Colin Dowling
Footballguy
This thread makes me sad the OP never saw Bo Jackson play.
Once.In.A.Lifetime.ATHLETE.
Once.In.A.Lifetime.ATHLETE.
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Most Overrated Player in NFL History.... (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter benson_will_lead_the_way
- Start date
Kevrunner
Footballguy
Bo Jackson was without a doubt one of the greatest athletes that we will ever be fortunate to see. Just think of what he did in college, pro football, pro baseball, it is just incredible.
He had his hip replaced and vowed to hit a home run in his 1st at bat when he returned to baseball. And he did hit it. Unreal. We will never see another Bo Jackson.
http://www.theloveofsports.com/index.php/s...ackson_1986_94/
He had his hip replaced and vowed to hit a home run in his 1st at bat when he returned to baseball. And he did hit it. Unreal. We will never see another Bo Jackson.
http://www.theloveofsports.com/index.php/s...ackson_1986_94/
Saints-Man
Footballguy
Tatum Bell is #11!
Colin Dowling
Footballguy
Look at # 6./
Neil Beaufort Zod
Footballguy
I think part of being an athlete is durability. Part of Favre and Ripken's greatness is that they did so much for so long. Athletes that shine brightly for a short time should be appreciated for their accomplishments and there's no doubt that Bo was fun to watch. But those who might consider him one of the best ever ignore the fact that his body didn't hold up. I think that should factor in.
I think he's fairly appreciated, so for the most part he isn't overrated. To me, when I think of "overrated" in sports, I think of Mike Shanahan. When I think of underrated, I think of a guy like Lorenzo Neal.
I think he's fairly appreciated, so for the most part he isn't overrated. To me, when I think of "overrated" in sports, I think of Mike Shanahan. When I think of underrated, I think of a guy like Lorenzo Neal.
Pygmy Marmoset
Footballguy
It was a freak injury. That's like saying Sterling Sharpe's "body didn't hold up" when he got injured. It's a part of the game. Career-ending injuries happen.
benson_will_lead_the_way
Footballguy
Have you seen Jim Brown play?How about Jim Thorpe?Did you see them play....b/c if you didn't then you have absolutely no idea about them.
FUBAR
Footballguy
so you're agreeing with Colin then.
Paddy O'Seanessy
Footballguy
from a guy who has Benson in his handle
put the pipe down and try to get some sleep
put the pipe down and try to get some sleep
Cookiemonster
Footballguy
Benson had a slow day at the dorm room. Give him a break. He's just 
FWIW, when I got to see Peterson this year, I kept telling everybody that he is the best specimen I've seen at RB since Bo Jackson. Bo was faster and stronger than AD. He is still the best RB I've ever watched. I was heartbroken when I learned that he would not be able to play again, but that doesn't take him off of my "best RB list."
FWIW, when I got to see Peterson this year, I kept telling everybody that he is the best specimen I've seen at RB since Bo Jackson. Bo was faster and stronger than AD. He is still the best RB I've ever watched. I was heartbroken when I learned that he would not be able to play again, but that doesn't take him off of my "best RB list."
Maroney=Speed
Footballguy
Ok Paddy
I saw Jim Brown many times live and on television. I have met and spoke with him. My observation of him is that he is the best rb ever.I never saw Jim Thorpe play.Bo Jackson was a great football player, Cedric Benson not so much. In my eyes Joe Namath was easily the most overated player ever.
yellowdog
Footballguy
cobalt_27
Footballguy
It's not that one would have no idea about them. It's that it would be impossible to understand the full context of what they were capable of.For those of us who actually saw Bo play, we know something you don't. He was the most dominant individual player on the field in almost every game he played. He's over-rated in your eyes, it seems, because his yearly and career stats don't match up with what you think of as greatness. But, those of us who did see him understand that he played only 1/2 of every season due to his baseball commitments and was part of a timeshare with HOFer, Marcus Allen. Despite Allen's accomplishments and Flores and Shanahan's insistence on splitting their reps, pretty-much everyone else watching knew who was the best RB on the field, let alone his own team.He was a monster. I wouldn't expect you to get it, if you never saw him play.
NickyHatton
Footballguy
not in the greatest RB of all time discussion due to longevity and baseball, but the guy was a beast, my favorite athlete growing up.
His 1989 season:
With the Royals he hit 32 HR, had 105 RBI, and stole 26 bases.
Then he joined the Raiders for the last 10+ games and ran for 950 yards at 5.5 ypc.
Sucks he got injured
His 1989 season:
With the Royals he hit 32 HR, had 105 RBI, and stole 26 bases.
Then he joined the Raiders for the last 10+ games and ran for 950 yards at 5.5 ypc.
Sucks he got injured
The Man With No Name
Footballguy
jackdubl
Footballguy
Ditto. Bo only played 7 to 11 games a year, due to being an All-Star caliber baseball player. He would have the highest career ypc, currently held by Jim Brown, I believe, except he needed something like 50 more carries to qualify. By the way, AP does not compare to Bo, as he's slower, smaller, and less powerful. I always rate Bo, Barry, and Earl as the the top tier of rbs all time. Of course, that's based on talent, not numbers. My two cents.
Hipple Long Ware & Peete
Footballguy
Bob Griese.
Hipple Long Ware & Peete
Footballguy
nap kaufman is 6th on that list...
Road Dogg
Footballguy
the list is just a pl0y to motivate Tatum Bell
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gump
Footballguy
Granted this is an NFL only question...but how many quys blew out both knees in College and ended up making the NFL HOF?
I'm sorry, but I don't think there was ever a faster back than bo...and he was on a separate level than Adrian Peterson...the original poster uses total yards, but the proper measurement is yards per carry, since bo didn't play football full time.He was Adrian Peterson before Adrian Peterson - there were more powerful backs, faster backs, backs with better moves - but no one had the devastating combo of power, speed and moves that Bo had until AD came along.
GridironMenace
Footballguy
I thought the OP was going to say that Cedric Benson was the most overrated player in history...
GridironMenace
Footballguy
Not only was Bo Jackson one of the best NFL players I've ever seen, he's probably the best all around athlete ever in any sport. This topic makes me sad for the OP.
azgroover
Footballguy
A limited workload is to the RBs benefit in this stat when they start their career off with a bang for a measly 4 years. Without looking, I'd wager #7 frank gores ypc is down from when this list was posted in 07. Short of being Jim brown, that level of production is unsustainable over the long haul.
gump
Footballguy
That's the question...does a full workload make Bo better or level his numbers out? How ready was the opposing D for him?
TheDirtyWord
Footballguy
The amazing thing about Bo was that for as jaw-dropping as he was on the football field, I remember more of his baseball moments.
- All-star game lead-off HR that travelled 450 feet.
- Running along the wall after making a catch.
- Throwing Harold Reynolds out at the plate from the LF corner...ON THE FLY
...and he introduced the practice of breaking ones bat over his knee as if it were balsa wood...and when people got bored with that, he started doing it over his head.
- All-star game lead-off HR that travelled 450 feet.
- Running along the wall after making a catch.
- Throwing Harold Reynolds out at the plate from the LF corner...ON THE FLY
...and he introduced the practice of breaking ones bat over his knee as if it were balsa wood...and when people got bored with that, he started doing it over his head.
gump
Footballguy
- hitting a HR his first AB after hip replacement
azgroover
Footballguy
I say the latter, considering that's (likely) been the case for every single RB in history.
Matt Waldman
Footballguy
I know enough about the OP to believe that Bo was before his time. Bo Jackson was incredible and football was definitely his best sport. He might be the most over hyped, "underrated" player in the media, but I could care less about that stuff. There are certain times you should trust your eyes and Bo Jackson is one of those players.
gump
Footballguy
True...but how many RB in history treated the NFL like a offseason activity?
gump
Footballguy
How about professional athletes eye test? Frank Thomas was intimidated.doubletrouble
Footballguy
Also remember he never played or rarley did play in preseason games, he always came in week 4 or 5 and start...or start at RB and then fly out for his baseball game all in the same day...only a few players I think in the history that have the same skill level. So yeah the BO had to be b/f the OP time...
gump
Footballguy
Just for the record...my nomination for Worst Move by an NFL Owner of All Time:
The story goes that Bucs Owner Hugh Culverhouse, knowing he had the #1 pick, flew Bo by private jet into Tampa for a meeting...after Bo's heisman campaign but while Bo was in college...just prior to his senior year on the baseball team....knowing that it would make him ineligible for baseball that season. (Who knows how the NCAA found out.)
Bo was primed for (obviously) a monster year in baseball...was so upset that he swore he would not play for Culverhouse and the Bucs.
The Bucs drafted him anyway...Bo passed and joined the Raiders the following year..and Hugh got nothing in return.
The story goes that Bucs Owner Hugh Culverhouse, knowing he had the #1 pick, flew Bo by private jet into Tampa for a meeting...after Bo's heisman campaign but while Bo was in college...just prior to his senior year on the baseball team....knowing that it would make him ineligible for baseball that season. (Who knows how the NCAA found out.)
Bo was primed for (obviously) a monster year in baseball...was so upset that he swore he would not play for Culverhouse and the Bucs.
The Bucs drafted him anyway...Bo passed and joined the Raiders the following year..and Hugh got nothing in return.
dude, napolean kaufman was absolutely awesome as well. I'm a UW homer, so i grew up watching him in college. I had no idea that he was on this list, but Kaufman was lost in raiderland from memory. He was a bit of a freak of nature as well. I remember that he supposedly was the strongest player in the bench press on the entire UW team as a smallish RB, lol. This is back when UW was pretty good.
Dude, that running on the wall thing he did was one of the most awesome things i've seen because it wasn't in an attempt to show off, he just did it as second nature as if nothing was up. A couple weeks ago i was amazed because my girlfriends cat did the same exact thing, I couldn't stop talking about it for 5 minutes. This cat got a bit scared, ran at an angle, something was in front of him, so he jumps at speed on to the vertical part of the couch arm rest, pauses for a split second, then runs off of it. If I'm amazed when my cat does it, just think of how amazed when i see a 235lb RB do it, lol.
Lash
Footballguy
/threadand i also love these young whippersnappers pointing out Bradshaw's and Stablers passer rating LOL in the era BEFORE west Coast dump off offensesBradshaw threw the ball DOWNFIELD, when the Steelers completed a pass it HURT the other team... not these modern day next down is now 2nd and 6 passing offensesdisclaimer: i have zero stats to back this up because i am not wasting any more time on this fishing thread
ninerfanatic492000
Footballguy
whats the over/under on the phrase "shot out a cannon" being used to describe Kaufman from college thru his raider days? 1000? i think Dan Dierdorf used it 50x in one of his cbs gameplyka said:
Team ROFLCOPTERS
Footballguy
No, Anderson wasn't on the Mitchell report but the dude failed his tests and was proven to be an abuser. He couldn't get another job when the ball dropped. Blackballed really. Sosa all but gave it away at congress. Very poor comparisons.Also, your username is fantastic given the nature of this topic.
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Shermanator
Footballguy
I know Im way late to this party, and Im sure Im probably repeating what the masses have said but....
Bo was awesome. And not just his football/baseball playing skills. He was an awesome athlete. And on top of that a genuine good guy. A true role model. Very beloved player and person.
Im 40, and I bet every 40 year old on this board will whole heartedly agree.
Bo was awesome. And not just his football/baseball playing skills. He was an awesome athlete. And on top of that a genuine good guy. A true role model. Very beloved player and person.
Im 40, and I bet every 40 year old on this board will whole heartedly agree.
Iwannabeacowboybaby!
Footballguy
I'm not going to ask either of you if you saw him play. I just think you don't understand a lot about the game and the QB position after you say or even think something like that. If Troy Aikman needed to throw it, he could have done it. He was one of the most accurate passers ever, played outstanding in the clutch but played on one of the best rushing teams in the history of the game. When Dallas needed to throw it around, Aikman was more than capable of doing it and if he was on SF instead of Young, he would have put up MORE passing yards than Young did as he had a better arm and was more accurate, but obviously not as mobile as Young.I understand where the OP is coming from on this Bo Jackson thing. There was A LOT of hype surrounding Bo Jackson. Yes, he was good but I'm not sure he deserved all the hype he got. It's not like he was the greatest of his time but yet his name carries that kind of weight. I don't think I'd call him the most overrated player ever though, but I could agree that he may be slightly overrated considering how much weight his name seems to carry and what he actually produced on the football field.I don't have a great most overrated. How about Tony Manderich (sp?) out of MSU who GB drafted 2nd overall in between Aikman and Barry Sanders?
Matt Waldman
Footballguy
Of course he was, if I remember correctly Frank Thomas was a FB at Auburn before injuries cut short that part of his college career. I think he started in '86 and Bo left in '85. I'm sure he knew enough about Bogump said:Matt Waldman said:How about professional athletes eye test? Frank Thomas was intimidated.
cobalt_27
Footballguy
Aikman was phenomenal and I certainly don't think he was over-rated. As a Cowboy fan, my entrenched memory of him was as a guy who, when he dropped back to pass and threw the ball, you just knew it was going to the right receiver and was going to be delivered with pinpoint accuracy. They ran the ball so much, but the offense of theirs required an efficient downfield strike ability, and Aikman just diced up opposing defenses. So, I'm no doubt biased in his favor, but he was incredible. Prototypical QB...he just had a monster run game that the team fell back on, not the spread or west coast stuff we see with more prolific QBs.
Chest Rockwell
Footballguy
Aikman may be underrated. In an 11 game postseason stretch from '93-'96 he compiled some astounding efficiency metrics:228/334 2915 yds68.2 Cmp% 21/7 TD/INT8.72 Y/A107.5 QB ratedcgangstas
Footballguy
The most overrated player in NFL History is (drum roll please), Joe Willie Namath .
Granted, he gave a "guarantee" in the game that initiated the AFL-NFL merger (well, actually Kansas City winning Super Bowl IV did that), but Namath's numbers are nothing special.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/N/NamaJo00.htm
Joe really made the HOF on the strength of one game.
Granted, he gave a "guarantee" in the game that initiated the AFL-NFL merger (well, actually Kansas City winning Super Bowl IV did that), but Namath's numbers are nothing special.
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/N/NamaJo00.htm
Joe really made the HOF on the strength of one game.
waybackwhen
Footballguy
Anybody in their 30's that grew up playing Tecmo Bowl knows, always choose the Raiders as your team. Sweep BO out to the left or right and it was a sure TD. Unstoppable play.
Bo Knows Tecmo! 
candymanvandyfan
Footballguy
He was big, thick, physical, strong, and fast as hell. He ran the 40 in 4.12. At his size, he ran the 100 in 10.39. He could have caught the ball a little better and he stopped on a quarter, but if a guy with the same attributes as Bo were in the draft any year, he would be the first pick. Every single year.
