QB leaves lasting legacy
By "Mark Gaughan VI"

Pre-Season 2174 (Orchard Park, NY) - The end of an era came and went the other day. Buffalo Bills QB Eugene Aldridge finally hung up his cleats after 16 seasons in the USAFL. The news came as a shock to some, but was mostly a side note to others. No fan fare. No parade. No tearful press conference for fans to look back on in 20 years. All of it very interesting, however, for the man who could possibly be the best QB of this storied franchise’s history.

Consider the names. Sonny Vail. Cedric Ebert. Morgan Capper. Bruce Stafford. Legends. But look at the numbers. While Aldridge did not come close to Sonny Vail’s team record 54,120 passing yards or 340 TD’s, he is currently 2nd on each list at 48,016yds and 327 TD’s. He wasn’t undefeated in Super Bowl games like Morgan Capper was at 6-0. Sure Cedric Ebert took the Bills to 8 Sundby Cup games in only 10 years at the helm. But Aldridge has the most victories on the biggest stage at 7-1. Ebert won 6. And he’s played in and won the most playoff games of them all, posting a 25-7 record during the 14 of his 16 seasons that he led them to the post season.

Eugene Aldridge was a winner. His regular season record was 164-60 (only 3 games shy of Sonny Vail’s franchise record) while leading the Bills to 10 AFC East titles, 10 AFC Championship Game appearances, 8 AFC Titles and those 7 Sundby Cups. Here’s hoping the fans will someday realize what they saw.

So who gets to follow in his footsteps? 3rd year man Alfred Capers thought the job was all his until the Bills spent their 1st and 4th round picks on QB’s in last week’s Draft. So Bills Nation waits with bated breath to see who is next in line. Perhaps it won’t be too long before they realize what they’re missing.