A Super Bowl ring and two AFL championships. And because versatility is his calling card, he'll never produce gaudy sack totals or climb any all-time leaderboards. And few were better at making opposing quarterbacks pay for mistakes. No one else is even close. Mason was frequently his team's most valuable offensive player, but he and Steve McNair made their short pitch-and-catch passes look a little too easy. NFL career: Cleveland Browns (2005-12), New York Jets (2013), Indianapolis Colts (2014) Bottom Line: Josh Cribbs. Who do you believe is the most underrated player that played at least one year from There have been many better quarterbacks than Ryan in NFL history. Pro Bowl? Theyre the core players who are overshadowed by more well-paid, high-profile teammates and just plain pathetic, shameless self-promoters. MVP-caliber seasons (1,528 yards, 90 receptions, 16 total touchdowns in 2006) early in his career gave way to annual 1,100-1,200 yard, low-touchdown grinds as the Greatest Show Rams retired one by one and the team fell to 2-14 and 1-15. Evans is a long shot to do either, which is a shame. Poor Louis Wright has a hard time even making the Broncos' overcrowded All-Snub Team. Anderson does not get the credit he deserves for reasons that cannot be explained. He ran a Sonny Jurgensen pass back 59 yards in the fourth quarter to seal a Rams playoff win over the Redskins in 1974. LeRoy Butler, S, Packers. He began his career at the tail end of Jim Harbaugh's great defensive teams, but he has since battled both injuries and the incompetence of the Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly experiments. He lacked the straight-line speed to be a game-breaker. These men did so much but received so little credit in return. WebDeAngelo Hall was quietly one of the best defensive backs of the 2000s. Roberston is the guy getting head-butted in the sternum and knocked backward by Campbell before the running back's jersey gets torn off. Tom Nalen protected John Elway in a pair of Super Bowl victories and helped trigger a zone-blocking revolution as part of Alex Gibbs' influential offensive lines. It's hard for a running back to be underrated. Frank Ryan led the NFL in passing touchdowns twice. 10. He had to blanket a wide receiver in man coverage with no safety help on every play. Cunningham is widely regarded as one of the best running QBs in the history of the NFL, but his ability to make plays with his arm should not be ignored. He arrived in Buffalo at the same time Marv Levy was revolutionizing NFL offense with the help of Jim Kelly, Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas. If Marlon McCree hadn't fumbled that interception in the playoffs after the 2006 season, everything might have been different. Where did Davis score the game-winner late in Super Bowl XXXII? Then again, the fourth-round draft pick had no choice. Hall of Fame receiver Paul Warfield was on the receiving end of many of Ryan's touchdowns. Randall Cunningham is one of the most polarizing individuals regarding these types of discussions. Mason's 95-catch, 1,200-yard seasons translate to 115-catch monsters in more pass-oriented schemes. He played the run with authority (721 career solo tackles). He routinely beat defenders with quickness out of his breaks and clever change-of-pace moves, qualities that also served him well as a punt returner. Teams: Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Houston Texans. Allen made a lot of plays. Lofton was the first player in NFL history to accumulate 14,000 receiving yards. Hull never lived to see himself make a Hall of Fame semifinalist list, as he died of liver failure at age 50 in 2011. Old-timers call it the Lawrence Welk trade after a television bandleader of the era who would begin songs by counting off "A one, and a two, and a three". Teams: Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Tennessee Oilers, Pro Bowl appearances: Three (1984, 1988, 1989). It's better to be remembered for one of the most painful moments in your career than to not be remembered at all. That "something" was throwing for more than 29,000 yards and going to four AFL All-Star Games and a Pro Bowl with the Chargers and then leading the Rams to a 12-2 record in 1973. WebJermaine O'Neal, Chauncey Billups and Peja Stojakovic are among the most underrated players of the 2000s. Nope, not Charles Haley. The weekend opened with the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. At its core, PFF is a player evaluation system play-by-play grading of every player in the NFL and access to some of the same stats, grades and info that all 32 NFL That's a higher sack total than Dwight Freeney or Robert Mathis. "Because when the ball was thrown, I knew I had better ball skills and would go up and get it.". Most Underappreciated RBs of the 2000s. That theory is tested to the maximum every time that somebody attempts to suggest that Art Monk was a good but not great wide receiver. He finally won a Super Bowl ring as a backup for the Buccaneers. The most similar current player to Anderson is Pittsburgh's Le'Veon Bell, but Bell plays in a modern offense that amplifies his production instead of suppressing it. By the time the 49ers are great again, Bowman may be in his early 30s or on another team. But this list is all about giving overlooked players their due respect. Teams: Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins. Both players were Pro Bowlers the previous year. Steven Jackson arrived in St. Louis just as the Greatest Show on Turf was deteriorating into the Most Miserable Slog in the Midwest. Brown earned seven Pro Bowl berths and an All-Pro selection. Dont know about you, but I want Mason on my retro fantasy league team. Thats been the real surprise. McDole was known as "The Dancing Bear" because of his nimble feet, one of the coolest nicknames ever. Butler has never even been a Hall of Fame semifinalist, and it's not going to happen for him soon. If ever a geezer was meant to play with George Allens Over The Hill Gang, he was the one. Names such as Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders and Eric Dickerson probably immediately come to mind. Maybe he wasn't the best defender on the field for any one play, but he stayed on that field for an entire generation. He was drafted by the Falcons with the eighth overall pick in the 2004 NFL Draft, and he was an instant Robertson's Rams made a habit of reaching the playoffs every year and losing to the Vikings or Cowboys. Wisniewski reached eight Pro Bowls and was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame All-Decade team for the 1990s, so he's not exactly obscure. Fitzgerald has been a mainstay in lists of Top 100 players in the NFL for years. Some of the most-talented individuals to ever play particular positions have, at some point or another, gone unappreciated by fans and even by supposed NFL experts. In the nine seasons that Aaron Smith had double-digit starts, their D ranked among the top nine in yards allowed every time, but his consistent play went over the heads of many. Jacksonville's all-time leading receiver is now beginning what he calls the "second chapter in his life." Maybe Wright wasn't a Blount-level legend, but he deserves better than to be the forgotten man among the Broncos' forgotten men. One look at the logjam forming outside the entrance to Canton tells you Wisniewski isn't moving up the ladder anytime soon. He is also infamous for admitting on ESPN Radio that he once purposely let Packers defender Sean Jones sack Scott Mitchell so the struggling quarterback would get knocked out of a game. While Kreig didnt possess fleet feet or a bazooka arm, he could read defenses and throw an accurate ball. The 6'2" Wright was renowned as a run-stuffing cornerbackthat's him tackling Walter Payton in the photobut he also intercepted 26 career passes, even though opposing quarterbacks spent much of his career avoiding him. Kenn was one of the leaders of the NFL Players Association during the era of replacement players and court battles over free agency. Hadl played quarterback, halfback, defensive back and punter for the University of Kansas. He had the speed to get to the edge and beat defenders down the sideline, the power to plow through tackles, the elusiveness to make things happen in the open field and receiving chops to rival contemporaries Roger Craig or Thurman Thomas. The Bills were among the first teams to frequently operate without a huddle. Guards don't make the Hall of Fame unless they win multiple Super Bowls or play forever. Modern centers don't get the credit they deserve. "When I was there, the thing we were missing was that explosive type of offense, and the new coach brought that in.". Norton made the key play of the game in the second period, when he stood up Buffalo Bills back Kenneth Davis mere inches from the goal line. Perhaps it's time we look back on how much of an impact he and his Jaguars had on the NFL two decades ago. Theyre the flat-liners whose drop-dead consistency gets lost with average-to-bad teams, in smaller markets, with brain-challenged organizations that have little, if any, history of success. He then became a staple of trivia questions and All-Time Worst Trades listicles, as the Lawrence Welk trade overshadowed an even more impressive moment in Hadl's transaction history. Bottom line: After eight seasons in Buffalo, where he had been a mainstay with the best defense in AFL history, Ron McDole took his two-bar helmet to Washington. He led his team to an NFL championship. He finished his career by doing something almost impossible: signing with the Patriots as a veteran role player during one of the few years they didn't reach the Super Bowl. But he didn't play for the legendary 49ers teams. The Jaguars, meanwhile, slowly descended to their current status as the NFL's punching bag. The Lions drafted him as a running back. Along with the legendary Johnny Unitas, Rote probably did more to change the quarterback position than anyone in the pre-merger era even if so few know it. He has started every game he has played in since 2014 (with four different franchises). There would not be another exchange of current Pro Bowlers in the NFL until the Broncos and Redskins exchanged Champ Bailey and Clinton Portis in 2004. Landeta is widely viewed by experts and fans as one of the best punters in the history of pro football, and the two-time Super Bowl champion was an All-Pro on six occasions. Rookie QB Brock Purdy led the 49ers with his impressive stat line, completing 18 of 30 passing attempts for 332 yards and three touchdowns, along with four carries for 16 yards and a touchdown. Robinson is a staple of Hall of Fame Snubs lists, and he certainly has his case. The 49ers drafted linebacker Reuben Foster at the bottom of the first round. Bottom line: The Greatest Show On Turf boasted so much star power you couldnt tell the other Rams without a program. Drew Brees endured an average of just 24 sacks per season in Evans' All-Pro seasons, despite typically dropping back to pass over 650 times per year. His 23 fourth-quarter comebacks (20th overall) are more than Dan Fouts, Jim Kelly, Sonny Jurgensen and Bart Starr, to name a few Hall of Famers at the position. Outside of the incredible stats that Monk posted during his Hall-of-Fame career, is has to be noted Monk also never had the pleasure of playing with quarterbacks such as Joe Montana, Dan Marino or John Elway. Bottom line: For 16 seasons, Henry Ellard wreaked havoc as a pass receiver and punt returner. WebDue to the emergence of other superstars like Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, LeBron James, and Tracy McGrady, many other solid players who had massive success in the decade have And you're never going to guess who's No. He started for an offensive line that helped Barry Sanders win two of his four rushing titles. I still don't know that people gave me my due respect for my production. Butler is all but guaranteed to get lost in the shuffle. Player: Emmitt Smith. But run defense was king in the era when McDole played, and his 16-year career is littered with big plays: 12 interceptions, 14 fumble recoveries, two touchdowns, three safeties and a pair of sacks in the 1966 AFL Championship Game. 11) A longtime semifinalist, his case is about to be handed over to the Veterans Committee, which has done a fine job recently of correcting oversights from Kenn's era. Not one of the Jim Harbaugh-era guys. Smith wasnt a no-show on third-and-long, either. The 2023 wide receiver class is one of the worst in recent memory, but there are some solid options on Day 2 for teams searching for complementary players. Evans, the best pass-protecting guard of his era, was charged with making sure pass-rushers didn't get close enough to Brees to bat his passes down, let alone sack him. Peppers will have to play three more seasons to catch Marshall, and Peppers' starts are non-consecutive. Terry Porter is another name that isnt remembered despite his What about LaDainian Tomlinson? Once an arbitrary number of players from a historic team get enshrined, the committee moves on in search of underappreciated players from other franchises. Bottom line: One of the premier long-ball threats of any era, Stanley Morgan ranks 10th in yards per reception (19.2) and 39th in touchdown catches (72) on the all-time list. The best teams in the AFL proved to be NFL-caliber, but the bottom of the league was populated with a nearly bankrupt franchise or two, so the best players clumped on the best teams and stood out from the crowd. The USFL may not have been the NFL in terms of quality, but being the Luke Kuechly of a league that featured Herschel Walker, Jim Kelly and Steve Young should count for something. Rivers' excellence, longevity and ability to barely dodge immortality make him the John Hadl of his era. But no highlight clip of that play can be found on the internet. In his prime, Wright was often mentioned in the same breath as Hall of Famers Mel Blount and Mike Haynes. Lets not forget they also dominated with cold-blooded efficiency at the other side of the ball, where Keena Turner was rarely out of position at right outside linebacker. On the final play a year later, he picked off a Roger Staubach pass in the end zone that put the Cowboys to rest. Web#shorts #viral #dunk #edit #fyp #nfl #sports #sportsedits And let's not place the full burden of history on his shoulders, as Marty Schottenheimer, Norv Turner, the Chargers front office and Rivers himself had a hand in making the team a playoff also-ran during those peak years. So it takes a remarkable streak of hard luck for a running back to make this list. does not get the love that is handed to other running backs is something that could make you scratch your head. When the team inducted Smith into the Pride of the Jaguars ring of honor last year, it was the strange case of a moribund franchise honoring a former receiver still on parole for succumbing to the demons of addiction. Turner was the ultimate plug-and-play guy, one of five 49ers to be part of all eight of their playoff teams in the decade. Lambeau Field was an icy outpost; the Packers still played a handful of home games in Milwaukee back then. Now that's underrated. But none accomplished more than Ryan while receiving less acclaim. An ever-growing backlog of outstanding safeties is queuing up outside Canton, as Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed will soon joinJohn Lynch and Brian Dawkins. Or as astute NBC broadcaster Dick Enberg scored it, "KO for Ken Norton.". Perhaps it has something to do with the era during which Tomlinson played, but that L.T. He should be remembered as more than a throwback to the era when Lawrence Welk references were topical. A new generation of superstar left tackles entered the league as Brown was peaking, and he spent the latter half of his career bouncing from team to team as Tony Boselli, Willie Roaf, Orlando Pace, Jonathan Ogden and Walter Jones turned the blindside protector into an almost glamorous position. He was one of the first true slot receivers of 21st-century NFL offenses. Player B was a one-time MVP who played in two Pro Bowl games. Ryan made three Pro Bowls, but All-Pro status was blocked by a couple of guys named Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr. He intercepted 34 passes for the Eagles and 54 in his career. The Bucs hired head coach Jon Gruden and won Super Bowl XXXVII the next season. But things were different in the long-ago 1990s, when the sports universe belonged to teal-emblazoned expansion franchises and a youngish Tom Coughlin received a binder full of press clippings from the mother of a wide receiver ready to call it quits after injuries derailed his Cowboys career. Super Bowl championships: Two (2005, 2008). Here, we give you every NFL teams most underrated player. in the mid-1960s to early '70s, chances are "Whichever one has Marv Fleming" would have been a correct answer. lancashire evening post obituaries,
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