Strangest careers

[Neumatic]

I feel obligated to bring up Rocky Bleier since most of us were too young to know much about him. Just your typical story of hard work and perseverance paying off, just against bigger odds than usual. 

-Drafted in 1968 by the Steelers in 16th round

-Drafted into the US Army during Vietnam War in December 1968
-Deploys to Vietnam in May 1969
-Ambushed while on patrol, gets shot in the left leg and a grenade lands next to him. Loses part of his right foot in the blast and shrapnel in his right leg
-Discharged from the Army after several surgeries, doctors say he will never play football again

-Rejoins the Steelers in 1970, couldn't walk without being in pain. Spends the season on IR
-Played on special teams in 1971
-Cut twice before landing a starting spot on the Steelers in 1974
-Rocky and Franco Harris both rush for over 1000yds in 1976, 2nd time in NFL history 2 players on the same team accomplished this. Only 1000yd season he has in his career, at the young age of 30
-4 time Superbowl Champion

 

 

[SkippyX]

The strangest might also be the best.

• Pennington, Carmazzi, Redman, Martin, Bulger, Wynn, and 192 other players were taken before him
  • His own team picked Antwann Harris in round 6 before picking him later in round 6
• Carried all year in 2000 as a 4th QB (nobody does this)
• Mo Lewis destroying Bledsoe to give him the chance to play
• The Tuck Rule
• GWD in the Super Bowl as Madden is telling them to run out the clock and play for OT
• 2 more SBs in the next 3 years
• 2007 with 50 TDs and 18-0 leading to the Helmet Catch game
• Spygate
• Lost for the season in 2008 after his 50 TD MVP season of 2007
• 2011 AFCCG survives by the Evans drop and the Cundiff shank
• 2011 SB is another loss to Eli  (this is the end!)
• 2014 he is accused of heresy and witchcraft
• They win the 1st Deflategate Super Bowl with the Kearse catch followed by the Butler Interception (now its the end?)
• 2015 AFCCG his center head-bobs before every snap so he gets hit like 20 times by the Denver D in a close loss (this is the end!)
• 2016 - He gets suspended. Its overturned by a judge humiliating the NFL and then that is overturned by the law saying Goodell has the right to be corrupt.
• They get down 28-3 in the Super Bowl including a pick 6 with him laying on the carpet (this is the end!)
• 2017 MVP season and 500+ yard Super Bowl but they lose in a shootout (ok, really, this is the end)
  • A decent chunk of Patriots fans call for Garoppolo  (because Brady can't be the future, right?)
    • Fans calling for the backup QB in between his 466 yard SB comeback for the ages and his 505 yard Super Bowl performance...
      • Those specific Pats fans are the worst fans on Planet Earth (5% - 10%, disgusting at any number)
        • On his way to his 8th of 9 Super Bowls and those fans want someone else
• 2018 They lose the AFCCG but the Ford shifts into neutral. They win an ugly SB 13-3  (ok, I wasn't serious the first 5 times... this is the end!)
• 2019 Dominant D carries a really ugly offense but Brady still puts up decent numbers with no real weapons.
• Free Agency Insanity gets hit with COVID-19 for even more insanity

[mse326]

Ladell Betts was pretty weird.

2nd round draft pick. He apparently killed Spurrier's dog or something because he was never given a chance with them even bringing in Trung Candidate to start over him after a 4.7 ypc as a backup his rookie year. Then Gibbs comes in and feels the need to trade one of the top, maybe the top, CB in the game for a Denver RB (Portis). One season Portis goes down and he hams. 2006 he rushes for 1154 yards on 4.7 ypr. Doesn't have another season over 400 yards and only 1 other above 4.1. That great season is the only time he had over 100 rush attempts. Portis's highest ypr in Was was only 4.3 so it wasn't an offensive line thing. 

Maybe it isn't unique, but I'm always baffled that he never really had the chance to start somewhere.

[Calamity_Cometh]

This might not qualify but all of our Super Bowl MVP champion quarterbacks are from the Colts.

Manning setting records after 4 neck surgeries. My grandfather whom I love deeply had one and it is a risky and life changing operation.

[SkippyX]

11 hours ago, mse326 said:

Ladell Betts was pretty weird.

2nd round draft pick. He apparently killed Spurrier's dog or something because he was never given a chance with them even bringing in Trung Candidate to start over him after a 4.7 ypc as a backup his rookie year. Then Gibbs comes in and feels the need to trade one of the top, maybe the top, CB in the game for a Denver RB (Portis). One season Portis goes down and he hams. 2006 he rushes for 1154 yards on 4.7 ypr. Doesn't have another season over 400 yards and only 1 other above 4.1. That great season is the only time he had over 100 rush attempts. Portis's highest ypr in Was was only 4.3 so it wasn't an offensive line thing. 

Maybe it isn't unique, but I'm always baffled that he never really had the chance to start somewhere.

I lived near DC during his career and had forgotten he existed.

1599 yards from scrimmage in 2006 and he topped 500 yards one time in his other 8 years.

[SkippyX]

4 minutes ago, Calamity_Cometh said:

This might not qualify but all of our Super Bowl MVP champion quarterbacks are from the Colts.

Manning setting records after 4 neck surgeries. My grandfather whom I love deeply had one and it is a risky and life changing operation.

A Colt is a young horse that could grow up to be a Bronco?

[Calamity_Cometh]

8 minutes ago, SkippyX said:

A Colt is a young horse that could grow up to be a Bronco?

Haha that's actually one way of looking at it that I considered.

Still, it would be nice to draft and develop a champion. I guess the Elway draft is technicality but still... one ring that doesn't tie back to the Colts.

[SkippyX]

Weird. The AFC West teams have won 8 Super Bowls and only 2 of them were with QBs their teams had drafted.  (Stabler and Mahomes)

[RamblinMan99]

On 3/14/2020 at 3:21 AM, DannyB said:

Sounds like a pretty typical running back career to be honest.

Not in the slightest.  

[DannyB]

4 minutes ago, RamblinMan99 said:

On 3/14/2020 at 3:21 AM, DannyB said:

Sounds like a pretty typical running back career to be honest.

Not in the slightest.  

Are you freaking high?

Okay here's a story about an NFL running back: He was a really good player even from his early years in the league. Came on strong and strung together some great years in his early and through his mid-20s. A lot of carries, a lot of wear and tear. Then, as he approached 30, it's like he fell off the edge of a cliff and was never again an effective runner. A couple years after his peak he was out of the league.

Dude that story would fit dozens of running backs in our lifetime.

[RamblinMan99]

1 minute ago, DannyB said:

Are you freaking high?

Okay here's a story about an NFL running back: He was a really good player even from his early years in the league. Came on strong and strung together some great years in his early and through his mid-20s. A lot of carries, a lot of wear and tear. Then, as he approached 30, it's like he fell off the edge of a cliff and was never again an effective runner. A couple years after his peak he was out of the league.

Dude that story would fit dozens of running backs in our lifetime.

Two reasons why your theory is blatantly false:

1. From the perspective of the league, Shaun Alexander's 9 year career was uncommon at the time (though commonplace nowadays).  Some of the best RBs of that decade played for at least 11 seasons.  

2. From the perspective of Shaun Alexander's career itself, he was one of the biggest one year wonders in NFL history.  Nobody really saw any other player in their lives receive more accolades than he did in 2005.  He ran for 27 TDs, and was the sole reason why everybody picked Seattle to win the Super Bowl that  year. 

Yes, his career was not normal at all.  He was the face of the NFL for one year, and dropped off really hard after that.  

[DannyB]

15 minutes ago, RamblinMan99 said:

Two reasons why your theory is blatantly false:

1. From the perspective of the league, Shaun Alexander's 9 year career was uncommon at the time (though commonplace nowadays).  Some of the best RBs of that decade played for at least 11 seasons.  

2. From the perspective of Shaun Alexander's career itself, he was one of the biggest one year wonders in NFL history.  Nobody really saw any other player in their lives receive more accolades than he did in 2005.  He ran for 27 TDs, and was the sole reason why everybody picked Seattle to win the Super Bowl that  year. 

Yes, his career was not normal at all.  He was the face of the NFL for one year, and dropped off really hard after that.  

Okay so you are high.

I don't have a "theory", I'm just looking at what literally happened. He wasn't a one-year wonder. He had one PEAK year, as most RBs do, but he was a good RB through his early 20s, with about 3 great years. Then he approached 30 and hit a wall, like DOZENS of other RBs.

It's actually weird that you're so committed to finding his career this singularly remarkable.

[RamblinMan99]

1 minute ago, DannyB said:

 He wasn't a one-year wonder. He had one PEAK year, as most RBs do

Alexander's peak year was more impressive than the average at his position.  Scoring 27 TDs was only one less than an all time record, so there you have it.  

 

4 minutes ago, DannyB said:

Then he approached 30 and hit a wall, like DOZENS of other RBs.

Also not true.  

There are a lot of RBs who will retire around 30 simply because they don't want to play football anymore.  That was Jim Brown 50 years ago.  

Other RBs will continue to play beyond that, like Adrian Peterson and Frank Gore.  

You paint this false picture that every RB is expected to die off once they reach 30 years old.  

How long have you been watching this sport?  

6 minutes ago, DannyB said:

It's actually weird that you're so committed to finding his career this singularly remarkable.

Not committed to anything here.  

Just stating facts based off of the stats and the commonality for that decade of football.  

Don't know where you were, but peace.  

[DannyB]

2 minutes ago, RamblinMan99 said:

Alexander's peak year was more impressive than the average at his position.  Scoring 27 TDs was only one less than an all time record, so there you have it.  

I mean...yeah. It was a LOT of touchdowns. It was a great season. He hit a high peak as a RB and then hit a wall. Again, pretty typical.

 

4 minutes ago, RamblinMan99 said:

There are a lot of RBs who will retire around 30 simply because they don't want to play football anymore.  That was Jim Brown 50 years ago.  

Other RBs will continue to play beyond that, like Adrian Peterson and Frank Gore.  

You paint this false picture that every RB is expected to die off once they reach 30 years old.  

Ah yes, the hundreds of running backs that are still in their prime who just choose to walk away from the game, leaving millions of dollars on the table, because they just want to move on with their life. That's effing rich. Jim Brown and Barry Sanders are notable because they are the EXCEPTION. And for the record Jim Brown retired because he got into a fight with Art Modell about football conflicting with his acting career. He decided to move forward with his acting career rather than pay the team fines and deal with Art freaking Modell. I would say a viable acting career is not something most RBs have available to them. This was also before free agency.

And again Adrian Peterson and Frank Gore are EXCEPTIONAL, because they break the norm for running backs.

Let's see, post-2000ish running backs who had some good years in their early/mid-20s but then seeming hit a wall approaching 30, at 30, or maybe a year after?...

Larry Johnson, Edgerrin James, Clinton Portis, LT, Rudi Johnson, Thomas Jones (people were FLABBERGASTED that his best rushing season was at 31. Then he fell off a cliff immediately), Steven Jackson, Deuce McAllister, Curtis Martin (see: Thomas Jones), Corey Dillon, Jamal Lewis, Brian Westbrook, Ahman Green, Jamal Anderson, Marshall Faulk, Eddie George, Fred Taylor, Jerome Bettis, Priest Holmes, Jamaal Charles, Michael Turner, Chris Johnson, Maurice Jones-Drew, Ray Rice, Matt Forte, Arian Foster, Le'Veon Bell, Marshawn Lynch.

I'm not saying all of these careers are carbon copies of each other, but they follow a rough trajectory to some degree. Shaun Alexander fits COMFORTABLY within this. Is it really the 27 TDs that make you think he's so drastically different? I mean, that's kinda how single-season records, or close to it, work. LT scored more the next season, and that was far and away more than his next best number. There's only 1 repeat among most single-season rushing yards, and that's Barry Sanders, and those seasons were almost 200 yards apart. I'm not sure exactly why you think that TD number puts him in some unheard of career category.

Again, your argument is kinda weird and head-scratching.

[Jakuvious]

Yeah, I've got to side with Danny here. Shaun Alexander's career was VERY standard as far as high end RBs from that era go. Tons of guys had a crazy peak statistical year like that, a handful of good to great ones around it, and then a sudden drop off around the age of 30. Like, that is THE standard RB career. Hell, the Chiefs had 3 in the span of like a decade.