Thursday, April 22, 2010

Draft Booms

Greetings Happy People,

Knowing that the 2010 NFL Draft will take place today, I have the following names to share with you:

Heath Shuler, Cade McNown, Rick Mirer, Tim Couch, Brian Bosworth, Ki-Jana Carter, Ryan Leaf, Lawrence Phillips, Todd Marinovich, Curtis Enis, and Tony Mandarich

If you are a football fan, what do you think of when you hear these names? Do you think of amazing talents? Do you think of successful NFL careers? Do you think of future Hall of Famers? If you do, my question to you is “What the heck are you thinking?”

The names mentioned to you were high picks in past NFL Drafts. Unfortunately, their careers were not as stellar. These gentlemen were considered NFL Draft “Busts.” A bust is someone who was a highly touted draftee that did not meet high expectations in the professional level. They received plenty of attention for not what they have done, but for what they did NOT do!! Their lack of playing skills caused plenty of NFL teams to be unsuccessful.

Thanks to various sports shows, these professional failures got plenty of attention for their flailing efforts. It almost seems like they get rewarded for their awful performance. What about those draftees that were picked lower than these gentlemen? I am sure that there were many that had better careers than these draft busts. As a matter of fact, there were plenty of draft “booms.”

For this post, we are going to highlight the careers of those NFL players that were considered draft booms in the past 15 years. To be a draft boom, you have to be either selected in the 4th-7th round of the NFL Draft or undrafted, and you have to have a very successful career in the NFL. How successful you ask? It could be in Super Bowl, Pro Bowl, or any other amazing feat where a player could be recognized. Grant it, I may not mention all of them, but I will give a few examples.

Now let’s get started with the list of NFL Draft “Booms:”

1995 - Terrell Davis RB– 6th round pick (Denver Broncos) – 2 time Super Bowl Champion, 3 time pro-bowler, 1997 Super Bowl MVP

1996 – Zach Thomas LB – 5th round pick (Miami Dolphins) – 7 time pro-bowler

1996 – Adam Vinateri PK – undrafted – 4 time Super Bowl Champion – awesome clutch kicker

1997 – Priest Holmes RB – undrafted – Super Bowl Champion

2000 – Tom Brady QB – 6th round pick (New England Patriots) – 5 time pro-bowler, 3 time Super Bowl Champion, and 2 time Super Bowl MVP

2003 – David Tyree WR – 6th round pick (New York Giants) – Super Bowl Champion, known for a “pretty amazing catch”

2003 – Tony Romo QB – undrafted – 3 time pro-bowler

These draft booms have surprisingly made their teams successful. When they arrived in the NFL, not too many people knew who they were. However, through either luck or a twist of fate, these players got a chance to show what they can do. Some of them are still playing in the NFL. Some of them might get inducted to the Hall of Fame. Either way, they showed that they can play a role to a team’s success.

What is going to happen in today’s NFL draft? Will we see a high draftee become a success? Will we see one become a flop? Or will we be surprised again by someone out of the blue? One can never tell as the 32 teams take a chance to pick that next NFL boom or bust.

That is all I have for you today. Take care and thank you for your time and attention.

Sincerely,

Jesse I-I-I

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