Bill Polian Appreciation Thread [Merge]

[Coltsman1788]

Whether or not you agree with everything about Bill Polian, the man has overseen the winningest era of Indianapolis Colts football history. We got a Lombardi even if some feel we should have had more. He drafted Manning over Leaf and took Edge over Ricky Williams. He laid down some monumental corner stones for this franchise in his early days. So thank you Mr. Polian for the success you helped to bring to this franchise. You had your faults and it is now time to move forward but nevertheless this is a show of appreciation for the good things you did for this organization.

[husker61]

he is the best gm the colts have ever had and one of the best in the history of the nfl.

[Smitto]

........................................................................

[JoKeR]

Bill Polian does deserve credit. He knew how to pick'em.

[21isSuperman]

Coltsman, mad props to you for creating this thread. A huge thank you to Polian, he did tons for this franchise and really helped build the team into one of the league's better organizations, and in fact, one of the best and most successful organizations in all of pro sports over the past decade. It's unfortunate that things had to end like this, but that's the business side of it. Thanks again

[Warhorse]

Whether or not you agree with everything about Bill Polian, the man has overseen the winningest era of Indianapolis Colts football history. We got a Lombardi even if some feel we should have had more. He drafted Manning over Leaf and took Edge over Ricky Williams. He laid down some monumental corner stones for this franchise in his early days. So thank you Mr. Polian for the success you helped to bring to this franchise. You had your faults and it is now time to move forward but nevertheless this is a show of appreciation for the good things you did for this organization.

Agreed. Thank you, Bill. 36 years was a long time to wait. Mr Irsay took over for his dad and the first thing he did was to fire everyone, and then hire you. You made some key decisions which resulted in HOF players, a new stadium, and a championship. Lets not forget a decade of winning. As a Colt fan since 70, thank you and good luck in your next endeavor.

[Nadine]

Thank you!

[Jay Roland]

thank you to Biull Polian for giving us fans a winning product for so many years but the business side finally got around to this. Best of luck in the futur

[No 1 Manning Fan]

BP deserves a lot of credit for the success of this team. Even the brightest of stars fade, but that doesn't mean that we, as fans, should thank him for all of the positive he did for the team. He put together a truly amazing team. It was fun to watch for a long time. Unfortunately, recent draft busts and injuries (which really have nothing to do with him) have damaged his reputation with a lot of the Colts fans.

[unitaswestand]

I have been a Colts fan since 1975. Bert Jones was their QB and they were good for a few years and then hit rock bottom. From 1978-1998, the Colts were mostly bad. They made the playoffs in the late 80s and then mid 90s, but that was more the exception. When Bill Tobin was fired and Bill Polian was hired, I knew that we had a great, great GM in place. I always marvelled when he was GM of the Bills how he found guys like Andre Reed and Steve Tasker. I knew he was going to make the Colts good. And that he did. I know people like to lock onto Tony Ugoh and Jerry Hughes picks, but I tend to think more of picks like Robert Mathis, Pierre Garcon, Cato June, Antoine Bethea, and Kavell Connor. He is one of the great personnel people in the history of the NFL. He is to finding talent what Peyton Manning is to playing QB. You don't go out and find another Bill Polian level GM everyday.

Thanks for the great teams and great gems you found. I know you were going to retire anyways soon, so I think this move is more pointed towards Chris. I have faith in Jim Irsay that he willl come up with another top notch GM and coach. I just hope they are 80% the talent Bill Polian is. Sure, he rubbed some people wrong, but he wasn't hired to be a media darling. Leave that to Rex Ryan. I would rather win games.

Thanks!

[Coltswarriors]

Posted this in another thread, but I think it fits here too:

Polian, thank you for what you've done for this organization. Over the last decade you helped make the Indianapolis Colts relevant. You do deserve A LOT of credit for what has happened with our success over the years.

With that being said, sometimes change just needs to happen. It has been clear Polian has lacked in recent years and with the loss of just 1 player it showed. Way to go Jim Irsay for pulling the trigger! We really do have the best owner in the NFL IMO, although he's wacky at times I say he's very, very good.

Good news, we'll see what the new era has in store for us.

Also, I do agree with you. I honestly think this was more because of Chris. Irsay knows that Bill was going to retire here soon anyway, I don't think Irsay trusted Chris.

[unitaswestand]

I just wrote a thread, submiited it, and then saw this. Yeah, Bill Polian is a genius. I hope we don't go back to the way things were BEFORE Bill Polian. I think Colts fan who have only come onboard since Peyton was here didn't go through the 20 years of being mostly bad. Polian is one of the greatest talent evaluators the NFL has ever seen. I am really sad to see him go.

All I can think is that maybe Bill was going to retire this year and Chris was taking over completely, so this move was more against Chris.

[JoKeR]

Lets merge

[Captain Americolt]

Ring of Honor for Bill Polian? Heard Irsay say it..

[JoKeR]

Ring of Honor for Bill Polian? Heard Isay say it..

I think it fits. Dungy should be also if not already.

[ruksak]

I was surprised by this firing. Bill did a terrific job. I assume there must have been ideological differences between Irsay and Polian concerning what to do going forward.

[Coltswarriors]

I think it fits. Dungy should be also if not already.

Dungy was added earlier this year. During the Panthers game, I believe.

[Coltswarriors]

I think it fits. Dungy should be also if not already.

I made a mistake about my post above. Harrison was added during the Panthers game this season. Dungy was added last season during the Texans game, I believe!

[crazyrob]

I was surprised by this firing. Bill did a terrific job. I assume there must have been ideological differences between Irsay and Polian concerning what to do going forward.

My impression from the news conference is that this was more of a decision about Chris and not about Bill. Irsay said a few times that Bill was moving closer to retirement and was probably more involved this year than either thought. I think staring at a 2012 with less Bill and more Chris helped make up Irsay's mind. He said repeatedly that he wants the new GM to be a good evaluator of personnel. Bill isthat, and apparently Chris isn't.

[Quantum88]

I think Bill Polian will go down as one of the greatest GMs of all time. I think Chris Polian as GM will be remembered as what got Bill fired.

[Colts20593]

Bill did alot for this organization, so he does deserve a thank you, though I'm not sure thank you is enough for the run we had.

However all good things must come to an end, it's the end of an era.

[Coltsman1788]

I just wrote a thread, submiited it, and then saw this. Yeah, Bill Polian is a genius. I hope we don't go back to the way things were BEFORE Bill Polian. I think Colts fan who have only come onboard since Peyton was here didn't go through the 20 years of being mostly bad. Polian is one of the greatest talent evaluators the NFL has ever seen. I am really sad to see him go.

All I can think is that maybe Bill was going to retire this year and Chris was taking over completely, so this move was more against Chris.

No problem...mods feel free to merge the two threads if you like.

As to the bolded comment...I think you might be right.

[Quantum88]

I posted in the other thread that Bill will be remembered throughout the league as one of the greatest general managers of all time and his son will be remembered for costing his father his job.

[GoDeep]

Thanks, Bill!

[everybodysgotone]

Whether or not you agree with everything about Bill Polian, the man has overseen the winningest era of Indianapolis Colts football history. We got a Lombardi even if some feel we should have had more. He drafted Manning over Leaf and took Edge over Ricky Williams. He laid down some monumental corner stones for this franchise in his early days. So thank you Mr. Polian for the success you helped to bring to this franchise. You had your faults and it is now time to move forward but nevertheless this is a show of appreciation for the good things you did for this organization.

Thank you for the early years and helping put Indy on the map.

[Coltswarriors]

Thanks Bill, you did a great job while you were here. We're very thankful for what you've done!

[super8todd]

Of course Bill deserves credit.. but the problem comes with keeping Chris. And its probably the only reason Bill stuck around was to try to get his son involved with finally taking over.. and since Chris did this year, the firing was more of a reflection on not wanting Chris than Bill.

[TubaGuy]

Ditto to everything said above. I was lucky enough to get on the Lamey broadcast tonight and thanked Polian for what he did for the Colts. He might have been frustrating at times, especially recently, but he did a LOT of good things for our team!!

[Freenyfan102]

Thank you Bill for calling us sewer rats...............

[The Fish]

Deer Bill.

Thnx.

(Honestly, It was your kid, dude.)

[MTC]

Thank you Bill Polian for drafting Peyton Manning over Ryan Leaf and Dwight Freeney over Albert Haynseworth.

[ConBro]

Thanks for a good run Bill, and not only here. He orchestrated 4 Buffalo Bills teams to the Super Bowl in the 1990s as well. He is a great GM; I feel like the only reason he got canned was because he obviously built too much around Peyton. Best of luck in the future.

[BillCowher]

BP is a great GM. I mean this as a compliment but have always seen him like a Bob Knight. Did a whole lot of good but could not see some of his own deficiencies. With that said, he deserves praise for making the Colts what they are today.

[Pancake Block]

I'd like to give a personal shout out to Bill Polian. A couple of years ago, he actually took the time to answer a letter that I had sent him. I knew that the Colts actually had someone on staff who would have been the 'correct' person to have received my letter, but I wanted Polian to see it. He did and responded. He didn't have to do that, but he did. Class guy.

P.S. Bill, if you bother reading these posts, I told you that 2010 was going to be a huge year for TEs in the draft. This year is a WR year and LB year.

[21isSuperman]

Thank you Bill for calling us sewer rats...............

If you're going to have that kind of attitude in an appreciation thread, don't bother posting in it