

Bills fans need to come right with Rob Johnson.

 

The cross section of a team with unfulfilled potential, a soul-crushing/franchise altering loss that shouldn't have happened, and the competition with a pop star ended up leaving fans with a bad taste for that team, era, and especially for RJ.

 

Interesting to contrast that with how much people seem to love and revere the early 80s teams that were also so close and had a crushing playoff loss in the final minutes to derail their best opportunity for a SB.

 

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12 hours ago, Ann said:

I was going to toss this in the QB thread, but nawww.... This is a great read and answers many questions about the '99 season and Tennessee playoff game
 

 



From the article:


</snip>
 

Johnson: One thing that got Doug (Flutie) pissed, in the beginning, was that my stats were better than his. But he won more than me. So he’d say I held onto the ball too long — so I wouldn’t get incompletions and my stats would be better. I’m like, OK, take three to five incompletions of throwing it away… that was not the reason. That really bugged me. So, I confronted him on that. And then he said if he was in the playoff game we would’ve won. And I said, “Yeah, if you were on special teams, you could’ve made the tackle.” Just shit like that.
 

</snip>
 

It wasn’t bad. It got bad when I was playing well and he was sitting because then he’d go behind my back and say shit or call up a press member and say something. That’s the most annoying part.
 

</snip>
 

You guys were roommates? What was that relationship really like?
 

Johnson: It got bad. That next year, he didn’t play really well and that bugged me because they wouldn’t put me back in. We had the No. 1 defense and he wasn’t very good. We sucked on offense. We were winning because of our defense and our run game. They put me in late in the year and that’s when I started in the playoffs.
 

</snip>

 

 

Thanks for posting that article.  It was a very good read.

 

Was at that Colts game before HRTF.  People forget that game was blacked out because it wasn't a sellout.  Those who were at the game completely understood why Johnson got the start that next week.  He was amazing against the Colts.  People (and there were far more of them) who only heard the game &/or saw highlights weren't swayed to Johnson, but that game was enlightening.

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On 5/14/2021 at 12:06 PM, Sherpa said:

Really great interview.

Bills fans need to come right with Rob Johnson.


I agree.

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I’m never surprised to read examples about Flutie being a turd of a teammate. While he was exciting to watch play, I seem to recall post-game interviews that were all “I, I, I” after wins, but were “we, they” after losses.

 

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I honestly believe that the Bills would have won the Super Bowl that year, but for the 'forward lateral' play.

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