Mario movement rumors (MERGED) Signs with Buffalo $100 million

[Double Barrel]

Not sure why some of us are sending out departure jabs at Mario.

You kind of answered your own question:

He chased money and chose Buffalo...

He's a mercenary and should expect to be treated accordingly.

I do not hate the guy in any sort of way, but why would I root for someone whose priority is money? I do not fault him for it, it's a career, it's business. But, by the same token, fans are loyal. That is the basic nature of being a fan. So when someone sells out their loyalty to the highest bidder, I do not see any reason to care about him any more.

Andre Johnson could have fled the Texans for lots more money many years ago. But, he's loyal. The Texans have certainly paid him, but in reality he could have made even more money as a free agent. His loyalty earns him eternal gratitude from the Texans faithful.

It's just the way fanaticism towards a uniform works.

 

[AMartin56]

I just saw what I assume is only a portion of the press conference on NFL.com. And then more clips just now on ESPN.

I always find it amusing that a player will go on and one about the chemistry etc and the chance to accomplish something etc with his new team when he had that and a chance to achieve something with his old team. The money of course never gets mentioned. LOL

And then ESPN shows a clip where he said 'he wanted to be somewhere where everyone was honest from top to bottom'????. So does that mean the Texans are liars? Maybe about moving him to LB?

And then they played the Mangini slightly negative clip again. Mangina is my new hero.

Good luck Mario....I'm glad WE didn't over pay for you!

 

[Ole Miss Texan]

You kind of answered your own question:



He's a mercenary and should expect to be treated accordingly.

I do not hate the guy in any sort of way, but why would I root for someone whose priority is money? I do not fault him for it, it's a career, it's business. But, by the same token, fans are loyal. That is the basic nature of being a fan. So when someone sells out their loyalty to the highest bidder, I do not see any reason to care about him any more.

Andre Johnson could have fled the Texans for lots more money many years ago. But, he's loyal. The Texans have certainly paid him, but in reality he could have made even more money as a free agent. His loyalty earns him eternal gratitude from the Texans faithful.

It's just the way fanaticism towards a uniform works.

These guys are all mercenaries. The Andre Johnsons of the NFL are extremely extremely rare. These guys are being paid to play a sport and honestly, they only really owe one thing to the fans of the team they play for: work ethic. They have to work hard, play hard and fight hard for their team to win.

As much as I want them to all be loyal to us, I can't expect that from them. They're not lifelong Houstonians. They all grew up somewhere else, have family somewhere else and went to college somewhere else. Mario grew up in North Carolina, went to college at North Carolina St. and still has all his family back in North Carolina. Why must he be loyal to Houston just because we sucked so incredibly hard in 2005 and we drafted him #1 overall? These guys' contracts are usually for 4, 5, MAYBE 6 years if they're lucky. He played here 6 years and is moving on elsewhere. Will probably play in Buffalo for 4 years before they cut him for cap purposes and he ends up with Carolina or somewhere else.

These guys don't "owe" us their lifelong loyalty just because we drafted them. It's a business and the moment they are a liability we will kick them to the curb. See Eric Winston. If the franchise doesn't have to be career-loyal to the player we can't expect any different in return.

 

[silentassassin]

Listened to an interview with their GM on their flagship station. He kind of took a shot at the Texans by mentioning that they told Mario what they wanted to do with him, and it wasn't having him play outside linebacker and dropping back in a zone a couple of times watching the ball being thrown to the other side. They wanted him to focus solely on rushing the quarterback.

Funny. Even funnier how excited the town is at landing him. I keep hearing mentions of how the money/contract was possible with any team willing to do it, but that there was something about the Bills that drove him to choose Buffalo. But from what I've seen so far, the Bills were the only team that were ready to give him that kind of money.

I always knew his departure was inevitable, but I always liked him here. It's annoying to see how much run he's getting now, as opposed to when he was a Texan. But I guess that's what comes with getting the richest contract for a defensive player.

 

[thunderkyss]

seams like fans in buffalo are pretty excited.. idk, we loved mario here but something has to be said about the texans having the best defense they've ever had in their short history all while mario williams was sitting on the sidelines... people are even talking about how are we going to replace mario.. mario was replaced last year, watt took his position, and barwin took over his new position.. meanwhile this rookie by the name of brooks reed emerged as a monster of a pass rusher.. barwin/reed>mario

That's just so wrong.

Premier, I usually like your takes, because it's normally about football. This time, I think you're missing the boat. You know this team is better with Mario than without. We were #2 without Mario, may have been #1 with him. We don't know that... but it doesn't really matter.

Would we have gone further in the play-offs with him? Probably not. As the #1 defense didn't get out of the Wild-card round.

So like I said, it didn't matter. In 2011 anyway.

The team is better with Mario than without... period. Barwin, Reed & Mario is better than Barwin & Reed, which is what we are left with.

Don't take this as me being butt hurt that Mario is gone, it is what it is & we're going to have to move on. With Mario, this could have been one of the few years where pass rush wasn't a first day of the draft concern, & we could focus on BPA or the offensive side of the ball (which is in desperate need of a talent infusion).

Thankfully Wade is still here & he can (hopefully) make potato salad out of left overs like Kubiak has had to do for the last 6 years. But I would be surprised if we're not drafting an outside pass rusher on the first day.

I'm not mad that Mario is gone, I'm mad that we're in the same place we've been in 7 of the 8 last drafts. Trying to improve our pass rush.

 

[The1ApplePie]

To be fair, the fanbase never fully respected Mario like they do AJ.

I am a Reggie fanboy, but I still respected him. Plenty of Reggie and VY fans never accepted him.

 

[welsh texan]

I don't get people having a go at Mario for leaving. The dude's grandchildren will die rich due to the deal he's just signed. Can't really understand hatred towards somebody for that.

As for his impact in Houston, whether he was personally the dominant force we all dreamed of as often as we liked or not, I think he played a key role in this franchise getting to where it is today, from where it was on the day we signed him.

Its more than just a couple of double digit sack seasons or a couple of seasons cut short by injury, he lifted the status of this franchise to a point where FA's now want to play in Houston.

Sure, it wasn't all him, but he was the first of the new era. He's been the face of the defense, and he's done it all with a quiet grace that you don't often see in people of his natural ability.

Its been a gradual progression from worst to (almost) first over 6 years, guys like Antonio, JoJo, D Manning and Wade Phillips will all have factored in getting the chance to play alongside Mario Williams as part of their decision to sign for us.

Sure we'll move on and become stronger without him, I think the legwork to replace him was done 12 months ago when they hit on both his positions in the draft, with Reed probably expected to play a far lesser role than he did last year. Things have worked out OK for both parties.

Wouldn't it be best to lay aside all the injury bug stuff, saying he's gone for the money etc, and just be happy for the guy for getting paid, wishing him the best of luck, and looking back on the good times. Because on his day, Mario has been utterly unstoppable for our D, despite at times having the likes of Morlon Greenwood, Anthony Weaver, and Jacques Reeves as some of the higher quality players around him.

 

[Pantherstang84]

I'm not butt hurt over Mario leaving. I just thought he would go somewhere he had a chance to win. Instead he was all about the money. Good for him. Years from now though see my earlier post.

 

[Double Barrel]

These guys are all mercenaries. The Andre Johnsons of the NFL are extremely extremely rare. These guys are being paid to play a sport and honestly, they only really owe one thing to the fans of the team they play for: work ethic. They have to work hard, play hard and fight hard for their team to win.

As much as I want them to all be loyal to us, I can't expect that from them. They're not lifelong Houstonians. They all grew up somewhere else, have family somewhere else and went to college somewhere else. Mario grew up in North Carolina, went to college at North Carolina St. and still has all his family back in North Carolina. Why must he be loyal to Houston just because we sucked so incredibly hard in 2005 and we drafted him #1 overall? These guys' contracts are usually for 4, 5, MAYBE 6 years if they're lucky. He played here 6 years and is moving on elsewhere. Will probably play in Buffalo for 4 years before they cut him for cap purposes and he ends up with Carolina or somewhere else.

These guys don't "owe" us their lifelong loyalty just because we drafted them. It's a business and the moment they are a liability we will kick them to the curb. See Eric Winston. If the franchise doesn't have to be career-loyal to the player we can't expect any different in return.

I do not disagree with you at all.

They certainly owe us nothing, and by that same token, we owe them nothing once they no longer wear the logo of our team on their helmet.

Why would I root for the Bills? Why would I root for a single player on the Bills?

As far a folks taking "parting shots" at him, I'm not seeing it. I think there is a collective rationalization going on to justify not paying him $100 million. He is certainly a solid player, but I never looked at him as being elite...at least not compared to the NFL greats at his position. That's not dissing the guy, but just analyzing a player that is no longer with our team.

I'm personally glad that they did not sell the farm to keep him. While he makes our defense better when he plays, I do not see a return on the investment for what he brings compared to what it costs to keep him.

 

[thunderkyss]

Andre Johnson could have fled the Texans for lots more money many years ago. But, he's loyal. The Texans have certainly paid him, but in reality he could have made even more money as a free agent. His loyalty earns him eternal gratitude from the Texans faithful.

It's just the way fanaticism towards a uniform works.

I agree with you. However, this fan base hasn't treated Mario the way they've treated Andre.

& I understand, a little bit. Mario hasn't produced the way Andre has "normally" Even with David Carr, we knew Andre was the best receiver in the NFL. Regardless who the QB was, the game changed depending on whether Andre suited up or not.

I personally think the game changed whether Mario was on the field or not. In the past, we had no pass rush without him. 2011, we still had a pass rush, one of the best in the league. However, that was the exception & our fans are acting like it was the rule.

I'm happy with Brooks & Barwin.... & Watt, but I think those guys (along with Manning & Jjo) would have really blossomed as players with Mario on the team.

Yeah, they blossomed without him. But we blitzed more without him. I feel like we got more turnovers when he was on the field... I think the defense worked better with him. Everybody's job was easier.

But he's gone & like I said, I'm fine with that.

But, nobody sacked Peyton Manning as often as Mario Williams. That says something.

Nobody, that I can remember, brought Ben Rothlisberger down by himself once in a game, much less twice in the same game.... except Mario. That says something.

 

[Rey]

I think Bills vs. Texans will be the hot game that week. Everyone tuning in to see if Mario can sack the Texans QB (in our own stadium) and what impact he will have on us.

Not if Peyton is playing against the Colts and Andrew Luck that same week....

 

[Txn_in_FL]

I can't get too upset about it. This is life in the NFL today and if I could get a massive payday I would too. The bright side of this is he didn't stay in the division.

Great player with a lot of potential if he can stay on the field. Would have been nice to see what he could have done in this defense last year but with his injury and the way Reed, Barwin and Watt performed it seems like he made himself irrelevant.

Glad that the fans in Buffalo can have high hopes but I don't think this one signing is going to "push them over the top".

 

[Lucky]

I'm not mad that Mario is gone, I'm mad that we're in the same place we've been in 7 of the 8 last drafts. Trying to improve our pass rush.

Yes, but at least the Texans have the coaching in place to take advantage of whatever talent is here. There's still hope. Wade would have been a much tougher loss to absorb.

Andre Johnson could have fled the Texans for lots more money many years ago. But, he's loyal. The Texans have certainly paid him, but in reality he could have made even more money as a free agent. His loyalty earns him eternal gratitude from the Texans faithful.

Andre is Mr. Texan.

Seems he is really into being loved, he keeps talking about how fans are embracing him there.

And if they don't, he can always embrace that cash.

My prediction on Mario's legacy.

He will be the NFL player to earn the most money without ever appearing in a playoff game. Book it.

Mario probably already holds that distinction. I get why his agent lead him to Buffalo. He earned the biggest commision there. The agent doesn't have to live in Buffalo, play in sub-arctic temperatures, and stay home for the playoffs. All he has to do is collect the commission. Williams will not be happy playing there. Hope that $$$ will make him smile.

 

[Double Barrel]

I agree with you. However, this fan base hasn't treated Mario the way they've treated Andre.

& I understand, a little bit. Mario hasn't produced the way Andre has "normally" Even with David Carr, we knew Andre was the best receiver in the NFL. Regardless who the QB was, the game changed depending on whether Andre suited up or not.

I personally think the game changed whether Mario was on the field or not. In the past, we had no pass rush without him. 2011, we still had a pass rush, one of the best in the league. However, that was the exception & our fans are acting like it was the rule.

I'm happy with Brooks & Barwin.... & Watt, but I think those guys (along with Manning & Jjo) would have really blossomed as players with Mario on the team.

Yeah, they blossomed without him. But we blitzed more without him. I feel like we got more turnovers when he was on the field... I think the defense worked better with him. Everybody's job was easier.

But he's gone & like I said, I'm fine with that.

But, nobody sacked Peyton Manning as often as Mario Williams. That says something.

Nobody, that I can remember, brought Ben Rothlisberger down by himself once in a game, much less twice in the same game.... except Mario. That says something.

yeah, I will definitely miss the big guy's impact when he was on. He always had to be accounted for by opposing teams, and hope we can get that kind of production out of his replacements.

I feel good that Wade is here. Like Lucky said, that would have been a far more devastating blow to lose Phillips, all things considered.

And you are right that A.J. gets special treatment, for a variety of reasons.

Mario came here in a controversy, one that still has a recorded impact on this forum (i.e. the night before the 2006 draft > "Most users ever online was 1,493, 04-28-2006 at 09:04 PM."). I still remember you and I defending the pick on that night from all the VY and Reggie fanboys. Man, that seems like ages ago.

Mario probably already holds that distinction. I get why his agent lead him to Buffalo. He earned the biggest commision there. The agent doesn't have to live in Buffalo, play in sub-arctic temperatures, and stay home for the playoffs. All he has to do is collect the commission. Williams will not be happy playing there. Hope that $$$ will make him smile.

lol! Great points. My in-laws are from Buffalo, and the weather is brutal up there. And in that division, I think the money is all he's going to have to console himself year after year when the Bills continue to fail to make the playoffs.

 

[STEEL BLUE TEXANS]

Glad we weren't the suckers that gave him that contract. Mario will never come close to being worth it.

 

[thunderkyss]

I feel good that Wade is here. Like Lucky said, that would have been a far more devastating blow to lose Phillips, all things considered.

Yes, but at least the Texans have the coaching in place to take advantage of whatever talent is here. There's still hope. Wade would have been a much tougher loss to absorb.

Without a doubt, there is hope of a silver lining... but we've also got Wade's second year history to try to disprove.

 

[thunderkyss]

I get why his agent lead him to Buffalo. He earned the biggest commision there. The agent doesn't have to live in Buffalo, play in sub-arctic temperatures, and stay home for the playoffs. All he has to do is collect the commission. Williams will not be happy playing there. Hope that $$$ will make him smile.

People are weird. Millions of idi0ts living up their thinking it's the best thing in the world. Mario's from North Carolina, so he probably likes the snow & all that crap.

His agent probably has a ranch in Wisconsin for all we know.

Like I said, bunch of strange people in the world.

 

[Kimmy]

So did anyone else get the feeling he was implying ugly things towards Houston in his press conference?

IDK - it just seemed to me he was taking little swipes. I don't think he will be worth the money he was paid and here's why;

When the GM spoke on Sirius later, he said Mario told them he's not a "rah rah" locker room guy, he's not going to do the pre game dance on the field, not a big speech guy.

AKA - not a leader! Demeeco brought this up last year preseason if you remember, said Mario could rule the league (or something like that) if he wanted too.

I'm glad it's over.

 

[Lucky]

Cleveland. Buffalo. Jacksonville. Seattle. Add Cincy why don't you, and you've got the armpits of the NFL. Williams isn't going to any of these teams.

I definitely read that wrong. Williams could have still been a very, very rich man and played on a contending team. Nope, he went with the team that offered the most $$$. That hasn't been to the playoffs in 13 seasons. You have to wonder how much value this guy places on winning.

 

[Mr teX]

Glad we weren't the suckers that gave him that contract. Mario will never come close to being worth it.

no player would..

 

[Premier]

i just think the bills fans are setting themselves up for heartbreak with unrealistic expectations.. some bills fans are saying this move is equivilant to reggie white going to green bay.. i think the 2 talking heads on NFLN hit the nail on the head discussing this move, saying that MARIO ISNT A GAMECHANGER and he is not elite. tbh, i never felt he was the best pass rusher in the AFC South, i would take freeney over him anyday. I think there was/is a ton of hype that mario never lived up to and for some reason when free agency started, the hype started back up again.. the media and fans are buying into it..i just think that if the texans really felt like he was that elite, cant lose, guy, a deal would have been done. they let him walk, knowing he isnt worth the money he would be asking for. you and i both know mario disappears several games at a time, then sprinkled in a 3 sack game here and there.. but yeah, its not our problem and we should be thankful.. considering we will have moves to make on some guys that are absolutely types of guys we need to keep long term, duane brown & brian cushing come to mind..

 

[thunderkyss]

So did anyone else get the feeling he was implying ugly things towards Houston in his press conference?

I think he took two stabs at the Houston.

First, when he was praising Kyle Williams & saying how Kollar was saying, "If we had Kyle Williams" but, I think he's had a point. 2011 was the only season a QB has not been able to consistently step up into the pocket since Mario has been here. It has also been the only season a Texan has recorded (by my stats) a coverage sack in more than one game over that same time period.

Second, when he was talking about the fans & how ecstatic they were about him. Showing up at the airport to see him, writing his name in their pizza, & other crap like that. But they go to their games in Buffalo (or Canada) even though their team hasn't made the play-offs in over a decade.... different kind of football fan up there.

 

[thunderkyss]

I definitely read that wrong. Williams could have still been a very, very rich man and played on a contending team. Nope, he went with the team that offered the most $$$. That hasn't been to the playoffs in 13 seasons. You have to wonder how much value this guy places on winning.

Yeah, gotta wonder why Jjo would go to a team with the worst pass defense in league history.

 

[Kimmy]

I think he took two stabs at the Houston.

First, when he was praising Kyle Williams & saying how Kollar was saying, "If we had Kyle Williams" but, I think he's had a point. 2011 was the only season a QB has not been able to consistently step up into the pocket since Mario has been here. It has also been the only season a Texan has recorded (by my stats) a coverage sack in more than one game over that same time period.

Second, when he was talking about the fans & how ecstatic they were about him. Showing up at the airport to see him, writing his name in their pizza, & other crap like that. But they go to their games in Buffalo (or Canada) even though their team hasn't made the play-offs in over a decade.... different kind of football fan up there.

I know he had his critics, but every time I ever saw him, he was surrounded by fans. I think he never got over the fact of his own #1 picking, that people were disappointed and felt he didn't live up to potential.

Which is all true, but it was 6 years ago, let it go and move on.

Oh well .. cest la vie

 

[silentassassin]

I think he took two stabs at the Houston.

First, when he was praising Kyle Williams & saying how Kollar was saying, "If we had Kyle Williams" but, I think he's had a point. 2011 was the only season a QB has not been able to consistently step up into the pocket since Mario has been here. It has also been the only season a Texan has recorded (by my stats) a coverage sack in more than one game over that same time period.

Second, when he was talking about the fans & how ecstatic they were about him. Showing up at the airport to see him, writing his name in their pizza, & other crap like that. But they go to their games in Buffalo (or Canada) even though their team hasn't made the play-offs in over a decade.... different kind of football fan up there.

I don't really think those were shots. Might have been lip service, at worst; and genuine, at best. I'd laugh if he would have tried to turn this around on Houston somehow. Regardless, as many others in this thread have stated, what's done is done.

 

[Texan_Bill]

I definitely read that wrong. Williams could have still been a very, very rich man and played on a contending team. Nope, he went with the team that offered the most $$$. That hasn't been to the playoffs in 13 seasons. You have to wonder how much value this guy places on winning.

We all read that wrong, but (and as you mentioned) it's all about:

"SHOW ME THE MONEY!!!"

Someone on the radio brought up another good point. Imagine if he would've signed for nearly this same amount of money in a large market like New York (the city), Chicago etc. and produced what he produced here, where his high water mark over the last three seasons was 9 sacks.

I'm not knocking the guy and in fact liked him. He's a nice player but not $100 mill. nice. Hell, he wasn't a $54 million nice player.

 

[Mr teX]

Where there's anger, there's always pain -Eckhart Tolle


This perfectly sums up how the fan base is reacting to Mario leaving imo.

We've known he was likely going to be leaving for weeks....most if not all of us still held out hope that he might choose to stay.

yet when it actually happened, some people still felt the need to lash out.........& continue to do so. Why? b/c at the end of the day, it still hurts a little bit knowing that:

- he could've helped take this defense to another stratosphere, though we didn't neccessarily need him to be a pretty good defense.

- he was one of our own that ultimately rejected us.

-we could do next to nothing about it.

-he was generally just a good dude.


I expect the same reaction if Meyers chooses to go elsewhere.

 

[thunderkyss]

ii just think that if the texans really felt like he was that elite, cant lose, guy, a deal would have been done. they let him walk, knowing he isnt worth the money he would be asking for.

I think the Texans screwed up when we signed him to that rookie deal with no signing bonus & backloading the hell out of his contract.

In the past, when you give a player a big signing bonus & backload the contract, the reality is that the last few years of the contract will never be played out. a 4 year contract is really a two year deal, a 5 year is really a 3 year deal & a 6 is really a 4 year deal.

If the player isn't pulling his weight & not worth the back-end dollars, you cut him.. send him on his way. If he's the ****, you work out a restructure, where the deal doesn't hurt the team & the players previous years end up being richer than the original contract suggested.

I give you a $15M signing bonus over 5 years, that works out to $3M/yr plus salary. However, if you out play your contract after 3 years, I'm going to wave another $20M in your face to get you to sign a new deal that would keep you on my team for another 4 years or so. Now, you've made $5M/yr plus salary over the first 3 years of that first contract.

With Mario's contract, after 3 years if you redid his contract, then he would have played for something stupid (for a #1 overall) like $4M/yr on a contract that avg $9M/yr.

After 3 years, we're talking 2009. He played all 16 games, & though it was the best defense he had been apart of to date (13th overall) he failed to record double digit sacks. That would have been the perfect time to restructure.

Maybe he's having questions about what he can do in this league & what his worth is to a team but feeling high about what this team can do with him on it... after 2009 mind you. Maybe he would have been open to restructuring.

But, some of you will say, the Texans still did not know what they were gettng with Mario. In reply, they damn sure should have known. I don't know how much his contract escalated from year 4, but year 5 ($16M) & year 6 ($18M) they had to have some kind of confidence to keep him on the team & not trade him like gafftop had been saying since last offseason.

Right now, some are suggesting we lock up next year's FA while we can. But if they signed contracts like Mario's, it may be too late. If next year is their money year, the year that makes it all worth it.... they won't restructure, why would they?

The whole league knows who Duane Brown is, if he's got a stupid high salary like Mario did (which might explain why we're in cap hell now) then all he has to do is wait one more year & he's a FA & he will get paid. Let the Texans threaten to cut him, with Myers being wined & dined in Possum Holler & Winston in Miami. Let the Texans threaten to cut Barwin with Mario in Buffalo.... it ain't going to happen.

If their contracts are like Mario's (& I don't know that they are), they'll cash in on their last season & test FA just like Myers did & just like Mario did & we'll either overpay to keep them, or do without.

 

[Premier]

honestly im more worried about who im gonna use as my main pass rusher on madden. madden is all about ratings and mario is up there so he dominates all the time, too bad it wasnt like that in real-life..

 

[thunderkyss]

Someone on the radio brought up another good point. Imagine if he would've signed for nearly this same amount of money in a large market like New York (the city), Chicago etc. and produced what he produced here, where his high water mark over the last three seasons was 9 sacks.

I don't get this "large market" stuff. Cam Newton is playing in Bubba Gump country & he's got more endorsements than most guys on "large market" teams.

But I've got a feeling most people are blaming Mario's production, or lack thereof, on the team, not the man.

 

[mattieuk]

Meh, I'm okay with it. Buffalo was offering obscene money - I would be a lot more angry if the Texans had matched that contract. Does the loss of Mario undo the hard work the defense did last year to improve? Nope. Does the addition of Mario make Buffalo a contender? Nope.

Give it 9 months, I predict there are going to be a lot of Buffalo fans wondering what they've paid $100million for, when they don't get the expected 15+ sack season.

I'm happy Houston haven't spent their future salary structure on beating out Buffalo - and I'm happy that the money can be spent on 2/3 other solid guys who can help the team out.

Thanks Mario - you gave us some good times, and I hope you have some happy times up north.

 

[Vinny]

https://twitter.com/#!/bbwolf90 this is Mario's twitter. Verified per Nick Scurfield.

 

[Pantherstang84]

Where there's anger, there's always pain -Eckhart Tolle


This perfectly sums up how the fan base is reacting to Mario leaving imo.

We've known he was likely going to be leaving for weeks....most if not all of us still held out hope that he might choose to stay.

yet when it actually happened, some people still felt the need to lash out.........& continue to do so. Why? b/c at the end of the day, it still hurts a little bit knowing that:

- he could've helped take this defense to another stratosphere, though we didn't neccessarily need him to be a pretty good defense.

- he was one of our own that ultimately rejected us.

-we could do next to nothing about it.

-he was generally just a good dude.


I expect the same reaction if Meyers chooses to go elsewhere.

How do you expect fans to react when someone leaves? Are we supposed to hold hands and sing kumbayah? Stop the pity party. The dude got paid.

He's no longer a Texan and I have no desire to become a Buffalo fan. He's gone and I'm moving on and will not lose sleep over his absence.

 

[El Tejano]

Has anyone else noticed that all of a sudden that Mario has left Houston he is now "the top Defensive End in the league" or "Elite Pass Rusher". His whole tenure he was doing some awesome stuff in Houston. He was at one point showing why we took him #1 over all and one thing I liked about Mario was how well he did vs. the run. Yet what always frustrated me about him was how he never got the recognition I felt he deserved. In fact you could say that he, as late as last week, was still being called Mario William the defensive end who was taken number one overall over Reggie Bush and Vince Young.

However now he's gone from Houston and all the media, has been acting as if they always loved Mario and that they always talked about him as an elite pass rusher in the league.

I so badly want to call up to these stations and say that I used to have to create a Hey Mario, You Suck Thread so that we could get him to sack a qb. I want to remind them that Mario has had 3 seasons in a row with season ending injuries, and how he can disappear in games sometimes. Yes he's super awesome when he's on and I, as a fan, will miss him but there are times when we as fans were wondering if he was ever going to become an elite pass rusher until this past year in Wade's system.

 

[GP]

https://twitter.com/#!/bbwolf90 this is Mario's twitter. Verified per Nick Scurfield.

Thank you for posting that.

This means the awkward little part about bandwagon fans and real fans was his wording and his tweet, straight from his fingertips. I don't like it when someone cannot produce a statement without finding a way to throw a jab in somewhere along the way.

All he had to do was just keep it straight-laced. But he couldn't. It's like, "Oh yeah? Well look at me now. I just got paid, so I can say a little bit of smack and it's alright if I do so."

I get this feeling that we never knew Mario, actually. Like he didn't care if we knew him or not. I think Andre Johnson, as shy is he is notorious for being, is more out-of-his-shell than Mario. I dunno, maybe I'm spitballin' here.

How do you expect fans to react when someone leaves? Are we supposed to hold hands and sing kumbayah? Stop the pity party. The dude got paid.

He's no longer a Texan and I have no desire to become a Buffalo fan. He's gone and I'm moving on and will not lose sleep over his absence.

Yeah, I agree. Good for him, he found a suitor and it worked out for him. It means the Texans made a better pick than the Saints and Titans. We won, a little bit I suppose. LOL.

That's how sports goes. When your players walk away, especially when they chose to (and it was for $$$), it stings a bit because they chose more money over the team we love to root for.

There'll be a natural inclination for Texans fans to break from Mario, and I always maintain that if that player keeps it classy and doesn't swipe at us in little petty bull**** ways in the media...then I'm cool with the dude. But when they pull that "My life is better now" crap, it's on like Donkey Kong.

 

[Texecutioner]

At least the Texans won't be stuck with this guy ever again.


Now where are all of the folks that acted like Mario was this franchise piece to this defense and didn't care what the Texans might have had to spend?? I can't believe that people wanted the Texans to waste that kind of money on that dude when we've got all these other pass rushers who go balls to the wall on every play.

The Bills just signed one of the worst contracts in their entire franchise history. Book it!!! Mario already has to much money and hasn't been motivated like other guys who drewl just to dominate. Now that he's the highest paid player in NFL history on defense, and playing in Buffalo he'll never be motivated to play all out.

Bills fans are going to hate this deal down the road. That's a guarantee.

I'm just glad that he'll no longer be our problem.

 

[Mr teX]

How do you expect fans to react when someone leaves? Are we supposed to hold hands and sing kumbayah? Stop the pity party. The dude got paid.

He's no longer a Texan and I have no desire to become a Buffalo fan. He's gone and I'm moving on and will not lose sleep over his absence.

Well, for 1 be a grown up about the situation...you expected him to leave, he left man up and move on. Don't lash out like a damn child & try to find any damn reason to hate on the guy....especially when it was something you knew was likely to occur.

All this talk about whether he deserved it or not (name me a player in the league who is worth that?) or how he slighted the fans through a damn twitter post / press conference or how he's not going to win b/c he went there etc. etc. comes off as being *&^%%-made &/or jealous.

I wish the mods would close this thread to be honest b/c there's really nothing else to discuss.

 

[Wolf]

was that really marios tweet earlier?(the one about bandwagon fans?)

*edit* I just saw vinny's post about the official tweet


I am not hating on what he did, I do wonder what he meant about bandwagon fans? (maybe the haters that wanted bush/young before???)

 

[Kimmy]

Please merge with the other OMFG another Mario thread ...

 

[Dutchrudder]

Please merge with the other OMFG another Mario thread ...

No, this is a unique perspective that everyone should read. It's not about Mario, but rather the inexplicable hype surrounding him. Reading this passage has enlightened me and I am a better person for having read it.

 

[Oz Texan]

Please merge with the other OMFG another Mario thread ...

Yet another attmept to merge threads that dont need to be merged just because they are a similar subject....

I agree with Dutchrudder, this make alot of sence and imho is worthy of discussion. Houston has been the black sheep of the NFL ever since the Mario Williams draft. Now that he is going elsewhere hes "elite" and worthy of the money hes was offered. I personaly dont think hes worth that much due to injuries over the last couple of years. We also proved last year we can be a dang good defence without him. Would we have been better with him....we will enver know.

 

[Thorn]

El Tejano makes a very good point, and I agree with him.

 

[Playoffs]

Let's let the Moderators moderate the forum.

I agree with the OP that Mario was no Reggie White/Bruce Smith. I do think he could have shown better surrounded by better defensive players/coaches -- but then there's those nagging injuries.

 

[Brisco_County]

What you are noticing is that sports media is the same as the rest of the media. They have to sell a sensationalized narrative. In this case, they'll focus on Mario's overall draft status, his freakish measureables, and how he stood out among a bad to average defense for so many years. They're dismissing the endurance and durability issues, which is fine, because so is any team willing to offer him $50 million guaranteed. It's a shame to see him go, but we're in on the secret that we'll get better value for that kind of money.

 

[AMartin56]

 

[silentassassin]

Great post, this is exactly how I felt as well. I thought I'd get lambasted and labeled "conspiracy guy" for mentioning media hype following his signing.

 

[AMartin56]

Finally got a second balanced/negative opinion from the talking heads. Mangini on ESPN earlier was the first...Baldinger (sp?) on NFL Network was just the second. He was VERY negative. Basically said 'bad deal...Mario is good player but not a game changer'. Amen.

 

[thunderkyss]

I wish the mods would close this thread to be honest b/c there's really nothing else to discuss.

I wish you didn't kowtow to those T-sippers & deleted your sig.



Can't make everyone happy.

 

[DerekLee1]

The Bills just dedicated 13% of their cap allotment to a DE that averages 0.6 sacks a game. Chew on that. Talk about cap hell for the next 6 years. And now that he's got that payday, I don't see him giving any more effort than he has. He sure as hell didn't go to Buffalo to leave any kind of legacy.

 

[Norg]

I agree hes not the Best DE in this league so IMO buffalo vastly over payed him they took a huge gamble i would have not taken but he thats how it is in the NFL u have to make tough descisons and gambles some times