Being relatively new to Buffalo Rumblings, I was honestly surprised at the extreme reaction to my assertion that Ralph's reputation over his 50 year ownership of the Bills is that of a cheapskate.  Just for the record, I said things like--"he's inherently cheap",  "the man is cheap", and offered examples of a lifestyle hardly indicative of a billionaire. I also stated that although he's a cheapskate, money is not currently the reason the Bills are in the mess they are, nor has it been for a while now.  I do, however, feel the underlying problem is and always has been the fact that Ralph's our owner.

  Regarding his improved spending habits of late, I think this is a function of Ralph understanding he has little time left, he can't take his billion with him, and may as well spend it on his sincere wish to win the big one before he checks out. I also think it's this change in spending that provides the explanation for the disparity between my perception of Ralph and many other Rumblers.  I'd guess the majority of you are of an age where your Bills fan-hood has been during Ralph's later years as an owner. Be thankful--you've been spared some equally frustrating times ! 

Regardless, I've watched Ralph for all 50 and know a lot of contemporary life long Bill's fans. I figured I'd better touch base with them as we haven't covered this topic in years and no one surprised me with their answer. I would say however that nearly everyone added a condition that I totally agree with---Ralph will periodically spend money after periods of extreme ineptitude. I would add to that he seldom spends the disaster recovery money wisely. 

So, with that as background and in response to the call from MRW, Kaisertown, and Hambone for specifics; I offer the following examples of Ralph's cheapskating in more or less chronological order :

        1.  PETE GOGOLAK---It's only fitting that the FIRST player to jump leagues was a Buffalo Bill.  This event sent shock  waves through the AFL and NFL and left me very confused as a 12 year old--I just figured the Bills were set at placekicker forever.  Pete had a 2 year deal and was the leading scorer his first year and asked Ralph for a raise from his salary which was like 10 grand. Ralph offered 0 and after his second year Gogolak signed with the Giants without as much as a word to Ralph.

       2. OJ's ROOKIE HOLDOUT---Maybe it was the incredible anticipation of OJ's arrival, but the signing process was excruciatingly long. Once he did join the Bills, John Raush proceeded to waste the first two years of his career by using him more as a decoy receiver than a Hall of Fame running back.  Raush's incompetence is a perfect example of Ralph getting what he pays for with coaches--a topic I will cover later.

       3. TOM RUUD & BOB NELSON HOLDOUTS---Needless to say, we desperately needed linebacker help in 1975 and selected these two Nebraska LBs in the first two rounds. Both held out and both were total flops in the NFL.  Two more of Harvey Johnson; Director of Scouting draft gems and an equally good example of Ralph's front office payroll return on investment.  Mention Harvey Johnson's name to any Bills fan of the 60's and 70's and enjoy their reaction. The man was worthless and held key positions including head coach (2-23-1 record) for nearly 20 years until Chuck Knox brought Norm Pollom with him.

      4.  TOM COUSINEAU---This one is my personal favorite Ralph cheap attack.  Cousineau of course was the first overall pick in the draft and was lost to the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL--that's right 1st overall choice ends up in the CFL. This one had Bill's fans in an incredible uproar and led to my brother and I making a sign for the opening game that season (I think the numbers are accurate) :

                                     Ralph,

                                      Montreal $400,000 / Yr

                                      Bills $280,000 / Yr

                                       Where would you play ?

                                       Parlez Vous $$$s ?

Fortunately Cousineau was a total bust (notice a theme here?) and may have partially prompted Ralph's comments about luck at Nix's press conference.

       5.   JOE CRIBBS---While admittedly Cribbs was a tough man to please, he was one helluva player and "carried' the Bill's offense in the early 80's.  Ralph, with help from GM Stew Barber(another brain surgeon), fueled Cribb's thoughts of being underpaid by denying him a $10,000 bonus when he fell 15 yards short of 1200 yards, and refused to pay for his trip to the Pro Bowl to represent the Bills after being injured and unable to play in it.  It came as no surprise that Cribbs bolted to the USFL over money . It was the combination of Cribbs, Ahmad Rashad leaving for Seattle, and Cousineau that resulted in soft spoken QB Joe Ferguson calling out Ralph on his spending habits.

       6.   JIM KELLY TO USFL---While it might be a stretch to blame his defection entirely on Ralph's cheapness, I never thought it was fair to put all the blame on the executive secretary at One Bills Drive either. For those of you too young--she interrupted Ralph's negotiating session with Kelly to allow Jim to take a call from the Gamblers and the rest is history. In her defense she was likely underpaid and unqualified too ! Seriously though, this is also a perfect example of my earlier point of Ralph misdirecting his overspending after screw-ups. Kelly's defection had fans all stirred up and who was the beneficiary ?--Tony Hunter a tight end from Notre Dame chosen earlier in the 1st round than Kelly, and there's no way Ralph could lose two 1st rounders. He overpaid him (600,000 a year I think it was) and again a total bust.

       7.  HEAD COACHES AND GMs---Ralph has never spent money on them with the exception of Chuck Knox and Jauron's second contract. I won't bore you with lists or resumes, but I have to mention my all time favorite--Hank Bullough. There is no doubt in my mind that any one of us could have spent 30 minutes interviewing Hank Bullough and figured out he was a complete dummy and had no business being a head coach in the NFL. There is absolutely no rational explanation for his hiring except he came cheap. I met Hank at Joe D's farewell party before Joe left the Bills for the Browns.  Hank wanders up to a group of us during the cocktail hour and says  " So how we doin " ? He was wearing shiny white Thom McAn loafers, a wide white belt, and a powder blue double knit sport coat that made him look like he was wearing a blue sponge. I know clothes don't make the man but this was in the middle of winter ! I remember thinking-- you gotta be kidding, this is the head coach of the Buffalo Bills ?  It certainly made sense to me when I later learned Fred Smerlas' nickname for Hank was Brain Cell.  I guess we should thank Ralph or Bill's fans would have never heard the Hankisms like--"they took the sail out of our winds" or his description of Greg Bell's pulled groin as " an injury to his pubic area" !

  I think I'll stop there as my memory is about tapped out. These are the higher profile tip of the iceberg ones--I haven't covered countless other holdouts and defections like Ahmad, Jamie Mueller, Wil Wolford, and on and on. My intuition tells me Ralph leads the league in those, but to prove it would be nearly impossible.

One thing I've learned quickly on this site is you don't change anyone's opinion very easily, so I don't expect to with this post, and I can assure you mine won't change with your responses. I do however hope I've given some of you a little broader perspective on Ralph the Cheapskate-- it has been 50 years you know, not just 10 or 20.