Commentary
Thomas' HOF selection further cements Bills' legacy
PATRICK NAGY Sports Reporter
Thurman Thomas' selection this past Saturday to be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame this August comes as no surprise.

Thomas, the Buffalo Bills' all-time leading rusher, is ranked 12th all-time in the NFLin career rushing (12,074 yards) and is the only player to lead the league in total yards from scrimmage for four consecutive seasons. He was the AFC's rushing leader in 1990, 1991, and 1993, selected to five consecutive Pro Bowls from 1989 to 1993, and named the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1991. Thomas also would have won MVP of Super Bowl XXV had the Bills been victorious.

Thomas joins quarterback Jim Kelly, wide receiver James Lofton, and head coach and current Buffalo General Manager Marv Levy as Bills who have made the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. I think there are at least four other former Bills who should be joining them.

Wide receiver Andre Reed was one of 11 finalists this year who was not selected. He is fifth in NFLhistory in total career receptions (951), eighth all-time in total career receiving yards (13,198), and 10th overall in total career touchdown receptions (87). He also made the Pro Bowl from 1988 to 1994. He also holds the second most total career receptions (27) and third highest total receiving yards (604) in Super Bowl history.

Defensive end Bruce Smith, who will be eligible for the Hall in 2009, is the NFL's all-time career sack leader with 200, 171 coming in 15 seasons in Buffalo. He made the Pro Bowl 11 times.

Steve Tasker, a seven-time Pro Bowler and arguably the best special teams player in NFLhistory, and owner Ralph Wilson, should also have their day in Canton.

By listing all of these achievements, I hope people are realizing how good those early 1990's Bills teams actually were.

In my mind, no team was better in a four-year span in the history of the NFLthan the Bills from the 1990-91 to 1993-94 seasons. Buffalo is still the only NFLteam to ever win four straight conference championships. The Bills were also the first NFLteam to utilize the no-huddle offense on a regular basis.

Those who think the Bills are losers because they never won a Super Bowl don't understand how hard it is to make one, let alone four straight. In today's day of free agency, it will probably never happen again.

As a life-long Bills fan, I'll always wonder what would have happened if Scott Norwood's 47-yard field goal did not go wide right and Buffalo had won Super Bowl XXV. Or if Thomas didn't forget his helmet and the Bills are the ones who walloped Washington in Super Bowl XXVI. What if Buffalo was the team who forced Dallas into nine turnovers in Super Bowl XXVII? What I do know is had the Bills won all four Super Bowls, people around the country would respect Buffalo, not think of it as the city with the second-place football team and where it snows year round.

It's weird, but in many ways since "wide right," Buffalo's pro sports teams have been jinxed. The Bills were never the same in any of its three other Super Bowl appearances. In fact, Buffalo hasn't made it to the playoffs since Tennessee's "Music City Miracle" in early 2000. The Buffalo Sabres have also been cursed. Who could forget "No Goal" in the 1999 Stanley Cup finals? We lost our pro soccer team, the Buffalo Blizzard, and our semi-professional basketball team, the Buffalo Silverbacks, is destined to fail.

Even if the city's pro sports teams are jinxed, it's nice to see several players from the Bills' glory years getting the recognition they deserve.