Bill Polian, the former general manager of the Carolina Panthers, was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Polian was recognized for his success in building two football powerhouses. Polian was instrumental in building the Buffalo Bills of the early nineties that went to four straight Super Bowls. Polian was actually fired after the third loss, a 52-17 smackdown by the Dallas Cowboys.
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The later part of his career was spent with the Indianapolis Colts. With the Colts, Polian drafted Peyton Manning and hired Tony Dungy and successfully won the Super Bowl once during his tenure. Polian is currently an ESPN analyst.
In between his time with the Bills and the Colts, Polian was the general manager of the Carolina Panthers. The expansion Panthers gave him a chance to start from scratch as the Bills quickly declined. Polian stocked the Panthers with Bills and Steelers veterans with the idea that the Panthers could be relevant quickly. Polian also traded the first pick in team history to the Bengals for more picks and got quarterback Kerry Collins anyway.
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Year 2 of the Panthers saw the magical 1996 season, where the Panthers held off the NFC West monster San Francisco 49ers in the regular season and then beat the defending champion Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Divisional Playoffs. The problem was going to Green Bay the next week.
His success caused the Colts to hire him away, offering the title of team president as well as general manager. He drafted Peyton Manning and Edgerrin James in the first two drafts, and he signed Jeff Saturday as a free agent. With Marvin Harrison, this became the offensive core in those early Colts years. The Colts only won the big one when they brought in Tony Dungy and enough defensive pieces.
Polian was fired by the Colts after the season collapsed without a healthy Manning. For his efforts, it is nice to Polian make it into the Hall of Fame as an executive.
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