Useful Notes / National Football League Notorious Figures

There have been many, many great, terrible, inspiring, despicable, and interesting players in the century-long history of the National Football League. This page is for those figures who are most famous for either falling well short of the expectations placed on them when they entered the league or for taking actions that completely ruined their reputations off the field. Some of these figures had a massive impact on the game and popular culture; all of them have interesting stories that, if nothing else, convey just how difficult and demanding professional football can be.

For non-player figures who achieved notoriety in the NFL, see their dedicated folder on National Football League Non-Player Figures. Individuals who are notable for their on-field accomplishments and more positive off-field reputations can be found on the National Football League Quarterbacks, NFL Running Backs, NFL Offensive Players, NFL Defensive and Special Teams Players, and Collegiate American Football Names To Know pages.

Individuals in folders are listed alphabetically, by last name.

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Notorious Figures

Below are the names of NFL figures whose actions garnered so much controversy and condemnation that they completely overshadow whatever position they took on the gridiron, either due to on-field dirty play/cheating or off-field criminal activity. This list is, of course, subjective, but does not include players who are "notorious" for poor play. Hall of Famers also generally don't fall on this list unless their off-field actions are what they are most known for.

Notorious Players (A-K)

• Phillip Adams was a journeyman CB out of the FCS HBCU South Carolina State who played for six different teams^note 49ers, Patriots, Seahawks (two stints), Raiders, Jets, Falcons in six seasons before retiring in 2016. Largely unknown during his career, Adams catapulted himself to notoriety several years after retiring when he fatally shot six people, including two young children, in Rock Hill, South Carolina in 2021. The following day, he killed himself during a standoff with police. His motive for the murders was never able to be established, but subsequent autopsies revealed that he suffered from a severe case of CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain disorder caused by repeated blows to the head; you will see this disorder mentioned a lot on this list).^note While CTE is a hot topic of discussion in the NFL, it is not just exclusive to football. It is also discussed among NHL players, boxers, mixed martial arts fighters, and professional wrestlers (the last category of people having had the subject brought to their limelight by Chris Benoit's murder-suicide). Even soccer has taken notice, with many youth leagues starting to ban headers. Shockingly, getting hit in the head repeatedly is not good for your mental health, or your health, period.
• Kevin Allen was an OT from Indiana drafted #9 overall by the Eagles in 1985. Allen's rookie season got off to a poor start, as he failed a drug test after getting drafted, held out in training camp and was named the starting left tackle despite barely practicing. After allowing 8 1/2 sacks in four starts, he was relegated to special teams. The 1986 season was even worse. Allen showed up to training camp out of shape, and lost his starting role at left guard after falling asleep in camp. Coach Buddy Ryan once said that Allen was only useful for killing grass. The Eagles finally released Allen after Week 4, when he tested positive for cocaine. Days later, he and his roommate were charged with assaulting a woman and her boyfriend. Allen was sentenced to 15 years in prison, serving 33 months. Upon his release, Allen tried out for a few NFL teams but never played in the league after his rookie year, moving onto the World League of American Football and Arena Football League. Making matters even worse for Eagles fans in hindsight was that Allen was picked ahead of some much superior talents taken with the next several picks, including 3-time All-Pro OT Jim Lachey and all-time great wide receiver Jerry Rice.
• Jeff Alm was a DT for the Houston Oilers drafted in the second round out of Notre Dame in 1990. While mostly an anonymous backup during his pro career, Alm made headlines during the 1993 season when he lost control of his car while driving drunk, killing his childhood best friend in the process. The distraught Alm then shot and killed himself. This grisly tragedy was one of many media scandals experienced by the Oilers in '93 that set into motion the franchise's eventual move to Tennessee.
• Damon Arnette was a CB drafted by the Raiders #19 overall in 2020 out of Ohio State. He only appeared in nine games in his rookie season due to injuries, putting up pathetic stats, and appeared in only four games as a backup in his second before ending up on the injured reserve list. Arnette was cut by the team after videos surfaced of him making death threats and brandishing firearms as well as a hit and run incident just days before the Henry Ruggs incident (see below), meaning that the franchise lost both of their first round picks from 2020 in less than two years. He signed with the Chiefs but was released a week later after he was arrested. He has continued to have legal issues after his NFL career appears to have ended.
• Jovan Belcher was an undrafted LB out of Maine who was mostly anonymous during his brief career with the Kansas City Chiefs. In the middle of the 2012 season, Belcher became infamous after he murdered his girlfriend with his personal firearm in front of his mother, drove to the Chiefs' practice facility, and committed suicide in front of the team staff, including the Chiefs' HC and GM. His murder-suicide was one of the most prominent cases of domestic violence and mental instability among current and former players in the early '10s; autopsy results indicated that Belcher, like many deceased players who died with similar mental problems, suffered from CTE.
• Cedric Benson was an immensely hyped RB prospect coming out of Texas and was drafted #4 overall by the Bears in 2005. Unfortunately, while he visited the Super Bowl with the team (during which he had a devastating goal line fumble), Benson failed to perform to his Big 12 record-setting standards, couldn't beat out teammate/fan favorite incumbent Thomas Jones, frequently clashed with coaches and the front office, and was cut in 2008 after multiple high-profile arrests for public intoxication. While a bust for the Bears, he performed quite well on the field in his next landing spot with the Cincinnati Bengals. However, constant legal issues led to him being cut after 2011, and he was out of the NFL a year later after a brief stint with the Packers. Benson died in a motorcycle accident in 2019.
• Lewis Billups was a CB for the Bengals, which drafted him in the second round out of North Alabama (then D-II, now FCS) in 1986. On the field, he is infamous for dropping a potential game-winning end zone interception in Super Bowl XXIII, but that pales in comparison to his notorious actions off the field. Billups was accused of committing numerous acts of criminal violence, including sexual assault, domestic violence, and extortion, which led to his NFL career ending during the 1992 season. He was later convicted to a one-year prison sentence after the FBI recorded him threatening to cripple his girlfriend's brother (a pro basketball player) if she saw other people. Six days after his release in 1994, Billups died at age 30 in a massive car crash, killing himself and a passenger after losing control while driving over 100 miles per hour in his convertible.
• David Boston was a WR drafted #8 overall in 1999 by the Cardinals after setting numerous school records at Ohio State. After a seemingly miraculous recovery from injuries sustained in an offseason car crash, it became an open secret that Boston was using some kind of steroids—though he didn't test positive for years, he gained a tremendous amount of muscle over his next few Pro Bowl seasons. His size soon rivaled that of many linemen, which was not exactly ideal for the wide receiver position, and his productivity began to fall off at the same time that his moody and egocentric personality and multiple legal troubles became a major locker room distraction. He bounced around to the Chargers, Dolphins, and Buccaneeers, eventually being caught and suspended for steroid use. He was out of the NFL by 2007, failed to catch on in the CFL, and served some prison time after assaulting two women in 2011—he received a reduced sentence due in part to his defense arguing that his anger issues were influenced by CTE from his football career.
• Josh Brent was a DT drafted in the 7th round of the 2010 Supplemental Draft by the Cowboys out of Illinois. He surprised many observers by making the team and getting playing time, posting 17 tackles. However, he is mainly known for killing his teammate, Jerry Brown, in a drunk driving accident during the 2012 season. He was suspended from the NFL after completing his prison sentence and rehabilitation process. He returned in 2014 out of shape, couldn't make the team, and was out of the NFL.
• Antonio Brown was one of the most talented—and controversial—WRs of The New '10s, whose Hall of Fame-worthy on-field production was mostly overshadowed by countless off-field issues. Despite a productive college career at Central Michigan, Brown fell to the 6th round in the 2010 Draft due to concerns over his size (5'10", 180 lbs) and him coming from a smaller program. Despite initially being buried on the Pittsburgh Steelers' WR depth chart, he made an immediate impact as a return specialist as a rookie and captured a starting job during his second season. From 2013-18, he became the first player to ever have six (or even five, for that matter) straight seasons with at least 100 receptions and twice led the league in receptions and receiving yards. His skill, coupled with his unique style and personality, made Brown one of the NFL's biggest stars and led to him gracing the cover of Madden NFL 19. However, his relationship with the Steelers (and QB Ben Roethlisberger in particular) went deeply south in 2018, and he was traded to the Raiders for surprisingly little for a player who had just led the league in receiving TDs. The subsequent offseason was marked with bizarre injuries (namely frostbite on his feet from a cryo-therapy chamber), an odd holdout that wasn't about money (a rule change barred him from using his favorite style of helmet), an altercation with GM Mike Mayock, and illegally recording and releasing a phone call with HC Jon Gruden that finally led to his release. Not even a full day later, he was signed by the Patriots. Shortly after, a former personal trainer filed a civil suit accusing Brown of rape, with several other similar incidents quickly becoming public; Brown played just one game for the Pats before being cut for sending threatening texts to his accuser. His behavior continued to plummet, and police in Florida were called to his home numerous times for domestic incidents, including an arrest warrant put out for alleged assault and burglary of a truck driver of a moving business.^note The truck driver was moving items from Brown's home in California to Florida, but he refused to pay for the service; he and his friends attacked the driver to seize his property and damaged other items that weren't his in the process. AB was ultimately issued an eight-game suspension in 2020. After its completion, he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on a one-year "prove-it" deal, largely due to the advocacy of his former teammate (of one game), Tom Brady. His part in their Super Bowl-winning campaign secured him an extension in Tampa. However, his 2021 was again marred by behavioral issues: he was issued another suspension for forging a COVID-19 vaccine card and then, in his first game back from said suspension, he got himself totally cut after a bizarre on-field incident where he stripped off his uniform and ran across the field and out of the stadium in the middle of the game — after which he threatened to sue the Buccaneers, claiming they had been forcing him to play through an injury.^note His teammates disputed this allegation, saying that Brown never even mentioned the injury in the lead-up to the incident but rather was complaining solely about not getting enough targets to reach a catch-based incentive in his contract. This was in all probability the last straw for his football career, as it's seen as unlikely that any team will take a chance on him after how badly he burned the one team that did. He attempted a comeback in the National Arena League with the Albany Empire as an owner and player, but his team was booted from the league due to a variety of issues surrounding Brown.
• Josh Brown was a kicker drafted in the seventh round by the Seahawks out of Nebraska. He was a solid-if-unspectacular journeyman throughout his 14-year career but is now better remembered along with Ray Rice as poster boys for the NFL's poor handling of domestic abuse cases. After being arrested for domestic abuse in 2015 while with the New York Giants, the NFL initially took no action. It wasn't until over a year later that the NFL handed him a one-game suspension (inexplicably reduced from what is supposed to be the minimum of six games for a first time domestic abuse offender). The NFL and the Giants initially stood behind Brown until additional evidence came out that he had a much longer record of domestic abuse incidents dating back many years. The resulting outcry among fans and media finally resulted in Brown's release from the Giants.
• Brandon Browner was an undrafted corner out of Oregon State in 2005. After failing to make the final roster for the Broncos, he spent several good years in the CFL before earning a spot on the Seattle Seahawks in 2011. He became a key part of the Legion of Boom, earning a Pro Bowl nod in his first year, contributing to their Super Bowl XLVIIII win, and winning another ring against his old team with the Patriots the following year. However, he only played one more year with the Saints, leading the NFL in penalties before washing out of the league. Browner as struggled with legal issues ever since and is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence for attempted murder of a former partner.
• Vontaze Burfict is a LB who spent the bulk of his career with the Cincinnati Bengals. While in college at Arizona State, Burfict was considered a sure-fire 1st round pick, but his overly aggressive playing style made him a magnet for penalties. After a miserable Combine performance in 2012, his stock fell so much that he went undrafted. He signed with the Bengals and soon moved into the starting lineup after injuries to the linebackers ahead of him on the depth chart. Unfortunately, his penchant for penalties followed him to the NFL, where he was frequently penalized for hits to the head of opposing players and cheap shots on defenseless receivers. Perhaps the most glaring incident was a savage helmet-to-helmet hit on Steelers WR Antonio Brown (see above) in the 2015 AFC playoffs, which drew a penalty on the final drive of the game and kept the Steelers alive for a win.^note Many have also noted a correlation between the hit and the change in Brown's behavior in subsequent seasons that earned him a spot in this very section, leading some to suspect that Burfict's hit could have left Brown with long-term damage that changed him for the worst. Burfict was suspended for the first three games of the next season for his actions. During the 2017 preseason, he was again suspended for three games as a result of an illegal blindside block, then was suspended again in 2018 for four games for using performance enhancing drugs. He was released by the Bengals and signed with Oakland in the offseason, where he delivered yet another dangerous and illegal hit to Colts TE Jack Doyle. He was ejected then suspended for the remainder of the season (12 games, the longest suspension of a player in NFL history for an on-field act). The Raiders let him walk after his contract expired, ending his career.
• Plaxico Burress was a WR who most famously played for the New York Giants (where he caught the game-winning touchdown in Super Bowl XLII), as well as the Pittsburgh Steelers (who drafted him #8 overall in 2000 out of Michigan State) and New York Jets (who hired him after his... incident). His infamy comes from an incident where he brought a loaded gun to a nightclub in 2008, the year after his Super Bowl heroics, and accidentally shot himself in the thigh. Due to having an expired carry license from another state in New York City (which has some of the most restrictive gun laws on America), he served a two-year prison sentence as a result of the incident. He returned to the NFL afterwards for a mostly unimpressive stint before retiring in 2013, and coined the term "Plaxidental shooting".
• Tommories "Mossy" Cade was a safety drafted #6 overall by the Chargers in 1984 out of Texas. Cade refused to play for the team, holding out for a year before going to the USFL and convincing the team to trade his rights to the Packers. That's sadly not why he's on this list; after two unremarkable seasons, Cade was convicted of sexual assault and served over a year in prison. The Packers released him, and public protests prevented him from signing with the Vikings upon his release, ending his football career.
• Rae Carruth was a WR for the Panthers, drafted #27 overall in 1997 out of Colorado. After starting his rookie season, Carruth injured his foot in Week 1 of the 1998 season. During his third pro season in 1999, his pregnant girlfriend was mortally wounded in a drive-by shooting but survived just long enough to accuse Carruth of arranging the hit, stating that he had deliberately blocked her car prior to the shooting. (Her son was delivered and saved by Caesarean section, but his prenatal trauma led to brain damage serious enough that he will require a live-in caretaker for life.) Arrested for murder, Carruth was acquitted on that charge but convicted of conspiracy to murder in 2001, receiving a prison sentence that lasted until 2018.
• Al Cowlings was a journeyman LB who began his 9-year career with the Bills when they drafted him #5 overall out of USC in 1970 . However, his main claim to fame is his role in the O.J. Simpson (see below) murder trial. A friend and teammate of O.J. since their high school days, he infamously drove the white Ford Bronco around Los Angeles on a slow speed pursuit that helped make his subsequent trial such a media circus. He was arrested for aiding Simpson, but the charges were dropped, and he later testified against Simpson in the civil trial. His role in the car chase was later recreated by Kramer on Seinfeld.
• Conrad Dobler was a guard for the St. Louis Cardinals, who drafted him in the fifth round in 1972 out of Wyoming. He was named to three Pro Bowls but is mostly remembered as one of the league's most violent and unsportsmanlike players (even making a Sports Illustrated cover for being "Pro Football's Dirtiest Player"). He frequently utilized outright nasty tactics and visibly reveled in doing so: he once punched Joe Greene, spat on an injured Bill Bergey, and kicked Merlin Olsen in the head. Dobler retired in 1981 after stints in New Orleans and Buffalo. Because of his physical playing style, he became physically disabled, having multiple surgeries on his knees before his passing in 2023.
• Jim Dunaway was a DT out of Ole Miss who signed with the Buffalo Bills after being drafted #9 overall in 1963^note The Vikings took him #3 overall in the same draft. and had a solid career, with two AFL championships and four All-Star selections. He is sadly more notable for his post playing career, being charged with murdering his ex-wife a few years after his former teammate O.J. Simpson was targeted with similar allegations. While the jury chose not to indict him, his own children filed a successful wrongful death lawsuit against him. Dunaway died in 2018.
• IK Enemkpali was a DE drafted by the New York Jets in the sixth round in 2014 out of Louisiana Tech, where he had already demonstrated character concerns. During the 2015 preseason, he attacked Jets QB Geno Smith in the team locker room over $600 Smith allegedly owed him, punching him hard enough to break his jaw and derailing his career as a starter. Enemkpali was released shortly thereafter and found employment with the Bills and former coach Rex Ryan. The NFL suspended him four games for the incident; he managed to appear in 11 games and put up dismal stats. The next preseason, he got into another altercation with another teammate and injured his ACL in a preseason game the next day. After missing all of 2016, he attempted to catch on with the Raiders but was cut before the season began.
• Art Folz was a back for the Cardinals from 1923-25, signing with the local team out of Chicago. In 1925, seeking to pad the Cardinals' record with an easy win to ensure the franchise's first Championship title, he convinced several high school players from his alma mater to play what he claimed to be a "practice" game^note not paying them, thus protecting their amateur status so that they could play in college for the Milwaukee Badgers, whose actual players had already disbanded for the season. The Cardinals won the game 59-0, earning them the controversial championship, though they would have won even without this dishonest victory due to the disqualification of the Pottsville Maroons. However, for his actions, Folz became the first player ever suspended by the NFL as well as the first recipient of a lifetime ban, though this was lifted just one year later to prevent him from signing with the first incarnation of the AFL. Regardless, he chose not to return to football and showed remorse for his involvement later in life before his passing in 1965. Even still, many (only half-jokingly) explain the Cardinals' subsequent century of disappointment as being the results of a Curse from Folz's original sin.
• Reuben Foster is a LB drafted #31 overall in 2017 by the San Francisco 49ers, who traded back into the first round to get him.^note According to post-draft comments by GM John Lynch, he was the #2 player on their board with their #3 overall pick and would have considered him there had their top target (DL Solomon Thomas, see under draft busts) been taken. Foster had an outstanding college career at Alabama on the field but had numerous off-field character concerns. Seen as a potential top 10 pick, he underwent shoulder surgery prior to the Draft and failed a drug test at the Combine which hurt his draft stock. He played unremarkably in 10 games as a rookie while battling ankle and rib injuries. In 2018, he was arrested on weapons and drug charges, earning him a two-game suspension. During the season, he was arrested again on multiple accounts of felony domestic abuse and infliction of bodily harm. He was released by the 49ers but was controversially claimed by Washington on waivers. He never played for Washington, tearing his ACL in his very first practice with the team, then missing all of 2019-20 due to lingering effects from the injury. In 2023, Foster attempted a comeback in the USFL and UFL.
• Mark Gastineau was a DE for the New York Jets, which drafted him in the second round in 1979 out of the D-II East Central Oklahoma State following a standout Senior Bowl performance. A critical component of their "New York Sack Exchange" defense, Gastineau led the league in sacks for two years and was selected to five Pro Bowls. However, while he was beloved by Jets fans for his toughness, attitude, and production (he remains the franchise's all-time sack leader), he was widely hated by fellow players, especially for his taunting "Sack Dance" that frequently instigated on-field fights and led to the NFL cracking down on all celebrations (including touchdowns) for decades. This hatred wasn't just held by his opponents; other members of the Jets locker room likewise despised him for his self-centeredness. When he was the only Jet to cross the picket line at the start of the 1987 player strike, claiming he needed the money to pay alimony, several teammates publicly stated that it was expected because "he's always put himself in front of the team." He retired abruptly in the middle of the 1988 season at a point where he was again leading the league in sacks, claiming it was to take care of his girlfriend Brigitte Nielsen, who had uterine cancer.^note Gastineau's ex-wife (and the media) all doubted that his motives could be so selfless. He next launched a boxing career, where he had several "wins" that turned out to be dives meant to make him look good. Gastineau had numerous legal troubles involving assaults and drug use dating back to his time with the Jets, and he finally saw jail time in 2000 for domestic assault. After his release from prison, he became a vocal born-again Christian. In recent years, he has struggled with dementia, Parkinson's, and Alzheimer's disease, which he attributes to CTE from his time in the league.
• Terry Glenn was a WR drafted by the New England Patriots #7 overall out of Ohio State in 1996. After a productive rookie season, Glenn's life began to spiral out of control and his production dropped as he became plagued by more injuries, clashes with coaches, and off-field issues. In 1999, his only Pro Bowl season, he was accused of inappropriately touching a woman and suspended for failing to seek treatment for the flu after missing a game. In 2000, he was suspended after a positive drug test and was found to have visited a Canadian strip club when he was supposed to be at a team meeting. In 2001, he caught Tom Brady's first career TD pass but was also accused of domestic assault, suspended four games for missing a mandatory drug test, deactivated the rest of the season, suspended through the team's postseason run, and was never given a Super Bowl ring. He was traded to the Packers in 2002. A year later, he was traded to Dallas, where he recorded two thousand-yard seasons. He retired in 2008 after missing the prior season with knee injuries and died in 2017 after a one-car accident in which he was found to be drunk over twice the legal limit.
• Josh Gordon is a WR widely considered one of the most purely talented players to play the position when he started playing in 2012, being lauded for his on-field production and even setting a few NFL records. The problem is, he also played less than half the total games he could have during his career because he was repeatedly suspended for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy, with drug use issues dating back to his time in college at Baylor, where he was suspended for multiple failed drug tests. He opted to enter the Supplemental Draft, where he was selected in the 2nd round by the Browns. He made a significant impact in his first two seasons, particularly in his second year where he led the league in receiving yards and became the first player in NFL history to record two consecutive 200-yard receiving games. However, Gordon was subsequently suspended multiple times for substance violations, including the entire '15 and '16 seasons. Because many of his drug issues pertained to marijuana, which saw legalization across several states in The New '10s, his story sat at the center of many debates regarding the NFL's drug policy and whether the drug should be included as a banned substance. However, Gordon had a host of other disciplinary issues that, while they wouldn't be massively consequential on their own, are things teams typically don't want to deal with in a player they're already taking a risk on; his departure from his original team, the Browns, allegedly came about not because of the drug violations themselves, but because the team had had enough of Gordon showing up late and missing practices after all the second chances they gave him on the drug violations. This made him a divisive figure among fans, as many would have loved to have his talents on their team but didn't want to deal with the headache of another suspension after an inevitable repeat violation. Gordon rotated around five different NFL teams and attempted a comeback in the XFL in 2023, but he is currently a free agent.
• Greg Hardy, a DE drafted in the sixth round out of Ole Miss in 2010, was a dominant pass rusher for the Panthers until a highly publicized domestic violence incident in 2014, where his ex-girlfriend testified that he had strangled her and thrown her into furniture. A judge found him guilty, but after he filed an appeal, the victim failed to appear in court, forcing the charges to be dropped. He was one of three high-profile athletes in 2014 (along with Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson) who caused a PR nightmare for the NFL and led to the revising of the league's domestic violence policy. He was deactivated for the majority of 2014 and initially suspended 10 games for 2015 (though arbitration brought this down to 4) after signing with the Dallas Cowboys. He did not do much to repair his image while in Dallas, at one point making lewd comments about Tom Brady's wife in press conferences. Despite his solid performance in 2015, the Cowboys did not re-sign him, and he's since moved on to MMA, making his UFC debut in 2019.
• Albert Haynesworth was a hulking DT drafted #15 overall out of Tennessee by the in-state Titans in 2002. In 2006, Haynesworth became infamous for his brutal playing style. After Dallas scored on a goal line rushing play, Cowboys center Andre Gurode was knocked to the turf. Haynesworth removed Gurode's helmet and stomped on his head twice, gashing his forehead and narrowly missing his eye. After being assessed an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Haynesworth spiked his helmet on the turf in protest, resulting in another penalty and an ejection. He was suspended for five games, the longest suspension in league history at the time for an on-field incident.^note Since surpassed by Vontaze Burfict, see above. He had the most successful seasons of his career the next two years, earning Pro Bowl nods in each. During the 2009 offseason, he signed a seven year, $100 million free agent deal with Washington, making him the highest paid defensive player in league history at the time. Haynesworth soon gained notoriety of a different kind in his time with Washington, becoming a shining example of a player who got a big pay day and then stopped putting in effort. He clashed with coaches, refused to participate in workouts, allowed himself to get out of shape with poor conditioning, and frequently "gave up" on plays during games. During his second season with Washington, he was suspended for the final four games due to conduct detrimental to the team and then traded the following offseason to New England for a mere 5th round pick. He soon got into an altercation with the Patriots d-line coach, was cut, finished the season in Tampa Bay, and was released early in the offseason, ending his career and sealing his reputation as one of the worst free agent signings in league history. He has struggled with health issues in retirement, eventually requiring a kidney transplant traced to heavy Toradol^note an injected painkiller often given to injured players on game day to help play through injuries use during his time in the league.
• Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson was a LB who most famously played with the Dallas Cowboys, who drafted him #18 overall out of the D-II HBCU Langston in 1975. Nicknamed "Hollywood" for both his flamboyant play and off-field lifestyle, Henderson was arguably among the first NFL players to take advantage of their media exposure to promote their personal brand more than their athletic accomplishments. As a result, he also was one of the first players to publicly struggle with drug addiction. His cocaine dependency was so bad that he frequently snorted the drug through an inhaler during games. Despite helping to bring the team a victory in Super Bowl XII, where he led them in tackles, by 1979 coach Tom Landry was done with his behavior. After Henderson mugged for the camera and promoted his merchandise while his team was being trounced on national television, Landry deactivated him for the rest of the season and traded him away at the first opportunity. He bounced through three teams for the next two seasons, never staying put at first due to his drug addiction and then due to injury issues that ended his career in 1981. Henderson hit rock bottom just two years later when he was accused of sexually assaulting two teenage girls at gunpoint; he denied the most violent aspects of the accusation but pleaded no contest to the charges and spent the next three years in prison and drug treatment. His story has a happier ending than others in this section: he has apparently stayed clean for more than three decades after completing his sentence and he won the Texas lottery in 2000.
• Darryl Henley was a CB drafted in the second round out of UCLA in 1989, staying in his hometown to play for the Rams. He was a decent contributor on the team, but his football career ended abruptly in 1995 offseason after he was convicted of cocaine trafficking. His sentence was ultimately extended to 41 years when he was also convicted of trying to hire men to kill the judge and an ex-girlfriend who served as a witness in his trial.
• Chris Henry was a WR drafted in the third round out of West Virginia by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2005. Henry was part of a talented group of receivers but had a penchant for getting into trouble off the field, including aggravated assault with a firearm and concealment of a firearm in 2006. In 2008, he was waived after he punched an 18-year-old man in the face and was placed under house arrest only to be re-signed to the team later that season. Henry died during the 2009 season from injuries sustained after falling out of a pickup during a domestic dispute with his fiancée. An autopsy later determined that he had been suffering from CTE, the first confirmed case in a then-active NFL player, which suggested that it was the cause of his off-the-field issues and revealed that the condition could develop earlier in players' lives than many had previously believed.
• Travis Henry was an RB drafted in the second round by the Buffalo Bills in 2001 after setting most program rushing records and winning a national title at Tennessee. Despite a promising start to his pro career, earning a Pro Bowl nod in his second year, he was supplanted by Willis McGahee. He was traded to the Titans but was cut there after two seasons despite an improved performance. Henry had one more year in Denver before he was cut by the team for multiple failed marijuana tests. The door might have been open for a few more decent years in the NFL, but it was quickly slammed shut when Henry was arrested and sent to prison for financing a cocaine trafficking operation.
• Aaron Hernandez was a tight end drafted in the fourth round out of Florida by the New England Patriots in 2010. Hernandez was half of the dominant "Boston TE Party" alongside Rob Gronkowski until 2013, when he was charged with the first-degree murder of a local semi-pro football player. He was immediately released from the Patriots following his arrest. Hernandez was later charged with two counts of murder in relation with a 2012 double homicide in Boston and then was convicted of the 2013 murder, which had him automatically sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In 2017, less than a week after being acquitted of the 2012 double murder, he hanged himself in his prison cell; his autopsy indicated that he had Stage 3 CTE.
• Sam Hurd is a WR who went undrafted in 2006 out of Northern Illinois. He was signed by the Cowboys, where he played mostly special teams until 2010. In 2011, he signed with the Bears on a three-year contract, but his career came to a screeching halt when an ICE investigation found he was attempting to buy and distribute large amounts of cocaine and marijuana. In 2013, he was convicted of establishing a drug network, for which he served 10 years.
• Richie Incognito was a guard who had tenures with the Rams, Bills, Dolphins, and Raiders. Drafted in the third round in 2005 out of Nebraska, he was a mid-tier offensive linesman with a long history of trouble on and off the field and a violent temperament that earned him a reputation as one of the dirtiest players in the league. In 2013 during his tenure in Miami, fellow lineman Jonathan Martin, a decent if unspectacular player, abruptly left the team halfway through the season, citing emotional distress. Martin then released a statement naming Incognito as ringleader in a harassment campaign against him and a voicemail that he had left on Martin's phone that included racial slurs and death threats. Incognito was later permanently suspended from the team and eventually released, while Martin was traded to the 49ers to reunite with his former Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh. The sordid details were investigated at the behest of the NFL, culminating in the 144-page Ted Wells Report, which chronicles the complex and unusual friendship that existed between the two (complete with text messages such as the ones cited below). The amount of press his situation received has created a great deal of debate about workplace bullying and harassment, mental illness, and the evolving definition of masculinity and "toughness". Incognito ultimately had a long NFL career, retiring after missing the 2021 season from injury.
• Mark Ingram Sr. was a RB who played from 1987-96 for four different teams, most notably the New York Giants and Miami Dolphins. Drafted by the Giants #28 overall in 1987, he was a fairly productive player, helping them win Super Bowl XXV, and was on the receiving end of Dan Marino's infamous "Fake Spike" in 1994. Unfortunately, he has been plagued by legal problems in recent years, being convicted of money laundering and fraud in 2008 and was sentenced to seven years prison time with up to five years of probation. His sentence was expanded two years after he jumped bail to watch his son, future Heisman winner Mark Ingram Jr., play for Alabama. He was released in 2015 but violated his supervised release repeatedly and was sent back to prison again in 2019. He was released again in 2020 to home confinement due to struggling with dementia, asthma, and, if his attorneys are to be believed, CTE.
• Larry Johnson was a star RB for the Kansas City Chiefs, who drafted him #27 overall in 2003 out of Penn State. During his time with the Chiefs, he made the Pro Bowl twice and set the record for rushing attempts in a season (416) in 2006; he was traded to Cincinnati in '09 and played a season each for Washington and Miami before retiring after 2011. However, he was also no stranger to legal trouble; he has been arrested multiple times since 2003, including at least five arrests (four while an active player) for assault on women and a sixth for assault for beating up a man in Miami in 2014. He's also no stranger to social media controversy, as he is an avowed Conspiracy Theorist who has been accused of tweeting Anti-Semitic and other offensive material.
• Adam "Pacman" Jones was a CB and return specialist best known for his off-field controversies from when he played for the Tennessee Titans and Dallas Cowboys. Jones' childhood nickname "Pac-Man" referred to his ability to turn corners on a dime, and he was drafted #6 overall out of West Virginia by the Titans in 2005 for his prowess. However, soon after joining the league, he got into several fights at strip clubs, broke his parole, and was investigated for drug use. These issues, coupled with new commissioner Roger Goodell's desire to assert his authority, led to Jones becoming the first player in over four decades to be suspended for non-substance abuse reasons, and he missed all of 2007. During that time, Jones was part of an angle on TNA Wrestling, including winning their Tag Team Championships, despite having a stipulation in his contract that he could not wrestle—he was subsequently traded by the Titans to Dallas, who cut him after the season due to injury issues and potential involvement in a Las Vegas shooting. By 2009, his case looked hopeless, as he managed to talk his way out of a CFL contract by referring to the league as the United Football League in a press conference. However, after signing with the Cincinnati Bengals, Jones played for eight seasons with far less off-field trouble, even winning first-team All-Pro status in 2014 and a Pro Bowl spot the next year. While that hasn't completely erased the memory of his turbulent early years, he was able to salvage his career before he retired with the Broncos in 2018 (though the Titans still missed out on future Hall of Famers like DeMarcus Ware and Aaron Rodgers with their pick for little in return). Jones was a regular co-host on Pat McAfee's popular show, but that spot was also cut short after yet another arrest.
• Jeff Komlo was a ninth round pick by the Lions in 1979 out of Delaware. A potential backup unlikely to make the roster, Komlo was thrust into the starting QB role after the first two passers on the Detroit depth chart were taken out by injury by the end of the first game of the season. Thrust into an impossible scenario, Komlo threw twice as many picks as TDs, resulting in the Lions going 2-14 and landing the #1 pick in the draft. He barely saw the field again and was out of the NFL in five years. He lands on this list for his downright bizarre post-career story. After being charged with drunk driving, cocaine possession, and domestic abuse, Komlo fled the country, landed on America's Most Wanted, and died in a 2009 car accident in Athens, Greece.

Notorious Players (L-Z)

• Clint Longley was a short-tenured QB who left an outsized legacy in NFL lore. A supplemental draft pick out of Abilene Christian in 1974, Longley was acquired by the Cowboys to backup Roger Staubach after Craig Morton's departure and performed fairly well, most memorably stepping in for an injured Staubach in the 1974 Thanksgiving game and throwing a successful game-winning Hail Mary pass to Drew Pearson a year before Staubach coined the term by doing so himself. However, when the arrival of Danny White two years later cost Longley the #2 role, he took drastic measures to ensure a trade: namely, sucker punching Staubach in the locker room and immediately bolting out of the team's facilities. Assaulting the team's beloved leader ensured that he was suspended and traded to the Chargers, where he lost the QB competition with a young Dan Fouts. He bounced around the CFL and practice squards after that season and never played again.
• Joe Don Looney was a RB drafted #12 overall in 1964 by the Giants but was traded to the Colts just 25 days later. Such nomadism had already become a pattern for Looney, who had bounced around four different colleges (Texas, TCU, Cameron Junior College, and Oklahoma) and had been kicked out of all three of the non-junior schools due to his erratic and insubordinate behavior. That pattern continued in the pros. The flashes of talent Looney occasionally displayed were overshadowed by his refusal to attend practices, carry out plays, or do much of anything coaches asked of him^note He was once suspended in the middle of a game for refusing to carry a play from the sidelines to the QB, saying "If you want a messenger boy, call Western Union." and by his numerous off-field problems, including once breaking into a family's house after an argument about politics. He bounced across five teams in his five years in the pros, with his career being further derailed after being drafted into service in Vietnam in '68. Looney was out of the NFL after 1969 and continued to live a wayward life that involved drug muling and being an enforcer for a cultish guru. He died in a motorcycle accident in 1988 at 45 years old.
• Charles Martin was a DL who went undrafted out of West Alabama with stops in the USFL and CFL before joining the Packers in 1984. He quickly entered the starting lineup and fueled the fire of the team's rivalry with the Bears, most infamously by wearing a towel with the numbers of Bears players written on it as a "hit list". In 1986, he became the first modern-era NFL player to be ejected from a game due to a violent act and the first to receive a multi-game suspension for an on-field act: with the Packers season floundering at 2-10 while the defending Super Bowl champion Bears were playoff bound, Martin picked up Bears QB Jim McMahon — long after he had already thrown the ball — and slammed him shoulder-first into the ground, causing a season-ending injury. He was released in 1987 after a bar fight incident and finished his career with short stints in Houston and Atlanta. He struggled with alcoholism later in life and died due to kidney failure in 2005.
• Rolando McClain was a LB from Alabama selected #8 overall in 2010 by the Raiders out of Alabama, where he won the Butkus Award for best college linebacker and helped the school win the BCS National Championship in 2009. His first two seasons were solid but not spectacular, and he was waived by the Raiders in 2013 after a well-publicized feud with the coaching staff (Oakland missed out on several great talents like Earl Thomas with their high pick). He then signed with Baltimore and "retired" without playing a down. He then joined the Cowboys in 2014, but a codeine addiction saddled him with multiple suspensions that kept him off the field and ended his career after 2015; he has continued to struggle with legal issues ever since.
• Malik McDowell narrowly doesn't count as a major draft bust, being taken at the top of the second round in 2017, but the Michigan State DT never played a game for the Seahawks. Seattle's first draft pick in '17 missed his rookie year due to injuries from an ATV accident, but he likely wouldn't have played much more for the team had he not been hurt, as multiple arrests for drunk driving and disorderly conduct ensured he never made the final roster and was waived after two seasons. A subsequent altercation with police cost him a year in prison. Despite all those issues, McDowell finally saw the field in 2021 with the Browns, but his comeback attempt failed and he was cut after just one season after further legal issues, including him wandering naked around a school.
• Dave Meggett was a RB, WR and return specialist out of FCS^*I-AA in his dayTowson State who played in the NFL for ten seasons. Originally a favorite of coach Bill Parcells, Meggett followed the legendary coach to play for the Giants (where he won a Super Bowl and still holds several franchise records), Patriots, and Jets. He retired in 1998 as the NFL's career leader in punt returns and yards. However, these accomplishments were overshadowed during and after his playing career by his numerous legal and financial problems, mostly involving domestic and sexual assault. Meggett was kicked off the Patriots after his third assault charge; he played two games for Parcells' Jets and his career was over. He lost his entire NFL salary to child support and legal charges. Meggett was ultimately convicted of burglary and sexual assault in 2010 and sentenced to 30 years in prison.
• Chuck Muncie had an enviable career for any RB, playing in the league for nine seasons and leading it in rushing/total TDs in 1981. However, the Heisman finalist from Cal was anticipated to be one of the best rushers the league had ever seen when the New Orleans Saints drafted him #3 overall in 1976, and while he performed very well on the field, his off-field issues- mainly a tendency to ignore his coaches and an increasingly severe cocaine addiction- hindered his potential and led to a trade to the San Diego Chargers in 1980. He continued to play well in California, but his issues also continued, and he was traded to the Dolphins in 1984 after missing a flight to an away game... or, rather, would have been traded had a positive drug test not led to an indefinite suspension. He attempted a comeback the following year with the Vikings but was suspended again before he could see the field in the regular season and never played another snap. Muncie later became homeless and served a prison sentence for selling cocaine before he finally sobered up, and he died from a heart attack in 2013.
• Lawrence Phillips was drafted at #6 in 1996 by the St. Louis Rams. While a highly productive RB on the field in college at Nebraska, he had numerous character concerns including several assault charges and NCAA investigations and he was released by the Rams during his second season due to off-field misconduct. He attempted to catch on with the Dolphins, NFL Europe, the 49ers (which ended largely due to him missing a block on the hit that ended Steve Young's career), and finally the Arena and Canadian leagues, but his stays with each team were short-lived. This alone made him a tremendous draft bust, as the Rams missed out on a major star RB in Eddie George and five future Hall of Famers at other positions (not to mention infamously trading away future Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis to make way for Phillips), but his notoriety mainly comes from his off-field actions. Despite winning a Grey Cup in his first year with the Montreal Alouettes off a resurgent performance, he was cut from the team in the off-season due to another assault charge and was out of football entirely a year later. In 2009, Phillips was sentenced to a total of 31 years on multiple accounts from separate incidents, ranging from domestic abuse to running over three teenagers with his car. In 2015, he was charged with the first-degree murder of a cellmate whom he allegedly choked to death; Phillips claimed it was in self-defense after a gang-motivated attack. Nine months later, the day after a judge ruled that there was enough evidence to take him to trial for murder and with prosecutors seeking the death penalty, Phillips was found hanged in his cell. His death was ruled a suicide, though some have questioned that conclusion. His family donated his brain for a CTE study.
• Bernard Pollard was a journeyman safety who played for four teams from 2006-14, earning the moniker "Patriot Killer" for his propensity of being involved in season-altering injuries of four different Patriots players. He was drafted by the Chiefs in the 2nd round in 2006 out of Purdue, where he earned the moniker "Bonecrusher" for his hard hits and tackles. In 2008, he ended Tom Brady's season in Week 1 on a low hit that tore his MCL and ACL. This contributed to the Patriots missing the playoffs after narrowly missing a perfect 19-0 season the year prior, potentially keeping the dominant franchise from winning even more Super Bowls during the Brady-Belichick dynasty; it also caused the NFL to issue a rule banning defenders from lunging or diving at a quarterback's knees. Pollard then went to Houston for two seasons, where his reputation as a Patriot season-ender followed, as he played a hand in Wes Welker tearing his ACL and MCL in a 2009 game. After his time in Houston, he played two seasons in Baltimore, winning a Super Bowl. His Patriot Killer status endured: he sprained Rob Gronkowski's ankle in the 2011 AFC Championship game and in the following year's game was fined for another illegal hit on Welker and knocked RB Stevan Ridley out cold.^note Officials ruled that Ridley himself initiated the helmet collision, but the injury wound up derailing his once promising career. He played two more seasons with the Titans to finish out his career, racking up more fines for late hits.
• Lance Rentzel was a WR drafted by the Vikings in the second round in 1965 out of Oklahoma. He played for two seasons in Minnesota as a valuable special teams contributor, then was traded to the Dallas Cowboys, where he broke out and became one of the league's most dominant receivers for a time. However, his career was marred by off-field troubles. He was arrested in 1966 for exposing himself to two young girls while playing with the Vikings and pled guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct. He was also arrested for exposing himself to another young girl in 1970, which likely ended his career with the Cowboys, resulting in a trade to the Rams in 1971, where he was also suspended for ten months in 1973 for marijuana possession before being cut in 1975. These incidents were alluded to in an episode of King of the Hill and became the catalyst of his divorce to his wife, starlet Joey Heatherton.
• Ray Rice was a RB for the Baltimore Ravens from 2008-14. A second round pick out of Rutgers, Rice was a key factor in the Ravens ground game, using his speed and smaller than average size to duck past incoming tackles. However, he became infamous during the 2014 offseason when he was caught on security cameras at an Atlantic City casino dragging his unconscious then-fiancée (now wife) from an elevator, in a suspected case of domestic abuse. The Ravens and the league decided to take this matter seriously by... voicing their support of Rice and giving him a mild 2-game suspension without pay, reasoning in a bizarre press conference that he and his fiancée claimed it was a mutual fight and that Rice was going into an intervention program. This led to widespread public outrage, who pointed out a double standard in punishment when the league was suspending players for substance abuse and steroid use with 4 or 5 game suspensions. In response, the league decided to make the official policy for domestic violence a 6-game suspension (with ability to change depending on severity) for the first case, and indefinite suspension in the second incident for all future cases. Seven months latter, celebrity news website TMZ released previously unseen security camera footage from inside the elevator, which showed the physical fight was all Rice's doing. Within hours of the video's release, the Ravens released him and the NFL put him on indefinite suspension. While the suspension was later reversed on appeal based on the double jeopardy argument that the original 2-game punishment had already been applied, no team was willing to take him and his several tons of bad publicity on board, and he was out of football for good. Rice has to some degree rehabilitated himself since that episode; he has given many speeches at NFL rookie camps, essentially telling the young players not to do what he did; he and his wife (yes, the same woman he'd knocked unconscious) have spoken out against domestic violence; and he started a nonprofit benefiting underprivileged children in the Baltimore and NYC areas. His relationship with the Ravens has been repaired enough that he's been welcomed to team facilities to speak to the current players, and the team introduced him as one of its "Legends of the Game" (one step short of its ring of honor) near the end of the 2023 season.
• Greg Robinson was an OT drafted #2 overall in 2014 by the St. Louis Rams out of Auburn. Freakishly athletic for his immense size, Robinson was widely considered the "safest" draft prospect available that year. While he immediately won the Rams starting LT job, he struggled badly over the next three seasons, regularly getting beaten by speedy edge rushers and committing among the most penalties for o-linemen in the league. By his fourth season, the Rams signed Andrew Whitworth to replace Robinson, who was traded to the Lions for a meager 6th round pick, then waived during the season after suffering an injury. He then signed with Cleveland as a backup, moving into the starting role after a series of injuries late in the season. He played well enough to earn a second contract with the Browns and remained a starter the following season, but his struggles returned and he was ejected from a game for kneeing an opposing player in the head. Already considered a massive draft bust, his reputation turned to flat-out notorious during the early 2020 offseason. While a free agent, Robinson was caught with over 150 lbs of marijuana in his car and sentenced to five years probation and fined $5,000. In 2022, he was arrested in Louisiana on additional drug trafficking charges, with police reportedly finding over $120,000 worth of drugs in his SUV. Adding insult to injury, the Rams missed out on dozens of future Pro Bowlers, including three OTs.
• Reggie Rogers was a DE drafted #7 overall out of Washington in 1987 by the Lions. Rogers' time in Detroit was cut short in October 1988, when he killed three teens while drunk driving. He broke his neck in the accident, and Detroit finally waived him in July 1989. Rogers served 13 months for manslaughter, and later had brief stints with Buffalo, Tampa Bay, and the CFL. Rogers only played 15 games in the NFL, with 2 starts and died in 2013 from a cocaine and alcohol overdose. Reggie was the younger brother of former UCLA and Browns safety Don Rogers, who was drafted #18 in 1984 and named to the All-Rookie team. Don died from a cocaine overdose in 1986, the day before his wedding and a week after Len Bias, who had just been drafted by the NBA's Boston Celtics, met the same demise.
• Bill Romanowski was a LB drafted in the third round out of Boston College in 1988 who played 16 years in the NFL, winning four Super Bowls (two with the San Francisco 49ers, two with the Denver Broncos, and then played in a fifth with the Oakland Raiders^note he also played with the Eagles). He is more widely known as one of, if not the, dirtiest players in NFL history. Some of his most infamous incidents include: kicking Cardinals RB Larry Centers in the head, intentionally breaking the finger of Giants RB Dave Meggett (see above) in a pile-up for a loose football, breaking the jaw of Panthers QB Kerry Collins (see below under "Disappointments") with an illegal hit in a preseason game, spitting in the face of 49ers WR J.J. Stokes, throwing a punch at Chiefs TE Tony Gonzalez, and throwing the football at the groin of Jets LB Bryan Cox. Even his own teammates weren't safe, as Raiders TE Marcus Williams found out when Romanowski punched him the face during a practice scuffle, crushing his eye socket and ending his career. (Williams later successfully sued him for $3.4 million.) After he retired in 2003, Romanowski was embroiled in the BALCO scandal, where he admitted to using anabolic steroids and synthetic testosterone while playing and taking steps to get around NFL drug testing policies. In 2023, he was sued by the federal government for over $15 million in back taxes.
• Robert Rozier^note also known as Robert Rameses, a name given to him by the FBI to hide his true identity (only for his new name to be leaked anyway) was a DE drafted out of Cal in the ninth round in 1979 by the Cardinals. Rozier's career was over almost before it began, as he played only six games before drug issues and accusations of unspecified petty crimes derailed his career. He attempted to revive it with the CFL and was briefly signed to the Raiders, but was cut before ever playing a game for them. After washing out of pro football, Rozier became involved with the cult known as Nation of Yahweh, and it's here that his notoriety begins. In a bid to be initiated into the cult's inner circle, known as the "Brotherhood", Rozier participated in the murders of at least four people (though many believe the true number to be higher). In 1986, Rozier accepted a plea deal in exchange for his testimony against the cult and its leader and was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison; he was ultimately paroled in 1996 after serving 10 years, claiming to be a changed man and expressing remorse for his crimes. In 1999, however, Rozier was arrested again, this time for passing a series of bad checks, and in 2001 was sentenced to 25 years to life on the basis of California's controversial "three strikes" law.
• Henry Ruggs was a WR drafted #12 overall by the Raiders in 2020 out of Alabama. Making headlines for posting near-record performances at the NFL Combine with a 4.27s 40-yard-dash and a 42-inch vertical jump, Ruggs was expected to be a critical weapon for the team following his rookie season. However, in November 2021, he was involved in a car accident where he rear-ended another vehicle, setting it on fire and killing an occupant and her dog. Prosecutors stated that his blood alcohol was twice Nevada's legal limit, and that he was traveling at 156 mph seconds before the crash and 127 mph when his vehicle's airbags deployed. Ruggs was released by the Raiders later that day and accepted a plea deal that will see him serve 3 to 10 years in prison.
• Darrell Russell was the #2 overall pick in 1997, drafted by the Oakland Raiders out of USC. The DT looked primed to become one of the league's top pass rushers, earning Pro Bowl nods in his second and third seasons, but multiple failed drug tests soon turned into multiple suspensions; he missed all of 2002 from a suspension (during which he was accused of a heinous sexual assault charge that was later dropped), was cut by the Raiders, and lasted just eight games in Washington before receiving an indefinite suspension from the league. Just two years later, he and a former USC teammate were killed in a car accident; Russell was 29 years old.
• Art Schlichter was an Ohio State QB drafted #4 overall by the Colts in 1982. Schlichter was the first QB taken in a weak draft class (only Jim McMahon, who was drafted right after him, had any real success), and he failed to win the starting job from 4th rounder Mike Pagel. Their combined bad performance led to the Colts having the #1 pick next year, which led to the John Elway debacle, which then led to the Colts leaving for Indianapolis. Schlichter went 0-6 as a starter before being cut in 1985. After the Colts, he signed with Buffalo, but then the USFL folded and gave the Bills Jim Kelly. Schlichter went to the CFL and the Arena Football League, where he was the MVP in 1990 and retired in 1993. He is more notable, however, for the extent of his gambling addiction, which began in high school and got even worse by the time he went pro. (Schlichter was suspended for the entire 1983 season.) After his career was over, he had numerous run-ins with the law (fake ticket scams, bad checks, and robberies) to feed his addiction. After spending a better part of the '90s and '00s in jail, he appeared to turn his life around, even starting a charity for fellow addicts, but he was soon arrested again for scamming the widow of a former Wendy's executive for millions of dollars in another ticket scam. Schlichter was paroled in 2021 after serving 9 years for the Wendy's scam. Schlichter has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, dementia, and CTE, as a result of his concussions.
• Darren Sharper was a safety who played for the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, and New Orleans Saints after being drafted in the second round in 1997 out of William & Mary. Sharper was one of the best safeties in the NFL in the late '90s and '00s, retiring after 2010 with the 6th-most interceptions in league history and playing in two Super Bowls: XXXII, a loss for the Packers, and XLIV, a win for the Saints. Sharper was beginning a career in broadcasting when it came out that he had drugged and raped at least nine women between 2011 and '14. He pleaded guilty to multiple counts of sexual assault and was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2016. A month later, he was the spark of a controversy regarding the Hall of Fame when he was nominated for induction in spite of his crimes, as voters are technically prohibited from taking off-field issues into account. In spite of this stipulation, it is considered unlikely that he will be inducted, as inducting a convicted serial rapist would be a major blow to the Hall's reputation.
• O. J. Simpson was an all-time great Hall of Fame RB, but everyone today knows him as the defendant in the most famous murder trial/media circus of the 1990s; see his own page for more.
• Aldon Smith was a DE and a prominent example of a promising player's career being derailed by criminal behavior. Smith was drafted #7 overall in 2011 out of Missouri by the San Francisco 49ers. Despite not even starting in his rookie season, he immediately broke out as one of the greatest defensive players in the league, becoming the fastest player ever to pass 30 sacks by his second season and being a key element in the Niners' run to a Super Bowl XLVII appearance. However, Smith had already begun to experience off-field legal issues for DUI and assault charges, and he checked into rehab during his third season. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, and he was let go by the Niners after committing a hit and run in 2015. He signed across the bay with the Raiders but was subsequently suspended for a year. The suspension grew longer as Smith continued to have run-ins with the law and served jail time for the hit and run, and after a domestic violence incident with his fiancée in 2018, the Raiders cut him. After staying out of the headlines for a few years, Smith was reinstated in 2020 and attempted to mount a comeback with the Cowboys, returning to the NFL after a five-year absence. He put up a solid performance, even scoring his first career touchdown... only to be cut the next offseason after yet another domestic violence charge. He signed with the Seahawks in 2021, was cut before the season began, and arrested for felony DUI later that year that earned him a one-year prison sentence.
• Anthony Smith was a DE drafted #11 overall by the Raiders out of Arizona in 1990. He managed a solid if unspectacular 8-year career with the team, getting 57.5 sacks before abruptly opting out of his contract and leaving after 1997. His personal struggles and frequent legal problems overshadowed his on-field performance. Smith's second marriage, to singer Denise Matthews (better known as Vanity) lasted just a year before ending in divorce. Shortly afterwards, Smith was charged with domestic violence toward another woman. Things rapidly went From Bad to Worse when, in 2003, Smith was charged with firebombing a furniture store in Santa Monica following a dispute with the owner; this charge was dismissed by deadlocked juries. In 2011, Smith and two others were charged with the 2008 murder of Maurillo Ponce. While awaiting re-trial in 2012, Smith was charged with three more murders - those of brothers Kevin and Ricky Nettles, kidnapped from an L.A. car wash in 1999 before being shot^note per testimony during the subsequent trial, Smith had impersonated a police officer and was accused of torturing the brothers before killing them, and the 2011 kidnapping and stabbing death of Dennis Henderson. In 2015, the jury found Smith guilty of the murders of the Nettles brothers and of Henderson, adding that they found "special circumstance" citing Smith committing kidnapping, torture, and multiple murders. While still delivering a hung jury verdict on the Ponce murder charge, Smith was sentenced in 2016 to three consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
• Onterrio Smith was a RB for the Vikings, who drafted him in the 4th round in 2003 out of Oregon. Originally a player at Tennessee, he was kicked off the team for failing drug tests and transferred to Oregon, an early sign of problems to come. Smith played well initially but was suspended twice for violations of the league's substance abuse policy. During the 2005 offseason, he was caught going through airport security with a "Whizzinator", a device commonly used to beat drug tests (we'll leave it to you to figure out how). Contrary to popular belief, possessing such a device wasn't against league rules^BackgroundThe Whizzinator is essentially useless for beating NFL drug testing protocols. Hint: Players are required to take off their shirts and drop their pants and underwear to their knees, while being observed from the front., but was still an incredibly bad look for a player with a drug history. Less than a month after this incident, he failed a third drug test, triggering a full-season suspension. Smith was released by the Vikings and attempted to catch on in the CFL, but he was quickly released and out of football. The "Whizzinator" incident was one of several embarrassing controversies for the Vikings during that era while Mike Tice (see his entry in "Notorious Non-Player Figures" below) was head coach.
• Donté Stallworth played WR for several teams. The Tennessee product was drafted #13 overall by the Saints in 2002 and played for the Eagles, Patriots, and Browns before he was suspended in 2009 after he pled guilty to vehicular manslaughter for driving drunk and killing a jaywalking pedestrian in Miami. He received the lightest sentence of any NFL player convicted of killing another person, 24 days in jail and five years' probation.^note While often explained as Stallworth getting a favorable sentence due to being an athlete, this likely had as much more to do with the circumstances of the accident, which occurred the morning after Stallworth had been drinking on a six-lane causeway, and Stallworth taking full accountability for his death. After his suspension, he was released by the Browns and had stints with Baltimore, Washington and New England. Since his playing career ended in 2013, he has been active in political journalism.
• Jerramy Stevens was a TE drafted #28 overall out of Washington in 2002 by the local Seahawks. A fairly average player his whole career, he spent his first five years in Seattle, including going to Super Bowl XL, where he infamously mocked the idea of Steelers RB Jerome Bettis winning a championship in his hometown before the Seahawks lost (in part due to him dropping three passes). Stevens gained more notoriety off the field thanks to a lengthy rap sheet dating back to his high school days, including sexual assault allegations, multiple assault and DUI arrests, and a hit-and-run incident where he plowed his car into a senior home. After serving a suspension for one of these incidents, he spent his final four playing years with Tampa Bay before retiring in 2010. He has continued to struggle with legal issues since, notably injuring his fiancée, soccer goalie Hope Solo, in a domestic incident the day before their wedding, and driving drunk while she was a passenger in a team van during a 2015 women's national team training camp, resulting in a suspension for her and a 30-day jail sentence for him.
• Dana Stubblefield was a powerful DT for the San Francisco 49ers, who drafted him #26 overall out of Kansas in 1993. He won Defensive Rookie of the Year and later was Defensive Player of the Year in 1997 right before entering free agency; he underperformed after signing a massive contract with Washington and bounced around the league to a number of teams (including returning to San Francisco) before retiring in 2004. One of those teams was the Oakland Raiders, which led to him being entangled in the BALCO scandal; he exchanged a light sentence of two years probation in return for providing names of teammates who also used the lab's steroids. More seriously, Stubblefield was later convicted of sexually assaulting a disabled woman and was sentenced to 15 to life in 2020.
• Jack Tatum was a hard-hitting safety drafted #19 overall out of Ohio State in 1971 by the Oakland Raiders. Nicknamed "The Assassin", he often said his best hits "bordered on felonious assault", and while his unrepentant viciousness helped to define the '70s Raiders image and brought them a Super Bowl, it is also likely the reason he won't be enshrined in Canton anytime soon. He's (in)famous for paralyzing Patriots wide receiver Darryl Stingley during the 1978 preseason (Stingley died years later from complications of the injury); while the hit was legal and the injury was to some degree a freak accident (Stingley himself would indicate in interviews later in life that he saw it as such), Tatum's lack of remorse, including the revelation that he never even apologized to Stingley, didn't help his case. He was the Raiders defender involved in Pittsburgh's famous "Immaculate Reception" and also set the NFL record for the longest fumble return in NFL history (104 yards for a touchdown). Tatum retired in 1980 after a season with the Oilers. He was himself plagued with health issues later in life stemming in part from his football injuries, lost a leg due to diabetes complications in the early '00s, and died from a heart attack in 2010.
• Jim Tyrer was an OT who spent most of his career with the Kansas City Chiefs. Drafted out of Ohio State in the AFL's third round by the Dallas Texans (who became the Chiefs in 1963),^*the Bears also picked him in the 14th round of the NFL draft (this being before the days of the combined draft), but he chose to go with the Chiefs and never played a snap for the Bears he was an 8-time AFL All-Star from 1962-69, had two more All-Pro seasons after the 1970 merger with the NFL, helped the Chiefs win 3 AFL titles (the first as the Texans) and a Super Bowl, and was named to the all-AFL team. However, his on-field accomplishments have been overshadowed by the circumstances of his premature death. In 1980, depressed over financial struggles (and possibly suffering from CTE, a condition that only came to public attention several years later), Tyrer shot his wife before turning the gun on himself. This tragic final chapter to his life is cited as the main reason for his not being enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
• Dimitrius Underwood was a DL selected #29 overall by the Vikings in 1999 out of Michigan State. Despite missing his final college season due to injury, Underwood became a "workout warrior," dominating pre-draft workouts to improve his draft stock. Despite warnings from the Michigan State coaching staff that he was not "mentally stable" enough to play pro football, the Vikings had found him completely normal in their interview. He signed his rookie contract with the Vikings on the first day of training camp... only to walk out on the organization a day later, claiming that playing football "conflicted with his Christian faith".^note Per a 2010 Yahoo Sports article, Underwood would write notes about the apocalypse on tiny scraps of paper. He was released, the fastest first round pick to be cut from his team in the modern era^note Some first round draft picks have never signed with their drafting team, but he was the fastest to be released after signing. and forced to pay back his $1.7 million signing bonus. He later signed with Miami but was released after one preseason game when he was placed under protective psychiatric care and attempted to escape. He then spent two years as a reserve with Dallas where his career ended following a suicide attempt. Underwood was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, made a brief appearance in the CFL, and then spent several years in prison for robbery and assault charges. He still stands as both one of the most immediate busts in NFL history and a prime example of the NFL failing to recognize and care for players struggling with mental illness.
• Michael Vick was a star for the Atlanta Falcons who redefined the "mobile QB" archetype for the 21st century, though his legacy was unfortunately tainted by a major off-field controversy. Entering the league in the 2001 Draft with tremendous hype out of Virginia Tech, Vick became the first ever African-American QB to be drafted #1 overall. While there were athletic QBs before him, Vick was at a level all on his own, setting records for career QB rushing yards (6,109) and yards per carry for any position (7) that still stand today. In 2006, he became the first NFL QB to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season. Throw in a massively strong arm (albeit with questionable accuracy and decision making), he proved that rushing QBs could see sustained success at the pro level. His playstyle made him immensely popular among younger fans, particularly those who used his attributes to great success in Madden NFL 2004, whose cover indicated his status as a Game-Breaker. However, Vick's career came to a screeching halt in 2007 when it was discovered that he and three friends ran an illegal dogfighting operation known as "Bad Newz Kennels" at his home in Virginia. Vick was sent to prison for 2 years and pretty much became Persona Non Grata with football fans. After being released from prison, he signed a short-term contract with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2009 and became the team's starter partway through the 2010 season. Following his whirlwind Redemption Quest, he proved to still be an excellent QB, leading the Eagles to the playoffs, winning Comeback Player of the Year, scoring a new endorsement deal with Nike, and even lobbying in support of a bill that would prosecute those who attend illegal animal fights or bring children to them. He almost returned to his pre-dogfighting level of popularity, but the general public still hadn't forgiven him, and the notoriously harsh Eagles fans turned on him quickly once he began to regress in 2012. After brief backup stints with the Jets and Steelers, he retired after signing a ceremonial contract with the Falcons in 2017. Over a decade after his incarceration, Vick's name remains a shorthand for the practice of dogfighting and animal abuse. That said, he is still highly lauded for his play on the field and is known for being something of a Fountain of Expies, as his success paved the way for a wave of QBs that are every bit as gifted with their legs (and sometimes more so) than they are with their arms—usually, as young players, they tend to be compared to Vick. Since 2017, Vick has worked as an analyst for Fox Sports.
• Deshaun Watson was at one point one of the NFL's most promising talents, and while the story of his career is still being written, it seems likely that his off-field actions will overshadow his once-promising performance on the gridiron. Watson was drafted #12 overall by the Houston Texans in 2017 after he led Clemson to a national championship the year prior. Despite sustaining an ACL injury in his rookie season that cut his first campaign short, he soon broke out as one of the league's premier QBs, taking the Texans to AFC South titles in his next two Pro Bowl seasons. In 2020, the Texans signed him to a massive contract, after which he led the league in passing yards, briefly sat on top of the all-time career passer rating list... and led the floundering team to a 4-12 record. Frustrated with the Texans' inepititude, Watson held out from playing in 2021 in order to force a trade. However, at the same time, over twenty different women that Watson had employed as massage therapists filed a series of civil lawsuits and a police report against him, all alleging he had committed acts of sexual assault or misconduct during their sessions. Later investigations revealed that he had met with dozens of masseuses while in Houston, a highly unusual number for pro athletes who typically just have one, and he admitted to having sexual encounters with many of them that drove at least one to tears. These accusations ensured that no teams extended trade offers... until a grand jury declined to indict on any criminal charges in 2022. With jail time off the table, Watson and the Texans agreed to terms with the Cleveland Browns, who offered him another historically massive—and completely guaranteed— contract, plus a substantial set of picks for Houston. Two years in, this move has yet to pay any dividends for the Browns' massive investment, as an 11-game suspension and numerous injuries have kept him off the field and hurt his performance when he has been able to play.
• Warren Wells was one of pro football's saddest stories. A twelfth round pick in 1964 out of HBCU Texas Southern, Wells' time with the Lions was cut short when he was drafted into the Army after his rookie year. After returning from service, the receiver managed to land on the Oakland Raiders roster and broke out as a star on the young team, leading the AFL in receiving TDs in '68 and '69 and receiving yards in the latter season. However, Wells also faced numerous off-field legal issues due to assault charges, and his pro career was ended by a prison sentence in 1971. He subsequently struggled with drug addiction and extreme poverty, though he got clean before his death in 2018.
• Stanley Wilson was a RB for the Bengals, who drafted him in the ninth round in 1983 out of Oklahoma. While a capable part of Cincinnati's offense, Wilson's cocaine addiction resulted in him being suspended for all of 1985 and 1987 for violating the league's drug policy. His third and final strike could not have come at a worse time: the night before Super Bowl XXIII, when he was found high in a bathroom in the team's hotel during their final pre-game meeting. While his third strike would have resulted in an extended punishment regardless, his relapse on the night before the NFL's biggest event was treated as a major scandal by the media and ensured that he was issued a lifetime suspension. Several observers, including Bengals coach Sam Wyche, also questioned whether Wilson's absence cost them the championship, as he was in the midst of a hot streak. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, he continued to struggle with addiction after the incident and was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 1999 after stealing from a Beverly Hills home. Wilson's son, Stanley Jr., had a short career in the NFL, and also had a couple arrests to his name.
• Kellen Winslow II was a TE drafted #6 overall out of Miami in 2004 by the Cleveland Browns and the son of Hall of Fame tight end Kellen Winslow Sr. There were concerns about his character after an on-camera outburst during his college years, and he had a slow start, playing only two games in his first two seasons due to injury. However, he had a breakout season in 2006 and was named to the Pro Bowl in 2007. He was traded to Tampa two seasons later, with the team awarding him the biggest contract ever for a tight-end at that time. However, locker room difficulties led to him being traded to several other teams before a suspension for steroid use ended his playing career for good. He found greater infamy after his retirement. Winslow was arrested in 2018 and charged with three counts of rape, kidnapping, felony burglary, battery of an elder, and a plethora of other charges. He was later convicted of rape, a lewd act in public conduct, and indecent exposure, and later pled guilty to another count of rape and a sexual battery charge, accepting a 14-year prison sentence.
• Randall Woodfield never saw the field in the NFL or even made a final roster, as the WR was cut by the Packers during training camp after a 17th round draft selection in 1974 out of Portland State due to several cases of indecent exposure. However, out of the thousands of men ever drafted into the NFL, Woodfield has a strong case for being the most monstrous: seven years after the end of his short football career, he was arrested, convicted, and sentenced to life in prison for being the "I-5 Killer", a serial murderer and rapist suspected to have killed as many as 44 people throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Notorious Non-Player Figures

• Bruce Allen, the son of Hall of Fame coach George Allen (and brother to former Virginia governor/senator George Jr.), was an executive whose long and generally unsuccessful stints with various teams, most prominently his father's old team in Washington, was attributed to owners going off his name rather than his leadership ability. After several years as an exec with the Raiders, Allen was hired as GM of the Buccaneers in 2004, reuniting him with HC Jon Gruden. Middling results led to Allen being fired with Gruden after 2008, after which he was hired by Washington in 2010. His tenure there lasted a full decade despite poor on-field production; when the team fell off following the decline of Robert Griffin III (see under "QB Busts"), Allen abdicated the GM role but stayed in the building as team president and ultimately reclaimed GM duties in 2017. During this second tenure, Allen's lack of leadership was credited as one of the main reasons for both the team's on-field struggles and, more critically, their toxic office culture (see Daniel Snyder's entry below for more). Allen was finally fired after 2019, but his shadow continued to stretch over the league, as inappropriate and unprofessional emails that he had exchanged with Gruden while in Washington ultimately led to his firing from the Raiders in 2021 when they were unearthed in an investigation into the team's culture (see Gruden's entry below for more on that front).
• William "Lone Star" Dietz was a successful coach for a number of college teams in the early 20th century. He spent only two seasons in the NFL, where he put up an even .500 winning record with the Boston Redskins. He left a disproportionately long shadow on the league's history, however, due to being one of the most common defenses for the Washington Commanders' former moniker. The team's founder George Preston Marshall (see below) and subsequent owners claimed that the "Redskins" name, viewed by many as a derogatory slur for Native Americans, was adopted to honor their then-coach, who claimed to be a member of Sioux Nation. One problem: he likely wasn't. Rather, Dietz, the son of two white parents, adopted a native identity for much of his adult life in order to promote his art, play for coach Pop Warner's famous football team at Carlisle Indian School, and attempt to avoid being drafted in World War I. He was brought to court on that last charge, where the sister of the real James Lone Star, an MIA veteran whose identity he had stolen for his draft registration, testified against him.^note While it is possible that Dietz genuinely believed he had some native ancestry, this case confirmed he was at least guilty of identity fraud. Washington's team ignored this evidence for decades and continued to cite him as the "Indian coach" who had inspired the team name, even though a) they had already played a prior season as the "Boston Braves" with a white head coach, and b) the name change wasn't directly associated with him until after his death in 1967.
• Chuck Fairbanks rose to prominence as a coach at Oklahoma from 1967-72. In 1973, he agreed to become the HC of the New England Patriots. Afterwards, it was found that his Sooners team had used ineligible players, resulting in the forfeiture of nine games. He coached the Patriots from 1973-78, making the playoffs twice and bringing the 3-4 defense to the NFL, but his tenure was marred by controversy, as he constantly feuded with his players. In 1978, he was suspended for one game for breaching his contract by agreeing to become HC of Colorado. He was sued by the Patriots and, during the course of the lawsuit, was found to have recruited players to play for him at Colorado while working for the Patriots, which won the Patriots an injunction preventing him from leaving, but his contract was bought out by Colorado boosters. He proved to not be worth the effort, as he put up a terrible record both at Colorado and in the USFL for the New Jersey Generals. He died from brain cancer in 2013.
• Frank Gansz, nicknamed "Crash" for his history as a jet fighter pilot who had flown combat missions, had served as a special teams coach in the college and pro ranks for decades before his unexpected ascent to the head coach position for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1987. His promotion was one of the stranger ones in the annals of the NFL; his predecessor, John Mackovic, had just broken the Chiefs' 15-year playoff drought, but he had constantly clashed with ownership and players alike and most had attributed their success to special teams unit (which scored all 24 of the Chiefs points in the regular season finale). Mackovic was fired, and Gansz rose from relative obscurity to the HC position of the team... at which point his past life was given much closer media scrutiny. As it turned out, Gansz had lied about (or at least greatly exaggerated) many parts of his resume, both regarding his coaching and pilot careers; notably, while he had flown some planes during his Navy service, they had almost all been training flights and none were anywhere close to combat zones.^note Gansz would claim that many of the inaccurate reports about his service had been the results of team press materials misquoting him, which may have been true, but his resume did contain many inaccuracies. This controversy, coupled with a very poor win record, led to Gansz being fired after two seasons, though he continued to land assistant spots for years (including with the Super Bowl-winning St. Louis Rams). He passed away in 2009.
• Jon Gruden was the youngest HC in the NFL when he was hired by the Oakland Raiders in 1998. Gruden revived the team's prospects, and his personality fit with the cultivated "bad boy" Raiders image; he quickly earned the nickname "Chucky" for his reddish hair, fiery temperament, and the psychotic scowl he frequently sported on the sidelines. In a very rare move, the Raiders agreed to trade Gruden to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002 for cash and draft picks. This backfired in incredibly dramatic fashion, as Gruden took the Bucs to a Super Bowl victory against his former team in his very first year. He became known as something of a quarterback guru, as he frequently revitalized the career of older veterans (Rich Gannon, Brad Johnson) or got better-than-expected performances out of late-round draft picks. However, inconsistent performance in the years after the Super Bowl cost him the job after 2008. From 2009-17, he served as the color commentator for ESPN's Monday Night Football and gained fame for his popular pre-Draft show Jon Gruden's QB Camp. Rumors circulated every offseason that some team would hire Gruden to be their HC, leading to inevitable comparisons between him and John Madden, as both won Super Bowls as head coaches before entering careers in broadcasting at relatively young ages. Gruden actually followed through, returning to the Raiders in 2018 under a massive ten-year contract. However, he was forced to resign early in the 2021 season after a number of his emails containing discriminatory language (much of it directed towards NFL owners and Commissioner Goodell) were leaked to the press, which also caused the Buccaneers to remove his name from their Ring of Honor.
• George Preston Marshall was the founder and longtime owner of the Washington Redskins. Marshall was known for using many innovations to build his fan base (e.g. gala halftime shows and cheerleaders) and for pushing for rule changes to make the game more exciting. However, he was also the NFL's leading bigot for 40 years. Marshall not only named his team the Redskins but was also a leading figure in organizing the so-called "gentlemen's agreement" that kept black players out of the NFL from 1933 until 1946. Even after this agreement caved, Marshall was such a bigot (and was so desperate to cater to his bigoted white Southern fanbase) that he refused to sign black players for well over a decade, even when the team failed to make a single playoff during that time. It took until 1962 for the team to desegregate when the government literally forced him to (they owned the stadium he was leasing); they drafted the first black Heisman winner, Ernie Davis, with their #1 pick, only for Davis to refuse to play for the league's most racist franchise. The next year, Marshall was still inducted into the Hall of Fame as part of its charter class just before he suffered a debilitating stroke that left him legally incompetent to run the team in the final years of his life. In 2020, after a protest group defaced a statue of Marshall in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, the organization he had founded removed his name from their Ring of Fame shortly before dropping the "Redskins" name entirely. Despite calls for his removal, he remains a member of the Hall of Fame.
• Bobby Petrino had two decades of experience as a QB coach for multiple programs, mostly at the college level besides a brief stint with the Jaguars, before becoming a successful head coach at Louisville. In 2007, just a few months after signing a multi-million dollar 10-year contract with the school, Petrino took the HC job with the Atlanta Falcons, who were seeking to improve Michael Vick's passing ability. Just a few months after his hire, however, Vick's dogfighting scandal (see above) ended his time with the Falcons, greatly weakening the team. Though Petrino was widely unpopular in the locker room and brought the Falcons only three wins by December, he personally promised owner Arthur Blank that he would stick with Atlanta for the long run. Less than 24 hours later, he quit to take a job as HC at Arkansas with three games left in the season, signing his third long-term contract in 18 months and only informing his players through a four-sentence note left in their lockers rather than face them himself. His HC tenure is seen by many as one of the most shameful in NFL history due to his Rage Quit, Chronic Backstabbing Disorder, and Dirty Coward tendencies. His post-NFL career was somehow even worse; see his entry on Collegiate American Football Non-Player Figures.
• Jerry Richardson was the founding owner of the Carolina Panthers and the first former player to own an NFL franchise since the legendary George "Papa Bear" Halas. Though he only played two seasons as a wide receiver for the Baltimore Colts, he did catch a touchdown reception in the 1959 NFL Championship. He allegedly used his bonus from winning that game to buy his first franchise in the new Hardee's fast food chain, the start of a business venture that made him a billionaire by the '90s and allowed him to purchase an NFL expansion franchise. However, his reputation plummeted after a 2018 investigation found him guilty of multiple instances of workplace sexual harassment and racism towards his employees; Richardson was fined $2.75 million by the NFL for his misconduct and was forced to sell the team. He passed away in 2023.
• Stephen Ross is the current owner of the Miami Dolphins, purchasing the team and taking control in 2009. He was one of the league's more forgettable owners in that span, being particularly overshadowed by the famous minority owners he brought on board (including Gloria Estefan, Marc Anthony, Fergie, and the Williams sisters) and the team's generally middling on-field performance. That reputation changed in February 2022 when former head coach Brian Flores, who was fired after two straight winning seasons, filed a federal lawsuit against the NFL alleging systemic racial discrimination against minority coaches and executives. In the lawsuit, Flores alleged that Ross offered him a $100,000 bonus for every game he lost in the Dolphins’ 2019 campaign while attempting to "tank" for the #1 overall draft pick, suggesting that he had only been hired as a temporary stopgap during a rebuild and that he would have been eventually fired no matter how his teams performed. The suit also alleged that Ross set up Flores to meet a "prominent quarterback" for another team against league tampering rules, later revealed to be Tom Brady. In August 2022, following a league investigation, Ross was fined $1.5 million, suspended from involvement with the team for three months, and lost the Dolphins' 1st and 3rd round draft picks for tampering with Brady and then-Saints coach Sean Payton while they were still under contract with their former teams, suggesting that his under-the-table offers were responsible for both men's sudden and temporary "retirements" shortly before the Flores lawsuit was filed. ^note Brady unretired to play the 2022 season before retiring for real, and Payton has since returned to coaching with the Denver Broncos.
• Daniel Snyder owned the Washington Commanders from 1999-2023 and established himself in that tenure as one of the most hated/ridiculed owners in the league, tanking one of America's premier sports franchises into a laughing stock that ranked at the bottom of the NFL in fan attendance. Snyder was a key figure in the controversy over his team's former name, as he stubbornly refused to drop the "Redskin" title that many tribes identified as a slur for years until the threat of an advertiser boycott in 2020 finally forced his hand. Even die-hard fans of the team and defenders of the old mascot struggled to defend Snyder himself, as his tenure saw only six winning seasons and two playoff wins despite—or because of—his hands-on management style that often involved snapping up loads of (often past-their-prime) expensive free agents, pledging to cut back in the next offseason, and going back to his old tricks in the next year. Most seriously, numerous former employees, from team cheerleaders to front office staff to even players, accused the organization of developing a toxic workplace environment under Snyder. An NFL investigation determined the veracity of multiple claims of sexual harassment and discrimination, some levied at directly at Snyder himself. Snyder was even investigated by Congress for both the harassment allegations and accusations of financial impropriety, having been accused of running multiple books to avoid paying both taxes and fees to the NFL. The league fined Snyder multiple times for a total of $70 million and suspended him from day-to-day team management for his final years, eventually forcing him to sell the team in 2023 to an ownership group led by Philadelphia 76ers owner Josh Harris (for about $6 billion, about eight times what he initially paid for it). Outside of his many critics in the football world, Snyder is also very disliked in other circles, particularly among Amusement Park fans for being the chairman of Six Flags who helped drive that chain into bankruptcy and near-extinction before being ousted.
• Jimmy Snyder^note no relation to Daniel, above; his birth name was Dimetrios Georgios Synodinos, better known as Jimmy the Greek, was a Vegas bookmaker whose rough charm made him a popular sports commentator on CBS in the '70s and '80s and helped to popularize betting on the NFL. While sports betting was taboo in that era, Snyder got around the censors by just "guessing" the final score, which was enough for gamblers to know where he fell in relation to the money line. Snyder made frequent appearances as a bookie in media like The Cannonball Run, and "the Greek" title became synonymous with sports betting in the popular consciousness. However, he is now more infamously known for how his TV career ended. In the build-up to Super Bowl XXII, where Doug Williams was set to be the first black starting QB in the Super Bowl, and on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, he made some bizarre and offensive offhand comments about African-American athletes, connecting their athletic prowess to alleged breeding practices by 19th century slave owners. Snyder was promptly fired by CBS, and "the Greek" name subsequently became shorthand for being a Know-Nothing Know-It-All in shows like The Golden Girls and The Simpsons (which dedicated an entire episode to parodying him). Snyder died in 1996.
• Mike Tice was the head coach of the Minnesota Vikings from 2002-05. Prior to that, he was an undrafted TE out of Maryland in 1981 who played 14 seasons for Seattle, Washington and Minnesota. Upon his retirement, he entered Minnesota's coaching ranks and was promoted to HC before the last game of the 2001 season after the firing of Dennis Green. Tice held onto the position and put up a middling record until 2005, when he became the target of an NFL investigation into a Super Bowl ticket scalping incident; he was fined $100,000 after he admitted guilt, still the highest fine ever for a coach without GM responsibilities. Tice is more infamous, however, for the 2005 "Love Boat" scandal, in which seventeen key members of the Vikings, including star QB Daunte Culpepper, took part in a crazed sex party spanning two houseboats on Lake Minnetonka during the team's bye week. These mounting scandals conveyed a embarrassingly unprofessional culture, and Tice's contract was allowed to expire. He continued on as an assistant coach for several teams before retiring in 2018.
• Gregg Williams had been a prominent defensive coach for numerous teams for over a decade in the NFL, including a brief stint as the HC of the Buffalo Bills, before he became DC for the New Orleans Saints in 2009 and helped lead them to a Super Bowl championship. Declining performance and conflicts with HC Sean Payton led to Williams moving to the Rams in 2012... or, at least, it would have before it was revealed by an anonymous whistleblower^note rumored to be disgruntled TE Jeremy Shockey that he spearheaded a "bounty" program, creating a pool where bonuses were paid to defensive players who seriously injured key opposing players to remove them from the game. Further investigations in "Bountygate" revealed that he had similar pools with the other teams he coached. Williams was indefinitely suspended from the league, who were trying to distance themselves from the perception of football as a blood sport. However, he was reinstated after a single season (which seemed to be a case of Easily Forgiven, as there were calls to issue him a lifetime ban) and signed a contract to join the Titans' coaching staff within the day. He has continued to bounce around the league, even briefly returning to an (interim) HC position with the Cleveland Browns after the mid-season firing of Hue Jackson. He again gained notoriety in 2020 while DC of the Jets, where he openly critiqued the offense of HC Adam Gase while potentially angling to replace him as interim HC, only to cost them what would have been their first win of the season with a horrifically bad defensive play call on the final play of the game when the Jets gave up a game-winning touchdown; Williams was fired the next day.

Draft Busts

Some players have gained notoriety not for any misdeeds or criminal activity, but simply for failing to perform up to the expectations of their draft position. While this happens all the time in every draft class, some are more notable than others. While generally a subjective list, here's a good rule to follow: If the player was drafted in the first round but released or traded for minimal compensation before the expiration of his rookie contract, he likely qualifies. Some successful college players who had merely servicable pro careers or who were not drafted highly can be found on the college football "Names to Know" page.

Quarterback Draft Bust Groups

Some QB busts are inextricably linked to one another, either being part of a particularly bad QB draft class together or being linked by some other factor like a particular college coach. Below are examples of such groupings.

• The Tedford Five are five quarterbacks drafted in the first round from the late '90s into the early '00s who were coached by Jeff Tedford in college and failed to live up to expectations once in the NFL. Tedford coached at Fresno State, Oregon, and Cal-Berkeley, where he developed future first round selections Trent Dilfer (1994 #6 overall pick to Tampa), Akili Smith (1999 #3 overall pick to Cincinnati), David Carr (2002 #1 overall pick to Houston), Joey Harrington (2002 #3 overall pick to Detroit), and Kyle Boller (2003 #19 overall pick to Baltimore). All had outstanding college careers in Tedford's system but failed to live up to the expectations of being first round draft choices in the NFL. Their collective win record as NFL starters is just 98-127 (.436), they combined for a meager completion percentage of 54.6%, threw more INTs (230) than TD passes (202), and posted an anemic combined QB rating 68.6.^note Keep in mind that passer ratings are on a scale from 0 to 158.3, not a percentage. In the 1990s and 2000s, the league average was between 75 and 83. The NFL's backlash toward the failures of Tedford's QBs likely greased the rails for Aaron Rodgers' (who played at Cal under Tedford) draft day slide to #24 overall. Rodgers ultimately bucked the trend (winning a Super Bowl and four league MVP awards), but was ironically the last first round pick QB produced by Tedford (who was later fired from Cal, served as an NFL OC for a time, then returned to Fresno State as head coach... twice).
  • Trent Dilfer is often considered the worst starting QB to ever win a Super Bowl, winning XXXV with the Baltimore Ravens during his only season with the team. He spent his first six years in Tampa and had one Pro Bowl season, but his play was very inconsistent and he wasn't resigned after his rookie contract expired. He signed with the Ravens in 2000 and was extremely fortunate to be in the right place at the right time; as a game manager of an limited, run-heavy offense, Dilfer basically just had to avoid mistakes thanks to having one of the NFL's most dominating defensive units of all time. Tellingly, he is the only Super Bowl-winning QB who was not retained by his team the following season. He spent the next four years backing up Matt Hasselback in Seattle. In 2003, he fell into a deep depression after his five-year-old son tragically died of a heart disease, but he spent a few more years as a backup in Cleveland and San Francisco before retiring in 2007 and entering a career as an analyst and coach. He is currently the HC at UAB.
  • Akili Smith was previously drafted by MLB's Pittsburgh Pirates in the 7th round and spent three years in the minor leagues before returning to football at Oregon. Despite only making 11 starts in college, the Bengals were very high on Smith. The Saints and coach Mike Ditka, who were looking to trade up for Ricky Williams, offered the Bengals all of their 1999 draft picks as well as two from the 2000 Draft, but the team refused because they wanted to make sure they landed Smith. Smith missed nearly all of his rookie training camp due to a contract dispute, and when he did arrive was not diligent in film study and failed to grasp the playbook. In four years in Cincy, he only started 17 games and finished with an abysmal 5-13 TD-INT ratio. He attempted to catch on in NFL Europe (becoming the highest drafted player to ever play in the league) and the CFL but flamed out in both. In addition to passing on the massive haul of draft picks offered by the Saints, the Bengals also missed on a number of other excellent players, as seven of the eight players drafted immediately after Smith went on to make at least one Pro Bowl (including Hall of Famers Edgerrin James and Champ Bailey).
  • David Carr was the first draft pick in the Houston Texans' history and became the starting QB right away, leading the Texans to an upset win over the Cowboys in week one (becoming only the second expansion team in league history to win their first game). However, Carr never really got a chance to show what he was capable of, as the lack of talent around him, particularly on the o-line, quickly became apparent: Carr was sacked an NFL record 76 times in his rookie year (somehow managing to start all 16 games despite this).^note He is also third on that list, being sacked 68 times three seasons later. In his five years as starter with the Texans, he never had a winning season, threw more INTs than TDs in three of the seasons, and was the most sacked QB in the NFL three more times. In large part due to the number of sacks he endured, Carr became the epitome of a "captain checkdown" QB, quickly getting the ball out of his hands with low-risk short passes that bogged down many drives. Released after his fifth season, he bounced around the league as a backup, playing just 18 games over the next six seasons. He was a backup on the Giants' Super Bowl XLVI championship squad (he did not attempt a pass that season), and was out of football after 2012. His reputation as a bust was so infamous that many believe it contributed to the draft-day slide of his younger brother, Raiders QB Derek Carr, who fell to the early second round of the 2014 draft but had a much better career than his brother. Carr currently works an an analyst.
  • Joey Harrington, selected two picks after David Carr, was heralded by local Detroit media as a "savior" for the long-suffering franchise following a Heisman finalist campaign. However, he struggled with turnovers during his Lions tenure, including a league-leading 22 INTs thrown in his second season. He also struggled to push the ball down the field with deep passes; his 5.8 YPA is the worst in NFL history among those with at least 1,500 attempts. After four sub-par years and a coaching staff overhaul, he was traded to Miami in the final year of the tumultuous Nick Saban era and continued to struggle. He next signed with Atlanta as a free agent the following offseason, where he was expected to back up superstar Michael Vick before he was arrested for his part in a dog-fighting scandal (see his entry under "Notorious Players" above), thrusting Harrington into the starting role once again. After another poor season in Atlanta, he briefly signed with New Orleans, was released, and out of football soon after. Both Carr and Harrington were drafted well before future Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed. He currently serves as a college football analyst for Fox Sports.
  • Kyle Boller was noted for his incredible arm strength, once throwing a football through the uprights from a kneeling position on the 50-yard during his college pro day. He managed to post a winning record as starter over his first two seasons while, like Trent Dilfer above, being the caretaker of a run-heavy Ravens offense, though the team failed to make the playoffs either season. Boller missed significant time during his third season to injury, prompting the Ravens to trade for Titans star QB Steve McNair, who led the Ravens to a 13-3 record and a playoff appearance. Boller took back the starting job after McNair was injured the following season, performing poorly in relief. Boller was hurt during the preseason of his fifth year, was placed on injured reserve, and was not retained after the expiration of his rookie contract. He bounced around to several more teams as a backup, only starting five games in four more seasons in the league, losing them all.
• The Draft Class of 2011 saw four QBs selected in the first round, all in the top 12 picks, of whom only Cam Newton (#1 overall) went on to NFL success. These three busts won just 33.6% of their starts, posted a barely positive 116-108 combined TD-INT ratio, and a pallid combined QB rating of 76.6 (10-12 points below the league average for the span of their starting careers). This draft holds the dubious distinction of being held during the 2011 NFL Lockout, which delayed free agency until after the draft and prevented teams from addressing needs, particularly at QB. It is widely believed that, had the offseason progressed under normal circumstances, several of the QB prospects selected would not have been taken as high, but their status as busts remains. Further salting the wound, the three QBs listed below were all taken ahead of second round picks Andy Dalton and Colin Kaepernick^note see their entries on the National Football League Quarterbacks page for more details, who would go on to much better careers, while Locker and Gabbert went ahead of future Hall of Famer J.J. Watt (selected by the divisional rival Texans in each case).
  • Jake Locker was drafted #8 overall by the Titans out of Washington. Athletic and possessing a strong arm, Locker was still wildly inconsistent (including a game where he went 4/20 passing with two INTs) and injury prone in college, finishing with a losing record as starter while completing a miserable 53% of his throws. Nonetheless, the Titans selected him in the first round thanks to his sky-high potential. He played sparingly as a rookie, becoming the only QB selected in the first round in the '10s to not make a start in his rookie year. He won the starting job his second season but missed four games with a shoulder injury and finished the year 4-7 as a starter with more INTs than TDs. A bevy of injuries then kept him off the field for most of the next two seasons. The Titans opted not to pick up his fifth year option, but Locker then announced his retirement anyway.
  • Blaine Gabbert was drafted #10 overall by the Jaguars out of Missouri. Despite a middling college career with rather pedestrian numbers, Gabbert rose on draft boards due to the potential suggested by his size and arm strength. He quickly took over as starter in his rookie season, but injuries, an INT problem, and a revolving door for his coaches led to him going 5-22 as starter in just three seasons; the Jaguars, an overall winning franchise prior to Gabbert's arrival, fell to the dregs of the NFL afterwards. Gabbert was traded to the 49ers for a sixth round pick, where he got into a battle for the starting job with fellow 2011 draft pick Colin Kaepernick and has bounced around the league, just managing to get his career TD-INT ratio on the positive side while winning Super Bowls LV and LVIII as a backup with the Buccaneers and Chiefs.
  • Christian Ponder was drafted #12 overall by the Vikings out of Florida State. A reliable three-year starter in college, Ponder possessed underwhelming physical tools and was not believed to have a high pro ceiling. Nonetheless, the Vikings surprised the draft community by taking him high, driven in large part by the lockout preventing the Vikings from acquiring a veteran to replace the retired Brett Favre. After the draft, the Vikings also traded for veteran Donovan McNabb, who lost five of his six starts before the team benched him in favor of Ponder. He didn't perform much better, and the Vikings struggled to a 2-8 record with him under center. He was more successful in his second season, playing a game manager role while RB Adrian Peterson carried the offense on his way to a 2,000+ yard MVP season. However, Ponder suffered a triceps injury in the last regular season game and was forced to miss the team's playoff loss the following week. His health and performance continued to decline in his third season as the Vikings fell to 5-10-1, while the Vikings elected not to pick up his fifth year option and drafted a replacement in Teddy Bridgewater. After serving as a backup in 2014, his career was over. He is now known more as the husband of Samantha Ponder, current host of ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown.
• The Draft Class of 2021 was widely seen as one of the most exciting and promising for new quarterbacks in years, with five—Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields, and Mac Jones—being taken early in the first round. However, all but Lawrence would prove to be fool's gold at the NFL level, turning in performances that were variously erratic, middling, or just plain bad, and resulting in the most outright QB busts in the first round since the merger.^note Adding insult to injury, the 2021 class came just one year after a less-hyped draft that ended up producing five Pro Bowl quarterbacks in Joe Burrow, Tua Tagovailoa, Justin Herbert, Jordan Love, and Jalen Hurts. Within three years Wilson, Lance, Fields, and Jones were all sent off to other teams in exchange for low draft picks. Commentators have debated the reasons for why this formerly vaunted QB class ended up being such a resounding dud, with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on college football programs often being singled out as a major contributing factor.
  • Zach Wilson was drafted #2 overall by the Jets after a standout season at BYU. While Wilson had displayed plenty of arm talent, he was barely 21 years old, and his performance in his last college year was an outlier that potentially was helped by COVID disrupting the college football landscape (BYU, being an independent program that had many of its opponents cancel on them, scheduled mostly non-Power Five cupcakes as replacements). Wilson was immediately thrust into the starting role to succeed Sam Darnold but somehow managed to burn out even faster, as poor play, injuries, and notable lack of support from the rest of the Jets locker room^note reports of Wilson's "entitlement" (his maternal grandfather and great-uncle are healthcare and airline magnates with nine-figure net worths) turning off teammates abounded extended the moribund franchise's woes. After just two seasons, the latter of which Wilson and his accuracy issues were singled out as the reason an otherwise talented team didn't make the playoffs, the Jets decided to bench him and trade for an aging Aaron Rodgers, hoping that he could help the team reach their full potential in the short-term and that some time sitting behind Rodgers could turn Wilson into the player New York thought he was when they selected him. However, Rodgers tore his Achilles on just his fourth snap as a Jet, thrusting Wilson back into the starting role, where he continued to flounder and was benched several times by year's end. Days before the 2024 draft, Wilson's ignominious stint in New York finally ended as the Jets offloaded him to the Broncos in exchange for a late-round pick swap.
  • Trey Lance was drafted #3 overall by the 49ers, and while the story of his career has not yet been fully written, he does go down in the NFL history books for the tremendous draft capital he cost San Francisco for practically zero return. Much like Carson Wentz (see "Disappointments"), Lance performed extremely well at North Dakota State playing against FCS competition, going 17-0 as a starter and throwing just one interception. However, he was seen as a developmental project due to having played only one full year apiece in high school and in college (including having played just one exhibition game the year before the draft due to COVID shutdowns). The Niners had just come short of a championship several times and believed a more athletic QB would be the missing piece to a dynasty; to trade up for Lance, they sent three first round picks, as well as a fourth rounder, to Miami. After sitting for most of his rookie year, Lance was put in at starter in year two, only to suffer a season-ending ankle injury in his second game. Fortunately for the Niners but unfortunately for Lance, this injury, as well as another to second-stringer Jimmy Garoppolo, led to rookie Brock Purdy—the very last pick in the 2022 Draft—taking the reins and unexpectedly excelling right out of the gate. With Purdy establishing himself as 49ers' starter, the team lost all interest in continuing to develop Lance, who was shipped to Dallas for a fourth rounder^note giving him the dubious honor of having the highest trade value of the four '21 busts prior to the start of the 2023 regular season. In total, Lance played just eight games for the Niners and started merely four, both easily the fewest for any Top 5 pick in the common draft era. Lance and Wilson were both taken ahead of several Pro Bowlers and very solid players in the Top 10, most notably OT Penei Sewell, CB Patrick Surtain II, and WRs Ja'Marr Chase, Jaylen Waddle, and DeVonta Smith.
  • Justin Fields was drafted by the Bears #11 overall after a standout career at Ohio State. Fields was renowned for his accuracy in college, but his running ability was what truly popped out when he entered the pros, as he compiled an impressive highlight reel of long distance runs after taking over the starting job in his rookie year and broke several QB rushing records in his second. Fields' 1,143 rushing yards in 2022 remains the second most ever by a QB behind only Lamar Jackson's 2019 MVP campaign, and he holds the NFL single-game QB rushing record at 178 yards. However, while these runs made Fields beloved by fantasy football players, they didn't translate to many wins; the Bears had the worst record in the league in 2022, and critics pointed out that Fields only took off running as much as he did because his former passing accuracy had seemingly disappeared, while his reticence to throw the ball also resulted in a huge number of unnecessary sacks. After the Bears posted their third straight losing season with Fields under center, and armed with the #1 pick in the 2024 draft that they had acquired from the Panthers in a trade the previous year, they opted to trade him to the Steelers for a conditional sixth rounder, with the plan being for him to serve as a backup to Russell Wilson. In drafting Fields, the Bears missed out on star LB Micah Parsons, taken with the very next pick.
  • Michael McCorkle "Mac" Jones was drafted by the New England Patriots #15 overall out of Alabama where he was a two-time national champion, Heisman finalist, and set the NCAA career record for pass yards per attempt. However, he was surrounded by future NFL talent with the Crimson Tide and there were genuine questions regarding his skillset translating to the pro game which caused him to be the fifth and final QB taken in the first round that year. Jones initially acquitted himself as an unexciting but safe pick: an archetypal game manager who led the Pats to the playoffs as a rookie and earned a Pro Bowl nod as a third alternate. The second coming of Tom Brady he most definitely was not, however, as he experienced a precipitous regression over the following two years, throwing an increasing rate of costly picks before being benched midway through a truly dismal 2023 that saw the Pats put up a meager four wins (just two with Jones as starter), their worst season in over two decades and the worst of Bill Belichick's illustrious coaching career. The following offseason, amidst a spate of organizational changes that included parting ways with Belichick, the Patriots traded the Jacksonville native to the Jaguars—where he was expected to back up Trevor Lawrence, the #1 overall pick of the 2021 draft and the only QB of the bunch who proved to be a viable long-term starter—for a sixth-round pick. While Jones' status as a bust is secure, Pats fans have debated whether he inherently lacked the physical skills and mental toughness required for a starting quarterback in the NFL,^note His lack of arm strength made him especially susceptible to Cover 1 defense, as he struggled to get the ball quickly out to the perimeter. or whether he was effectively ruined by a succession of dubious offensive coordinators.^note Jones' first and best season was with OC Josh McDaniels, who, despite his head coaching failures, has a generally good track record as an OC. Following McDaniels' departure to take a head coaching job, Jones played his second year with a pair of former defensive and special teams coordinators serving as co-offensive coordinators, which turned out to be an unmitigated disaster; for the next season, Belichick relented and hired Bill O'Brien as OC, but he and Jones never seemed to get on the same page.

Quarterback Draft Busts (A-N)

• Don Allard was drafted #4 overall by Washington in 1959 out of Boston College. Allard instead chose to play in the CFL for a few years, before appearing in just five AFL games, without recording a single stat in that league. He later played in the Atlantic Coast Football League and died in 2002.
• Terry Baker was a phenomenal college athlete at Oregon State, not just winning the Heisman for football but also leading the school's Basketball team to a Final Four appearance as a point guard. His potential made him the must-have #1 pick in the 1963 Draft, and he was scooped up by the Rams as they came off the worst season in their franchise's history. One problem: the Rams' issue was not at QB. The team had a capable starter in Zeke Bratkowski, had already taken a first round QB the prior year in Roman Gabriel, and even wound up taking another first round QB, Bill Munson, in the next draft. All three of these QBs played in the NFL for over a decade, with Gabriel eventually winning MVP. Baker, on the other hand, barely saw the field, and since the Rams wouldn't trade his rights, he wound up leaving the NFL after three seasons and played a year in the CFL before leaving pro football entirely to become a lawyer. Baker's story stands as a historic example of why roster need should sometimes be considered in draft decisions, even if it means missing a potential generational talent; the Rams missed out on a great deal of talent at other positions in that draft class, including seven future Hall of Famers.
• Angelo Bertelli and Frank "Boley" Dancewicz were both QBs from Notre Dame drafted #1 overall by the short-lived Boston Yanks, the only now-defunct NFL franchise to have had a #1 pick; their poor use of this gift is one reason why the team didn't last long. Bertelli was taken with the Yanks first ever pick in 1944, but they missed him while he served in World War II and then opted for the AAFC (in contrast with QBs like Otto Graham and Bob Waterfield, who the Yanks passed on but went on to Hall of Fame careers after the war). The Yanks decided to roll the #1 pick dice again in 1946 on another Notre Dame QB; Dancewicz actually did play for the Yanks for three terrible seasons before the team folded. Dancewicz and Bertelli passed away in 1985 and 1999, respectively.
• Todd Blackledge was drafted by the Chiefs with the #7 overall pick in 1983 out of Penn State, where he had won a national championship. He was the second QB chosen out of the NFL record six who were taken in the first round of the '83 draft, and easily the least successful of them. The native of Canton, Ohio was drafted ahead of Hall of Fame QBs Jim Kelly and Dan Marino. In seven seasons (five in KC, and two in Pittsburgh), Blackledge barely had a winning record (15-14), and he threw more INTs than TDs. The Chiefs would not select another QB in the first round until Patrick Mahomes in 2017, a much better investment.^note Interesting bit of trivia: despite his bust status, Blackledge was the last QB drafted by the Chiefs to win a start for the franchise in 1987 until Mahomes did so 30 years later. He subsequently went into a more successful career in broadcasting.
• Dave Brown was selected in the first round of the 1992 Supplemental Draft by the Giants out of Duke. As a raw but impressive physical specimen at 6'5" 230 lbs, Brown was taken as the heir apparent to Phil Simms. He was expected to sit and learn as the team's fourth-string QB during his rookie season, but injuries to all three players ahead of him forced him into the lineup. He suffered an injury of his own after just seven pass attempts in his first game action, missing the rest of his rookie year. After Simms' retirement in 1993, Brown won the starting job for the next three seasons but struggled to a 23-30 record while throwing nine more INTs than TDs. He moved onto the Cardinals for four more seasons as a backup, never living up to the promise of his first round selection.
• George Cafego was the #1 overall pick of the 1940 Draft, selected by the Cardinals after being a Heisman finalist passing back at Tennessee. He never wound up with the Cards, playing briefly for the Brooklyn Dodgers before entering into WWII service. He returned to the Dodgers in 1943 but was cut midseason for poor performance; he bounced around a few more teams for the next few years before retiring after 1945 and entering a lengthy career as a college assistant coach. He passed away in 1998.
• Rich Campbell was drafted by the Packers with the #6 overall pick in 1981 out of California. Because of his poor arm strength, he could never wrest the starting QB job from journeyman Lynn Dickey and played only seven games with zero starts in four seasons. He was traded to the Raiders and was released soon afterwards. He is considered one of the biggest draft busts in Packers history, not helped by being drafted ahead of five future Hall of Famers (most notably just two picks ahead of legendary DB Ronnie Lott). Considering that only two QBs in that draft class even made a Pro Bowl, the lesson about drafting for talent rather than role stuck with the franchise; the Packers wouldn't draft a QB in the first round until Aaron Rodgers (also out of California) in 2005, a much better return on investment.
• Jack Concannon was the #1 overall pick in the 1964 AFL Draft, with the Patriots trading up to keep the Boston College QB in their market. Unfortunately, this move to help sell tickets fell flat; when the Eagles took him in the second round in the NFL Draft, Concannon chose to go to the more established team despite knowing that he would be third on the depth chart. Concannon proved to not be very good in the NFL, being traded to Chicago after three seasons mostly warming the bench in Philly and mostly disappointing as the Bears starter, throwing nearly twice as many picks as touchdowns. Following a few years as a journeyman backup, he retired after 1975 and passed away in 2005.
• Greg Cook was selected #5 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in the 1969 Common Draft. Coming off of a decent college career at Cincinnati and notable for his powerful arm and large size relative to the era (6'4 ~220), Cook set numerous passing records as a rookie (some of which still stand today, such as those for yards per attempt and yards per completion). He led the Bengals to a 3-0 record in his first three starts before he suffered a torn rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder. He powered through the season, his talents greatly diminished. He went through four surgeries in the offseason, but each proved futile, as the medical technology at the time was far less advanced than it is today.^note By comparison, Drew Brees had rotator cuff surgery following 2005 and led the Saints to the NFC Championship game and earn All-Pro honors in the very next season. Cook was forced to retire after a failed attempt at a comeback in 1973, and the Bengals had to replace him with a much less powerful passer, Virgil Carter. This required OC Bill Walsh to devise a new offensive scheme of short passes that became the West Coast Offense, making Cook's injury one of the more important events in NFL history. The NFL Network program NFL Top 10 labeled Cook as the biggest One-Hit Wonder of all-time. He later worked for UPS before taking up painting and becoming a motivational speaker. He died in 2012, following a bout with pneumonia.
• Sam Darnold was drafted #3 overall in 2017 out of USC by the Jets, who traded up from pick #6 to take him ahead of Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson. Widely considered the most promising QB prospect the team had drafted in decades, the Jets proceeded to waste his potential by essentially writing the textbook on how not to develop an NFL QB during his first years in the league. Already plagued by a talent-starved offense and poor coaching before Darnold's arrival, the Jets thrust the 21-year-old into the starting position for Week 1, making him the youngest opening day starting QB since the merger. After poor results in his rookie season, the Jets made the dubious decision of hiring Adam Gase. Things went From Bad to Worse as Gase's coaching only exacerbated the problems. Darnold became a subject of multiple memes regarding his youth and inexperience, first for having to sit out three weeks from mononucleosis and then for being recorded saying he was "seeing ghosts" after throwing multiple picks. Over his three years with the Jets, he posted a below-average passer rating and finished below .500 every season before the Jets traded him to the Panthers for draft picks^note a 6th rounder in 2021 and 2nd and 4th rounders in 2022. While most experts and fans agreed that Darnold himself was the victim of an almost unwinnable situation in New York, a change of scenery didn't help much, as poor performance and injuries cost him the starting position in Carolina as well. Darnold subsequently spent a year on the 49ers as a backup before signing with the Vikings in 2024.
• Marty Domres was drafted #9 overall out of Columbia in 1969. The Chargers hoped that he would be able to succeed John Hadl, but the Ivy Leaguer scarcely saw the field and struggled when he did, leading to him being traded to the Colts in '72. There, he had the inenviable position of being thrust into suceeding Johnny Unitas when GM Joe Thomas went with a youth movement. Domres was soon replaced by Bert Jones, bounced around the league, and retired after '77 having thrown nearly twice as many INTs than TDs. Domres was taken ahead of several Hall of Famers and was one of the first of a streak of first round whiffs that contributed to the Chargers' struggles in the 1970s.
• Jim Druckenmiller was drafted #26 overall in 1997 by the 49ers out of Virginia Tech. Physically talented but considered a major project, he was the first QB picked in the draft and was intended to succeed Steve Young. However, he struggled in what little time he did see the field for the 49ers, throwing just one TD to four INTs while completing a measly 40% of his passes. He was traded to the Dolphins, who were similarly seeking a successor for the aging Dan Marino, for a late round draft pick but was released during the preseason. Like fellow draft bust Tommy Maddox (see below under "Disappointments"), Druckenmiller moved to the XFL and had more success there, ranking 4th in passing yards and leading all QBs in rushing yards during the league's sole season. Unlike Maddox, Druckenmiller's NFL comeback attempt after the XFL's folding fell short. Despite some tryout offers with NFL teams, he was not signed and was out of football soon after.
• Randy Duncan was the #1 overall pick in 1959 out of Iowa, going to the Packers the first year after the end of the random "bonus pick" era. Duncan protested being forced to go to the worst team in the league by signing with the CFL's BC Lions instead... and therefore missed out on Vince Lombardi's first season as head coach. His refusal to join the Packers was an incredibly rare instance where whiffing on the pick undeniably benefitted the team. Duncan was cut from the CFL after two seasons, mostly sat on the bench for the AFL's Dallas Texans for a year, and was out of football entirely after that to practice law. Green Bay, on the other hand, went straight into one of the greatest dynasties in NFL history without wasting a contract on a player that might have taken the still-developing Bart Starr off the field. Duncan passed away in 2016.
• Josh Freeman was drafted #17 overall by the Buccaneers in 2009 out of Kansas State. He had impressive size for a QB and was expected to be a franchise cornerstone. His performance fluctuated, flipping back-and-forth between setting franchise passing records one year and costing the Bucs games with costly interceptions the next. In 2013, he was benched after three games due to poor performance as well as reports of him doing cocaine before games and losing the trust of the locker room. He was cut mid-season and bounced around multiple teams for the next few years, never starting more than one game with any of them. He attempted a comeback in the CFL but didn't catch on and retired in 2018.
• Bobby Garrett was the #1 overall pick in 1954, going to the Browns after a standout turn as the leading college passer while at Stanford. Like almost every draft pick in the NFL's early years, the Browns hadn't met with him prior to the draft, picking him off of his numbers and what they could glean from the papers. They had hoped that he would be a good successor to Otto Graham but were horrified to discover upon meeting their pick that Garrett had a terrible stutter; while his athleticism had gotten him by just fine in college, his inability to call plays in Paul Brown's much more complicated offense would be a major problem. The Browns scrambled to organize a trade with Green Bay, grouping him with a number of other players so that the Packers wouldn't investigate why they were bailing on their #1 pick before the season even started. They were likewise unable to do much with him after discovering his speech issues, and Garrett played only nine games in the pros before washing out. He would likely go down as one of the biggest #1 draft busts ever were it not for the fact that 1954 was one of the weakest draft classes ever^note only one player, Raymond Berry, is in the Hall of Fame, and he was an almost unknown college player picked in the 20th round and that drafting him actually helped the Browns; they had won the #1 pick out of the short-lived lottery system right after they lost the NFL Championship game to the Lions, improved their roster through the trade, and went back to beat the Lions and win the Championship that season. Garrett died in 1987.
• Harry Gilmer was the #1 overall pick in 1948, going to Washington after winning the Rose Bowl at Alabama. Despite his excellent college career as a multi-threat QB, RB, and DB, Gilmer never managed to replace the player he was drafted to succeed, Sammy Baugh, losing every game in which he served as the starting signal caller.^note He was still selected in two early Pro Bowls, one as a HB and both in an era where it was even more of a popularity contest than today. Gilmer's name is often brought up by football historians as an example of how Washington's refusal to racially integrate led to them spending two decades as one of the league's worst teams; the same year he was drafted #1, African-American players like Emlen Tunnell and Joe "The Jet" Perry didn't go drafted at all, only to go on to become major stars on other teams while breaking a color barrier that stood firm in Washington for years.^note Washington's next #1 pick, 1962's Ernie Davis, would have been the team's first black player, but he refused to play for the organization because of this history. Gilmer spent the last two seasons of his playing career with the Detroit Lions before retiring in 1956; he later returned to coach the team for two losing seasons from 1965-66, where he was so unpopular with Lions fans that they pelted him with snowballs after his final game. He died in 2016.
• Robert Griffin III was drafted #2 overall in 2012 by Washington after a Heisman-winning college career at Baylor. Initially cast as a particularly Expy-ish expy of Michael Vick, "RG3" quickly proved immensely capable and won Offensive Rookie of the Year while taking the team to the playoffs. Unfortunately, that is also where his turn toward Glass Cannon status began, as he sustained a significant knee injury in his first playoff game (which itself may have stemmed from a less severe injury to the same knee a few weeks earlier, which the Washington coaches infamously mismanaged by allowing Griffin to play on it without medical clearance). Between the lingering effects of the knee injury (he tried to emulate Adrian Peterson by returning at the start of the following regular season), several other injuries, and NFL defenses catching on to the "read-option" style of offense he excelled in as a rookie, he struggled in his second and third season and was made inactive for his entire fourth. He was released the next year and signed with the Browns in an attempt to resurrect his career, but injuries likewise derailed him there. In 2018, Griffin signed with the Ravens as a backup for three years just to keep other teams from using him to help them prepare for their rushing QB, Lamar Jackson. After being waived in 2021, he signed with ESPN as an analyst and commentator. Opinions on his career are divided; some see him as a prime example of a one-season wonder, while others believe he could have been the real deal had it not been for the coaching staff's mismanagement of that first knee injury.
• Ralph Guglielmi was drafted #4 overall in 1955 after a legendary career as a 4-year starter at Notre Dame. The latest in a string of high QB draft picks by Washington to attempt to replace Sammy Baugh, Guglielmi played only a single season in the nation's capital before deciding to enlist in the Air Force for three years. After dedicating the prime of his athletic career to service, he returned to Washington and was generally terrible, throwing more than twice as many INTs than TDs for three seasons before being released. He bounced around the league for a few years, retired after 1963, and passed away in 2017. Adding to his bust status, he was taken nine whole rounds before future Hall of Fame QB Johnny Unitas.
• Jim Hardy was drafted by Washington #8 overall out of USC in 1945, but with Hardy serving in the Navy and refusing to move to the east coast, his rights were traded to the Rams, who moved to his backyard in Los Angeles the following offseason. He spent three seasons in LA backing up Bob Waterfield, his college rival from UCLA, before he was traded to the Chicago Cardinals. Hardy etched himself into the record books by throwing a whopping 8 interceptions in their 1950 season opener, a record that is virtually unbreakable in the modern NFL since any other passer would get benched for throwing so many picks.^note In fairness to Hardy, he was involved in a car accident hours before the game that caused him to miss warmups and was benched after tossing three picks in the first half, but his backup got injured and he was forced to play the rest of the game, allowing him to achieve the unsavory record. Inexplicably, he'd follow up this performance by throwing 6 TDs the next game and was later named to the Pro Bowl despite leading the NFL in picks that season. He was traded to Detroit two years later, winning a championship as Bobby Layne's backup before retiring. He died in 2019.
• Dwayne Haskins was drafted #15 overall in 2019 by Washington out of Ohio State, where he was named a Heisman finalist after a single year as a starter. Though draftniks worried that he might lack the experience to become the solution to Washington's long struggle at the QB position, he took the starting role in his first year. Poor performance led to him being benched early the next season by new coach Ron Rivera. Though he later returned to the field after injuries to both fellow QBs, Haskins was cut after being pictured partying at a club without a mask after a game, one of several violations he had made of the team's COVID-19 policies. His case was one of the fastest firings of a high-drafted QB. He subsequently signed with the Steelers as a backup and had hoped to revive his career there, as he was set to potentially compete for the starting job in the 2022 season following Ben Roethlisberger's retirement, but he never got the chance. While training with teammates in Florida in April 2022, Haskins was fatally hit by a dump truck while crossing a highway. He was 24 years old.
• King Hill was a QB and punter, and the #1 overall pick of the 1958 Draft (and the last #1 pick of the "bonus lottery" era), going to the Cardinals out of Rice. Hill took the starting position the following year but failed to turn the long-struggling team around, taking them to only two wins. This was the final nail in the coffin for the Cardinals' 62-year history in Chicago; the Gridbirds left town for St. Louis the following year and shipped Hill off to the Eagles the next year. (Hill was taken before six Hall of Famers and Pro Bowl QB Frank Ryan.) He stayed in Philly for seven-and-a-half seasons, mostly as a punter, moved onto Minnesota for most of 1968, and retired from playing football after spending 1969 back in St. Louis. Hill went 8-20-1 as a starter, with a career QB rating of 49.3. Upon his retirement, Hill went into assistant coaching, including stints in Houston (1972-80) and New Orleans (1981-85). He passed away in 2012.
• George Izo was a star at Notre Dame in the late '50s, though issues with knee and ankle injuries meant that he never fully lived up to the hype surrounding his name nor lifted the Irish back to their former glory. Regardless, he was considered the best QB prospect in the 1960 Draft and was taken #2 overall by the Cardinals. Unfortunately, he reinjured his knee in his first ever start, which required surgery and ended his rookie season. The Cards traded him to Washington the following year, where he served as a backup for four years before demanding another trade. He briefly saw the field in Detroit and Pittsburgh before retiring after 1966.
• David Klingler was drafted #6 overall in 1992 by the Bengals out of Houston. Like fellow Houston alum Andre Ware before him, Klingler had a prolific college career, setting numerous passing records; also like Ware, this production did not translate to the NFL. He spent most of his first season on the bench, performed poorly as the starter in his sophomore season, suffered a shoulder and elbow injury before his third that severely weakened his once-powerful arm, and was released after his fourth. He ultimately went 4-20 as a starter; after his release, he spent two seasons a backup with the Raiders but never again started a game. Klingler is one of the many issues that plagued the Bengals in the mid-late '90s, leading to them becoming known as the "Bungles".^note They may perhaps be given a pass considering what they had to work with: of the 21 QBs taken in the historically weak 1992 Draft, only two (journeymen Brad Johnson and Jeff Blake) earned even a single Pro Bowl nod (the latter, ironically, with the Bengals).
• Ryan Leaf is often considered to be the biggest draft bust of all time, if not one of the worst NFL QBs period. He was drafted #2 overall out of Washington State by the San Diego Chargers in 1998, the pick after Peyton Manning—at the time, the two were often closely compared, and it was generally considered a coin-toss who would get picked first: Leaf was considered by many to have a stronger arm and more raw talent (though with known character issues) while Manning was considered a steady field general with great accuracy that would perform well but not put up earthshattering numbers. Manning, of course, went on to immeasurable success. Leaf... did not. In his rookie season, he posted a passer rating of 39.0, statistically lower than if he had thrown every single pass into the ground. Even worse, San Diego traded two 1st round picks, a 2nd round pick, and two players to move up just one spot for his pick; had they passed on this trade for Leaf, they would have been able to draft one of two all-time great players in Charles Woodson and Randy Moss and been in the running for several good passers the next year. Injuries, a standoffish nature with the media, and poor work ethic (he often played golf while the team's other quarterbacks studied film) drove Leaf out of San Diego after three seasons and out of the NFL entirely after one more as a backup for the Cowboys. His reputation only further declined after his time in the NFL ended, almost to the point of overshadowing his draft bust status. He eventually resurfaced as a QB coach at West Texas A&M, a position he lost after it was revealed he was using it to illegally obtain pain pills. After serving two years in Montana State Prison for felony drug possession and burglary charges, Leaf was paroled in 2014, having apparently gotten clean once and for all, and now works as an analyst (though not without the occasional brush with legal issues).
• Matt Leinart was drafted by the Cardinals with the #10 overall pick in 2006 out of USC, where he had a legendary college career that included winning the 2004 Heisman and BCS National Championship. According to most prognosticators, he likely would have been the #1 overall pick in 2005 had he chosen to enter the draft. However, he returned to college to attempt to win another championship but fell short, losing to Vince Young's Texas Longhorns in what is considered one of the greatest college championship games ever played. Though hopes remained high for Leinart, his rookie year was immediately derailed, first by a lengthy contract dispute that caused him to be the final draft pick to sign with his team, then when he lost the starting job to Kurt Warner. Leinart reclaimed the starting job mid-season but struggled with poor performance and injury. Warner took the starting job back in 2008 and took the Cardinals to their only Super Bowl while Leinart sat on the bench. Leinart was presumed to succeed Warner after his retirement, but he lost the 2010 preseason QB competition to journeyman Derek Anderson and was released before the start of the regular season. He bounced around as a backup for the Texans and Raiders but started just one more game in that time before exiting the league in 2013.
• Chuck Long was drafted #12 overall in 1986 by the Lions. A Heisman runner-up who set most of the standing QB records at Iowa, Long took the starting job in his second year and struggled mightily. He was benched in the middle of his third year before being traded to the Rams, hardly saw the field in L.A., was sent packing back to Detroit after just one season, and ended his pro career to enter college coaching.
• Paxton Lynch was drafted #26 overall in 2016 out of Memphis by the Broncos, who were coming off of a Super Bowl victory but lost starting QB Peyton Manning to retirement and primary backup Brock Osweiler to free agency. Lynch was considered a major project with boom or bust potential, as well as a late riser in the draft process, being talked about as a potential first rounder only in the days leading up to the draft. The Broncos traded up to get Lynch as their presumptive QB of the future, but he struggled to adapt to the pro game, failing to win the starting job in his first two seasons and playing only in injury relief. Before his third year, he was demoted to 3rd string and released during final cuts. He bounced around a few practice squads and was out of the NFL by 2020; he later tried catching on as a backup in the CFL, USFL, and XFL, and was unable to secure a long-term starter role even in the minor leagues.^note In an interesting bit of What Could Have Been, the #26 pick acquired by the Broncos to select Lynch originally belonged to the Seahawks. They were in discussion with another team for that pick, the Cowboys, who offered their second and fourth round picks. Seattle requested the Cowboys third round pick instead of the fourth, but Dallas declined. Dallas later selected another QB named Dak Prescott, a move they likely would not have made had they made the trade to select Lynch.
• E.J. Manuel was drafted #16 overall in 2013 by the Bills. The Florida State alum was the only passer taken in the first round in a a rather weak draft, and his rookie season proved to be the only one he would play in more than 10 games, mostly playing as backup after being benched in his second year. He played two games for the Raiders in 2017 and retired in 2019. He is now an analyst.
• Todd Marinovich was drafted #24 overall in 1991 by his hometown team, the Los Angeles Raiders, out of USC. Marinovich had a claim to fame even before starting his college career as the "ROBO QB" of California. His father served as the first strength and conditioning coach in the NFL for the Raiders (then in Oakland) where he adapted Eastern Bloc training methods for football. Even before he was born, Todd was conditioned to be the ultimate athlete. He was raised on a very strict diet (his mother was not even allowed to eat sugar or salt while pregnant with him), forbidden to indulge in normal childhood activities (such as watching cartoons), and tutored in every aspect of playing football. After a record-setting high school career, Marinovich attended USC and got his first taste of freedom away from his father. He played well as a redshirt freshman, leading USC to the Pac-10 title and a Rose Bowl victory, but struggled afterwards; he began skipping classes and dabbling in drugs, causing suspensions, on-camera fights with coaches, and declining play. Despite these issues, he declared for the Draft and was selected by the Raiders in the first round. Unfortunately, his drug issues only worsened as a pro. After just eight starts in two seasons, he was suspended for a season by the NFL for multiple failed drug tests. The Raiders released him and no other NFL teams were willing to sign him. He had stints in the CFL and Arena Football League before retiring and becoming an artist. One more footnote: Marinovich was selected eight picks ahead of another QB who went on to start over 300 games in his lengthy career—Brett Favre.
• Dan McGwire was drafted #16 overall by the Seahawks in 1991 after an outstanding career in San Diego State's high-volume passing attack. Standing at over 6'8", he is the tallest quarterback ever drafted and one of the tallest players overall, beaten out by only a few linemen (including Jonathan Ogden and Ed "Too Tall" Jones). Beyond his size, he was notable for his immense arm strength, with it (likely apocryphally) claimed that he once threw the ball out of his college stadium from the field during a practice. Unfortunately, this physical talent did not translate to the NFL game. After sitting behind long-time Seahawks standout Dave Krieg as a rookie, it was expected that he would take over the starting job for his second season. However, he struggled in the new offensive system and wound up as the third string QB that year, and Seattle went on to draft Rick Mirer (see below) with the #2 overall pick the following offseason. McGwire ultimately only started three games while Mirer was out from injury, completing less than 50% of his passes and throwing six INTs. He attempted to catch on elsewhere in the league but never again started a game. Like Todd Marinovich above, McGwire's bust status is made even more painful for Seahawk fans as he was drafted ahead of future Hall of Famer Brett Favre. He's also a case of Overshadowed by Awesome in his personal life; he's the younger brother of former MLB superstar Mark McGwire.
• Cade McNown was drafted by the Bears with the #12 overall pick in 1999 out of UCLA. Leading up to the draft, he was considered both undersized (6'1", 213 lbs) and possessing less than ideal NFL arm strength. Nonetheless, the Bears selected him and released incumbent starter Erik Kramer soon after. However, McNown held out deep into training camp and lost the starting job to career backup Shane Matthews. McNown started six games later in the season, struggling as he threw more INTs than TDs while completing just 54% of his passes. He was named starter for his second season but battled injuries while remaining largely ineffective, with just three wins in 15 total starts in Chicago. The following offseason, he was traded to Miami, then San Francisco, for some late round picks. Calgary's CFL team later acquired his rights, but he never signed for them. He never played another game after 2000, leading to him being considered one of the biggest busts in Bears history and emblematic of their long struggle with the QB position.
• Rick Mirer was selected with the #2 overall pick by the Seahawks in 1993 out of Notre Dame. Mirer set records for most attempts, completions, and yards by a rookie (all three later broken by Peyton Manning). However, he never had much success outside of his rookie year, throwing more INTs (32) than TD passes (18) in his last two seasons with Seattle. In 1997, he was traded to Chicago for a first-round pick and a major contract. He flamed out with the Bears, not throwing a single TD, and was released after just seven games with the team. Mirer then bounced around the league, making just 18 starts with three teams in his final seven seasons. His selection stings more for Seattle fans when considering he was taken before five future Hall of Famers and three Pro-Bowl QBs.
• Rick Norton was drafted #2 overall by the expansion Dolphins in 1966 and was the first draft pick to sign with the team.^note The Dolphins also had the #1 overall pick in that year's AFL Draft, but their selection signed with the Packers; this was the last year before the leagues merged drafts. The Kentucky product was envisioned as the face for the new franchise but failed to secure the long-term starting position and was truly terrible in every showing, going 1-10 as a starter (the sole win coming in his fourth and final season in Miami), throwing 7 TDs to 30 INTs, and ultimately posting an abysmal 30.0 career passer rating. He was quickly supplanted by Bob Griese and was out of the pros entirely after spending 1970 in Green Bay. He passed away in 2013.

Quarterback Draft Busts (O-Z)

• Davey O'Brien was drafted #4 overall in 1939 by the Eagles out of TCU after one of the most accomplished careers in NCAA history, including Heisman and National Championship wins in 1938. A Texas kid through and through, the diminutive (just 5'7") passer considered quitting football but was convinced to play by Eagles Owner/Coach Bert Bell who gave him a $12,000 signing bonus, a significant amount for the time. His college success did not translate to the pros; while he led the league in some passing statistics, that willingness to throw downfield resulted in a troubling interception problem. He retired from football after just two seasons, going 2-19-1 with the Eagles while throwing just 11 TDs to 34 INTs, and began a career as a firearms instructor with the FBI. His involvement in pro football did not end there, however. He later entered the employ of oil tycoon H.L. Hunt and served as an advisor to H.L.'s son Lamar Hunt, founder of the AFL. O'Brien died from cancer in 1977.
• Mike Phipps was the #3 overall pick in 1970. The Purdue product was taken by the Browns, who had traded away star receiver Paul Warfield to the Dolphins for the pick right after their fourth championship appearance in the past six seasons. This was one of the most lopsided trades ever—while Warfield became an important component of Don Shula's dominant '70s Dolphins team, Phipps threw more INTs than TDs every year he was in Cleveland. The pick that was supposed to help the Browns win another championship only brought them to the playoffs once in 1972, where they faced off against... Warfield and the Miami Dolphins, who defeated them on their way to a perfect season.^note That Dolphins roster also included Jim Langer, an undrafted player from Phipps' draft class who signed with Miami after being cut by the Browns and became a first-ballot Hall of Famer; they likewise whiffed on drafting future Hall of Fame DBs Mel Blount and Cliff Harris. Cleveland wouldn't see the playoffs again until 1980 and still haven't even come close to a championship. Phipps was traded to the Bears in '77 and did manage to pull off one season where he put up a positive TD-INT ratio (by one touchdown) and visited the playoffs, but he collapsed even harder the next year. He retired in 1981 with a winning record as a starter, but his stats made clear his teams managed those wins despite him—he holds the second-worst career passer rating ever for a quarterback with over 1,500 attempts (an abysmal 52.6) and a near 1:2 TD-INT ratio (55-108).
• Kenny Pickett was drafted #22 overall in 2022 by the Steelers^note Just the fourth QB Pittsburgh has taken in the first round since the merger who were seeking to replace the retired Ben Roethlisberger. The only QB taken in the first round in what was seen as a very weak QB class, many questioned whether Pickett would have even been taken in the first round had he not played his college career locally at Pittsburgh. He took over from Mitch Trubisky (see below) midway through his rookie season and managed a few game-winning drives, but generally underwhelmed, and he showed no improvement in the start of his second year before an ankle injury knocked him out; by the time he recovered, backup Mason Rudolph had taken the starting role and led the team to the playoffs. When the Steelers picked up Russell Wilson in the offseason for an incredible bargain^note Denver still owed him nearly $40 million subject to offset by anything his new team paid him, so Wilson signed with Pittsburgh for the veteran minimum, Pickett asked for a trade rather than have to compete again for the starting role and was sent to the Eagles for a swap of lower level picks, relegating him to an assured backup role behind Jalen Hurts. In his short stint with the Steelers, Pickett threw an even 13 TDs and INTs and had just one game with multiple TD passes. Adding salt to the wound for Pittsburgh, the team could have selected anyone else remaining from the entire list of that year's draft with their first round pick and still had room to pick up a far more productive QB in Brock Purdy.
• Steve Pisarkiewicz was the first QB taken in 1977, drafted #19 overall out of Missouri by the St. Louis Cardinals as the planned successor to an aging Jim Hart. He did not impress, playing just nine games in two years for the Cards and failing to unseat Hart. He'd attempt five passes for Green Bay in 1980 and never played in the NFL again, moving onto the CFL, USFL and British and Spanish leagues. While not an especially rich draft class, the Cardinals took him eight picks before the much more dependable and productive QB Tommy Kramer.
• John Rauch was the #2 overall pick in 1949 out of Georgia, where he set several college passing records. He was drafted by the Lions but then almost immediately traded to the New York Bulldogs for their #3 pick, future Hall of Famer Doak Walker. The Bulldogs also missed out on two future Hall of Fame QBs in that draft class, Norm Van Brocklin and George Blanda, though it's tough to say if either of their talents could have saved the mismanaged franchise. Rauch saw limited time as a two-way player before the Bulldogs/Yanks organization crumbled to pieces in 1951. He played out the back half of that season in Philadelphia and decided to leave pro football to go coach in college. Rauch saw more success as a coach, but... well, see his entry in the "Disappointments" folder of National Football League Non-Player Figures.
• John Reaves was drafted #14 overall in 1972 out of Florida by the Eagles after setting the then-NCAA record for career passing yards, though he also put up a less favorable record of nine interceptions in a single game that still has yet to be passed. Unfortunately, that latter record had the bigger impact on his NFL career, as he put up an 0-7 record in his rookie season and saw limited action in the next two years before being released and starting a career as a journeyman backup. He signed with the Bengals in 1975, rode the bench with the Vikings from 1979-80, and started two games with the Oilers in 1981. After sitting out of pro football for a year, Reaves got the chance to return to Florida and start with the Tampa Bandits in the USFL, putting up over 10,000 yards in three years but only having one season where he threw more TDs than INTs. He returned to the NFL in 1987 as a replacement player for Tampa Bay, struggled in his two games, and retired to enter coaching. He later became father-in-law to Lane Kiffin before passing away in 2017.
• Josh Rosen was drafted #10 overall in 2018 out of UCLA by the Cardinals; when interviewed about the selection, he infamously stated that "nine mistakes" had been made before him, words that came back to haunt him. Rosen stepped in as the starter early in his rookie season, and the team only secured three wins with him under center. With the #1 pick in their lap, the Cardinals opted to pick the exciting Heisman-winning prospect Kyler Murray, who they thought would fit perfectly into new coach Kliff Kingsbury's offense, rather than invest in developing Rosen. He was traded to Miami the next year, where he mostly served as a backup behind Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Dolphins then chose to pick Tua Tagovailoa in the next draft and waived Rosen after no one was willing to trade for him. He later hopped around numerous practice squads, never coming close to a starting position. The utter collapse of his value in just two years due to circumstances largely outside his control sets him as one of the more dramatic examples of a draft bust, made all the worse by the fact that the Cardinals took him with Lamar Jackson still on the board.
• JaMarcus Russell was the #1 overall pick in 2007 out of LSU and spent his short three-year career with the Raiders. Drug addiction and struggles with weight were major obstacles, but his poor work ethic proved the greatest detriment to his career. Infamously, he was once given a DVD with plays to study at home that was left blank to see if he would even bother to look at it; he came in the next day saying that he liked "all of them". The final straw came in 2009, where he posted a 50.0 passer rating (which was not only dead last among qualified players for the year, but the lowest qualified passer rating since Ryan Leaf in 1998)^note and barely better than a hypothetical player who did not complete any passes at all. Passer rating is a stat which factors in attempts, completions, yards, touchdowns, and interceptions. A player with zero completions would post a 39.58, as long as none of them were intercepted. He was subsequently cut from the team, and though he sent letters to every NFL team offering to play a season for free, no one wanted to sign him. Russell could seriously rival Ryan Leaf as the biggest first-round bust of all time, if only because the Raiders spent more money to sign him than the Chargers did for Leaf and used the #1 pick^note The Chargers had missed the chance to draft Peyton Manning before taking Leaf #2 overall, but did trade up including a high second rounder and their 1999 first round pick, plus missed two future Hall of Famers. Also not helping his case is that the next two players off the board became Hall of Famers: WR Calvin Johnson (who was #1 on head coach Lane Kiffin's wishlist), and OT Joe Thomas.
• Jack Scarbath was a Heisman runner-up at Maryland who was drafted #3 overall by Washington in 1953 to succeed Sammy Baugh. He struggled mightily, even by the standards of the day, completing barely a third of his passes in his two seasons as a starter. The team's prospects revived after Eddie LeBaron took over, and Scarbath was cut; he played one more game in Pittsburgh before retiring from pro football. Washington missed out on seven Hall of Fame players in his historically rich draft class. He died in 2020.
• George Shaw was the #1 overall pick in 1955, going to the Colts out of Oregon. Shaw had a middling rookie season, his only full year as a starter. He broke his leg early in his second, leading to him being replaced by some obscure bench player named Johnny Unitas. Shaw played a few more years as a backup in Baltimore and with the Giants; he later signed with the Minnesota Vikings as their first ever starting QB, though that didn't even last a half a game before he was once again replaced by a future career passing leader, Fran Tarkenton. He retired in 1962 after a year with the AFL's Broncos.
• Heath Shuler was drafted #3 overall by Washington in 1994 after a successful career at Tennessee that culminated with placing second in voting for the Heisman. In a somewhat unusual move, the team selected another QB later in that same draft, Gus Frerotte, out of Tulsa in the 7th round. Shuler held out in a contract dispute as a rookie, then played poorly when he finally did see the field. By their third season, fan and media support were firmly behind Frerotte, who won the starting job and led the team to a winning record. The following offseason, Shuler was traded the Saints, where he put up even worse statistics as he threw 2 TDs to 14 INTs. A foot injury cost him his second season with the Saints, after which he signed with the Raiders, re-injured his foot, and ended his career with more than twice as many picks as touchdowns. Ultimately, neither he nor Frerotte amounted to much; Frerotte became infamous himself for spraining his own neck after intentionally headbutting a cement wall in a TD celebration. Frerotte would have a lengthy 15-year career, mostly as a journeyman backup. While Washington fans were fighting between two different draft picks who both failed to take the franchise back to their prior levels of success, the most accomplished QB of their class, Kurt Warner, went undrafted. Shuler later served in the US Congress as a representative from North Carolina.
• Steve Spurrier was a Heisman-winning QB for Florida in the '60s who was drafted #3 overall in 1967, one pick ahead of future Hall of Fame QB Bob Griese and ahead of nine other future Hall of Famers. Despite the 49ers trading up to get him, the team kept Spurrier on the bench for most of his first five seasons. When he stepped in after starter John Brodie suffered an ankle injury in 1973, he played well and claimed the starting position for a few games, only to lose it after throwing three picks in a single half, being benched, and watching Brodie reclaim his spot with a comeback run. After a few more years on the bench, he was traded to the new Tampa Bay Buccaneers to be the franchise's first starting QB. Any excitement over Spurrier returning to play near his alma mater quickly fizzled out as the Bucs went winless in that first season thanks to one of the worst offenses in NFL history—Spurrier was cut, failed to catch on with any other teams, and ended his pro football career. He had much more success as a college coach, which brought him back to the NFL in the early '00s—for more on that, see his entry in the "Disappointments" folder of the "Non-Player Figures" page.
• Kelly Stouffer was drafted #6 overall in 1987 out of Colorado State by the St. Louis Cardinals. Considered an athletic prospect with a strong arm, he was drafted ahead of four future Pro Bowl QBs and future Hall of Fame CB Rod Woodson. However, he never played for the Cardinals, as he and the team failed to agree to terms on a contract. He intended to hold out until the 1988 Draft, where he could be selected by another team, but the Cardinals traded his rights to the Seattle Seahawks, who convinced him to sign. Stouffer failed to wrest the starting job from veteran Dave Kreig and spent much of his four years in Seattle on the bench. He was released after starting 16 games in that time, going 5-11 as starter while throwing just 7 TDs to 19 INTs and putting up an poor 54.5 passer rating. He signed for brief stints with the Dolphins and as part of the expansion Panthers but did not see action for either and was out of football by 1996.
• Jerry Tagge was the first QB drafted in 1972, being taken #11 overall by his high school hometown team, the Green Bay Packers, as the replacement for the retiring Bart Starr right after leading Nebraska to back-to-back national titles. However, Tagge started just 12 games in his three seasons with the team, throwing just 3 TDs to 17 INTs while completing less than 50% of his pass attempts. When Starr returned to the Packers as head coach in 1975, one of his first moves was to cut Tagge. He moved on to start in the short-lived WFL and CFL but never returned to the NFL. Tagge's selection is considered one of the first dominoes that fell leading to the Green Bay's "NFL Siberia" era during the '70s and '80s, where they had only four winning seasons; while only one of the QBs picked in 1972 had Pro Bowl-level success, his selection two picks ahead of Hall of Fame RB Franco Harris still stings.
• Jack Thompson earned the nickname "The Throwin' Samoan" while breaking then-NCAA passing records at Washington State. He was drafted by the Bengals #3 overall in 1979 (79 picks ahead of Joe Montana) but failed to measure up to his prior success, spending most of his first four seasons in the NFL on the bench behind a resurgent Ken Anderson. His ultimately pointless drafting was especially unfortunate for Cincinnati, since it meant the competitive team wasted a pick that they could have used on a future Hall of Famer (like Kellen Winslow or Dan Hampton) at a position of need that may have gotten them over the hump; as it was, Thompson got to sit on the bench and watch Montana and his 49ers defeat Cincinnati in Super Bowl XVI. After a public holdout from the Bengals in '82, he was traded to the Buccaneers in '83 for a first round pick and finally got to start for most of the season; the Bucs went 2-14, and Thompson was out of the NFL after the following year.
• Frank Tripucka had a bizarre career. Drafted #9 overall out of Notre Dame in 1949 by the Eagles, he was traded to the Lions during the preseason, put up a mediocre performance as a passer and punter, and was gone after a single year (both teams missed out on drafting future Hall of Fame QBs Norm Van Brocklin and George Blanda). He spent a few seasons as a backup for the Chicago Cardinals, then was traded in the middle of the 1952 season to the disintegrating Dallas Texans, throwing two TDs to 17 INTs in his last six games. His NFL career thoroughly washed, Tripucka went north to the CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders; since CFL teams had a limit on the number of American players they could use in a season, he served as a coach until injuries to all of their QBs led him to step in, winning some pointless games that the Riders still had to forfeit. He played in Canada for seven seasons but had the chance to return to the States in 1960 with the introduction of the AFL, becoming the first starting QB for the Denver Broncos. He contributed to the Broncos' early struggles by throwing 34 picks in the first season (a then-record and still the third highest ever), but he also led the AFL in passing yards and would have broken the single-season record if Johnny Unitas didn't just edge him out in the NFL the same year. Inexplicably, he was named an AFL All-Star in 1962, the year before he lost the starting position and retired from football after 15 seasons in the pros. Even more inexplicably, the Broncos franchise decided to retire his #18, reviving it only for Peyton Manning decades later, shortly before Tripucka passed away in 2013.^note Even at the time, there was no backlash among the Broncos faithful, especially since Tripucka had publicly stated that he was more than willing to have his number un-retired if it would help the team sign Manning. Fun fact: Frank's son Kelly had a solid athletic career of his own in basketball, becoming a two-time All-Star with the '80s Detroit Pistons.
• Mitchell Trubisky was drafted #2 overall by the Bears in 2017 after a trade up. During his college career at North Carolina, he started only 13 games before declaring for the draft and was seen as a raw prospect with considerable upside. He took over as starter early in his rookie season and showed flashes of potential, becoming the Bears' first Pro Bowl QB since 1986 in his second year. Unfortunately, he regressed in his third season and was benched just three games into his fourth (though he later re-entered the starting lineup following an injury to his replacement, Nick Foles). He ended his Bears rookie contract with a winning record as starter and having thrown more TDs than INTs, which would normally mark a QB as a disappointment at worst rather than an outright bust. However, his average play was still enough to make him one of the biggest draft busts in Bears history when compared to the two other passers he was drafted ahead of—Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson (although see Watson's entry under "Notorious Players"). He spent 2021 in Buffalo as a backup before signing with the Steelers to replace retired legend Ben Roethlisberger, but was passed on the depth chart by rookie Kenny Pickett after only a few weeks. He re-joined the Bills in 2024.
• Steve Walsh was drafted with the second pick of the 1989 Supplemental Draft out of Miami by the Cowboys, one of the most surprising moves in NFL Draft history as Dallas had just used the #1 overall pick in the '89 Draft on Troy Aikman.^note Per supplemental draft rules, the Cowboys also had to forfeit their first round pick in the next year's draft, which would have been #1 overall. Head coach Jimmy Johnson had coached Walsh at Miami and reportedly favored him for the starting job. Despite this, Aikman won the role, and Walsh only saw the field in relief after Aikman suffered a broken finger. While Walsh recorded the Cowboys' only win in his rookie year, Aikman had established himself as the team's starter, starting a trend of Walsh being replaced by flashier talent immediately after showing signs of promise. He was traded to the Saints the following season, where their starting QB Bobby Hebert was holding out in a contract dispute. Walsh started 11 games in his first year with the Saints and earned them a playoff berth but lost the job when Hebert returned the following season and was released two years later. He again visited the postseason as the starter for the Bears in 1994, going 8-3 and even winning a playoff game as a capable game manager, but again lost the starting role the following year. He bounced around as a backup to several other teams and never again landed a permanent starting job. He retired from playing in 1999 but returned to football as a coach after a few years in banking; he currently is a QB coach in the CFL.
• Andre Ware was drafted #7 overall by the Lions in 1990 after winning the Heisman at Houston. Ware set 26 NCAA passing records while playing in Houston's passing-heavy "Run & Shoot" offense, but his transition to the NFL went poorly and he struggled to even win the backup job in Detroit, much less start. He ended up only starting six games for the Lions in four seasons. After failing to catch on anywhere else in the league, Ware moved onto the CFL and NFL Europe.^note The Lions missed out on three future Hall of Famers in that draft, though only Emmitt Smith was taken in the first round, and the one thing the '90s Lions did not need was more rushing talent.
• Vince Young had a legendary career at Texas capped off with an epic performance in one of the greatest national championship games ever played. Come the 2006 Draft, the Tennessee Titans' ownership forced the selection of Young^note Head coach Jeff Fisher reportedly did not want to draft Young, preferring Jay Cutler instead, putting their relationship off to a rocky start. #3 overall for his sky high potential and massive star power. He initially found success, going 8-5 as a starter, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year, and being placed on the cover of Madden NFL 08 before his second season. However, injuries, an interception problem, and conflicts with Fisher cost Young much of his love of the game. He struggled during his second season, then injured his knee in the first game of his third, leading to veteran Kerry Collins (see below under "Disappointing Players") taking the starting position and leading the Titans to a 13-3 record. Collins kept the job into the next season, with Young only regaining it at the urging of Titans owner Bud Adams after the team's abysmal 0-6 start and a 59-0 blowout loss against the Patriots. Young played well enough to earn a spot in the Pro Bowl as an injury replacement and nearly won Comeback Player of the Year. However, he regressed again the following season and, after storming out of the locker room following an altercation with Fisher, never again started for the Titans. He was released and signed as a backup with the Eagles in 2011 (where he made an ill-advised comment calling them a "Dream Team" after a number of major offseason acquisitions), winning his first start but struggling in his next two, culminating with a four INT performance that proved to be his final NFL start. He was released the following offseason, and while he signed with a few other teams in the coming years, he never again made a regular season roster in the NFL. He attempted a comeback in the CFL in 2017, in part due to serious personal financial issues, but injury ended that before it got started. For all of the exciting moments of hype and promise and despite having a winning record as a starter, Young spent only six seasons in the NFL and ended with more INTs than TDs.

Running Back Draft Busts

• Ricky Bell had one of the saddest careers of any NFL player. The Heisman runner-up was taken with the #1 overall pick of the 1977 Draft by the Buccaneers after their winless inaugural season. His selection was immediately criticized, as the Bucs passed up on the actual Heisman winner, Tony Dorsett, seemingly just because HC John McKay had coached Bell at USC. Dorsett was scooped up by the Cowboys with the next pick and went on to a Hall of Fame career, while Bell largely struggled outside of a single 1,000+ yard season. This was largely due to Bell having a rare illness, dermatomyositis, which caused weight loss, muscle pain, severe skin rashes, and heart problems. He was traded to the Chargers in 1982, cut soon after, and died from the illness just two years later at age 29. Mario Van Peebles portrayed Bell in a 1991 TV movie, A Triumph of the Heart.
• Jay Berwanger was the first ever NFL Draft pick, selected #1 overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in 1936 after winning the first ever Heisman Trophy (then called the "Downtown Athletic Club Trophy") as a HB for the University of Chicago. He was also technically the first ever draft bust, since he never played for the Eagles or any pro team. Eagles' owner Bert Bell, who had invented the Draft just to help out his suffering team, was unable to meet his salary demands of $1,000 a game^*Since the NFL had a 12-game season in 1936, that would translate to about $265,000 a year after inflation. In 2023, the minimum NFL rookie salary was $750,000. and ultimately missed out on four future Hall of Famers. Berwanger was traded to the Chicago Bears, who also did not meet his salary demands, and he entered into a career as a plastics manufacturer after failing to qualify for the Olympics. Turning down a high draft selection was actually quite common in the NFL's early years, as playing pro football wasn't the lucrative career it is nowadays and many of the best collegiate football players were multi-sport stars who chose to play baseball, which was more prestigious and better paying at the time. However, Berwanger is still the only #1 pick who voluntarily never played pro football at all, and he later expressed regret for not signing up with the Bears and missing out on their run of championships in the early '40s. He died of lung cancer in 2002.
• Jahvid Best was drafted #30 overall in 2010 by the Lions out of California. He had been an electric runner for his first two seasons in college before becoming a Glass Cannon in his third, suffering concussions in back-to-back games that caused him to miss the rest of the season. In his rookie year, he showed flashes of his talent early on but was hampered by a turf toe injury. More concussions ended his career six games into the next season. He later made a comeback as a track and field athlete, representing Saint Lucia in the 2016 Olympic Games, becoming the first former NFL player to participate in the Summer Olympics.
• Tshimanga "Tim" Biakabutuka,^note His nickname comes from the pronunciation of his first name: ti-MAHN-ga. a DR Congo native raised in Montreal, was drafted #8 overall in 1996 by the Panthers after a dominant performance at Michigan. He never came close to matching his college performance in the pros due to frequent injury problems and was cut after six unremarkable seasons. His high selection in a very strong draft (coming before a future star RB in Eddie George and four Hall of Famers at other positions) only further cements his status as one of the Panthers' biggest busts.
• Felix "Doc" Blanchard and Glenn Davis were one of the most acclaimed FB-HB combos in college football history, with both winning a Heisman in 1945 and '46, respectively, and likewise were high draft picks (#3 overall for Blanchard in '46 and #2 for Davis in '47), with both the Lions and Steelers figuring that the Army would be willing to grant the star athletes furloughs to continue to play now that the nation was entering peacetime. No such luck; both were obliged to serve. Blanchard became a fighter pilot who flew combat missions for decades. Davis did briefly join the NFL after his obligation was complete, but not for the team that drafted him; he put up a single Pro Bowl season for the Rams in 1950 before retiring the next year due to a knee injury. NFL teams learned their lesson from this: subsequent Heisman winners from military academies like Pete Dawkins, Joe Bellino, and Roger Staubach were drafted low if at all. Davis and Blanchard passed away in 2005 and 2009.
• Leon Burns was drafted #13 overall by the Chargers in 1971 out of the (now-defunct) Long Beach State program, where he set numerous college rushing records. One problem: when he was drafted, Burns was pushing 30 due to his college career having been delayed by a stint in prison out of high school for robbing a thrift store. While Burns' college career was an inspiring case of perseverance through adversity, he had posted those performances as an older man playing younger/weaker competition, and he underperformed in the NFL. He was traded to the Cardinals after his rookie season and was out of the NFL a year later, and he remains one of the oldest first round picks ever. Tragically, Burns was murdered in 1984, and his case was never solved.
• Ki-Jana Carter was drafted #1 overall by the Bengals in 1995 after a dominant college career at Penn State. However, he tore his ACL on his third preseason carry. He missed that entire season and never again played at the level he demonstrated in college. He made several comeback attempts but suffered a season-ending injury three more times, ultimately starting just 14 games over 9 seasons with Cincinnati, New Orleans, and Washington. When discussing What Could Have Been situations with major draft busts, expect his name to come up; he was drafted ahead of six Hall of Famers (including two RBs, Curtis Martin and Terrell Davis) and several star QBs that might have fixed one of the Bengals' biggest recurring roster problems in the '90s. Carter remains the last RB to be selected #1 overall.
• Art Davis was taken #5 overall in 1956 by the Steelers after a star career at Mississippi State, albeit one that was already marred with injuries, including one sustained in the College All-Star Game against the NFL champion Browns. Davis posted just 15 total yards from scrimmage in his sole NFL season before going into college coaching. The Steelers missed out on numerous Hall of Famers, including RB Lenny Moore, contributing to the franchise's early woes. Davis died in 2021.
• Corbett Davis was the #1 overall pick in 1938, going to the Rams. The FB from Indiana was only the third #1 pick and was the first to actually play for the team that drafted him, but the back's four seasons in the NFL before going to serve in World War II were extremely forgettable. He died in a fishing accident in 1968.
• Ron Dayne was drafted #11 overall by the Giants in 2000 out of Wisconsin, where he left as the NCAA's all-time leading rusher (since surpassed as his bowl game statistics are considered unofficial) and won the Heisman in 1999. Dayne was known for his bruising running style and massive size (weighing in at over 250 lbs), which led the Giants to believe that he'd be an ideal compliment to Tiki Barber in a "thunder and lightning" backfield. His college success did not translate to the pro game, however, where he averaged just 3.5 YPC in his four years with the Giants. His weight also ballooned (with some reports claiming he was over 270 lbs), and his coaches became frustrated with Dayne's unwillingness to address it. His carries decreased each year until he was released by the team, catching on with the Broncos and Texans for brief stints. For a player who entered the league so decorated, Dayne is now considered one of the biggest busts in Giants history.
• Jim Detwiler is the most recent first round pick to never play in the NFL. The Baltimore Colts drafted the running back #20 overall out of Michigan in 1967. However, Detwiler was still recovering from a torn ACL in college. He never completely recovered from the injury, as he only played a couple preseason games for the Colts and missed the season after getting another surgery. He failed to make the roster in 1968 and used his signing bonus to become a dentist.
• Glenn Dobbs was a Jack of All Trades runner and sometimes passer drafted #3 overall by the Cardinals in 1943 out of Tulsa. Like so many from his era, WWII military service prevented him from playing. Unlike many of his peers, he performed very well after returning from service, winning two MVP honors... with the AAFC and WIFU (precursor to the CFL). He went on to a successful college coaching career before passing away in 2002.
• Paul Duhart was the #2 overall pick in 1945 and notable for the simple fact that his high draft selection was due to his performance in the NFL. A quick explanation: Duhart's college career at Florida ended due to the school disbanding the football program for WWII, and he was permitted to play for the Packers in 1944 after being discharged from the military since he didn't have a team to go back to. Duhart played both sides of the ball and distinguished himself with a game-sealing INT in the Packers' Championship Game victory that season. A few months later, however, the NFL ruled that Duhart and the few other players who had been given that exemption should have to go through the draft process like everyone else. The Steelers, coming fresh off their disastrous Card-Pitt merger, took the player who already had proven NFL experience with their top pick. Duhart played two games in Pittsburgh before the Boston Yanks bought his rights, and injuries ended his football career after that season. The Steelers missed on multiple Hall of Famers and struggled for the next several decades, and the Yanks only made it a few more years. Duhart died in 2006.
• Robert Edwards was drafted out of Georgia by the Patriots with the #18 overall pick in 1998, passing on Randy Moss in the process. Edwards initially rewarded the investment, rushing for over 1,000 yards and scoring 12 total touchdowns as a rookie. His success earned him an invite to the league's rookie beach flag football game during Pro Bowl week in Hawaii. Unfortunately, he suffered a severe knee injury during the game, nearly requiring amputation below the knee. He missed three seasons due to the injury, was released by the Patriots, and attempted a comeback with Miami before ultimately landing in the CFL for several seasons. Edwards stands out as a prime example of a one-season wonder due to the injury. Notably, the Pro Bowl never featured beach events again.
• Curtis Enis was drafted #5 overall in 1998 out of Penn State by the Bears. Despite his dominant college career, he continued a streak of Penn State RBs in the 1990s (most notably Blair Thomas and Ki-Jana Carter) who were drafted first at their position but were far less successful outside of State College. A degenerative left knee injury diminished Enis greatly in the pros; he struggled to see the field, put up underwhelming yards per attempt when he did, and was cut from the team after just three seasons, never playing another down in the NFL. This was a tough look for Chicago for a number of reasons; not only did they miss out on drafting a Pro Bowl RB in Fred Taylor, they also were one of several teams to miss on Randy Moss, who would have helped solve the franchise's long-term shortcomings at wide receiver. The Bears struggled mightily the next several years.
• Bob Fenimore was the #1 overall pick in 1947 and the first of the "bonus" picks awarded via lottery rather than to the worst team in the league. As chance had it, that bonus pick went to the Bears, who were coming off of their fourth championship win that decade, immediately proving what a bad idea the whole system was. Fortunately for the rest of the league, the Bears got nothing off of this pick; while Fenimore had led the nation in offensive production twice as a HB at Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State) and set several still-standing school records on both sides of the ball, he had sat out almost all of 1946 due to injuries. The Bears hoped that year gave him time to recover, but it wasn't to be. Fenimore played just ten games for Chicago before retiring and becoming an insurance salesman, the "Monsters of the Midway" dynasty came to a close, and the Bears didn't win another league title for 15 years.
• Sam Francis was the second ever #1 overall pick, coming out of Nebraska in 1937 after being both a Heisman runner-up and Olympic shot putter. Unlike his predecessor Jay Berwanger, Francis actually played in the NFL and thus was arguably a bigger bust, though not for the team that drafted him—the Eagles immediately traded his rights to the Bears in exchange for future Hall of Famer Bill Hewitt and an infusion of $4,000 that helped keep the young struggling franchise afloat. Francis bounced around three teams in four seasons in the NFL before entering the military in WWII; he would mostly keep his focus there, becoming a lieutenant colonel over decades of service, though he did return to football in 1947 to serve as HC at Kansas State (he went 0-10 in his single season at the helm). He passed away in 2002.
• Brent Fullwood was drafted #4 overall by the Packers in 1987. He initially struggled but had a Pro Bowl showing in his third season. His NFL career was over the following year when he tapped out of a game due to feeling sick, then was spotted partying in a local club that same night. The Packers traded him to Cleveland two days later, and he never played football again. Adding to the draft bust irony, the Packers could have drafted Fullwood's former Auburn teammate Bo Jackson but passed on him due to believing he would stick to baseball.
• Jim Grabowski was drafted with the #1 overall pick in the 1966 AFL Draft and the very first player selected by the expansion Miami Dolphins after a dominant college career at Illinois, but he snubbed Miami when the established winners of the Green Bay Packers took him #9 overall; he would be among the last of several high-profile AFL Draft picks to pass on the smaller league, as the leagues merged their drafts the following year. Grabowski was capable when he saw the field and contributed to the Packers' first two Super Bowl wins, but he struggled with injuries and never lived up to his draft stock, being out of the NFL after spending 1970 with the Bears.
• Archie Griffin had a legendary career as a RB at Ohio State, becoming the only college player ever to win the Heisman twice, and was fittingly drafted by an Ohio team, the Cincinnati Bengals, #24 overall in 1976 (ahead of three future Hall of Famers). Griffin played seven seasons with the Bengals but did not see the same level of success in the pros—he never rushed for more than 700 yards and mainly played on special teams^note where he notably committed one of the worse gaffes in Super Bowl history in XVI, fumbling a kickoff return and allowing the 49ers to score two field goals in the last fifteen seconds before halftime. He was cut in 1982 and was out of pro football entirely after a short-lived comeback attempt in the USFL in 1985.
• Michael Haddix was the #8 overall pick in 1983, going to the Eagles out of Mississippi State. The FB was a capable blocker and even a decent contributor as a receiver, which helped him last six seasons in Philly, but his production was totally underwhelming for a top ten pick from arguably the greatest draft class in NFL history that was loaded with Hall of Fame talent down the board. Haddix scored just three TDs for the Eagles, all in his first two seasons, and averaged just three yards per carry, the lowest of any RB in the modern era with his number of career carries. He retired following two more underwhelming years with the Packers.
• Tom Harmon was the #1 overall pick in 1941 after a legendary college career at Michigan but barely played in the NFL due to military service; see his entry in Collegiate American Football Names To Know for more.
• Alonzo Highsmith was a star fullback at Miami (FL) before being drafted #3 overall by the Houston Oilers in 1987. Highsmith immediately staged a long contract holdout that cost him much of his first season. While he had decent performances in his second and third years, the utility of the FB position was already on a steep decline, particularly when the Run and Shoot arrived in Houston. More significantly, Highsmith had developed a chronic knee condition that essentially made a football career unviable; he was traded to the Cowboys in 1990, barely saw action, and was done as a player after '92. He later became a football executive and currently serves at his alma mater.
• Ethan Horton was drafted #15 overall in 1985 out of North Carolina by the Chiefs. He was the first RB selected in that draft, but the team had no clue of how to make use of his talents; he barely saw the field, was cut after his rookie year, and couldn't find a spot on another roster for a year. This would already mark him as one of the bigger busts in Chiefs history, as they took him one pick before the legendary Jerry Rice and got next to no value out of him. However, his selection became an even bigger blunder for KC after Horton eventually signed with the division rival Raiders a few years later. Al Davis had Horton converted to tight end, where he was much more productive and even earned a Pro Bowl nod in 1991. He retired after spending '94 with Washington.
• Leroy Keyes was drafted #3 overall by the Eagles in 1969 out of Purdue. He put up unspectacular numbers in his rookie season and saw little playing time in his second. In response, he switched to safety in 1971 and briefly had some success, but he regressed the following year, was traded to Kansas City, and was out of the league after the season. Keyes stands out as particularly infamous because he was taken one pick before Mean Joe Greene, who completely changed the fortunes of the other Pennsylvania NFL team; that's not even to mention the four other Hall of Famers and countless more successful running backs (including Mercury Morris and future MVP Larry Brown) the Eagles missed on. Keyes passed away in 2021.
• Walt Kowalczyk earned the nickname "The Sprinting Blacksmith" during his successful tenure at Michigan State, during which he helped lead the Spartans to two national titles. He was drafted #6 overall in 1958 by the Eagles but was buried in the depth chart, barely saw the field, and struggled when he did. He posted a single TD and averaged fewer than two yards per carry before being traded away after just two seasons; the Eagles won a championship the following year. Kowalczyk was subsequently signed by the expansion Cowboys as the franchise's first starting FB but didn't improve much, and he was out of pro football two years later. Adding to his status as an all-time draft bust, Kowalczyk was taken ahead of multiple Hall of Famers in a pretty rich draft class, including two Canton-bound RBs in Jim Taylor and Bobby Mitchell. He died in 2018.
• Johnny Lattner was a Heisman winner at Notre Dame drafted #7 overall in 1954 by the Steelers. After a Pro Bowl rookie season as a return specialist, he decided the next year to join the Air Force; during his service, he suffered a knee injury in a football game that prevented him from ever playing pro again. He died in 2016.
• Dick Leftridge was a FB drafted #3 overall by the Steelers in 1966 out of West Virginia, where he was the first African American to play for the program. Unfortunately, when he showed up to training camp as a rookie, he was grossly out of shape. Already known for his weight issues in college, the Steelers included a clause in his contract which allowed them to fine him $50 for every pound he weighed in over 230. News reports suggested he weighed in closer to 300 pounds (though Leftridge later called this an exaggeration). He lasted only a single year in the NFL, with eight carries to his name, and is considered the biggest draft bust in Steelers history.^note In fairness, his draft class was quite weak; only one RB from later in the draft made the Pro Bowl, and the only Hall of Famer, CB Emmitt Thomas, went undrafted Leftridge died in 2004.
• Bo Matthews was drafted #2 overall by the Chargers in 1974 out of Colorado. Matthews somehow managed to last six seasons in San Diego despite his peak being barely rushing for 300 yards in his rookie season; he spent one and a half seasons with the Giants before retiring.
• Ray McDonald was drafted by Washington #13 overall in 1967 out of Idaho, where he led the nation in rushing despite having a poorly treated Achilles injury that gave him a noticable limp. He put up pitiful stats in his rookie campaign and didn't play his second year after getting arrested for having sex with a man in public. New coach Vince Lombardi vouched for him and tried to give him another shot in '69, only to ultimately cut him in part due to frequent tardiness to team meetings. McDonald became a music teacher before dying from AIDS three days before his 49th birthday in 1993.
• Terry Miller was drafted #5 overall in 1978 by the Bills after finishing second behind the legendary Earl Campbell (taken four spots earlier) in the Heisman vote for his performances at Oklahoma State. Miller did not come close to matching Campbell's NFL success; after a thousand-yard rookie campaign, he regressed sharply and was completely supplanted on Buffalo's depth chart by year three. He was traded to Seattle, where he played just one game in 1981. The Bills missed on several Hall of Famers and a number of RBs with better careers with their high draft pick and struggled for the next decade-plus.
• Steve Owens won the Heisman as a workhorse back at Oklahoma before being drafted at #19 overall in 1970 by the Lions. Owens earned a Pro Bowl selection in his second year, becoming the first Lion to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. However, injuries derailed him soon after, and he was out of football after three unremarkable years. Ten years later, Detroit drafted another Heisman-winning running back out of Oklahoma, Billy Sims, who was a good player before injuries forced him to retire.
• Jim Pace was drafted #8 overall by the 49ers in 1958 after a stellar career at Michigan. He posted just 220 yards from scrimmage in his rookie year, failing to see much play with the team's crowded backfield, and then never played in the NFL again, spending a few years in the CFL before moving onto a football office career. Like Walt Kowalcyzk (above) with the Eagles, the Niners took Pace ahead of multiple Hall of Famers, including RBs Jim Taylor and Bobby Mitchell, for essentially zero value. Pace died in 1983 at just 47 years old.
• Paul Palmer was drafted #19 overall in 1987 by the Chiefs out of Temple. The Heisman runner-up spent his rookie season mostly on special teams, leading the AFC in kickoff return average and being named an All-Pro as a returner. The next season, he led the team in rushing, receiving, scoring, and combined yards from scrimmage, but clashes with the coaching staff over playing time combined with the revelations that he signed with an agent during his senior season in college and this joke led to his release in early in the 1989 season. He signed with the Lions a day after his release, then was traded to the Cowboys a few weeks later to replace Herschel Walker. He bounced around the league for the next few years but didn't see any playing time and ultimately finished out his football career with the Barcelona Dragons of the WLAF in 1992.
• Joe Profit was drafted #7 overall in 1971 by the Falcons out of Northeast Louisiana^note now known as Louisiana-Monroe. He put up abysmal stats until being traded to the Saints in the middle of the 1973 season, continuing to struggle there. He signed with the Birmingham Americans of the World Football League in 1975, where he scored the first touchdown of the upstart league before his football career ended. He then embarkened on a career as a businessman and politican. His bust status becomes more alarming as the Falcons could've drafted John Brockington, a 3-time Pro-Bowler taken two picks later.
• Cal Rossi had a legendary career as a HB/DB at UCLA that led Washington to draft him #9 overall in 1946. However, team owner George Preston Marshall, who didn't utilize a scouting department, found out too late that Rossi was a junior that year and ineligible for the draft, wasting their top pick. Undeterred by the mistake, Marshall selected Rossi again in the following draft #4 overall, only to be humiliated even further when he turned down the NFL to go into teaching, making him the only player to be drafted twice and never play a down of football. This colossal blunder, combined with Marshall's own antics (see above), would lead to Washington's descent in the NFL's cellar and subsequent struggles over the next few decades. Rossi died in 2013.
• Rashaan Salaam was a Heisman winner at Colorado drafted #21 overall in 1995 by the Bears. He had a decent rookie season but fell off quickly afterwards due to a lack of ball security and numerous injuries, the latter of which prevented the Bears from trading him. The Bears cut him after just three seasons; he had a single rush attempt with the Browns the next season and never saw the field in the NFL again, bouncing around practice squads, the XFL, and the CFL for the next few years before leaving football. Salaam died by suicide in 2016.
• Sammie Smith was drafted #9 overall in 1989. The Florida State product got to stay in-state with the Dolphins, who took him with their first top ten draft selection since Hall of Famer Larry Csonka over two decades prior. To say Smith didn't live up to those expectations would be an understatement; after two promising seasons to start his pro career, Smith fell off a cliff in his third, spent 1992 in Denver, and his career was over. Smith subsequently struggled with numerous legal issues, serving a seven-year prison sentence for cocaine possession and distribution.
• Larry Stegent was drafted #8 by the Cardinals in 1970 out of Texas A&M. The three-time All-Conference tailback injured his knee in a pre-season game and missed his entire rookie season. He played just seven games in 1971, recording exactly one catch for 12 yards before leaving football.
• Blair Thomas was drafted at #2 overall by the Jets in 1990. The Penn State RB turned out to be another example of the common problems with spending such a high pick on a running back, as he became just another component of the Jets RB committee. His production soon was eclipsed by Johnny Johnson, a seventh rounder from the same draft, and Thomas was off the team in four years, bouncing around for another two with Dallas and Carolina before retiring. Making matters worse for Thomas is that he was taken several picks before one of the most notable exceptions to the "first round RB rule", Hall of Famer and all-time rushing leader Emmitt Smith.
• Ebert Van Buren was drafted #8 overall in 1951 by the Eagles. They sought to pair him with his brother Steve, who at that time was arguably the greatest RB the NFL had yet seen. However, Ebert and Steve were quite different; while Steve had been able to launch a successful football career due to an eye defect that let him avoid service in WWII, Ebert didn't even play the sport in high school and had served in the Pacific after graduation, earning a Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars after being injured at Hacksaw Ridge. His brother's alma mater LSU recruited him to play after the war, and while he had some success, his high draft selection was a somewhat transparent marketing ploy to lean into the Sibling Team dynamic. Unfortunately, Ebert's first NFL season would be Steve's last, and Ebert only lasted two more forgettable seasons before returning to school to become a psychologist. No other sibling pair would be taken in the first round until the Manning brothers half a century later. Van Buren died in 2019.
• Billy Vessels was the Baltimore Colts' first ever draft pick, being taken #2 overall by the expansion franchise in 1953 after a Heisman-winning career at Oklahoma. He elected not to join the Colts, instead playing a single season in Canada (winning the pre-CFL equivalent of the Most Outstanding Player award) before joining the army. After a few years, he finally joined the Colts in 1956 for a single forgettable season before retiring from football. The Colts missed seven future Hall of Famers with this pick that earned them almost nothing in return. Vessels passed away in 2001.
• David Wilson was selected with the final pick of the first round by the Giants in 2012 out of Virginia Tech. An undersized one-year wonder with some injury concerns, Wilson was a bit of a surprise pick for the defending champions who had been successful with a "running back by committee" approach. Wilson fumbled on his second professional carry and seemingly entered head coach Tom Coughlin's dog house, getting only a handful of touches on offense while also contributing on kick returns the rest of the season. After starting four games in his second season (averaging just 3.3 YPC), he was placed on IR with a neck injury and discovered that he suffered from spinal stenosis, a career-ending diagnosis as he risked paralysis by continuing to play. He was taken ahead of three other Pro Bowl RBs and some likely future Hall of Famers at other positions^note QB Russell Wilson, LB Bobby Wagner. His selection is now seen as one of the first dominoes to fall in bringing about the end of the Coughlin/Eli Manning Giants era, as they selected draft busts with four of their first round selections in a five-year span starting with Wilson before bottoming out.^note See Ereck Flowers and Eli Apple below for more.
• Tim Worley was drafted #7 overall in 1989 by the Steelers following a stellar career at Georgia. After a fairly promising rookie season, a decline in production, problems with ball security and injuries, and—most critically—a suspension for the entire '92 season for refusing mandatory drug tests led the Steelers to ship him out of town to Chicago, where he lasted only two more years.

Wide Receiver/Tight End Draft Busts

• Tavon Austin was a dynamic and versatile weapon at West Virginia who was drafted #8 overall in 2013 by the Rams, who hoped to add a spark to their long-struggling offense. Despite showing glimmers of exciting promise on punt returns, Austin barely saw the field on offense for his first two seasons, and an experiment with integrating him into the Rams' run game in 2015 produced underwhelming results for the struggling franchise. When Sean McVay became the Rams' HC in 2017, Austin almost disappeared from their offense and the team greatly improved; he was subsequently released and has bounced around the NFL ever since. While using a top ten pick on a glorified return specialist would be rough enough, the Rams also had to reckon with missing out on Cordarelle Patterson, who actually did become the dynamic Jack of All Trades the Rams were seeking in Austin, not to mention Pro Bowl receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Keenan Allen and all-time great receiving TE Travis Kelce.
• Harry Babcock was the #1 overall pick in 1953, going to the 49ers after a solid but not highly decorated career as an end at Georgia. The Niners were potentially attempting to emulate the Detroit Lions, who were in the midst of an extended championship run after taking end Leon Hart #1 overall in 1950. It didn't pay off; Babcock was cut by the Niners after three seasons in which he put up zero starts and caught just 16 passes for 181 yards. He'd likely be known as one of the bigger draft busts ever, coming before seven future Hall of Fame players, but the Niners lucked out by later catching one of them (Bob St. Clair) and quickly signing another (John Henry Johnson), though one has to wonder if they would have been better contenders in the '50s with a more judicious pick at #1. It was another decade before a receiving end was taken at #1 (Dave Parks, also by San Francisco, though he had a fairly decent career).
• Justin Blackmon was drafted #5 overall in 2012 by the Jaguars out of Oklahoma State. A two-time Biletnikoff winner, he was considered to have sky-high potential thanks to his combination of speed and athleticism. Blackmon put up a solid performance in 14 starts as a rookie but received a four-game suspension after testing positive for marijuana during his second season. During the offseason prior to his third year in the league, he was arrested during a traffic stop for possession of marijuana, which subjected him to another suspension. Blackmon attended rehab in preparation for a return to the NFL but was then arrested for DUI, derailing his comeback effort. He remains under indefinite suspension to this day. Blackmon tried catching on in the CFL, but the Jaguars refused to let him sign with the league as he was technically still on the team's roster.
• Kyle Brady was a TE drafted #9 overall by the Jets in 1995 out of Penn State who was part of one of the all-time infamous draft moments. While a quality prospect as a dual threat receiver/blocker, the Jets fans in attendance at the draft^note which took place in New York City until 2015, meaning there was plenty of Jets representation wanted the team to select star Miami DT Warren Sapp, who was falling due to reports of failed drug tests. They drowned out the commissioner's announcement of the pick with "We want Sapp!" chants, then loudly booed Brady and his mother as they went on stage to meet the commissioner. Brady had a chance to prove the fans wrong, but he never became a star. Although he was a starter for most of his 13-year career (with the Jets, Jaguars and Patriots), he was mostly used as a blocking tight end. Sapp, of course, went on to be selected #12 by the Buccaneers and had a Hall of Fame career, while the Bucs picked up another Hall of Famer at #28 in LB Derrick Brooks. Brady currently works as an analyst for the Big 10 Network.
• Derek Brown was a TE drafted #14 overall by the Giants in 1992 out of Notre Dame. Despite his size and athleticism, the receiving prowess he displayed in college did not translate to the pro game. Though active for every game in his first two seasons, he rarely saw the field and only totaled 11 catches. By his third season, Brown exclusively played special teams and was left "unprotected" by the Giants in the 1995 expansion draft where he was selected by the Jaguars. However, he missed the entire season after a preseason injury and only managed 39 catches with a single TD in two more seasons in Jacksonville. He was released, bounced around to Oakland and Arizona, and was out of football soon after. Though he came out of a draft class already known for being one of the weakest ever, Brown is still considered one of the biggest busts at his position.
• Larry Burton was an Olympic sprinter at Purdue prior to being drafted #7 overall in 1975 by the Saints. The first receiver off the board, Burton's selection immediately became notorious when his head coach expressed regret for drafting him on the day of the draft.^note This didn't necessarily have to do with his doubts about Burton's ability, instead being a criticism of the front office's decision to trade away one of their better defensive players without drafting a strong replacement. Burton failed to live up to his huge draft stock, putting up around 300 yards in his first two seasons before his third was wiped out by injury. He was traded to the Chargers but saw only spot duty and retired from play two years later. His biggest impact in the NFL turned out to be through his son, undrafted TE Trey Burton, who threw the famous "Philly Special" TD to Nick Foles in Super Bowl LII.
• Clyde Duncan was drafted #17 overall by the Cardinals in 1984 out of Tennessee. Duncan held out until week 2 of his rookie season and missed half the season with a separated shoulder, putting up zero stats. In his second season, Duncan was named kick returner but struggled with fumbles. He was released in 1986 and never played again. In his career, Duncan caught just four passes and one TD, and returned 28 kicks. He died in 2015.
• Troy Edwards shattered college receiving records in 1998 (he still holds the ones for single season receiving TDs and single-game receiving yards), and the Steelers drafted him #13 overall the following year hoping that he could become as big a star as the last player they drafted from Louisiana Tech, Terry Bradshaw. Edwards had a decent rookie season, but his targets and production declined precipitously the next two seasons with the rise of Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress. Edwards publically complained about the situation in a radio interview and was subsequently traded... to the Rams, who had an even more stacked receiving corps. He was out of St. Louis in a year and played three more unspectacular seasons with the Jaguars and Lions before washing out of the NFL.
• Larry Elkins broke several NCAA receiving records (since passed) while playing for Baylor in the early 1960s and was a greatly desired draft prospect, going #2 overall in the 1965 AFL Draft and #10 overall in NFL. Elkins chose the AFL so that he could stay in his native Texas with the Oilers, but injuries immediately derailed his career when a knee injury in training camp cost him his rookie season. He struggled when he returned and only played two seasons of pro football before retiring from the game, seeing much more success in other business interests. Elkins' status as an all-time draft bust is further bolstered by the fact that he was drafted before another wide receiver who chose the AFL on his way to Canton, Fred Biletnikoff.
• Yatil Green was drafted #15 overall by the Dolphins out of the local University of Miami in 1997. Despite lackluster overall production in college, Green averaged a whopping 17.6 yards per reception and had elite speed to go with his 6'2" frame. A "workout warrior" who performed well at the Combine, the Dolphins selected him to energize their WR corps with a deep threat. Green missed his first two seasons after tearing his right ACL twice (requiring a total of 10 surgeries on his right knee), which robbed him of his explosiveness. He caught just 18 passes in 1999 before the Dolphins released him and bounced around to the Jets and Raiders for short inactive stints to end his career.
• N’Keal Harry was drafted #32 overall by the Patriots out of Arizona State in 2019. In retrospect, he may have been a Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond — against Pac-12 defenses, he could use his big-bodied physique to out-muscle opposition in a manner the Pats rarely schemed for against superior NFL defenses. Harry struggled with injuries throughout his time in New England, on top of being buried on the depth chart and mainly being used as a run blocker, leading to him never eclipsing more than 300 receiving yards in a season. He was shipped off to the Bears in 2022 for a 7th round pick. What makes the choice even worse, however, was that the Patriots missed on drafting Pro Bowl wideouts Deebo Samuel, A.J. Brown, DK Metcalf, Terry McLaurin, and Diontae Johnson. The Patriots (and Bill Belichick) have had trouble as an organization in drafting and developing wide receivers, but what made Harry infamous was that the 2019 Patriots were a defensive powerhouse perceived as being one receiver away from having a complete team for a Super Bowl three-peat; their lack of offensive firepower was widely understood as a main reason Tom Brady left the following year and ended the Pats' dominance.
• Darrius Heyward-Bey was the first receiver drafted in 2009, taken #7 overall out of Maryland by the Raiders. Owner and GM Al Davis was taken by his blazing 4.3 40-yard dash time, as always prioritizing speed over most other attributes—like most of these speed-first selections, he proved not worth the investment. Heyward-Bey put up awful performances in his first two seasons, was solid his third, but regressed and was released after his fourth. After a middling year with the Colts, he played five seasons as primarily a special teamer with the Steelers before retiring. The Raiders missed out on a host of talent further down the draft (including several Pro Bowl receivers) and continued to struggle for several years.
• A.J. Jenkins was drafted #30 overall in 2012 by the 49ers out of Illinois. He was something of a "one-season wonder" as a prospect, exploding for over 1,200 yards as a senior after failing to post that many yards in his previous three seasons combined. He also excelled in pre-draft workouts, posting a 4.37 40-yard dash, which inflated his draft stock. Despite being healthy the entire season, Jenkins was only active for three games as a rookie and targeted by only a single pass, which he dropped. During the pre-season of his second year, he was traded to the Chiefs in exchange for fellow first round disappointment WR Jonathan Baldwin, making him the fastest first round pick to be dumped by his team in the 21st century.^note Later beaten by Isaiah Wilson, see under "Offensive Lineman Busts". Jenkins finally caught his first NFL pass 511 days after he was drafted but totaled only 17 catches in two years with the Chiefs. He was released, spent an offseason with Dallas before being released yet again, and was out of football soon after.
• Johnny "Lam" Jones^note About the nickname: During his college career at Texas, he was one of two players named Johnny Jones. Coach Darrell Royal called them "Lam" and "Ham" based on their Texas hometowns—the one listed here was from Lampasas, and the other was from Hamlin. won a gold medal in the 4x100 relay at the Montreal Olympics before going to Texas, where he ran track while playing WR for the Longhorns. His world-class speed led the Jets to draft him #2 overall in 1980. The Jets traded up to the pick intending to draft future Hall of Fame lineman Anthony Muñoz, but after a failed physical they settled with Jones instead, also missing HOF receiver Art Monk in the process. While Jones was great at outrunning coverages, he struggled with drops throughout his career and was later plagued with injuries that caused him to miss the '85 and '86 seasons. He was traded to the 49ers the following year but was cut during the preseason and failed to catch on in Dallas shortly afterwards. Throughout his career, he dealt with drug and alcohol abuse, which resulted in him being arrested for sexual molestation in 1988. He went into rehab soon afterwards and was able to turn his life around, becoming a motivational speaker for high school athletes across the country. He died from cancer in 2019.
• Matt Jones was a WR drafted #21 overall in 2005 by the Jaguars. Jones had a successful college career as a quarterback at Arkansas, ending his college career with the most rushing yards by a QB in SEC history (since surpassed). As a middling passer, he decided to transition to WR for the NFL. He put up a monster performance at the NFL Combine, measuring in at 6'6", 242 lbs, and running an absolutely blazing 4.37 40-yard dash. One of the prime examples of a "workout warrior" in NFL Draft history, his stock soared into first round consideration despite having never played the WR position before. He put up a few middling seasons as a #3/#4 receiver in certain packages, starting only five games in his first three seasons before moving into a starting role for his fourth. However, he was suspended midway through after he was arrested for felony possession of a controlled substance. He was released by the Jaguars the next offseason after yet another arrest, this time for a violation of his probation. He attempted to catch on with a few more teams but never again played in the NFL. Notably, Jones was the last transitioned college QB to be selected in the first round; expect his name to come up in discussion regarding college QBs moving to other positions, especially since he was taken three picks before another QB who didn't change position: Aaron Rodgers.
• Freddie Mitchell was drafted #25 overall in 2001 by the Eagles after a standout career at UCLA. Mitchell struggled with injuries in the pros and was buried on the depth chart even when healthy, but he conducted himself off the field as if he was a major star. A relentless self-promoter, he appeared on numerous reality shows, gave himself the nickname "FredEx" for his ability to "deliver", and openly criticized his own team and coaches for not feeding him more even while the team was winning a lot without him (though one of his few catches was a crucial 4th and 26th conversion that was one of the highlights of Donovan McNabb's career). His off-field antics finally got too much for the Eagles in 2004, as his poor sportsmanship towards both opponents and teammates reached the national stage in their Super Bowl run. When Mitchell attempted a contract holdout the following offseason, the normally amiable Andy Reid (who was simultaneously dealing with a much more prominent and important holdout from Terrell Owens) openly stated he was glad Mitchell wasn't around. "FredEx" was subsequently cut from the team and never played in the NFL again, having burned a ton of bridges with little to show for it on the field. He later served a prison sentence for tax fraud.
• Jalen Reagor was drafted #21 overall in 2020 by the Eagles. The TCU product was viewed as a reach by many due to his later performance in college. Those worries proved prescient when Reagor struggled with drops, leading to him being traded away after just two very lackluster seasons. Philadelphia missed out on a number of impact players, including several at the wide receiver position, but none stings more for Eagle fans than Justin Jefferson, who went to the Vikings with the very next pick and immediately started leaving his mark on NFL record books, while Reagor often struggled to just hold onto the ball. (Ironically, Reagor was traded to... the Vikings, where he lasted just one year.)
• Johnny "The Jet" Rodgers was the first receiver to win the Heisman during his stellar career at Nebraska and the namesake of college football's top award for best return specialist. He was drafted #25 overall by the Chargers in 1973 but chose to instead sign with the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL, where he was a star player for several seasons and helped take the franchise to a Grey Cup win. He returned to the Chargers in '77, but injuries ended his NFL career after two unremarkable seasons.
• Charles Rogers was drafted #2 overall by the Lions in 2003 after a stellar career at Michigan State that drew pre-draft comparisons to Randy Moss. However, just five games into his rookie year, he broke his collarbone during practice, and broke it again on just the third play from scrimmage during his second season. His third year began with a four-game suspension for marijuana; he only played sparingly when he returned and was cut after playing in just 15 games for the Lions. Rogers tried out for a few teams, but he had lost most of his speed and was never signed. Rogers filed for bankruptcy after he was forced to repay his signing bonus to the Lions. He was drafted one pick ahead of Hall of Fame receiver Andre Johnson, and one round ahead of Offensive Rookie of the Year Anquan Boldin (who, incidentally, played his final season in Detroit). Rogers died in 2019 from liver failure, at the age of 38.
• John Ross was drafted #9 overall in 2017 by the Bengals out of Washington. One of the most famous "workout warriors" in NFL history, Ross set an NFL Combine record for the 40-yard dash (4.22 seconds) that lasted until 2024.^note Xavier Worthy, a WR out of Texas, ran a 4.21 in 2024. The effort strained his calf muscles too much to attempt a second sprint or perform many other drills, which was a good bit of foreshadowing for how his NFL career would go: a Fragile Speedster whose straight-line speed didn't translate into side-to-side elusiveness or catching skills. Ross missed almost all of his rookie season after fumbling his first play, underperformed in his next two, and sat out most of his fourth from injuries and while attempting to negotiate a trade. The Bengals responded by declining his fifth-year option, sending him to the Giants in free agency, and filling his spot on the roster with Ja'Marr Chase, who helped the team immediately reach the Super Bowl; Ross was out of the league soon after. Adding to Ross' status as a bust is the position of his selection: he was taken one pick before Patrick Mahomes, and at his position was taken two whole rounds before future record-breaker Cooper Kupp was instrumental in handing the Bengals a loss in said Super Bowl.
• Ron Sellers (nicknamed "Jingle Joints" for his dynamic playmaking) was a hugely hyped receiver prospect, still holding many Florida State receiving records despite playing in the 1960s. The Patriots drafted him #6 overall in 1969, and a promising rookie season saw him be named an All-Star. However, injuries ensured that he never lived up to his college prospects in the pros; the Pats traded him after his third season, and he was out of the NFL two years later. Sellers was taken ahead of several Hall of Famers, including WR Charlie Joiner.
• R. Jay Soward was taken #29 overall in 2000 out of USC by the Jaguars but played just one season in the NFL, posting fewer than 200 yards in his rookie year before his struggles with alcoholism led to an indefinite suspension. He later moved onto the CFL, winning a Grey Cup with the Argonauts, and later American Indoor Football. With one of the shortest and least impactful NFL careers ever for a first round pick, Soward's lucky that almost everyone in his draft has to deal with being taken before Tom Brady. His cousin was allegedly murdered by former NFL RB Lawrence Phillips (see "Notorious").
• David Terrell was the first receiver drafted in 2001, going to the Bears #8 overall out of Michigan. He underperformed his draft stock in each of his four seasons in Chicago before being cut and never saw the field in the NFL again. Terrell was notable for being picked well ahead of several Pro Bowl receivers, including Reggie Wayne, Chad Johnson, and Steve Smith, all of which could have helped shake the Bears' long-time passing woes.
• David Verser was the first receiver drafted in 1981, going to the Bengals with the #10 pick. The former Kansas player had shown glimpses of explosiveness as a deep threat in college, but he wound up buried in the depth chart after the Bengals took another WR, future Pro Bowler and broadcaster Cris Collinsworth, with their next pick. Verser barely saw action on offense and was instead slotted into special teams as a return specialist, but a historically poor performance in the Super Bowl in his rookie year while dealing with a thumb injury helped cost his team the championship. He saw little action in the next three years in Cincinnati and was out of football after 1987, after even less impressive stints with the Bucs and Browns. His lack of any meaningful production, paired with being picked ahead of four future Hall of Famers, made him one of the more notable busts in Bengals history.
• Kevin White was a WR drafted #7 overall in 2015 by the Bears out of West Virginia. During training camp, White injured his shin and missed his rookie season. The injuries kept piling up, as White only played 14 games over four seasons in Chicago. He has bounced around multiple teams and has yet to score a touchdown in the NFL.
• Mike Williams^note not to be confused with several other players with the same name was drafted #10 overall in 2005 by the Lions. He played WR at USC from 2002-03 but was suspended in 2004 after hiring an agent in an attempt to enter the draft a year early, being forced to sit out a full season as a result. The Lions still took him in the first round, but he put up disappointing numbers for two years before being traded to the Raiders for a 4th round pick; the Lions missed out on Pro Bowl receivers Roddy White, Vincent Jackson, and Jerome Mathis. Williams again disappointed, was cut during the season, finished the year with the Titans, and then was out of football entirely for two years. He signed with the Seahawks in 2010, having his best season after reuniting with college coach Pete Carroll. However, his stats dropped the next season after he broke his leg and was released in 2012, having never reached 1,000 yards in any season during his career.
• Reggie Williams was drafted #9 overall in 2004 by the Jaguars after shattering program receiving records at Washington. Williams put up decent performances for the Jags (including a 10-touchdown season in 2007) but did not live up to his draft stock, and off-field legal issues pushed him out of the NFL in just five years. He later had short stints in the UFL and CFL.
• Troy Williamson was drafted #7 overall in 2005 by the Vikings, using the pick they acquired by trading disgruntled future Hall of Fame receiver Randy Moss to the Raiders. Williamson was a track athlete with blazing speed (running a 4.32 40-time at the combine) but had limited experience in other aspects of being a WR, having been just a one-year starter in college at South Carolina. He badly struggled with drops and route running in three years with the Vikings and was traded to Jacksonville for a 6th round pick. He eked out two unproductive years with the Jags and was then out of football. Adding insult to injury, seven of the next eight players selected after Williamson all went to at least one Pro Bowl during their careers.
• Elmo Wright was one of the more dynamic receviers in college football history, amassing massive numbers for his era at Houston while being credited with creating the touchdown celebration dance. The Chiefs drafted him #16 overall in 1971 without knowing that he needed a knee surgery. After losing his first offseason, Wright wound up posting just over 1,000 receiving yards and 7 total TDs... over four seasons, splitting his fifth with the Patriots and Oilers before calling it a career. The Chiefs missed out of four future Hall of Famers, including WR Harold Carmichael, and soon entered into a tailspin of several losing seasons.

Offensive Lineman Draft Busts

• Eugene Chung was a guard selected #13 overall in the historically weak 1992 Draft by the Patriots out of Virginia Tech, becoming the first player of Korean descent to be drafted in the first round. Though he played offensive tackle in college, he was projected to guard in the NFL, a position rarely selected that high. While he assumed a starting role early in his rookie season, he struggled and lost his starting job completely by his third season. In 1995, the Patriots left him unprotected in the expansion draft, where he was selected by the Jaguars. He did not start a single game with Jacksonville, was released after one season, signed with the Colts, and again did not start a game. He was out of football after one year in Indy and went down as among the biggest busts in Patriots history. Chung went on to an assistant coaching career that has included stints on the Eagles and Chiefs. In 2021, he triggered a completely different controversy when he told a Boston Globe reporter that he had been told he was "not the right minority" when interviewing for an assistant's position with an unnamed NFL team.
• Ereck Flowers was an o-lineman drafted #9 overall by the Giants in 2015 out of Miami. Despite his massive size (6'6", 340 lbs), he was considered very raw and needing to develop his technique, yet was immediately inserted as the Giants starting LT. He struggled mightily, giving up a league-high 169 pressures over his first three seasons while also being among the leading o-linemen in committing penalties. Two weeks into the 2018 season, the Giants finally benched and released him after failing to find a trade partner. After a stint in Jacksonville, he signed with Washington in 2019 and was moved to guard. Much like Robert Gallery before him (see below), he performed better at that position, earning a big contract with the Dolphins in 2020. Despite starting 14 games for Miami that season, he was traded back to Washington in 2021 in an exchange for seventh-round draft picks and was cut a year later, ending his NFL career. Flowers was taken ahead of multiple future Pro Bowl o-linemen.
• Robert Gallery was drafted #2 overall by the Raiders in 2004 out of Iowa. Considered a "can't miss" prospect, Gallery received some of the highest grades ever given to a prospect leading up to the draft at a position generally considered "safe" to select with a high draft pick. He started his Raiders career at right tackle, where his play was mediocre; when moved to left tackle in 2006, he surrendered 3 sacks in his first game. In 2007, he was moved inside to left guard and actually improved, playing that position for several more seasons in Oakland before signing with Seattle as a free agent on a 3-year deal in 2011; they released him after only one season, and he retired later that offseason. While he managed to salvage his career by playing guard well enough to keep him from becoming one of the biggest draft busts of all time, Gallery was still an extreme disappointment based on his pre-draft potential, not helped by being drafted ahead of several likely future Hall of Famers in Larry Fitzgerald, Philip Rivers, and Ben Roethlisberger.
• Aaron Gibson was the heaviest player in league history, becoming the first to weigh over 400 pounds. The Lions selected the OT #27 overall in 1999 out of Wisconsin. His rookie year got off to a poor start, as he was fined $80,000 for showing up to training camp overweight, and he missed the season due to a shoulder injury. Gibson was often injured, playing only 38 games before leaving the NFL in 2004. He later resurfaced in the Arena Football League. Poor health continued to follow Gibson after his playing career, as his weight ballooned to 480 lb, and he lost a toe from a spider bite, before finally getting below 300 pounds after a successful workout routine.
• Luke Joeckel was an OT drafted #2 overall out of Texas A&M in 2013 by the Jaguars. In the leadup to the draft (widely considered one of the weakest in NFL history), draftniks were evenly split between him and fellow OT Eric Fisher as the safest bet to go at #1 overall. Fisher went first and had a respectable career; Joeckel conversely struggled immensely, was frequently injured, and was cut by the Jags after four years. He lasted just one more season in Seattle and never played in the NFL again. Adding to Jacksonville's misery, Joeckel was taken two picks ahead of what would turn out to be the best offensive tackle in the draft — multi-time All-Pro Lane Johnson, who went #4 overall to the Philadelphia Eagles.
• Andre Johnson^note not to be confused with the Texans' longtime WR was an OT drafted #30 overall by Washington out of Penn State in 1996. He only played a couple preseason games in Washington, moved around from left to right, and was released after a year. Detroit picked him up, where he only saw action in three games before ending his career, making him one of the least successful modern-era first rounders in terms of minutes played.
• Brian Jozwiak was an OT drafted #7 overall by the Chiefs in 1986 out of West Virginia. The top ten pick never became a full-time starter in Kansas City, struggling in pass protection, and his career was ended by a hip injury just three games into his third season.
• Tony Mandarich was a Canadian o-lineman drafted by the Packers #2 overall in 1989 out of Michigan State. Considered a "can't miss" draft prospect due to his incredible physique, his career began with a lengthy contractual dispute that resulted in Mandarich holding out into the regular season. When he finally did begin to play, he was middling-at-best, abysmal at worst, and certainly nowhere close to the player he was in college. He was cut after three seasons and entered treatment for drug and alcohol addiction soon after. He came back in 1996, spending three seasons starting for the Colts before suffering a career-ending shoulder injury. In 2008, he finally admitted to using steroids after years of suspicion, going as far as to fake urine tests to avoid being caught. Infamously, he is the only member of the 1989 Draft selected in the top 5 to not be elected to the Hall of Fame. (The other four were Troy Aikman, Barry Sanders, Derrick Thomas, and Deion Sanders, with the latter three being especially painful as they were still on the board when Mandarich was selected.)
• Billy Price was drafted #21 overall in 2018 by the Bengals, allowing him to stay in-state after a stellar career at Ohio State where he won a national title and set the program record for career starts, and won the Rimington Trophy awarded to college football's best center. His selection was a clear mark of confidence from the Bengals, as centers are rarely drafted in the first round due to the position's perceived lack of impact, but almost all who are picked that high go on to very solid careers. Unfortunately, Price proved the exception to the rule; after suffering a foot injury in his first season that may have negatively impacted his overall performance, he couldn't hold on to the starting job, was cut after 2020 while the Bengals floundered, and has struggled to stay on an NFL roster ever since. Price is currently the only first round center drafted in the 21st century to not sign a second contract with the team that drafted him.
• Jason Smith was an OT from Baylor drafted #2 overall in 2009 by the Rams. Besides having the misfortune to be drafted to a truly dismal Rams team, Smith struggled at run blocking and suffered a severe concussion in his rookie season that knocked him out half the year. He was injured again in his third season, was traded to the Jets, and was released after spending 2012 on New York's bench, making him one of the biggest busts ever at what is normally considered a pretty "safe" position. He also was one of the first of several players on this list from Art Briles' spread offense at Baylor to burn out dramatically in the pros.
• Danny Watkins was a guard drafted #23 overall in 2011 by the Eagles out of Baylor. The Canadian spent his first few years after high school as a firefighter, eventually attending Butte Community College to study fire sciences. There, he drew the attention of the football coach who encouraged him to play for the team. He played well and the school sent his tape to several FBS programs, with Baylor offering him a scholarship. Drafted #4 overall by the BC Lions of the CFL in 2010, Watkins elected to stay at Baylor, where he developed into one of the nation's top pass blockers, and was drafted by Eagles the following year. Watkins was 26 years old when he was drafted, nearly four years older than the average draft prospect. Expected to be a starter from day one, as is typically the case for o-linemen selected in the first round, Watkins played poorly in the preseason and was benched in favor of a waiver wire claim before the season. He returned to the starting lineup later in the season but badly struggled over the next seasons, frequently being overpowered by NFL defenders. The Eagles released him during final cuts of his third season. After a brief stint with the Dolphins, he was out of football and went back to firefighting.
• Bernard Williams was an OT drafted #14 overall in 1994 by the Eagles out of Georgia. Williams started all 16 games of his rookie season, showing significant promise while being named to the NFL's All-Rookie team. However, he failed 15 drug tests for marijuana and was suspended indefinitely. He never applied for reinstatement to the NFL but went on to play in the XFL, AFL, and CFL.^note Humorously, the Eagles kept him on their inactive roster until they officially released Williams in 2023, when he was 51 years old and hadn't played in 17 years. Williams was drafted one pick ahead of OT Wayne Gandy, who started for 13 seasons, and three future Hall of Famers who were taken in the second round. Williams's nephew, Chiefs safety Eric Berry, and cousin, journeyman OG Ray Brown, had successful careers.
• Mike Williams was drafted #4 overall in 2002 by the Buffalo Bills. The Texas product was named a starter right away but struggled at every position he was moved to on the line, even defensive tackle, eventually being benched and replaced by the undrafted Jason Peters (who went on to a much better career) during his fourth season. Williams also struggled to keep a healthy weight. He failed to make another NFL roster and didn't play football for three years, though he made a brief comeback with Washington in 2009. Three picks later, the Vikings selected Pro Bowl OT Bryant McKinnie.
• Isaiah Wilson was an OT drafted #29 overall by the Titans in 2020 out of Georgia. A "road grader" with absolutely massive size (listed at 6'6", 350 lbs), Wilson was expected to take over the Titans' starting RT job day one following the loss of the previous starter in free agency. However, he struggled with multiple off-the-field incidents and finished the season on "Non-Football Illness" list having played just one game for four snaps, the shortest career of any first rounder since 1967. During the 2021 offseason, Wilson became the fastest first round pick to be jettisoned by a team in the 21st century, being traded to Miami for a swap of 7th round picks. Only a few days after the trade became official at the start of the league year, Miami released Wilson, who reportedly showed up late to take his physical and no-showed for two different workouts he said he would do at the team facility. After a short-lived rap career, Wilson spent 2021 on the Giants' practice squad but was released after he fell asleep during a team meeting. In 2023, he was suspended by the NFL for three games despite not being on a roster for over a year.

Defensive/Special Teams Draft Busts

• Gaines Adams was a DE drafted #4 overall by the Buccaneers in 2007 out of Clemson, where he tied the school record for career sacks. Freakishly athletic for his long frame, he shot up draft boards. In his rookie season, he recorded six sacks in six starts. However, despite being a full-time starter in his second season, his numbers stagnated and he proved to be a liability against the run. Following a coaching and front office overhaul in 2009, Adams was relegated to backup duty and traded mid-season for a 2nd round pick to the Bears, where he failed to register a sack. The following offseason, Adams was found unresponsive at his home and pronounced dead upon arriving at the hospital from cardiac arrest due to an enlarged heart. Adams is the highest drafted player since the merger to die during his playing career and second highest ever.^note Ernie Davis, selected #1 overall in 1962, died from leukemia having never actually played in the league.
• Trev Alberts was a LB drafted #5 overall by the Colts in 1994 out of Nebraska after trading up from the #7 pick. He badly struggled with injuries, ultimately starting just seven games in three seasons with the Colts before retiring. Alberts is famous in draftnik circles for putting draft analyst Mel Kiper in the spotlight (see his entry on the Non-Player Figures page). Alberts ended up having more success as a sports administrator, becoming the athletic director of Nebraska's sister campus in Omaha in 2009 and overseeing that school's move to NCAA Division I and its athletic rebranding as the Omaha Mavericks—though not without controversy, as he shuttered Omaha's football and wrestling programs as part of the D-I move, with wrestling being shut down literally hours after having won its third straight D-II team title. In 2021, he returned to his alma mater as the new AD and now holds that position with Texas A&M.
• Jamaal Anderson was a DE drafted #8 overall in 2007 by the Falcons (not to be confused with Jamal Anderson, a star running back who played for the Falcons in the '90s). The Arkansas product greatly stumbled out of the gate, posting just 4.5 sacks in four seasons before being cut; he played a season apiece for the Colts and Bengals, failed to make the Bears' final roster, and retired. The Falcons missed a ton of great defensive talent later in the first round, including Hall of Famers Patrick Willis and Darrelle Revis.
• Eli Apple was drafted #10 overall by the Giants in 2016 out of Ohio State, where he was part of their 2015 National Championship-winning team. Athletic with good size but considered raw after declaring for the draft as a redshirt sophomore, his selection was widely panned as a reach. The CB put up poor performances, clashed with teammates (including defensive captain Landon Collins, who publicly called Apple a "cancer"), and was suspended for the Giants' final game in 2017 after he refused coaches' orders to practice with the scout team. New HC Pat Shurmur gave Apple a "clean slate" and named him a starter for the next season, but his performance did not improve and he missed several games with injury. The Giants traded him to the Saints mid-season, where he led the league in coverage penalties in 2019. He played just two games with the Panthers in 2020 before being cut, only to somewhat revive his career the next year after helping the Bengals reach the Super Bowl. However, he continued to lean into his reputation as the league's Heel, publicly dunking on his former teams, teammates, and fans in the run up to the game before surrendering two TDs (including the game-winner) in said game; he was released a year later and is now with the Dolphins. Apple was selected ahead of two Pro Bowl corners and a host of future superstars at other positions.
• Scott Appleton was a star DT who helped lead Texas to the Longhorns' first claimed national title. The Cowboys drafted him at #4 overall, but they did so not to keep the talented college prospect in-state but to trade his rights immediately to the Steelers for WR Buddy Dial. Frustrated by this, Appleton turned down the NFL's offer and chose instead to stay in Texas and go with the AFL's Houston Oilers (who took him #6 overall in the AFL Draft). All of this maneuvering ultimately turned out for naught for all three teams; the Steelers gave away one of their best players for nothing in return, Dial regressed hard in Dallas, and Appleton lasted only three mediocre seasons in Houston before being traded to the Chargers and leaving pro football two seasons later. His high selection in the draft class that produced more Hall of Famers than any in NFL history (including defenders like Carl Eller, Dave Wilcox, and Paul Krause that all three teams missed on) positions him as an all-time bust. Appleton's on-field struggles were partially due to his battle with drug and alcohol addiction, something that he would discuss frequently during his subsequent career as a minister. He died of heart failure at just 50 years old in 1992.
• Brian Bosworth, aka The Boz, was a LB selected by the Seahawks in the first round of the 1987 Supplemental Draft (which meant giving up their first round pick in the 1988 Draft) after an epic college career at Oklahoma where he was as well known for his wild hairstyles and antics as he was for his stellar play. After testing positive for anabolic steroids, he was suspended for the 1987 Orange Bowl. His ranting against the NCAA and antics on the sideline during the game got him dismissed from the team. Rather than enter the standard NFL Draft (and risk being selected by one of the bad teams who held the early picks), Bosworth opted to enter the Supplemental Draft and sent a letter to most NFL teams stating that he would not play for them if drafted, with his stated goal to be drafted by the Los Angeles Raiders, whose reputation matched his wild persona. Regardless, the Seahawks drafted him and convinced him to play for them by giving him the richest deal in the history of the league for a rookie player at the time. He initially played well during his rookie season, helping the Seahawks to the playoffs. During his second season, his most infamous play occurred: Prior to a matchup with the Raiders, he bragged that his defense would contain their star running back, Bo Jackson. During a goal-line play, Jackson took the handoff and flattened Bosworth on his way to scoring a touchdown (and rushing for 221 total yards in the game). Bosworth's play continued to go downhill until he was forced into early retirement from a shoulder injury after just three seasons in the league. He then spun his colorful persona into a career as an actor, most prominently starring in the action film Stone Cold and numerous advertisements; more recently, he's become a born-again Christian and talked candidly about his past mistakes, saying that trying to will himself into being a hotheaded heel character led "Boz" to make decisions when "Brian" should've known better.
• Aundray Bruce was a pass-rushing LB drafted #1 overall by the Falcons in 1988 out of Auburn. Widely heralded as the "next Lawrence Taylor", Bruce underwhelmed. After four seasons with decreasing starts and statistics that included spot duty at tight end, he was released by the Falcons. He caught on with Raiders and played seven more seasons as a situational pass rusher but never registered more than 5.5 sacks in any season. Despite his career longevity, he only started 42 games, is considered the biggest draft bust in Falcons history, and is one of the more disappointing #1 picks in modern NFL history, being taken before several solid linebackers and five future Hall of Famers. He was also the last linebacker to be selected #1 overall.
• Waymond Bryant was an LB drafted #4 overall by the Bears in 1974 out of HBCU Tennessee State. Despite going to a small school, Bryant attracted attention from Chicago, who was probably hoping to land his teammate, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, who went first overall. Bryant was unable to replicate Jones' success and was out of the NFL in four years, with the only notable part of his career being delivering the hit that ended Joe Namath's career. Bryant was taken ahead of five Hall of Famers, including fellow LB Jack Lambert in the next round.
• Devin Bush Jr. was a LB drafted by the Steelers #10 overall in 2019 out of Michigan. The son of a former NFL safety, he had a solid rookie season, but injuries derailed his sophomore season after five games. After two more average seasons, Pittsburgh declined his fifth year option, making him one of the biggest Top 10 whiffs for the Steelers in decades. He subsequently joined the Seahawks and Browns.
• Dennis Byrd, not to be confused with the 1990s DE of the same name, was one of the greatest DTs in ACC history, with NC State retiring his jersey after a dominant career there. The Patriots drafted him #6 overall in 1968 without realizing the extent of a knee injury he had suffered late in his senior season; he played just one season of pro football before it forced him to retire. The Pats missed on six Hall of Famers, including Larry Csonka two picks later. Byrd died in 2010.
• Adam Carriker was drafted #13 overall in 2007 by the St. Louis Rams out of Nebraska. He was moved from his original position of defensive end to defensive tackle and struggled at the new position, putting up pitiful performances before missing all of his third season to injury and being released. The Rams won just six games in the three years after drafting Carriker for next to no value; they selected him ahead of numerous successful players, including one pick prior to Hall of Famer Darrelle Revis. Carriker played just two full seasons for Washington before a knee injury ended his career in early 2012; he has since moved on to media and politics.
• Ahmad Carroll was a CB drafted by the Packers #25 overall in 2004 out of Arkansas. A track athlete who improved his draft stock by running a 4.34 second 40-yard dash at the combine, Carroll quickly earned the nickname "Highway 28" for all the big plays he gave up. ("Highway" because the receiver he was supposed to be covering had an easy path to the end zone and 28 was his jersey number.) He also badly struggled with penalties, particularly the "illegal contact" penalty which was heavily emphasized in 2005. He was cut during the '06 season after a week in which he gave up two long touchdowns and was penalized three times. He bounced around to the Jags and Jets, then spent some time in the Arena and Canadian leagues. Even more frustrating to Packers fans is that he was selected ahead of several Pro Bowlers, including future DPotY Bob Sanders.
• K'Lavon Chaisson was an edge rusher drafted #20 overall by the Jaguars in 2020 out of LSU, where he been a defensive star on their national championship winning team. An athletic but raw prospect, he struggled to even gain playing time in Jacksonville, starting just 11 games over the four years of his rookie contract and registering just five total sacks. The Jags opted not to pick up his fifth year option and he moved on to Carolina. Worse, Chaisson was taken two picks ahead of LSU teammate Justin Jefferson who has broken out as a superstar WR.
• Morris Claiborne was a CB drafted #6 overall by the Cowboys in 2012, coming after a breakout season at LSU that drew many scouting comparisons to Deion Sanders. He did not live up to those lofty predictions; he struggled with injuries throughout his career and never put up more than one INT in each of his five seasons in Dallas. He posted two average seasons with the Jets but was cut after a substance abuse suspension. He spent his final year in the NFL on the Chiefs' bench, picking up a Super Bowl ring before retiring. The biggest knock against Claiborne: he was taken four picks ahead of future DPotY corner Stephon Gilmore.
• Bruce Clark was a DE drafted #4 overall by the Packers in 1980. A Lombardi Award-winner at Penn State, Clark was widely considered the best defensive talent of his class, but the Packers got zero return on their draft pick because he refused to play for the then-struggling small-market team. He went to the CFL for two years until the Packers agreed to trade his rights to the Saints, where he had a decent career with a single Pro Bowl selection. Clark retired in 1992 after stints with the Chiefs and the WLAF's Barcelona Dragons.^note The Packers likewise squandered the first-round pick they got for him on Tim Lewis, a talented corner from Pitt whose playing career was cut short by a career-ending neck injury that sent him into coaching.
• Tom Cousineau was a dominant LB at Ohio State, leading the Bills to draft him with the #1 overall pick in 1979. He never played for Buffalo; the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL offered him twice as much money to play a little further north (the NFL subsequently developed a more standardized rookie contract system to ensure this type of thing wouldn't happen again) and the Bills ultimately missed out on several Hall of Famers, including Joe Montana. Cousineau played a few great years in Canada, even winning Grey Cup MVP in his rookie season. However, he wanted to return to the States, and the Bills organized a trade with the Browns for his rights in exchange for a first-round pick, which they used to draft Hall of Fame QB Jim Kelly^note who also initially signed with another league rather than play for the Bills before eventually coming to Buffalo. Cousineau was dealt a major contract by the Browns but underperformed on the field and got into legal trouble off of it. He left Cleveland after three seasons, played a short stint with the 49ers, and retired in 1987.
• Aaron Curry was a Butkus Award-winning LB at Wake Forest drafted at #4 overall in 2009 by the Seahawks. Widely considered a guaranteed future star by draftniks, Curry signed a massive contract (six years, $60 million, $34 million guaranteed) soon before the new CBA regulated rookie deals and severely cut down on what they could be paid; his remains the largest ever dealt to a non-QB rookie. Despite all the hype, Curry underperformed, lost the starting job, was traded to the Raiders during his third season, and was waived by that struggling team after the following year. Curry retired from football after being cut from the Giants 2013 training camp, meaning his entire pro football career spanned barely two-thirds of his rookie deal. He is often cited as one of the bigger LB draft busts ever (the Seahawks missed on Clay Matthews III, among others) as well as a retrospective affirmation of the current rookie contract structure. Curry has moved into coaching.
• Rickey Dixon was a standout corner who set multiple still-standing school records at Oklahoma before being drafted at #5 overall by the Bengals in 1988. He never lived up to the expectations of his college career, starting less than half of his games in Cincy (and most of those at free safety). He was out of football after spending '93 with the Raiders and died in 2020 after a long struggle with ALS.
• Steve Emtman was a d-lineman selected #1 overall by the Colts in 1992 out of Washington after a dominant college career that included winning a national championship. Though the 1992 Draft turned out to be one of the weakest ever, he showed initial promise, recording three sacks and picking off Dan Marino for a game-sealing 90-yard pick-six. However, he tore his left ACL just nine games in his rookie year, and saw his next two seasons cut short by a knee and neck injury. He was released by the Colts having played in only 18 of a possible 48 games in three seasons. He caught on in Miami and Washington and had better luck with his health, but his production never recovered as he only recorded three sacks in his final three seasons. Like Ki-Jana Carter above, Emtman remains a major What Could Have Been discussion among fans.^note Making matters even worse for the Colts is that they also had the #2 overall pick in that draft, which they likewise failed to turn into a star player; Texas A&M LB Quentin Coryatt had a merely serviceable 6-year career.
• Russell Erxleben was a kicker and punter drafted by the Saints #11 overall in 1979, the second highest a kicker has ever been drafted (while future Hall of Famers Kellen Winslow and Joe Montana were sitting available), after a record-setting college career at Texas where he tied the NCAA record for longest field goal. The Saints hoped that Erxleben could continue to both kick and punt in the NFL, saving them a roster spot, but this would not be the case. He struggled as a kicker, making just 4/8 attempts before those duties were taken away, leaving him as a punter only. He also committed one of the NFL's all-time bloopers: when a snap went over his head near his own goal line during overtime, he picked up the ball and made an ill-advised pass attempt that was intercepted and returned for a TD. He continued to punt for New Orleans for five more seasons, putting up a middling average of 40.6 Y/P, then spent four years out of football before a one-game comeback attempt with Detroit. He subsequently entered a career in finance and served multiple prison sentences for fraud. As a fun historical footnote, the Saints drafted another kicker in the fourth round three years later with Erxleben still on the roster who went on to a Hall of Fame career: the legendary Morten Andersen.
• Vernon Gholston was a pass-rushing DE drafted #6 overall by the Jets in 2008 out of Ohio State. After tying the OSU single-season sack record during his final year, Gholston was considered by many to be the best pure pass rusher available in the draft. The Jets tabbed him to play outside linebacker in their 3-4 defense, but he struggled with the transition from his old position and played only sparingly as a rookie. When defensive guru Rex Ryan was hired as the Jets head coach in 2009, Gholston was moved back to DE but unfortunately failed to improve. After two more seasons of abysmal play, he was released by the Jets having not recorded a single sack in three seasons with the team. (For comparison, in those three seasons, over 600 other players recorded at least one sack.) He attempted to catch on in Chicago and St. Louis but was cut by each before playing a regular season game.
• Jeff Gladney was a CB drafted by the Vikings late in the first round in 2020. After his rookie season, the TCU product was cut by the team following an indictment for domestic violence, making his exit from the team that took him in the first round nearly as fast as Isaiah Wilson's (see "Offensive Lineman Busts"). He was cleared of the charges a full year later and hoped to make an NFL comeback with the Cardinals, but he and his girlfriend were killed in a car accident just two months later.
• Gary Glick was the only DB ever drafted at #1 overall, going to the Steelers in 1956 out of Colorado A&M (now known as Colorado State). His performance might be a good explanation for that distinction; despite being drafted for his impressive versatility while in college (having also seen time as a QB, LB, and kicker), Glick was thoroughly mediocre as a pro safety and completed an anemic 5/18 field goal attempts in '57. He was out of Pittsburgh in three-and-a-half seasons, bounced around the league for a few more years, and eventually retired after playing a few games with the AFL Champion San Diego Chargers in 1963. The fact that he was drafted ahead of five future Hall of Famers who could have made a major difference in Pittsburgh only adds to his status as one of the most baffling busts ever. Glick subsequently worked as a coach in the Continental and Canadian Football Leagues, then as a scout in the NFL, before he died in 2015.
• Ted Gregory was a DT drafted by the Broncos #26 overall in 1988 out of Syracuse. Listed at 6'1", when then-Broncos HC Dan Reeves (who actually stood 6'1") met Gregory for the first time, he noted that he must have been at least four inches shorter than that. Gregory injured his knee during training camp of his rookie season and never played for Denver. He was traded to the Saints for another first round draft bust DT, Shawn Knight (#11 in 1987 out of BYU), the following offseason and was out of football after playing in just four games. He is considered one of the biggest draft busts in Broncos history and was taken ahead of future Hall of Famers RB Thurman Thomas and C Dermontti Dawson. As for Knight, he recorded just one fumble recovery in his career, and was gone from the Cardinals after 1989. In 1991, Knight made a brief comeback in the WLAF.
• Kevin Hardy^note not to be confused with the Illinois LB, who had an All-Pro season in Jacksonville was a DT drafted #7 overall by the Saints in 1968, out of Notre Dame. He never played for New Orleans, as he was traded to the 49ers as part of a compensation package after the Saints signed WR Dave Parks. The Niners traded him to Green Bay for a second-round pick after two seasons, then to the Chargers for a first-round pick a year later. Hardy was out of the league after five seasons, starting only 12 games.
• Vernon Hargreaves was drafted #11 overall by the Buccaneers in 2016 after a dominant career in Florida. His first season was unspectacular and he struggled greatly with injuries the next two years. He was waived in the middle of his fourth season, played briefly with the Texans, was waived again in the middle of the 2021 season, was claimed by the Bengals, and barely saw the field before being taken out again by injury. Despite his thoroughly underwhelming performances, Hargreaves' most infamous moment on an NFL field came when he wasn't even playing: while on IR during the Bengals' Super Bowl run, he decided to run onto the field in the middle of the Big Game to celebrate a score despite not being dressed, resulting in a steep penalty for the team he had barely contributed to. He was subsequently cut and has not played in the NFL since.
• Justin Harrell was drafted #16 overall in 2007 by the Packers. The Tennessee DT was seen as a huge reach (he played just three games in his senior season) and immediately was subject to criticism when he showed up to training camp visibly out of shape. He struggled mightily with injuries, especially with his back; he played just seven games in his rookie year and six in his second, missed the entirety of his third, and had his career ended by an ACL tear in the season opener of his fourth (he at least collected a Super Bowl ring while on injured reserve). He ultimately played less than a full season's worth of games in his entire career.
• Richard Harris (not the actor) was a greatly hyped DE prospect when he was taken #5 overall in 1971 out of HBCU Grambling State by the Eagles. Renowned for his remarkable speed for his size, Harris was the first defensive player taken in that draft. However, he failed to make much of an impact for a franchise that had been in a tailspin for a decade. After a promising rookie season, Harris flamed out rather dramatically, struggling with injuries, being moved to different positions on the line, and facing vocal criticism from his own coaches regarding everything from his technique to his weight. After just three seasons, Harris was traded to Chicago, didn't improve much there, and ended his career in 1977 after two years on the terrible expansion Seahawks. The Eagles missed out on several Hall of Famers with their high selection, including defensive legends Jack Ham and Jack Youngblood. After his playing career, Harris entered coaching; he died in his office in 2011 shortly after becoming assistant HC of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
• C.J. Henderson was drafted #8 overall by the Jaguars in 2020. The Florida corner stayed local and caught an interception in his first game... which proved his only pick with the Jags. A groin injury ended his season midway through his rookie year, and the Jags traded him to the Panthers just two games into his second during the short-lived Urban Meyer era, making Henderson one of the shortest tenured top ten picks ever with their original team. Like Jeff Okudah five picks earlier, Henderson was taken ahead of several high caliber talents later in the draft, including DBs like All-Pro A.J. Terrell and Pro Bowler Trevon Diggs. In 2024, he joined the Texans on a one-year deal.
• Tyson Jackson was drafted #3 overall in 2009 by the Chiefs. The DE out of LSU was the first defensive player taken and signed to a massive five-year contract after a training camp holdout, but he posted just two sacks in his first three seasons. He improved slightly in the next two years, but he remained merely adequate at best, and his contract, salary, and poor production saddled him to the team. When the Chiefs finally released him, he played three seasons with the Falcons without posting a single sack and retired. The Chiefs missed out on a whole host of greater talents on both sides of the ball; more significantly, his contract contributed to the creation of a set rookie pay scale a few years later.
• Cedric Jones was drafted #5 overall in 1996 by the Giants. Despite still being Oklahoma's all-time sack leader, this was considered a reach, as Jones was legally blind in his left eye. The DE proved to be one of the biggest busts in franchise history, failing to post a sack in his first two seasons and not becoming a regular starter until his fourth. He was released after the team's Super Bowl loss in 2000, was injured in a Rams training camp, and never played in the NFL again. The Giants missed out on multiple Hall of Famers, including their MVP opponent in said Super Bowl, Ray Lewis.
• Dion Jordan was a DE drafted #3 overall in 2013 by the Dolphins out of Oregon. Highly athletic with a long, lanky frame, he was expected to be the Dolphins' next Jason Taylor. After playing situationally as a rookie, Jordan was suspended for the first four games of his second season for a PED violation, then again later in the season for two more games. Prior to his third season, he was suspended for the year for yet another violation of the PED policy. After being released by the Dolphins, he bounced around a few more teams but never produced at the level expected of such a high draft pick and is up there with Trent Richardson and Johnny Manziel as one of the biggest busts of the 2010s. Adding insult to injury, the very next pick was multi-time All-Pro offensive tackle Lane Johnson — and Miami needed a tackle that year.
• Mike Junkin was drafted #5 overall in 1987 by the Browns, who traded up for the pick. The Duke LB was seen as a massive reach at that high position, and indeed coach Marty Schottenheimer overrode his own scouts' assessments to take him in the first round. Junkin was often injured, playing only 20 games in the NFL (only 7 as a starter) over two seasons with the Browns and one with the Chiefs, making him one of the biggest defensive whiffs ever. His older brother, Trey Junkin, was a long snapper who played 20 seasons in the league.
• Eric Kumerow was a pass-rushing LB drafted #16 overall in 1988 by the Dolphins out of Ohio State. He possessed a massive frame at 6'7" 265 lbs but was a surprise first round pick^note Most experts, including ESPN's Mel Kiper, graded him as a mid-rounder at best., being considered as one of the biggest reaches in draft history to this day. Miami nonetheless selected him ahead of three future Hall of Famers; he proceeded to ride the bench for his entire three-year career with the team, never starting a single game while adding just five sacks in spot duty. He was released in 1990, signed with the Bears, then suffered a career-ending Achilles tear. Kumerow is the brother-in-law of former teammate and fellow Dolphins first round bust John Bosa (also a #16 pick in 1987), and the maternal uncle of superstar defensive ends Joey and Nick Bosa. His own son, Jake Kumerow, is a journeyman wide receiver who has spent time on six different teams^note most notably becoming a favorite of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers during the two seasons he spent on the roster.
• Antonio Langham was drafted #9 overall in 1994 by the Browns out of Alabama. He was a dominant CB in college but underperformed significantly entering the league and didn't show great improvement after the franchise moved to Baltimore, which coincided with the revelation he had violated NCAA rules by hiring an agent in college, incurring sanctions on his alma mater. Langham was cut by the Ravens after '97 and bounced the league until 2000, including a return to the Browns in their comeback season. The Browns missed out on three Hall of Famers and a Pro Bowl CB in Aaron Glenn.
• Steve Little was one of the highest drafted punters/kickers ever, selected at #15 overall out of Arkansas by the Cardinals in 1978. This position would make him a potential bust even if he performed fairly well, as kicking specialists are typically selected in the final rounds of the draft if drafted at all and Little was taken before future Hall of Famers Ozzie Newsome and Warren Moon. Still, there was reason for the team to be hopeful—Ray Guy had been selected in the first round by the Raiders a few years prior and was already on his way to a Hall of Fame punting career, and Little had recently tied the record for the longest successful field goal in NCAA history. He did not come close to replicating his college success—he missed more than half of his field goals and 10 of 51 PAT attempts. Tragically, hours after he was released during his third season, Little was paralyzed from the neck down in a high-speed car accident. He died in 1999.
• Mike Mamula was a combination DE/LB drafted #7 overall in 1995 by the Eagles out of Boston College. He was one of the first players ever to specifically train for the NFL Combine drills and put up an incredible performance as a result. He performed more bench presses than the top offensive lineman, ran a faster 40-yard dash than anyone else at his position, jumped a higher vertical leap than even some defensive backs, and scored a 49 out of 50 on the Wonderlic intelligence test (the second highest score ever). Because of this, he is considered to be one of the greatest "Workout Warriors" in NFL Draft history. His stock shot through the roof and, during the draft, the Eagles traded up to get him. However, Mamula's workout athleticism never translated successfully to the field. His career was plagued by injury until he was forced to retire after 2000, with 31.5 sacks. Making matters worse for the Eagles, the #12 overall pick they used to trade up for him was used by the Buccaneers to select Hall of Fame DT Warren Sapp. Later in the round, the Bucs also selected Hall of Fame LB Derrick Brooks, meaning the Eagles passed on two Hall of Fame players who would have filled the same need.
• Aaron Maybin was an edge-rushing LB drafted #11 overall by the Bills in 2009 out of Penn State. Known for his freakish athleticism, Maybin put up an elite combine performance which boosted his draft stock. There were concerns about his ability to maintain his playing weight, however. Listed at 245, there were reports that it dropped as low as 225 during the season (smaller than most linebackers and even some safeties). These concerns proved valid as he badly struggled in the NFL. By his second season, he was a healthy scratch for most games and was released the following offseason, having failed to record a single sack with the Bills. He caught on with the division rival Jets and played two more years there, registering six sacks as a situational pass rusher but never lived up to his draft billing. Making matters worse, fellow edge rusher and four-time Pro Bowler Brian Orakpo was selected just two picks later.
• Keith McCants was a dominant LB at Alabama drafted at #4 overall in 1990 by the Buccaneers. Widely renowned for his remarkable athleticism, McCants was expected to be a guaranteed star and likely would have been drafted at #1 were it not for concerns around a knee injury. However, he couldn't overcome the Bucs' organizational dysfunction. The team switched him to DE, and while he was still somewhat productive, he didn't come anywhere close to his college expectations and was cut after three seasons. He signed with the Patriots, was cut during the preseason, and bounced around to the Oilers and Cardinals before retiring after 1995. Making matters worse for the Bucs is that McCants was drafted one pick before future Hall of Fame LB Junior Seau. Pain from his playing injuries contributed to McCants' lifelong struggles with addiction, poverty, and legal issues, and he vocally criticized the NFL's approach to treating injured players prior to his death from an overdose in 2021.
• Jerome McDougle was a DE drafted #15 overall in 2003 by the Eagles. The Miami (FL) product was a standout college player but missed tons of games and never was named a starter in the NFL thanks to a series of injuries and misfortune that bordered on a Trauma Conga Line. In his rookie year, he missed half the season after sustaining multiple injuries in the preseason. In his second, he was again knocked out of commission with a knee sprain and was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat. In his third, he missed the entire year while recovering from a gunshot wound sustained in an armed robbery of his home. In his fourth, he broke multiple ribs in preseason practices and displayed a serious problem with penalties when he did return. He was cut before his fifth year after again getting hurt before the season got started; he played a few games with the Giants before calling it a career. Making matters worse for Eagles fans, McDougle was taken just one pick before Hall of Famer Troy Polamalu.
• Dee Milliner was drafted #9 overall in 2013, going to the Jets after a star turn at Alabama. The CB was inconsistent in his rookie year and benched several times, but that was still the closest he came to a full season. A string of injuries in year two—an ankle sprain, Achilles tear, and broken wrist—ensured he played just eight games and two starts in the next two seasons, after which he never played in the NFL again. Milliner was taken well ahead of several Pro Bowl DBs, including Darius Slay and Tyrann Mathieu.
• Jarvis Moss was drafted #17 overall in 2007 by the Broncos after winning a national title at Florida. Greatly hyped up for his athletic versatility (he once blocked two kicks in a single quarter in college), he struggled with injury throughout his time in the NFL and was potentially set up to fail by being switched to linebacker in his third season. Moss was released in the middle of the 2010 season, joined the Raiders, and was out of the NFL after the next season. If LB was the Broncos' need, they missed out on multiple Pro Bowlers at the position in the picks immediately after Moss.
• Steve Niehaus was the first draft pick in Seattle Seahawks history. When the Seahawks and Buccaneers joined the NFL in 1976, the Bucs won the #1 overall pick from a random drawing, allowing them to pick the consensus best player (and future Hall of Famer) DE Lee Roy Selmon. After much handwringing over whether to pick the best offensive talent in the class, RB Chuck Muncie (see above under "Notorious"), Seattle ultimately decided to go with the next best d-line prospect, taking Niehaus #2 overall out of Notre Dame. Initially, Niehaus more than lived up to the pick, accumulating a still-franchise record 9.5 sacks as a rookie. However, injuries to his shoulder and knees almost completely dried up his production after his remarkable rookie season, and Niehaus was out of football in just four years after a brief stint with the Vikings.
• Amobi Okoye was the youngest player ever drafted into the NFL, having been selected at #10 overall in 2007 by the Texans at just 19 years old. After immigrating to the United States from Nigeria at 12 years old, he graduated high school at just 15 and chose Louisville over Harvard so he could play football, becoming the youngest player in the NCAA. Unfortunately, after a promising rookie season in Houston, the DT's football career fizzled out. The Texans cut him after four seasons, and he bounced around a few teams before a bout of encephalitis in 2013 placed him in a coma. He attempted a comeback with the Cowboys in 2014 but never saw the field and was out of football after a year in the CFL.
• Jeff Okudah was a CB drafted #3 overall in 2020 out of Ohio State by the Lions. The unanimous All-American was seen as a guarantee to strengthen Detroit's secondary, but injuries immediately derailed his NFL career; a hamstring in rookie training camp and core injury later in the year caused him to miss half the season and underperform when he did see the field, and an Achilles tear in the next year's opener cost him the rest of his second season. While he started all of his third season, Okudah was a shadow of his former self, was traded afterwards to the Falcons for a fifth round pick, and landed with the Texans the next year. The talent-starved Lions missed on a host of Pro Bowlers, including CB Trevon Diggs.
• Walt Patulski was the #1 overall pick of 1972, a massive and agile DE out of Notre Dame who headed to the Bills. Patulski recorded 21.5 sacks in Buffalo, and was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals after four years; a back injury ended his career in 1977. He often goes forgotten in terms of draft busts due to the overall weakness of his class, but he still remains notable as the last #1 pick to come out of Notre Dame, once by far the most common source of top-of-the-line prospects.^note Even after more than 50 years, Notre Dame is still tied for the most #1 picks at five; in 1972, only Georgia had even produced three.
• Bruce Pickens was a CB drafted #3 overall in 1991 by the Falcons. Envisioned as a player who would join Deion Sanders in shutting down opponents' passing attacks, Pickens got off to a bad start when he threatened to sue the Falcons after they drafted them. He lasted less than three seasons with the Falcons before being traded away and bouncing to two other teams before the end of the '93 season. He didn't play at all the following year and was out of the NFL for good after '95. The Falcons meanwhile missed out on several Pro Bowl-caliber CBs, including Hall of Famer Aeneas Williams.
• David Pollack was a DE/LB from Georgia, who was drafted #17 by the Bengals in 2005. The two-time All American had won several other awards in college, but his success did not translate to the pros. Pollack played just 16 games in his career, with 6 starts and 4.5 sacks, and suffered a career-ending neck injury early in 2006. He later became a college football analyst.
• Jamal Reynolds was a unanimous All-American and national title-winning DE at Florida State and the #10 overall pick in 2001, going to the Packers after they traded up to get him. Reynolds struggled with injuries in Green Bay and was supplanted by fifth rounder Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila. He played just 18 games across three seasons, with zero starts and three sacks. The Packers tried to trade him away to the Colts, but a failed physical voided the trade. The Browns picked him up up off waivers and released him soon afterwards. Reynolds' career was incredibly short for a top ten pick, but his bust status was truly cemented by what the Packers gave up to the Seahawks in order to draft him: their original #17 overall pick, which Seattle used to draft Hall of Famer Steve Hutchinson, and backup QB Matt Hasselbeck. Both players helped former Packers HC Mike Holmgren turn Seattle into a power for the next several years, and Green Bay got essentially nothing out of the deal.
• Huey Richardson was drafted #15 overall by the Steelers in 1991 after setting Florida's record for career sacks. A 4-3 DE in college, he was moved to LB and couldn't adjust to Pittsburgh's 3-4 defense, appearing in just 5 games and registering 3 tackles. During the offseason, HC Chuck Noll retired and his successor, Bill Cowher, tried to give Richardson a fresh start by moving him outside, but his abysmal play led to him being traded to Washington for a seventh round pick. He only lasted 4 more games before he was cut and picked up by the Jets, retiring at the end of his second pro season. The Steelers took him ahead of several future stars, including Brett Favre.
• Gabe Rivera, nicknamed "Señor Sack", was a DT selected #21 overall in 1983 by the Steelers out of Texas Tech. Rivera was one of the most athletic d-linemen available in the draft, drawing a comparison from Steelers coach Chuck Noll to former Steeler "Mean Joe" Greene. Despite this, Steelers fans were torn on the pick, as they preferred hometown hero QB Dan Marino (who played collegiately at Pittsburgh) as the heir-apparent to the aging Terry Bradshaw. Despite scouting Marino heavily, Noll chose to select Rivera, citing that he wanted to rebuild the defense.^note Years later, Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungy, who was an assistant on the Steelers at the time, stated that the front office really did want Marino, but Noll wanted to avoid an awkward QB transition with Bradshaw still on the team. Rivera played well, notching two sacks in his first six games. However, while driving drunk, he was involved in a car accident which left him paralyzed, ending his career. Marino went on to a Hall of Fame career while the Steelers went into their longest period of decline since the merger, making the playoffs just three times over the next nine seasons until Noll's retirement. Rivera passed away in 2018.
• Dewayne Robertson was the #4 overall pick in 2003, despite a known degenerative knee condition. The Kentucky DT went to the Jets, where he was a full-time starter for five years on some decent teams, but he is still frequently pointed to as a significant bust due to middling performances and for being taken ahead of a whole host of likely/borderline future Hall of Fame talents, many of which (Troy Polamalu, Charles Tillman, Anquan Boldin, Jason Witten, Robert Mathis) fell low enough that the Jets could have nabbed two with the first round picks they traded away in order to move up to get Robertson (the Jets didn't get a single Pro Bowler in this draft). The Jets traded him in '08 to the Broncos, where he lasted just one season before retiring.
• Isaiah Simmons was the #8 overall pick in 2020 by the Arizona Cardinals. A versatile player at Clemson, he lined up at edge rusher, each LB position, safety, and nickel corner while winning a national championship and ACC defensive player of the year. After running a 4.38 40 time at the combine at 6'4, 240lbs, his athleticism and versatility launched him up draft boards. However, he struggled to find a position in the pros, moving between safety and linebacker before falling out of the starting lineup entirely in his third season. In 2023, after coaching and front office overhauls, he was traded during the preseason to the Giants in an exchange of 7th round picks, about as low of draft compensation as exists.
• Kenneth Sims was a DE drafted #1 overall out of Texas by the Patriots in 1982. Although he spent eight seasons in New England, Sims struggled with injuries, despite his Ironic Nickname "Game Day", and was released in 1990 after getting arrested for cocaine possession.
• Ryan Sims was a DT drafted #6 overall out of North Carolina by the Chiefs in 2002. Sims struggled with injuries, missing most of the 2002 and 2005 seasons. His stats were middling, never recording more than three sacks in a season. By 2006, Sims' poor attitude and work ethic cost him his starting role, which led the team to trade him and RB Michael Bennett to Tampa Bay for a sixth-round pick. Sims lasted four more years with the Bucs but only became a full-time starter in the 2009 season. Six Pro Bowlers went in the next nine picks after Sims, including two other DTs, as well as HoFer Ed Reed later in the first round.
• Percy Snow was a LB drafted #13 overall out of Michigan State by the Chiefs in 1990. The native of Canton, Ohio was the first player to win both the Butkus and Lombardi Awards in the same season, but his career was not worthy of his hometown's Hall of Fame. After a promising rookie season, Snow missed the '91 season after breaking his ankle in a motorscooter accident. He started just one game after the accident and was released after allegedly threatening some golfers with a gun after a ball hit his car. He spent 1993 on Chicago's bench, and later moved onto the CFL and the WLAF.
• Johnathan Sullivan was a DT out of Georgia drafted #6 overall by the Saints in 2003. Like Dewayne Robertson above, Sullivan was taken ahead of a swathe of Pro Bowlers and likely future Hall of Famers. Sullivan was even more of a bust on the field than Robertson. He struggled with his weight, reportedly weighing up to 350 pounds, and posted just 1.5 sacks in three seasons before being traded away to the Patriots. Four months after getting traded, he was released after an arrest for marijuana possession, ending his career.
• Solomon Thomas was a DE drafted #3 overall by the 49ers in 2017. The first pick of former Hall of Fame player and broadcaster John Lynch was always going to be viewed with some skepticism, as he had no prior front office experience prior to being hired as Niners GM. The Thomas pick seemed to confirm many pundits' concerns, as Thomas was an alum of Lynch's school (Stanford) and was seen as a boom-or-bust prospect who hadn't produced to his athletic ability in college. Thomas struggled with performance, injuries, and the suicide of his older sister after his rookie year. He was replaced as a starter in his third season by rookie Nick Bosa, who helped the Niners reach the Super Bowl. Thomas was not extended and left for the Raiders and Jets. His high selection is seen as one of the biggest defensive whiffs in recent history, while the 49ers missed out on none other than their two-time Super Bowl denier Patrick Mahomes among multiple other Pro Bowlers. Even within the 49ers that year, their fifth round pick of TE George Kittle wound up as their far more important and successful long-term selection.
• Andre Wadsworth was a DE drafted #3 overall by the Cardinals in 1998 after a dominant college career at Florida State. Considered the best defensive prospect that year, Wadsworth was ultimately selected third, after quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf. This helped fuel a lengthy holdout as he sought to be paid closer to the salaries of those QBs and to have a provision allowing him to void the contract at any time — something few veterans even have, let alone rookies. He ultimately signed the night before the season opener (without the void provision) and had a productive if unspectacular rookie year. However, knee injuries cost him most of the next two seasons before it was determined that he needed microfracture surgery to address the issue. He opted to have the surgery with an independent doctor rather than the Cardinals team doctor, leading to a minor controversy and his release from the Cardinals after just three seasons. He later attempted to catch on with Jets at age 32 after seven seasons out of the league but was released during final cuts, ending his NFL career. Arizona passed on numerous potential franchise cornerstone players, including first-ballot Hall of Famers Charles Woodson (taken one pick later) and Randy Moss.
• Björn Werner was a DE drafted #24 overall in 2013 by the Colts after an All-American career at Florida State. The German came to the US as an exchange student and developed a love of American football. He returned to Germany where he played on their national team for two years before moving on to play at Florida State. Despite immense hype, he battled injuries and produced only 6.5 sacks in three seasons before being released by the Colts. After a brief stint in Jacksonville, Werner was out of football. He now serves as a commentator and analyst for NCAA and NFL games on German television.
• Bryant Westbrook^note Not to be confused with (and no relation to) RB Brian Westbrook, who had a productive 9-year career for the Eagles was a DB drafted #5 overall by the Lions out of Texas in 1997, where he'd become infamous for his devastating tackles. Unfortunately, Westbrook's style of play mostly did not translate well to the pros, and he struggled with injuries. He was not re-signed after 2001, landed with the Cowboys, and was cut after a terrible performance in the season opener; he'd retire after two injury-riddled seasons in Green Bay. Westbrook was the highest drafted player in a fairly strong draft to not make a Pro Bowl and was taken ahead of four Hall of Famers (including fellow DB Ronde Barber).

Cleveland Browns Busts

The post-revival Cleveland Browns made an industry out of producing notorious draft busts. From their return to the league in 1999 until 2016, they made 21 first round selections, all but three of whom are considered busts. They had a few more hits after that, but still produced some notable busts. To note:

• 1999 - Tim Couch was a QB drafted #1 overall out of Kentucky by the Browns with their first pick upon re-entering the league. He was the revived team's starting QB on-and-off for five seasons, hampered by inconsistent play and plagued by injuries. He managed a winning record and playoff appearance in 2002 but suffered a broken leg late in the year and was replaced in their playoff game by journeyman backup Kelly Holcomb, who ultimately took the starting job away the following season. Following a brief pre-season stint with the Packers, he was out of the league after just six years. He tried to make a comeback with the Jaguars in 2007 but was released. Couch was taken ahead of two future Pro Bowl QBs in Donovan McNabb and Daunte Culpepper, as well as Hall of Famers in RB Edgerrin James and CB Champ Bailey, and was the first of five failed Cleveland first round picks at QB after they re-entered the league. While he was placed into a difficult situation as QB for an expansion team, he kicked off nearly two decades of draft futility for Cleveland.
• 2000 - Courtney Brown was a DE drafted #1 overall out of Penn State. A freakish physical specimen at over 6'5", 280 lbs, with 4.50 speed, Brown had a dominant college career where he racked up awards and finished with a then-record 33 sacks, most in NCAA history. However, he was plagued by injuries as a pro, playing in only 47 out of 80 games while with the Browns. He played for one more year with the Broncos but was then out of football as a major disappointment. Brown was selected ahead of 14 future Pro Bowlers in the first round, including future Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher, and 198 spots before some guy named Tom Brady.
• 2001 - Gerard Warren was a DT drafted #3 overall out of Florida. A hulking physical specimen at over 330 lbs, Warren was a middling starter for most of his career, never recording more than 5.5 sacks. After four seasons with the Browns, he was ultimately traded to the Broncos for a meager 4th round pick. He stuck around the league until 2011 with the Raiders and Patriots but never lived up to his lofty draft status. Warren was drafted ahead of several Hall of Famers and Pro Bowl DTs, including Richard Seymour three picks later.
• 2002 - William Green was a RB drafted #16 overall, the highest of any RB that year, out of Boston College. Green's best year with Cleveland was his first, rushing for over 800 yards as a rookie. However, he had serious fumbling issues and his production declined over the next three seasons. Off the field, he was arrested for DUI and marijuana possession leading to a four-game suspension, was stabbed by his fiancée during a domestic dispute while suspended, and was ejected from a game for fighting when he returned to the field. He was released after four turmoil-plagued seasons with the team. Making matters worse, he was selected ahead of two Pro Bowl running backs in Clinton Portis and Brian Westbrook, as well as Hall of Fame safety Ed Reed (who went to division rival Baltimore).
• 2003 - Jeff Faine was a center drafted #21 overall out of Notre Dame and was quickly installed as a starter. However, he ended each of his three seasons in Cleveland on IR, and was traded to the Saints in an exchange of 2nd round draft picks. He bounced around the league for several more years as a middling starter. Nine Pro Bowl players went in the next 20 picks after Faine.
• 2004 - Kellen Winslow II had one Pro Bowl season as a TE, but... just see his entry under "Notorious Figures" above. Five picks after Winslow, the division rival Steelers selected future Hall of Fame QB and Ohio native Ben Roethlisberger (who went 26–3–1 as a starter against the Browns).
• 2005 - Braylon Edwards was a WR drafted #3 overall out of Michigan, where he was the school's all-time leading receiver. A contract dispute caused him to hold-out through training camp, then he suffered a staph infection which caused him to miss some of his rookie season. He returned, briefly entered the starting lineup, then suffered a season-ending knee injury. He recovered and had a Pro Bowl third season but followed it up with a miserable performance in his fourth, including a league-high 23 dropped passes. The Browns traded him to the Jets for a couple of no-name players and two mid-round draft picks; he was dogged with off-field issues and was out of the NFL by 2012. Browns fans likely remember him best as the guy they picked over Aaron Rodgers.
• 2006 - Kamerion Wimbley was an edge rusher drafted #13 overall out of Florida State following a trade-down with division rival Baltimore. Wimbley tallied 11 sacks as a rookie but failed to follow up on that success in subsequent seasons. He was traded to the Raiders for a 3rd round pick and was out of the league after just two more seasons. With the Browns' original pick (#12 overall) pick, Baltimore selected Oregon nose tackle Haloti Ngata, who went on to be a multi-time Pro Bowler. 10 of the next 20 players selected after Wimbley also made at least one Pro Bowl.
• 2007–2010 saw some of the Browns' very few exceptions, as three of their four first-round picks in this time were successful players. They used their first 2007 1st round pick on Hall of Fame OT Joe Thomas out of Wisconsin, while 2009 saw them draft multi-time Pro Bowl center Alex Mack and 2010 saw them draft Pro Bowl CB Joe Haden. They didn't have a 1st round pick in 2008 because they traded it a year prior for...
  • 2007 - Brady Quinn was a QB drafted #22 overall. After a stellar career at Notre Dame, where he set 36 school passing records, he was projected to go in the top 10 of the draft. He surprisingly fell all the way to #22 overall where the Browns (who already passed on him earlier for Joe Thomas) scooped him up. He sat for his first season and a half, playing only sparingly behind veteran journeyman Derek Anderson. After only two starts in 2008, Quinn suffered a finger injury that required season-ending surgery. He was again named starter in 2009 but was benched in favor of Anderson during halftime of the season's third game. He regained the job later in the season yet once again suffered a season-ending foot injury. In 2010, the Browns traded Quinn to the Broncos for a backup running back and a conditional late-round pick. There, he lost a competition for the starting job to Kyle Orton, was later jumped on the depth chart by Tim Tebow, and didn't play a single game in two seasons in Denver. Quinn's final start came in 2012 with the Chiefs, who signed him that offseason as a backup. He bounced around several other teams but never again started a game. Had the Browns kept their 2008 first-round pick (which ended up being #22 overall), they would have had their choice of nearly a dozen Pro Bowlers who went in the late first and second round.
• 2011 - Phil Taylor was a hulking DT drafted #21 overall out of Baylor after a large trade-down with Atlanta (who selected stud WR Julio Jones with the Browns' pick). Like many others on this list, Taylor's best season came his rookie year after which injuries and ineffectiveness caused him to lose playing time. He was released after four seasons with the team. Had the Browns stayed put at #6, they could have selected Jones, OT Tyron Smith, or DL JJ Watt; even with the #21 pick, they could have taken a Pro Bowl defensive lineman in Cameron Jordan^note ironically, the Browns accidentally gave Jordan a draft call in Round 4, due to confusion between him and TE Jordan Cameron or Cameron Heyward, or a potential franchise QB in Andy Dalton or Colin Kaepernick (adding insult to injury, Heyward and Dalton would go on to become franchise cornerstones for the division rival Steelers and Bengals respectively for much of the subsequent decade). Cleveland also failed to draft a single impact player with any of the four additional picks they got in the trade.
• 2012:
  • Trent Richardson was a standout college RB for Alabama who was drafted by the Browns #3 overall. He underperformed horribly, with some of the worst yards per attempt in the league in his rookie season. The Browns franchise took the blame rather than Richardson, and they traded him to the Colts just two games into his sophomore season in exchange for a first round draft pick^note Pick #26 in 2014, 23 picks lower than the one used on Richardson, from which the Browns traded up to select bust QB Johnny Manziel, see below.. He again underperformed horribly, was released from the Colts after the following year, and never landed a final roster spot in the NFL again after a brief stint with the Raiders in the 2015 preseason. Richardson later tried catching on in the CFL, AAF, XFL (where he wasn't even drafted) and the Mexican league. He's currently considered one of the biggest draft busts of The New '10s. Some of the players the Browns could have had instead were QB Ryan Tannehill, and future Defensive Players of the Year LB Luke Kuechly and CB Stephon Gilmore.
  • Brandon Weeden was a QB drafted #22 overall out of Oklahoma State, where he set numerous school passing records. Weeden was an interesting prospect in that he already played several years of minor league baseball before returning to school to play football, making him the oldest player ever drafted in the first round at 28 years old^note beating Leon Burns, a 1971 first-round pick, by 60 days. This was an already risky move, as it severely reduced his potential window of productivity. In a rush to get him to the field, Weeden was one of five rookie QBs to be named a starter in 2012 but was easily the least successful of the bunch. In his first game, he got trapped under the flag during the pregame festivities and threw four picks, resulting in a passer rating of 5.6, one of the worst ever for a player who attempted more than 15 passes. He improved through his rookie year but suffered a broken thumb early in the second season, losing the starting job to replacement Brian Hoyer; he regained it when Hoyer suffered an injury of his own, but lost it again to backup Jason Campbell. Weeden was released by the Browns at the end of the season and spent time as a journeyman backup before retiring. Beyond Weeden being the third first-round QB bust for the Browns since they returned to the league, he was drafted ahead of three Pro Bowl QBs.
• 2013 - Barkevious Mingo was an edge-rushing LB selected by the Browns with the #6 overall pick out of LSU. Extremely athletic with a long frame, Mingo was still 20-30 lbs lighter than most teams prefer their edge rushers to be. He suffered a bruised lung during his rookie preseason which required hospitalization and returned to account for only two sacks during his rookie year. He lost his starting job during his second season, and after his third season where he played sparingly, was traded to the Patriots for a mere 5th round draft pick. (That resulted in a happy ending for Mingo at least, as he won a Super Bowl with the Pats as a backup/special teamer.) He then bounced around the league, becoming the first player in NFL history to play in all 16 games for six different teams in six straight seasons, but never lived up to his lofty draft status. In 2021, Mingo was charged with indecency with a child and faced up to 20 years in prison before the charges were dismissed.
• 2014
  • Justin Gilbert was a CB drafted by the Browns out of Oklahoma State with the #8 pick (after trading down from the #4 pick). Extremely athletic with good size for the position, Gilbert struggled as a tackler and had known substance abuse issues. A heel injury and an illness cost him nearly his entire rookie year, and he was demoted to a reserve/special teamer for his second season. Just before the start of his third season, he was traded to the division rival Steelers for a measly 6th round pick. He played almost exclusively special teams for the Steelers (only 11 defensive snaps in 12 games) and was released after the season. Gilbert's career hit another pothole as, shortly after he was released, he was suspended by the league for one year due to substance abuse violations. He recorded just one INT in his career, a pick-six in his rookie year. In 2023, Gilbert resurfaced in the Champions Indoor Football league. Had the Browns stayed at the #4 pick, they could have drafted elite pass rusher Khalil Mack. What's worse, Gilbert was drafted right before nine straight Pro Bowlers, including three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald.
  • Johnny Manziel^note pronounced "man-ZELL" was a QB drafted #22 overall. (Noticing a trend with quarterbacks taken by the Browns with that pick?) "Johnny Football" came into the NFL with an extraordinary amount of hype, having won the Heisman in 2012 as a redshirt freshman at Texas A&M. However, he was also one of the most polarizing prospects of recent years, with scouts calling him everything from a "rare competitor" to "undraftable".^note Manziel practiced a "backyard" style of football involving lots of improvisation and scrambling in the pocket. When A&M saw diminished returns in Manziel's second season, both in wins and his rushing yards, analysts predicted that Manziel's approach might only work against colleges' slower defenses and NFL teams would be even faster to adapt and punish his technique if he didn't show greater improvement and work ethic in the pros. A potentially bigger issue was his off-field behavior, including a misdemeanor arrest in 2012 and several incidents in 2013. The Browns initially passed on Manziel with their #8 pick before choosing him at #22. After two seasons marked by excessive partying, attitude problems, injuries, and pathetic play (he would later confess to barely watching film), capped off by a domestic violence arrest, the Browns cut ties with him after only two seasons. Manziel could not find another job in the NFL, and after a year out of football, during which he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder (which helped to explain but not excuse some of the behavior that scuttled his career), he got sober and eventually signed with the CFL (which soon blackballed him, too) and the AAF. He later decided to give the game one more try, signing in late 2020 with a 7-on-7 passing-oriented circuit, the Fan Controlled Football League, before stepping away from the game. Manziel was drafted ahead of Pro Bowl QBs Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr.
• 2015:
  • Danny Shelton was a massive DT selected with the #12 pick out of Washington. Despite starting all but three games in three seasons with the Browns, Shelton recorded only 1.5 sacks while failing to improve their run defense. He was traded to the Patriots along with a 5th round pick in exchange for a 3rd round pick. Three Pro Bowlers went in the next six picks after Shelton.
  • Cameron Erving was an offensive tackle selected with the #19 pick out of Florida State. The Browns moved him to guard and later to center after losing the aforementioned Alex Mack to free agency. He struggled in every position they tried him in, causing the Browns to trade him to the Chiefs for a meager 5th round pick after just two seasons. Two Pro Bowl offensive linemen went in the next seven picks after Erving.
• 2016 - Corey Coleman was a WR drafted #15 overall out of Baylor following multiple trade-downs from their original #2 overall pick. Coleman struggled with injuries, barely playing half his games in two seasons with the Browns, and, most infamously of all, dropped what should have been an easy catch on a do-or-die play in the Browns' final game of the 2017 season, sealing the team's fate of going winless. He was traded to the Bills for a 7th round draft pick, released soon after, and has bounced around the league ever since. The #2 pick turned into QB Carson Wentz (see below under "Disappointments"), and the Browns could've drafted a series of Pro Bowlers at either slot.
• Two of Cleveland's first round picks in 2017, All-Pro DE Myles Garrett (#1) and TE David Njoku (#29) are still with the team. Garrett was injured in his rookie season, contributing to the team going completely winless, but broke out after and has since become the all-time franchise leader in sacks. Njoku, on the other hand, has been serviceable, making his first Pro Bowl in 2024.
  • 2017 - Jabrill Peppers was the Browns' second first-round pick (#25) in 2017. The safety from Michigan lasted two seasons in Cleveland before getting shipped off to his hometown team, the Giants, as part of the Odell Beckham Jr. deal. Peppers missed most of the 2021 season after injuring his right leg, and he signed with New England in 2023.
• 2018 - Baker Mayfield was the #1 overall pick in the 2018 Draft, going to the Cleveland Browns after their disastrous 0-16 season. The Heisman-winner from Oklahoma stepped in early in the season after Tyrod Taylor was injured during the second quarter and rallied the Browns to their first win since Christmas 2016. By the end of his first season, he broke the rookie record for touchdown passes (27) previously held by Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson in just 13 starts,^note The record was later broken by Justin Herbert, who had two additional starts. putting a temporary end to the Browns' infamous "revolving door" of quarterbacks. By 2020, he broke the record for the most wins by a QB at FirstEnergy Stadium, the "new" Browns franchise's home field^note A notable distinction because, due in part to the aforementioned instability at the position, the previous QB with this title was Ben Roethlisberger. Of the division rival Steelers, who play there just once per season., which some fans began referring to as "The Bakery" rather than its previous nickname, "The Factory of Sadness". Mayfield led the Browns to their first playoff berth in 18 years and first playoff victory in 27. However, his play was rarely spectacular and often inconsistent, and after injuries derailed his 2021 season, the Browns decided to replace him before the end of his rookie contract with the scandal-ridden Deshaun Watson (see "Notorious" above). Mayfield eventually forced a trade to the Panthers, where he lost the starting job to former XFL QB P.J. Walker and fellow 2018 bust Sam Darnold, and was waived. The Rams picked him up the next day to fill in as a backup to the injured Matthew Stafford, and he parlayed that into a starting opportunity with the Buccaneers, who were looking for a successor to the retired Tom Brady; Mayfield ended up having a career year in his first year in Tampa, leading them to the division title, winning a playoff game, and was named the Pro Bowl Offensive MVP. That offseason, he signed a 3-year deal to stay with the Bucs. However, even if Mayfield ultimately has a successful career, he remains a bust for Cleveland (albeit not to the same extent as other QBs on this list) in the sense that they spent a #1 overall pick on a player they ultimately traded for next to nothing before the end of his rookie contract. Casual fans likely know Mayfield best for his appearances in commercials, particularly those with Progressive Insurance that feature him living full-time in his (former) stadium. (The Browns' other first round pick, Denzel Ward, has been a solid member of the team despite missing time with injuries.)
• The Browns' first round picks in 2020 and 2021 (OT Jedrick Wills and CB Greg Newsome II) generally seemed to do well for the Browns in their rebuild. However, in 2022, Cleveland traded three future first round picks for Houston Texans' QB Deshaun Watson (see above under "Notorious"). This trade—and the massive contract of guaranteed money that the Browns offered Watson, who remains embroiled in controversy due to over twenty sexual assault and harrassment civil cases filed against him—is likely to cast a long shadow over Cleveland for years to come, regardless of their success on the field...but it doesn't help that Watson hasn't come close to living up to the trade, having missed more games (due to a combination of a lengthy suspension and injuries) than he's played and has been barely above mediocre when he has been on the field^note the most success the Browns have had since the trade (the back end of the 2023 season) occurred with journeyman Joe Flacco, who the Browns picked up midseason, starting at quarterback after Watson was out for the year.

Notable Disappointments

Most players that underperform in the NFL only become famous if they were drafted high but fell well short of expectations. There are some exceptions, however, who become known either for actually showing some level of greatness for a season or two before descending into obscurity or simply for failing in a memorable or spectacular fashion. (For coaches and executives who also fall into this category, see the entry under National Football League Non-Player Figures.)

Disappointing Quarterbacks

• Steve Beuerlein had a 18-year NFL career, a huge accomplishment for any player, but his journeyman story was met with disappointment at almost every turn. A fourth round pick in 1987 out of Notre Dame, he struggled in his first stop with the Raiders, landed with the Cowboys in '91, and acquitted himself well as Troy Aikman's backup at the start of the '90s Dallas dynasty. He signed to become the Cardinals' starter in '93, but he was unable to elevate the long struggling franchise and was described as a "cancer" by coach Buddy Ryan (though to be fair to Beuerlein, that was typical for Buddy). The expansion Jaguars took him as their #1 pick in the '95 expansion draft, but an MCL sprain cost him the starting role there as well. The next year, he signed with the other new franchise, the Carolina Panthers, and finally was able to see a modicum of individual success entering his second decade in the NFL, leading the league in passing yards in 1999, his sole Pro Bowl season. Even still, the Panthers didn't win much with him under center, and he ended his career with a few seasons as a decent backup with the Broncos before going into TV.
• Blake Bortles was drafted #3 overall by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2014 out of UCF. The first QB off the board, he was considered a developmental prospect with high upside thanks to his size, athleticism, and arm-strength, but also drew unfortunate comparisons to his predecessor, draft bust Blaine Gabbert. Bortles took over early in his rookie season and seemingly proved his detractors right, putting up a losing record in each of his first three seasons and having a problem with interceptions. Though he did show some promise by also throwing for franchise records in passing touchdowns (35) and passing yards (4,428) in 2015, he was shaping up to be a true bust until 2017, when a series of additions to the Jaguars defense turned the unit into one of the league's best. Bortles came up clutch in several games, leading the team to a 10-6 record and solid playoff run. Though they fell just short of an improbable Super Bowl appearance after Tom Brady led a Patriots comeback in the AFC Championship, the Jaguars rewarded Bortles with a three-year, $54 million contract extension the following offseason. However, he and the entire Jaguars team regressed badly, tumbling to a 5-11 record. The Jags replaced Bortles with former Eagles Super Bowl MVP Nick Foles in the offseason, and he bounced around the league as a backup for the Rams and Broncos until his retirement in 2022. Fans of The Good Place may recognize him as the favorite player of the Jacksonville-native character, Jason.
• Mike Boryla was a fourth-round pick out of Stanford in 1974 known as likely the worst Pro Bowl QB ever. In 1975, Boryla started a total of five games and threw for 6 TDs-12 INTs and fewer than 1,000 yards. Despite worse numbers than many backups that year, he earned a Pro Bowl nod; his selection continues to baffle NFL historians, with most guessing that he was picked at random as an afterthought after almost all of the potential star players who could have filled the spot turned it down. Boryla actually led the NFC to a comeback victory in that game, which was in some ways the highlight of his career. After starting most of the next season, a knee injury ended his time in Philly, and he entered a law career after spending 1978 on the bench in Tampa.
• Sam Bradford was drafted with the #1 overall pick by the St. Louis Rams in 2010 after a Heisman-winning campaign at Oklahoma. While his time in the NFL was not disastrous enough for most to consider him an outright bust (as he did much better than the other 13 QBs in his class), Bradford stands out for how he managed to massively cash out on a fairly mundane career. As the last #1 pick before the institution of the NFL's new rookie salary structure, he received a record-shattering 6-year, $78 million rookie deal from the Rams that made him a top five paid QB before even taking his first snap as a pro.^note For comparison, the next #1 pick, Cam Newton, received a 4-year, $22 million deal. He won Offensive Rookie of the Year and put up solid stats in spite of a bevy of injuries, especially in terms of efficiency and avoiding turnovers. After tearing his ACL (again) during the 2014 preseason and missing the full year, he was traded to the Eagles for Nick Foles as well as 2nd and 5th round picks. The Eagles fell short of the playoffs but signed Bradford to a $36 million extension after the season for continuing his efficient play. However, they also traded up in the 2016 Draft to acquire QB Carson Wentz and unexpectedly traded Bradford right after the preseason to the Vikings after they lost Teddy Bridgewater to a career-threatening knee injury during practice. He remained very efficient, setting a record for single-season completion percentage (since broken), but the team fell below expectations and finished 8-8. Bradford suffered a season-ending injury the next year after just two games and was let go. He signed with Arizona, was benched after an 0-3 start, and retired from football at the end of the season. Despite a disappointing starting record of 34-48-1 and a host of season-ending injuries, Bradford earned a whopping $129 million^note the 17th highest total for a player in NFL history at the time of his final game in his nine-year career.
• Dieter Brock only played a single season in the NFL but is notable for bar trivia purposes as the oldest rookie QB in NFL history. After unremarkable college stints at Auburn and Jacksonville State, Brock went to the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers and became a Hall of Famer in Canada, winning two Most Outstanding Player awards and leading the league in passing yards four times. At 34 years old, Brock managed to sign with the Los Angeles Rams in 1985 and helped lead them to an NFC Championship appearance. However, a back injury forced him to retire immediately afterwards, leaving his NFL career a real What Could Have Been scenario.
• Jimmy Clausen, while not a "draft bust" in the traditional sense, had one of the most disappointing QB careers in the modern NFL. One of the most hyped high school QBs ever, Clausen put up a statistically promising performance for a middling Notre Dame program and was widely expected to be a first round pick in the 2010 Draft. However, while he was the third passer taken off the board after Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow, he wasn't taken by the Panthers until the second round. Many analysts attributed this slide less to concerns about his play than his off-field issues and perceived smugness, but his on-field performance turned out to be the bigger problem. After taking the starting job in his rookie year, Clausen only won a single start (after which he boasted to his fellow rookie QB opponent that he would catch up to his level soon) and helped secure Carolina the #1 pick they used on his far more successful replacement, Cam Newton. Clausen didn't see the field again for four years and was out of football in 2015 following equally unsuccessful stints with the Bears and Ravens.
• Kerry Collins was a journeyman who played for 17 seasons, experiencing some massive highs and lows along the way. The Heisman finalist was picked #6 overall in 1995 out of Penn State as the Carolina Panthers' first ever draft choice and earned a Pro Bowl selection in his second year after leading the young expansion franchise on a deep playoff run. However, he also struggled with alcoholism, leading to a drunk driving arrest and an incident where he called a teammate a racial slur. In 1998, Collins asked to be benched for a few games to seek care; instead, he was traded to the Saints and forced to finish out the season before being cut. Despite deteriorating play and a "bust" label, he signed with the New York Giants, sought treatment, and regained the starting role. He went on a remarkable comeback run in 2000, taking the Giants to Super Bowl XXXV... only to lose after putting up one of the worst passing performances in Super Bowl history, posting a passer rating of 7.1 and throwing four INTs to zero TDs. After a few more solid seasons, Collins was cut after 2003 and signed with the Raiders, where he lasted two years as Rich Gannon's middling replacement. He next signed with the Tennessee Titans, initially as a stopgap while Vince Young (see above under "QB Busts") developed, but he took back the starting position and had another Pro Bowl season in 2008. He again regressed the following year, was benched after the Titans were blown out 59-0 against the Patriots, and retired in 2011... only to decide to return to the NFL a month later to replace Peyton Manning on the Colts after his neck injury. Collins again disappointed, lost the starting role after a concussion, and retired for good after that season.
• Bobby Douglass was a second round pick out of Kansas in 1969 by the Chicago Bears. He was an early example of a mobile QB who would often take off running with the football whenever the play collapsed; he rushed for 968 yards in '72, the QB record for the next three decades, and led the NFL in yards per touch. While exciting to watch, calling him a dual-threat QB would be a massive stretch, as his passing was beyond abysmal; he only completed 43% of his career passes, never threw double digit TDs in a season, and took an absurd amount of sacks. He was traded to the Chargers in '75 and bounced around the Saints and Packers before leaving football entirely in 1980 to sign with the MLB's Chicago White Sox, but he only appeared in four minor league games before being released.
• Tony Eason was taken #15 overall out of Illinois in the historically strong 1983 Draft^note Being drafted after John Elway (#1) and Jim Kelly (#14), and ahead of Ken O'Brien (#24) and Dan Marino (#27). by the New England Patriots as the heir apparent to long-time starter Steve Grogan. Eason and Grogan traded the starting job back and forth for two seasons until Eason finally won it outright in 1985 and led the Patriots to the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance, becoming the first team to make the Super Bowl after winning three road playoff games. However, he also became the only starting QB in Super Bowl history to fail to complete a pass as he and the Patriots were annihilated by the legendary '85 Bears defense. He was pulled from the game after going 0/6 passing, suffering three sacks, and losing a fumble, while the Bears went on to win 46-10, the largest margin of victory for a Super Bowl at the time (and still second largest ever). Eason had one more solid season the following year, but injuries and ineffectiveness saw him released in 1989. He spent one final season with the Jets (ironically backing up Ken O'Brien, who was selected after Eason in the same draft class).^note Even more ironically, Eason was O'Brien's best friend in the NFL and dreaded having to back him up just in case he gave a good performance that could derail O'Brien's career! While his Super Bowl appearance keeps him from being considered a true bust, Eason goes down as a disappointment, especially when considering the strong QB draft class he was part of and his selection ahead of Hall of Famer Dan Marino, who would haunt the Pats' division for years.
• Vince Ferragamo had a very unique career. Drafted in the fourth round in 1977 out of Nebraska by the Los Angeles Rams, he served as a backup for two years before being thrust into the starting role in the middle of the 1979 season after starter Pat Haden broke his finger. He performed well enough to get the 9-win Rams all the way to the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance. He and Colin Kaepernick remain the only QBs to reach the Big Game in their first season as a starter. Ferragamo lost the Super Bowl but won the starting job and performed well the following season. However, his career trajectory was radically altered when he signed with the CFL's Montreal Alouettes in 1981 for a contract more than double the size of the Rams' offer. This proved a disastrous decision: already prone to interceptions in the States, he was unprepared for the Canadian style of play and was benched after throwing 25 INTs to just 7 TDs. He returned to the Rams the following year and eventually regained the starting job, but he still threw more picks than scores in his sole full year under center. He was shipped off to the Bills in 1985, where he put up one more dreadful season, and retired after another year on the Packers bench.
• Matt Flynn was mainly a backup who put up a few exciting moments that never amounted to a full career as a starter. After he led LSU to a BCS Championship, Flynn was a mere seventh-round pick in 2007 and served as backup to Aaron Rodgers with the Green Bay Packers, where he proved very capable. In a Week 17 game against the Lions in 2011, the Packers, who had already secured the #1 seed in the playoffs, rested a number of their starters, while the Lions were still playing for the #5 seed. In an ultimately meaningless game for Green Bay, Flynn threw a franchise-record six touchdown passes, surpassing both Brett Favre and Rodgers' best numbers^note Rodgers tied Flynn’s record the following season; curiously, Favre also had a six-touchdown game, but only after he was traded to the Jets. After that season, he got big-money offers from all over the league as a starter, eventually signing with the Seahawks before losing the starting job to a rookie Russell Wilson in the preseason. In the next two years, he was traded or cut by the Seahawks, Raiders, and Bills before landing right back in Green Bay, whose season was in a death-spiral after Aaron Rodgers was injured. He went back to playing admirably (even posting a 23-point comeback victory against the Cowboys) and kept the team in the playoff race right up to the season finale, at which point Rodgers was able to return and officially punch the team's ticket to the postseason. Debate continues over whether or not he might have been a suitable starting QB somewhere, but Packers fans are just as happy to never find out, as he retired after spending 2015 with the Saints.
• Don Gault was an undrafted QB out of Hofstra (which no longer plays football) who joined the Browns in 1968. He is notable for just one thing: posting a 0.0 passer rating in his one and only start in the NFL in 1970 after stepping off the bench in relief the week prior, going 1/16 and throwing two INTs. He was benched at the half, future draft bust Mike Phipps led the Browns to a come-from-behind victory, and Gault never played another snap in the pros. Combined with his few poor performances as a backup, Gault's career passer rating was 2.2.
• Jeff George was the #1 overall pick in 1990 and a prominent example of a bust for the team that drafted them who still managed to eke out a decent career, albeit one that never lived up to his draft stock. George was drafted out of Illinois by the Indianapolis Colts, who traded up for the pick and offered the Indy-native the then-richest rookie contract in league history. Despite boasting a powerful arm, the QB struggled with interceptions and didn't bring the team many wins, which, coupled with a reported attitude problem, led to him being traded to the Atlanta Falcons. George had a better performance there, even taking them to a playoff appearance, but he was suspended for most of 1996 after a televised sideline argument with coach June Jones. He was next dealt to the Raiders and put up strong numbers for two seasons, even leading the league in passing yards in '97 before an injury benched him and sent him to Minnesota the following year. George filled in for an injured Randall Cunningham, put up an 8-2 record as a starter, and won his first playoff game, but a lengthy contract dispute kept the team from re-signing him. He played his last seasons as a starter in Washington, playing his last game in 2001, but continued to bounce around as a backup until 2006. He publicly kept seeking jobs as a starting QB into the early '10s, when he had entered his forties and hadn't played in nearly a decade.
• Joe Gilliam was one of the first African-American QBs to play in the Super Bowl era, being drafted by the Steelers in the 11th round in 1972 out of Tennessee State. After spending his first two seasons as a backup, "Jefferson Street Joe" won the starting job over Terry Bradshaw in 1974, making him the first African-American QB to start on opening day in the Super Bowl era. Although the Steelers started the season 4-1-1, it was almost entirely due to their defense, as Gilliam completed less than 50% of his passes while tossing 4 TDs against 8 INTs. Additionally, he ran afoul of Chuck Noll's game plans and dealt with heavy substance abuse issues off the field that affected his play. He was benched after week 6, with Bradshaw reclaiming the starting role and guiding the Steelers to the first of four Super Bowls that decade. Gilliam was cut after the next year, could not land a spot on another NFL team, and spent many years in the semi-pro ranks, going through rehab, and dealing with homelessness, at one point having to pawn off both of his Super Bowl rings. He started to turn his life around in the late '90s, cleaning himself up and opening up a football camp for teens in 2000, but tragically relapsed later that year and died of a cocaine overdose on Christmas Day.
• Rex Grossman was drafted #22 overall by the Chicago Bears in 2003 out of Florida, where he was a Heisman runner-up in one of the closest votes of all time. After spending the majority of his rookie year on the bench, he was named starter in year two only to suffer a season-ending knee injury after three games. He didn't even make it out of the preseason in year three before suffering a fractured ankle. His propensity for injuries had him looking like a total bust... until 2006, when he paired with the Bears' elite defense to lead the team to a 13-3 record and an appearance in Super Bowl XLI. That year, he earned the nickname "Sexy Rexy" and became something of a Memetic Mutation, with his gunslinger style of play being referred to as either "F*ck it, I'm going deep!" or "Unleashing the Dragon", and analysts referred to him as either "Good Rex" or "Bad Rex" due to his wildly inconsistent performances. In some games, he dominated with near-perfect passer ratings; in others, he performed miserably with single digit ratings.^note Displayed nicely here.◊ He set the NFL record for worst passer rating by a winning QB with at least 15 passing attempts (1.3 out of 156.3) and also became the second QB to have a 0.0 rating during a season in which his team made the Super Bowl.^note Terry Bradshaw was the first in 1975, later matched by Peyton Manning in 2015. Unlike Grossman, they both won the Super Bowl those years. Unfortunately, "Bad Rex" showed up in the Super Bowl, throwing two picks (one returned for a TD) and fumbling twice, leading to a Bears loss; he frequently appears high on "worst performances/worst QBs to play in a Super Bowl" lists. Grossman suffered yet another knee injury the following year and made just one start the next year before moving on to a short stint in Houston and several seasons as a backup in Washington, officially retiring in 2015 after not seeing the field for several years.
• Christian Hackenberg was drafted #51 overall in 2016 by the Jets out of Penn State. Despite only being a second round pick, his name appears on a number of "colossal draft bust" lists due to both his immense college hype and the spectacularity of his failure as a pro, as he never saw the field in a regular season NFL game. The #1 QB prospect in the nation in high school, Hackenberg had a sterling freshman showing and draftniks said that he likely would have had a first round grade in the 2014 Draft had he been eligible. His performance declined in the next two seasons, and he became one of the most polarizing draft prospects in years, with grades ranging from "top 10 pick" to "undraftable". The Jets took him in the second round hoping to develop his immense tools as their QB of the future. After several disastrous preseason showings, including multiple pick sixes, he entered his rookie year as the fourth string QB (most teams carry no more than three). The following offseason, he was traded to the Raiders for a conditional 7th round pick, the "condition" being that he made their roster after final cuts... which he did not. He bounced around to the Eagles and Bengals practice squads, failed to catch on in either, and that was it for his NFL career; he became only the second QB drafted in the first two rounds since the merger to never play a regular season down in the NFL.^note The first, Gene Bradley, was a second round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 1980 who passed up the NFL to sign with the USFL instead. Perhaps worst of all for Jets fans, two whole rounds after Hackenberg was selected, the Cowboys selected multi-Pro Bowl QB Dak Prescott. Further, his presence on the roster was the reason why the Jets did not consider Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson in the 2017 Draft.^note They did draft a QB in 2018, taking Sam Darnold third overall, but... see his entry above.
• Randy Hedberg and Gary Huff both played for the Buccaneers during their 0-26 start and are notable for posting some of the worst statlines in NFL history. Hedberg, an eighth round pick out of the D-II Minot State in 1977, boasts the worst career passer rating of any modern era QB with over 50 attempts: a flat-out 0.0. Across seven games, he went 25/90 (27.7%) in pass completions and threw ten INTs against zero TDs. Hedberg was cut after that one season and never played in the pros again; he went into coaching and later became QB coach at North Dakota State, where he developed a reputation for developing high draft picks like Carson Wentz and Trey Lance. Huff, a second-round pick out of Florida State in 1973 after leading major-college football in TD passes in 1971 and 1972, would lead the Bucs to their first-ever victory, but his achievement of winning an otherwise-meaningless game was the highlight of a poor career where he put up 15 TDs against 50 INTs; he was likewise out of the NFL just a year later, and after that only had a cup of coffee with the 49ers in 1980 and a season in the USFL as a player-coach in 1985.
• Gary Keithley was a second-round pick out of Texas in 1973, going to the Cardinals. His debut as a starter was potentially the worst quarterbacked game of the modern era; Keithley and his opponent, Falcons QB Bob Lee, both posted a passer rating of 0.0, with Keithley completing two of ten passes for nine yards, a pick-six, and no touchdowns. Unlike Lee, who was benched, Keithley played the whole game and won thanks to a strong defense. He started again in Week 2, against the Cowboys, where he became the only QB to go 0.0 in two straight games, once again being completely useless as his team got blown out; he never played another snap.
• DeShone Kizer was drafted in the second round in 2017 by the Cleveland Browns. The Notre Dame product's NFL readiness was publicly questioned by his own college coach during the drafting process, but he was still immediately thrust into the starting role. It turned out to be a disastrous year for both Kizer and the Browns; the rookie led the NFL in picks, and the Browns lost every single game. Kizer was traded to the Packers for scraps after that first season, but he performed terribly in relief of Aaron Rodgers. Green Bay cut him the next year, and Kizer never played in an NFL game again. His 0-15 record as a starter is the worst in modern NFL history.
• Byron Leftwich was drafted #7 overall in 2003 out of Marshall by the Jacksonville Jaguars. He showed enough production to avoid being a true draft bust but still had a once-promising career derailed by injuries and general bad luck. Leftwich first garnered national attention in college when he suffered a broken tibia during the first quarter of a game but came back to play after halftime with two of his linemen carrying him up the field between snaps.^*Which was the second time he had fractured that bone; he had suffered a hairline fracture the season before, and had a rod installed in that leg at that time. He possessed a powerful arm and massive frame but lacked mobility^note To the point where less polite fans derisively nicknamed him "Michael Brick" and had a long, awkward throwing motion making him a divisive draft prospect. Nonetheless, he took over as starter four games into his rookie season and led the team a winning record as starter over the next three years, but injuries continued to plague him while backup David Garrard played well in relief, leading to the Jags releasing Leftwich in 2007. He signed as a backup with Atlanta after the Michael Vick dog fighting scandal, losing both of his two games as a starter, and spent three seasons as a backup with the Steelers as part of their Super Bowl XLIII-winning team. He went on to a more successful coaching career as The Lancer to his former OC in Pittsburgh, Bruce Arians, who he followed to Arizona and Tampa Bay. He won Super Bowl LV as OC with Tom Brady at QB, but was fired two years later when the Bucs experienced a steep regression in Arians' absence.
• Rusty Lisch was a backup for the Rams and Bears in early '80s. A fourth round pick out of Notre Dame in 1980, his notability comes from the 1984 season, during a stretch which is widely considered the worst by any QB in modern NFL history. While serving as a 3rd string QB for the Bears, he was pressed into duty after injuries to the starter and backup. In 85 pass attempts, he managed to throw zero touchdowns, six interceptions (two returned for touchdowns), and fumbled five times. He was so bad that Bears HC Mike Ditka benched him—not for another QB, but for running back Walter Payton (who threw a pair of TD passes in relief). A 2011 Deadspin article named Lisch as the "worst player in NFL history", stating:
  "Sure, [Ryan] Leaf and [JaMarcus] Russell were bigger busts. Lisch, after all, was a fourth-round pick who had backed up Joe Montana at Notre Dame. But if you have one game you need to lose, and you require a quarterback to take you there, Lisch is — hands down — the man you want."
• Johnny Lujack was drafted #4 overall in 1946 by the Chicago Bears, though he wound up returning to school at Notre Dame first, having served in the Navy during WWII, and won the Heisman after already being drafted to the pros (the only time that's ever happened). Lujack joined the Bears in 1948 and succeeded Sid Luckman as starter the following year, putting up a remarkable breakout season where he led the league in passing yards and touchdowns. This briefly made him one of the most famous athletes in the country and seemed to ensure that the Bears would remain the league's dominant team. However, his production fell off quickly after that (despite nods in the first two Pro Bowls), and he retired early in 1952 to be an assistant coach at his alma mater. He was passed over for the head coaching job after two seasons and instead moved into a career as a commentator and car salesman.^note Ironically, this turned out to be a conflict of interest when Ford became a sponsor for CBS; Lujack sold Chevys, and he was forced to step down, leaving room for a former punter named Pat Summerall to take his spot.
• Tommy Maddox was drafted #25 overall by the Broncos in 1992 out of UCLA. Intended to serve as John Elway's successor, he performed poorly the few times he came off the bench, and when Elway launched a genuine Career Resurrection and led the league in passing the next year, Maddox was traded away to clear salary cap space. He was out of the NFL by 1997 and entered a career as an insurance salesman, which would have cemented him as a tremendous draft bust. However, unlike most folks on this page, Maddox was able to salvage a short but inspiring comeback to cap off his time as a player. After several years out of football, he returned to the Arena League in 2000, then joined Vince McMahon's short-lived first iteration of the XFL the next year as the QB of the Los Angeles Xtreme, which he led to a championship while winning the league's only MVP. His performance was enough to get him back into the NFL, and he won Comeback Player of the Year in 2002 after winning the starting position with the Pittsburgh Steelers and putting up a winning record. His play wasn't exactly lights out, though (he threw nearly as many INTs as TDs), and his success didn't stretch past that year, as injuries led to him being replaced by Ben Roethlisberger. However, Maddox was on the bench for the Steelers' victory in Super Bowl XL, giving him the distinction of winning a championship in two different leagues; he was released after that season and retired soon after.
• Don Majkowski, known to fans as the "Majik Man", was drafted in the tenth round by the Green Bay Packers out of Virginia in 1987. After sharing playing time with Randy Wright for his first two seasons, Majkowski had a breakout year in 1989, leading the NFL in passing yards and just losing out (to Joe Montana) on the league MVP award; after that incredible season, fans thought he might finally lead the Packers into a new era after decades of mediocrity. This hope was dashed when he suffered a torn rotator cuff in 1990 and was never able to get back to his previous level of performance. In the end, Majkowski became primarily known for being The Pete Best to the legendary Brett Favre, who came in off the bench after he sustained another injury (a torn ligament in his ankle) during a 1992 Week 3 game and had a firm grip on the starting job by the time Majkowski was well enough to play again (and ultimately did take the Pack back to the promised land a few years later).^note Majkowski never resented Favre taking his place, and the two have been friends for many years. Majik bounced around the league before retiring after 1996 (the same season, incidentally, in which the Packers won the Super Bowl with Favre).
• Gary Marangi was a third round pick by the Bills out of Boston College in 1974. Meant to serve as a backup, Marangi was forced to step in after starter Joe Ferguson went down for 1976 with a back injury. In that seven-game span, he threw 16 interceptions and completed a staggeringly anemic 35.3% of his passes, still the worst single-season completion record for a QB with over 200 attempts. He was out of pro football after the next season.
• Marcus Mariota was the #2 pick in 2015, going to the Tennessee Titans out of Oregon after winning the Heisman and leading the Ducks to the National Championship game in 2014. Mariota was generally popular (especially in his birth state of Hawaii), put up solid numbers in his first two seasons^note including being the first NFL QB to achieve a perfect rating of 158.3 and throw for four touchdowns in the first half of their debut game, and took the Titans to their first playoff appearance in nine years and first playoff win in 14 (where he became the first player to catch his own pass and score a touchdown in the postseason). However, the mobile QB was inconsistent, hamstrung by overly risk-averse play, and frequently sidelined by injuries. After the team missed the playoffs again in 2018, he was benched in the midst of the next season in favor of Ryan Tannehill, who broke out to much greater success. In 2020, he was signed by the Raiders as a backup, primarily subbing in for running plays. He became the Falcons' starter in 2022 but lost the gig midseason; he later moved onto the Eagles and Commanders.
• Kim McQuilken was drafted in the 3rd round of 1974 out of Lehigh (then D-II and now FCS) by the Falcons. A third-string backup, McQuilken started seven games for the Falcons over three seasons and put up some truly abysmal performances in that short span of time; over 10% of his pass attempts resulted in interceptions, 28 in total against only 4 TD passes. He left the NFL in 1980 after a few years as a backup in Washington, holding a career passer rating of 17.9, the worst in the modern era for a passer with over 200 attempts. After some time as a starter in the USFL, he left football to start a career as a marketing executive with Turner Broadcasting, including some time as a top exec of Cartoon Network.
• Scott Mitchell was a fourth round pick of the Dolphins in 1990 out of Utah. After backing up Dan Marino for four seasons and briefly playing in the WLAF, the massive (listed at 6'6", 249 lbs) southpaw took over in '93 when Marino suffered a severe Achilles injury and played reasonably well in mostly losing efforts. In 1994, the second year of NFL free agency, he signed a four-year, $21 million deal (about 1/6 of the brand new salary cap) with the Detroit Lions, making him one of the highest paid QBs in the league. Mitchell initially failed to live up to the contract, which caused frustration among teammates who felt like their long-struggling franchise could compete for a championship if they had a better passer. Franchise LT Lomas Brown later claimed he intentionally let pass rushers by in an attempt to get Mitchell hurt, which worked; Mitchell suffered a season-ending hand injury, and the Lions made the playoffs under veteran backup Dave Kreig. Mitchell returned as starter the next season and improved, setting several single-season franchise passing records that stood for nearly two decades, but was benched during the team's first playoff game after going down 51-7 to the Eagles while Mitchell threw four picks^note Backup Don Majkowski, a fellow disappointment listed above, threw three TDs in relief, leading to even more resentment toward Mitchell. Mitchell started for two more years but never played that level again; he was replaced by a rookie and traded for middling draft picks to the Ravens (where he earned Baltimore football fans' ire by becoming the only player in Ravens history to wear Johnny Unitas' #19), before finishing his career as a backup with the Bengals. His name still tops many lists of all-time free agent busts and is often brought up whenever a free agent with limited experience gets a big money deal. Mitchell badly struggled with his weight after his playing career, weighing up to 366 lbs while appearing on season 16 of The Biggest Loser.
• Neil O'Donnell was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third round in 1990 out of Maryland, moved into the starting job in his second season, led the team to a winning record over the next four years, and was selected to a Pro Bowl in 1992. However, he was very much a classic "game manager" who focused on low-risk passes and avoiding turnovers while empowering the team's strong run game and defense. In the final year of his contract, O'Donnell led the Steelers to Super Bowl XXX, where they lost to the dynastic Cowboys as he threw three costly picks, one returned for a touchdown. His serviceable play in Pittsburgh wouldn't earn him a spot on this list... but then the New York Jets offered him a five-year $25 million deal in free agency the following offseason, making him a top ten highest paid QB in the league. He immediately disappointed, going 0-6 in his first six starts in New York before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. He rebounded somewhat the following year, going 8-6, but Jets coach/GM Bill Parcells opted to release him and take the cap hit to get his massive contract off the books. He signed another big contract with the Bengals the year after, again performed poorly, and spent the final four years of his career in Tennessee as a backup before retiring in 2003, holding the lowest career interception percentage at that time but little else to explain his big paydays. Expect to hear O'Donnell's name whenever all-time free agent busts are discussed.
• Brock Osweiler was drafted in the 2nd round in 2012 out of Arizona State by the Broncos. He played sparingly in his first three seasons as Peyton Manning set single-season passing records and led Denver to a Super Bowl appearance. In 2015, age and injuries caught up to Manning, and after a disastrous performance where he put up a 0.0 passer rating, Denver switched to Osweiler. He initially acquitted himself well but was benched for poor performance during the regular season finale. Rested and healthy, Manning was named starter for their playoff run and led the team to a Super Bowl victory. Allegedly miffed at his benching, Osweiler ignored Denver's stated desire to re-sign him and lined up free agent visits with other teams. The Texans infamously offered him a 4-year, $72 million deal, one much larger than any other player of Osweiler's experience level had ever been offered, without having him meet with HC Bill O'Brien first. Though the team won their division, the two frequently clashed, with O'Brien benching him late in the year after he reached a franchise-record 16 interceptions on the season. He returned to the field during the playoffs when replacement Tom Savage was injured, but his three picks led to the Texans' elimination. The following offseason, the Texans engaged in a "cash dump" trade, essentially giving away Osweiler and a 2nd round pick to Cleveland in exchange for a mere 4th round pick just so the cap-space-flush Browns would absorb the remaining money owed to him. He was cut before the season, returned to Denver as a backup, and signed with Miami the following year before announcing his retirement and moving into broadcasting. When it comes to all-time disappointing free agent signings, expect Osweiler's name to be near the top.
• Nathan Peterman is most infamous for his time with the Bills and ranks high on many "worst QBs ever" lists. Drafted in the fifth round in 2017 out of Pitt as a backup, Peterman was moved to the starting position mid-season due to Tyrod Taylor's struggles. His tenure as the Bills' starter didn't even last half a game—Peterman threw five interceptions before halftime and was quickly returned to the bench. "Petermeme", as he came to be known, filled in for three more games with the Bills to relieve injured starters, contributing to one sloppy win in a snowstorm^note he was pulled out of the game with a concussion when the score was still tied and playing atrociously in the other two, recording the dreaded 0.0 passer rating in one and throwing multiple costly picks in both. He was let go by the Bills after just two seasons and is currently a backup for the Bears after spending time as a backup for the Raiders.
• Terrelle Pryor entered college at Ohio State as one of the most hyped high school QBs ever, and his college performance mostly lived up the hype, putting up promising performances as a dual-threat in 2009 and '10. Pryor's college career came to a sudden halt after he received multiple suspensions for driving with a suspended license and breaking NCAA rules about selling memorabilia. He was picked up in the third round of the 2011 Supplemental Draft by the Oakland Raiders as the final pick made by Al Davis before his passing. After two seasons on the bench, Pryor was named the Raiders' starting QB in 2013 and showed flashes of promise, including pulling off the longest ever run by a QB in NFL history at 93 yards. However, injury and inconsistent play cost him the job, and Pryor jumped around the benches of multiple teams over the next few years. Desperate to see some time on the field, he switched to wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns in 2016 and actually had a stand-out year, putting up over 1,000 receiving yards. This proved to be a flash in the pan; he spent the next three seasons as a journeyman, putting up middling performances wrecked by injury at every stop before finally stepping down from football.
• Mark Sanchez is most famous for his time with the New York Jets, who drafted him at #5 overall in 2009 out of USC. Although he was able to take the Jets to consecutive AFC Championship games in his first two seasons, the Jets were led by their dominant defense and running game while Sanchez was merely asked to limit mistakes. He had a mediocre year in 2011 and a horrible one in 2012, when he became known for the Butt Fumble—an infamous play committed on a Thanksgiving primetime game against the arch-rival Patriots where Sanchez's head collided with the rear end of an offensive lineman, causing him to drop the football, which was recovered by the Patriots and returned for a touchdown. After 40 straight weeks of the Butt Fumble as their Worst of the Worst "Not Top 10" play, ESPN retired it so other embarrassing plays could have a chance of winning the "top" spot. A shoulder injury cost him the 2013 season and the Jets released him the next year. Sanchez signed with the Eagles as a backup and bounced around as a backup in Denver, Chicago, and Washington for the next few years, retiring in 2019. He currently works as a commentator for FOX.
• Dennis Shaw broke multiple NCAA passing records in college at San Diego State and, despite the perceived lesser competition of his conference, was drafted in the second round by the Bills in 1970. His initial performance as a rookie was far from exemplary, throwing twice as many INTs as TDs, struggling with fumbles, and winning just three games. Somehow, the AP made him the only QB to win Offensive Rookie of the Year for the first 37 years of the award. Shaw did not improve in the following years; he lost the starting job after his third season and bounced around a few other teams before retiring from the NFL after 1978.
• Richard Todd had an accomplished career at Alabama that led the New York Jets to draft him #6 overall in 1976 as the successor to fellow 'Bama alumni Joe Namath. Both QBs played terribly his rookie year, but Todd became the primary starter. He was generally bad his first several years, being incredibly mistake prone and throwing a league-leading 30 INTs in 1980, not helped by the media constantly comparing him unfavorably to Namath. Just as he was being written off as a bust, Todd had a breakout season in '81, fixing his interception woes and guiding the Jets to their first playoff berth since the merger. He followed that up with a surprise AFC Championship appearance the following year, only to suffer the worst game of his career when he threw 5 picks in the "Mud Bowl" against the Dolphins. With high expectations heading into the '83 season, the Jets completely imploded, with Todd reverting back to producing constant turnovers. He was traded to the Saints a year later, where he played two more miserable seasons before retiring in '86 after a failed comeback with the Jets.
• Chris Weinke had one of the most unique college careers of any player; a high MLB draft pick out of high school, he spent six years playing minor league baseball before finally enrolling in college in 1997 at age 25. At age 28, he became the oldest Heisman winner ever after leading Florida State to an undefeated season and championship. Despite this success, the QB's age caused him to fall to the fourth round in the 2001 Draft, where he was selected by the Panthers. He was still viewed as a potentially strong prospect and was named the starter in his rookie season... in which the team went 1-15. Weinke put up the second-longest losing streak of any starting QB in NFL history at 17 games before being benched, left Carolina to serve as a backup in San Francisco in 2007, and retired the next year.
• Carson Wentz was drafted #2 overall by the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016. Coming out of FCS North Dakota State, many draftniks were concerned that Wentz may have been a Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond in college and wasn't worth everything the Eagles gave up to get him^note in order to get up from their original #13 overall pick in 2016 to #2, they had to make two trades, jumping from #13 to #8 and then to #2; between the two trades, the cost to make the moves totaled up to two defensive starters, a couple of 2016 mid-round picks, their 2017 1st round pick, and their 2018 second round pick. At first, Wentz looked like he might prove himself worthy of the trade after all; after a solid rookie year, he followed up in his second year by setting the Eagles team record for TD passes in a season and was a near-lock to win league MVP, only to have said season cut short when he tore his ACL in Week 14 and had to watch as backup QB Nick Foles led the Eagles to a Super Bowl win anyway. From this point forward, Wentz developed a reputation as a Glass Cannon; the next year he was again replaced by Foles after sustaining a late-season back injury, and he was removed from his postseason debut the year after due to a concussion. He quickly became the target of harsh criticism by Eagles fans — especially after the Eagles signed Wentz to a massive extension in 2019 while letting Foles (who was beloved by the fans for his Super Bowl LII heroics) walk in free agency at the same time — that only got worse when his performance sharply declined in 2020, leading to him being benched late in the season in favor of Jalen Hurts, and the Eagles subsequently decided to move on from him in the offseason. He then bounced to the Colts (2021) and Commanders (2022), disappointing in both single-season stints as injuries and inconsistency continued to hamper his play, so much so that he initially went unsigned entirely ahead of the 2023 season before eventually being picked up midseason by the Rams (ironically the same team that passed on him in favor of Jared Goff when he was first drafted) as a backup. In 2024, he signed to back up Patrick Mahomes on the Chiefs.
• Marc Wilson had gained attention in college as one of the first of a long string of QBs who went on to success under BYU head coach LaVell Edwards, leading the NCAA in passing yards and TDs as a senior and catching the attention of Raiders owner and GM Al Davis, who drafted him with the #15 overall pick in 1980. Wilson spent his first year behind Dan Pastorini and Jim Plunkett, watching the former lead the Raiders to a Super Bowl victory. When Plunkett was knocked out for the season with an injury the next year, Wilson stepped in and underwhelmed, and the Raiders missed the playoffs. Wilson and Plunkett competed for the starting job for several years as the Raiders moved to Los Angeles, with Plunkett eventually retaking the job and taking the team to another Super Bowl title, while Wilson struggled in his time as starter. Wilson was released after '87, cut by Green Bay in training camp, and finished his career with two seasons as part of a crowded set of quarterbacks in New England before calling it a career, finishing with 86 touchdowns to 102 interceptions and a mediocre 67.7 passer rating. Furthermore, while the 1980 quarterback class was quite weak, the Raiders also could have taken future Hall of Fame receiver Art Monk, center Dwight Stephenson, and defensive tackle Steve McMichael, along with several notable Pro Bowlers.
• Jameis Winston was the #1 overall pick in 2015, selected by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a Heisman- and BCS Championship-winning career at Florida State. Though he was a controversial choice for some due to a then-ongoing sexual assault investigation from his college years, Winston set franchise records for a rookie QB and was even selected to a Pro Bowl in his first season. He continued to stand out as a passer for the Buccaneers, even after the league issued him a suspension in 2018 for a groping allegation, and his productivity truly exploded in his fifth season when, under new head coach Bruce Arians, he led the league in passing yards and completions, claimed multiple franchise records, and became one of only seven QBs to pass for over 5,000 yards in a single season. He was then... let go by the Buccaneers. Why? Because he also led the league in interceptions that year; besides becoming the sole member of the "30 TD-30 INT Club", Winston also became the first QB to throw 30 INTs in a season in over thirty years and the first ever to throw seven pick-sixes in that span.^note Winston played the full season struggling with thumb and knee injuries, and he received LASIK corrective eye surgery following the season, leading to many jokes that he played the whole season blind. The following offseason, the Bucs opted to replace the boom-or-bust Winston with the much more dependable Tom Brady (who immediately took the team to a Super Bowl), and he landed in New Orleans as a backup; he was given a chance at the starting role for the Saints following the retirement of Drew Brees, but injuries and continued inconsistency ultimately resulted in him being relegated to backup once again. He is currently a backup for the Browns.
• David Woodley was an eighth round pick out of LSU in 1980, heading to the Miami Dolphins as they sought a replacement for Bob Griese. He was named starter but had an issue with interceptions and was regularly benched in favor of longtime backup Don Strock, most notably after a terrible performance in the famous "Epic in Miami" playoff game in his second year, and the Dolphins often ranked near the bottom in the league in passing even as the rest of the team generally performed well. After he laid an egg in Super Bowl XVII the following season, completing only four passes, the Dolphins decided that they needed to take the best available QB in the next draft to make their team truly competitive; they massively lucked out when Dan Marino dropped into their hands, and Woodley was quickly out of a job. The Steelers took a swing at him when trying to find a replacement to Terry Bradshaw, but he soon washed out and was out of the league by 1987. Tragically, Woodley also suffered from severe alcoholism and almost immediately began experiencing health issues after football; he died of liver failure in 2003.

Other Disappointing Players

• Karim Abdul-Jabbar became an Ensemble Dark Horse for the Miami Dolphins when they drafted him in the third round in 1996. He broke out with a few very promising seasons, co-leading the NFL in TDs in 1997. This was the reason he sold a ton of jerseys in Miami, and definitely not because he had a similar name and identical jersey number to another famous athlete from UCLA. Joking aside, the NBA legend was not happy to see another athlete profiting off his name (even if it was a fairly common one for converts to Islam) and sued the football Karim, who hilariously responded by changing his name to Abdul-Karim al-Jabbar. Unfortunately, his football star quickly faded after the suit; the Dolphins traded him during the 1999 season and he was out of the NFL the following year.
• Roberto Aguayo was a kicker drafted in the second round in 2016 by the Buccaneers after a record-breaking career at Florida State. While a second round selection wouldn't typically be considered "bust" territory, Aguayo was the only kicker drafted at all in 2016, and his high position didn't remotely align with his actual output for the Bucs. His legendary accuracy in college vanished in his rookie year, where his 70% FG percentage was the worst of any kicker in the NFL with more than two attempts; he was cut after the end of the season and bounced around the NFL without ever seeing the field again.
• Larry Brown was a twelfth round pick for the Dallas Cowboys out of TCU in 1991, right as the team's Super Bowl dynasty was starting to heat up. The CB had an unexpectedly solid rookie season, earning a starting position, and became a dependable (if not flashy) part of the Cowboys defense. In 1996, Brown became the first CB to win a Super Bowl MVP after making two interceptions in XXX. He entered free agency after that performance and signed a lucrative deal with the Raiders the following season... and only put up one more start for the rest of his career, as injuries and personal conduct cost him jobs in Oakland and Minnesota. Brown retired in 1998 after a second month-long stint in Dallas. He is still recognized as one of the league's biggest One Game Wonders and biggest free agency disappointments.
• Mike Croel was LB drafted #4 overall in 1991 out of Nebraska by the Denver Broncos. He immediately broke out as a promising talent, amassing ten sacks in his first season and winning Defensive Rookie of the Year. Unfortunately, his production dropped off precipitously after that; after posting zero sacks in his fourth season, he was released and drifted around the NFL, NFL Europe, and XFL, never lasting more than a season on another team.
• Kevin Dyson was the first WR drafted in 1998, being taken at #16 out of Utah by the Tennessee Oilers/Titans. By most metrics, his career was a bust. He played five seasons in Tennessee, only two of them not seriously hampered by injury (and those weren't spectacular), and was out of the NFL the following year after a brief stint in Carolina. Most damningly, he was the only receiver drafted ahead of the legendary Randy Moss. However, no Titans fan is likely to ID Dyson as a complete bust due to him being the ball-catcher in two of the franchise's most iconic plays: the "Music City Miracle" 75-yard game-winning TD off of a desperation lateral in the 1999 playoffs, and the "One Yard Short" catch a month later that just failed to take Super Bowl XXXIV to overtime. Other than that, the most memorable thing about his tenure with the Titans was that the team also drafted his brother, CB Andre Dyson in 2001; the Sibling Team once scored touchdowns in the same game.
• Barry Foster was a notable One-Hit Wonder for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Drafted in the fifth round in 1990 out of Arkansas, Foster exploded out of nowhere in his third season, setting what remains the franchise record for single-season rushing yards (1,690) and leading the team to its best record in years. Despite racking up some MVP votes, Foster rapidly regressed due to injuries, never rushed for over 1,000 yards again, and was out of football entirely in just two years.
• Peyton Hillis had one of the strangest One Season Wonder careers of any NFL player, one that many fans would likely struggle to even remember happened were it not for Hillis being featured on the cover of Madden NFL 12. A seventh-round draft pick out of Arkansas in 2008, Hillis originally played as a fullback, a position that had largely faded from relevance completely by then. In his third season, he wound up on the moribund Cleveland Browns and was positioned as a halfback, where he saw unexpected success as a rusher and receiver and scored 13 touchdowns (tying for third most overall that season). He still played for a 5-11 team, ranked outside the top five in almost every statistical category, and wasn't selected to a Pro Bowl or any other honors. How did he get placed on a Madden cover, usually reserved for MVPs and Super Bowl winners? That year's athlete was selected via a fan poll, and since Hillis had been a major contributor to the Browns' surprise blowout victory over the otherwise-invincible Patriots that season, their long-suffering fanbase was energized to make him the representative of the NFL on that year's title. This also made Hillis arguably the only athlete to actually have his career ruined by the legendary "Madden Curse"—he missed several games after making the cover, allegedly due to seeking an extension and a higher salary that would better reflect his new profile than his relatively meager rookie contract. His declining performance in the games he did play ensured that he was released by the Browns after that year, and he only started in three more games for the Giants before he was out of football entirely.
• Eddie Lacy was a RB drafted by the Packers in the second round in 2013 out of Alabama, where he had been part of three BCS Championship teams. Lacy immediately broke out as one of the league's most dynamic power backs, breaking Packer franchise rookie records and winning Offensive Rookie of the Year. However, while he had a strong sophomore season, Lacy began to struggle with his weight and staying in playing shape, which likely contributed to a sharp decline in performance and multiple injuries. He was out of football after spending 2017 on Seattle's bench, and his story stands out as a high-profile example of the difficulties many players face with maintaining pro-level conditioning.
• John Lee was the first East Asian player to be drafted by the NFL and one of the most disappointing kickers in NFL history. Lee, who was born in South Korea, was drafted in the high second round in 1986 by the Cardinals, but that position was still extremely high for any specialist, and his rookie contract immediately made him the highest paid kicker in the league. Still, Lee's performance in college seemed to have justified that position, as he had claimed almost every FBS kicking record in his time at UCLA. Unfortunately, while Lee had been historically accurate in college, he had never been responsible for kickoffs and proved to be terrible at them without a tee (then not permitted in the NFL). His inability to give his team good field position on kickoffs contributed to nerves that caused him to also miss several field goals. He was waived after just one season after an injury to his knee, failed to make the Raiders' final roster the next year, and never played football again.
• Dorsey Levens, like Peyton Hillis above, was a RB with an average career who is most notable for being featured on a Madden NFL cover after a brief streak of good play only to immediately be hit by the "Madden Curse". His case is unique, however, in that he was placed on the cover in the middle of the season off of his performance in just a few games. Levens, a fifth round pick by the Green Bay Packers in '94 out of Georgia Tech, led the team in rushing in their Super Bowl XXXI victory (with a modest 61 yards) and had a great showing the following year, but a Game-Breaking Injury reduced his productivity. However, he bounced back with a few strong performances in the first few games of the '99 season, and when all-time great Barry Sanders abruptly retired right before the game was set to hit store shelves in some international markets, Levens was picked as his last-minute replacement. By the time the game was in stores, his play had already leveled off to average; he was injured again the following season, spent some time for the Eagles and Giants, and was out of football after 2004.
• John "J.K." McKay Jr. was a WR for the Buccaneers during the first few years of the teams existence in the late '70s. His notability comes not from his own skill but from being one of the prime examples of Nepotism in pro football history. He played for his father, John McKay Sr., at USC and then followed him to the NFL, signing with the Bucs after his dad landed the head coaching job. Despite being drafted in the sixteenth round, J.K. played in 41 games, starting 30 of them, and managed just 43 total catches in his three seasons with the Bucs. J.K. was one of the starters for the Bucs during their record-setting 26-straight-game losing streak. Other players, including QB Steve Spurrier, came to resent the senior McKay due to the perception that his son was continuing to get playing time while better players rode the bench behind him. (Spurrier allegedly intentionally threw high passes over the middle of the field when throwing to J.K. in attempt to get him injured so other, better players could see the field.) J.K. was forced into retirement after three seasons in the NFL due to complications from a broken hand. He later served as a GM in the first iteration of the XFL and then as Head of Football Operations of the AAF, two pro leagues which both infamously folded after just one season each.
• Booker Reese was a DE from the HBCU Bethune–Cookman drafted in 1982 by the Buccaneers. Considered a "boom or bust" prospect with off-the-charts athleticism but needing polish, the Bucs planned to take him with their first round pick at #17. However, a communications snafu caused the Bucs to accidentally send in the name of the #2 player on their board, o-lineman Sean Farrell, instead. (Ironically, Farrell had a decent 11-year career in the NFL.) Desperate to get Reese, the Bucs offered the Bears their 1983 first round pick in order to trade up to get him in the second round. Reese immediately had issues with alcohol and cocaine abuse, lasting just two seasons in Tampa and recording just two sacks. Adding insult to injury, the Bears used the Bucs' pick in 1983 on wide receiver/Olympic-qualified sprinter Willie Gault, who had a productive NFL career and was the leading receiver on Chicago's 1985 Super Bowl-winning team, and the Bucs still missed two future Hall of Famers.
• Timmy Smith is perhaps the greatest One-Hit Wonder in NFL history. While many of the other players on this list at least had one good season, this RB's claim to fame comes from a single game where he utterly dominated on football's biggest stage—Super Bowl XXII with Washington. Smith, a rookie 5th round draft pick from Texas Tech, entered the game with just 126 yards in the regular season to his name. He then rattled off a Super Bowl record 204 yards rushing as Washington blew out the Denver Broncos 42-10. Smith played just nine more games afterward, totaling 476 yards rushing before being out of football in three years.
• Anthony Thomas, a.k.a. "A-Train", was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the second round in 2001 after setting multiple program rushing records and winning a national championship at Michigan. He initially looked like he would continue his college success, taking the Bears to a winning season and winning Offensive Rookie of the Year. This would be his most productive season in the NFL; he was supplanted by Thomas Jones as the team's starter, cut after '04, and was out of football after 2007 after brief stints in Buffalo and Dallas.
• Duane Thomas was drafted #23 overall in 1970 out of West Texas State (now West Texas A&M) by the Dallas Cowboys. One of the biggest One-Season Wonders in NFL history, the HB got tangled in a nasty contract dispute with the team after a solid rookie season. Dallas attempted to trade him away to the Patriots, but Thomas came right back to Dallas' training camp a week later after Pete Rozelle voided the trade. His relationship with the franchise now completely poisoned, Thomas chose to become an Elective Mute in protest, not saying a word to anyone in public, including practices or meetings, throughout the whole season. Despite this, he remained very effective on the field during his sophomore season and would have been a favorite to win the Super Bowl MVP if that award had not been voted on by the same media group he had largely refused to speak to the day before. He was let go at the end of the season and bounced around a number of teams and leagues over the next decade, where his continued use of hardball salary negotiating tactics ensured he never stayed in one place for too long.
• Daryl Turner was a WR drafted in the second round in 1984 by the Seattle Seahawks out of Michigan State. His numbers were fairly average save for a disproportionate number of his catches being made for touchdowns in his first two seasons. "Touchdown Turner" led the league in TD catches in 1985, but his productivity dropped after that peak. After he was benched in his fourth season, Seattle attempted to trade him to Cleveland, but the Browns infamously backed out in the middle of a press conference when they found out about Turner's back problems and drug issues. He was cut by Seattle after the failed trade and never played in the NFL again.
• Charles White was a Heisman-winning RB at USC before he was drafted #27 overall by the Browns in 1980. White put up poor numbers and struggled with both injuries and a cocaine addiction. After being cut in 1985, he signed with the Rams (now coached by John Robinson, his former college coach). After two more years of barely seeing the field behind Hall of Famer Eric Dickerson, Robinson bailed White out of jail after a cocaine arrest in the 1987 offseason and promised to keep him on the team if he stayed clean. This moment of sobriety, coming right before the 1987 player strike, opened up an incredible opportunity for the former bust: after never rushing for more than 350 yards in a single season, White led the entire league in rushing yards, winning a Pro Bowl selection and Comeback Player of the Year. This proved to be a flash in the pan, however; he regressed the following season and retired afterwards. White died from cancer in 2023.
• Dan Wilkinson was drafted #1 overall by the Bengals in 1994 after a dominant DT performance at Ohio State. Wilkinson is somewhat difficult to categorize as a "bust" as he played over a decade in the NFL, but he wasn't a highly acclaimed player in that time. "Big Daddy" certainly wasn't worth the #1 pick for the Bengals, as he forced his way out of town after four years by calling Cincinnati a racist and uptight city. Wilkinson spent the next five years in Washington and rounded out his career in Detroit and Miami before retiring after 2006. The Bengals missed out on five Hall of Famers, including DT Bryant Young.
• Carnell "Cadillac" Williams was the #5 overall pick in 2005, selected by the Buccaneers after a successful college career at Auburn. He had a succesful rookie season, rushing for 1,000 yards en route to winning Offensive Rookie of the Year, but this proved to be the peak of his career. After a solid 2006, he regressed heavily due to two torn patellar tendon injuries in 2007-08, playing only 10 games between the two seasons. In 2009, he played all 16 games for the first time in his career and narrowly missed winning Comeback Player of the Year, but he regressed heavily again in 2010 before finishing out his career as a backup in St. Louis and entering into coaching.
• Elbert "Ickey" Woods is one of the biggest One Season Wonders in NFL history. A second-round pick for the Bengals in 1988 out of UNLV, the RB had a breakout rookie season, rushing for over 1,000 yards and 15 touchdowns in the regular season and putting up franchise record-setting numbers in the playoffs on the way to the team's Super Bowl appearance that year. His awkward touchdown celebration dance, the "Ickey Shuffle", ensured he remained a part of NFL lore even after multiple ACL injuries completely ruined his productivity the following season. Woods left pro football after just four years.

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