36 replies to this topic

[stevestojan]

Living in Tucson, I went the the U of A to tailgate yesterday. A friend of mine from here is apparently friends with John Fina. Great guy. Didn't talk football much, other than he let me wear his AFC Championship ring, which is apparently a size 20.

Attached Files

•  57958_1540527427823_1074045125_31520667_2246212_n.jpg   46.63K   234 downloads

[Simon]

stevestojan, on 19 September 2010 - 09:23 AM, said:

Living in Tucson, I went the the U of A to tailgate yesterday. A friend of mine from here is apparently friends with John Fina. Great guy. Didn't talk football much, other than he let me wear his AFC Championship ring, which is apparently a size 20.

Hows his legs/knees? Did he seem to be moving around all right as he gets older?

[stevestojan]

Simon, on 19 September 2010 - 09:25 AM, said:

Hows his legs/knees? Did he seem to be moving around all right as he gets older?

Seems to be in tremendous shape. He was around 300lbs during his playing time. I'd guess he's about 240 or so now. He was moving around just fine - didn't notice the typical walk of a guy with busted up knees. He now owns a place called Performance Footwear out here in Tucson.

[UpperDeck]

stevestojan, on 19 September 2010 - 09:41 AM, said:

Seems to be in tremendous shape. He was around 300lbs during his playing time. I'd guess he's about 240 or so now. He was moving around just fine - didn't notice the typical walk of a guy with busted up knees. He now owns a place called Performance Footwear out here in Tucson.

How would he do at RT and what's he doing next week?

[Simon]

stevestojan, on 19 September 2010 - 09:41 AM, said:

He was moving around just fine - didn't notice the typical walk of a guy with busted up knees.

Thats good to hear, thanks for the update.

[BuffaloBill]

He looks small but nice to hear that he is doing well.

[MyHorseAteTheKid]

stevestojan, on 19 September 2010 - 09:23 AM, said:

Living in Tucson, I went the the U of A to tailgate yesterday. A friend of mine from here is apparently friends with John Fina. Great guy. Didn't talk football much, other than he let me wear his AFC Championship ring, which is apparently a size 20.

I remember mel Kiper calling him, "A  waste of a number #1 pick!"  I knew from that day on, Mel Kiper is an idiot.. lol  John Fina was a Great all-time Buffalo Bill and I wish him all the best!!

[Buftex]

Funny...a thread made during the off-season, Fina was sited as one of the biggest, arrogant jerks to wear a Bills uniform.  What I know of him, is closer to what Steve says... he does look pretty small in that picture.  I remember when he played, he was a bit of a work out warrior.

[cåblelady]

stevestojan, on 19 September 2010 - 09:23 AM, said:

Living in Tucson, I went the the U of A to tailgate yesterday. A friend of mine from here is apparently friends with John Fina. Great guy. Didn't talk football much, other than he let me wear his AFC Championship ring, which is apparently a size 20.

Steve.....u da sh*t, man!  

[ConradDobler]

"A fine young man." - John Butler  

[The Senator]

BuffaloBill, on 19 September 2010 - 10:12 AM, said:

He looks small but nice to hear that he is doing well.

Small, but slow.

[BADOLBILZ]

MyHorseAteTheKid, on 19 September 2010 - 10:18 AM, said:

I remember mel Kiper calling him, "A  waste of a number #1 pick!"  I knew from that day on, Mel Kiper is an idiot.. lol  John Fina was a Great all-time Buffalo Bill and I wish him all the best!!

John Fina a "Great all-time Buffalo Bill"?   Is this a joke?  I know things have been bad here for a decade, but Fina sucked for most of his career.

[Bob in STL]

BADOLBILZ, on 19 September 2010 - 11:11 AM, said:

John Fina a "Great all-time Buffalo Bill"?   Is this a joke?  I know things have been bad here for a decade, but Fina sucked for most of his career.

No he did not suck.  His sucking is just more TSW folk lore.  

If you look at All Time Bills left tackles he in in the top 5.  Woolford was number 1.  After that Stew Barber (60's), John Fina, Dave Foley (Electric Co) and Ken Jones (80's) were all very good players.  He was a very good lineman that did his job, played with injuries, and was a team player.  

If we had him back in his prime he would easily be the best lineman on our team right now.

[Rico]

BADOLBILZ, on 19 September 2010 - 11:11 AM, said:

John Fina a "Great all-time Buffalo Bill"?   Is this a joke?  I know things have been bad here for a decade, but Fina sucked for most of his career.

Agreed, mediocre at best. I remember a lot of talk every off-season about moving him inside, maybe to center after Hull retired... too bad it never happened.

[Frez]

stevestojan, on 19 September 2010 - 09:23 AM, said:

Living in Tucson, I went the the U of A to tailgate yesterday. A friend of mine from here is apparently friends with John Fina. Great guy. Didn't talk football much, other than he let me wear his AFC Championship ring, which is apparently a size 20.

Cool stuff! Thanks for sharing with us. Fina was a solid player from what I remember.

[BuffaloWest]

stevestojan, on 19 September 2010 - 09:23 AM, said:

Living in Tucson, I went the the U of A to tailgate yesterday. A friend of mine from here is apparently friends with John Fina. Great guy. Didn't talk football much, other than he let me wear his AFC Championship ring, which is apparently a size 20.

Good to hear Fina is a good guy now, because I met him about 14 years ago in Scottsdale AZ at a place called Martini Ranch, and he was a TOTAL DOOSH. He was drunk as hell, could barely stand and I told him I was originally from Orchard Park, he then became coherent enought to proceeded to tell me what a crap town Buffalo was an how ugly the women were etc- He was still with th eteam at the time. Since that night I always hated the guy, plus he was a TOTAL BUST in my opinion. If you want to know why Kelly retired early, take a look at Fina. Kelly was getting pummeled his last couple of years, and Fina was a turnstile. Tell him I say FU. Thx

[stevestojan]

BuffaloBill, on 19 September 2010 - 10:12 AM, said:

He looks small but nice to hear that he is doing well.

In all fairness, in comparison, I'm 6'6, 245. He has definitely lost weight, but he's not a small guy

[davidkski]

Fina was terrible. A Finesse Left tackle: couldn't push the pile, frequently bowled over by the bullrush and always managed to whiff on speed rushes and give up sacks at the most crucial moments. (He compounded his errors with the annoying habit of standing there with his hands on his hips as the QB tried to pull himself to his feet)

In the moments after Wide Right - when Obnoxious Oaf Parcells was gloating and taking credit for Bellichek's brainstorm in the post game interviews -  I remember him saying "Power wins football games. Power wins football games."

Much as I hate Tuna and think he's an absurdly overrated blowhard, he was right. To this day, the Bills have never learned that lesson, and Fina was just one small part of a long line of undersized & overpowered underachievers.

Edited by davidkski, 19 September 2010 - 12:37 PM.

[DC Tom]

Did you ask him how he pronounces his name?

[Clip Smith]

BuffaloWest, on 19 September 2010 - 11:59 AM, said:

Good to hear Fina is a good guy now, because I met him about 14 years ago in Scottsdale AZ at a place called Martini Ranch, and he was a TOTAL DOOSH. He was drunk as hell, could barely stand and I told him I was originally from Orchard Park, he then became coherent enought to proceeded to tell me what a crap town Buffalo was an how ugly the women were etc- He was still with th eteam at the time. Since that night I always hated the guy, plus he was a TOTAL BUST in my opinion. If you want to know why Kelly retired early, take a look at Fina. Kelly was getting pummeled his last couple of years, and Fina was a turnstile. Tell him I say FU. Thx

Yes....I had a run in with him as a teenager and this guy was the biggest A-hole I've ever met that was an athlete. In fact, if I saw him and his steroidless, scrawny ass last night....I would have reminded him about it.

Glad to hear it confirmed from someone else, because the guy came across as a worthless human being.