Bottom line: The 1970s Steelers won four Super Bowls two with a power run game, two with a potent pass attack and who better than Jon Kolb to do the heavy lifting? 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. Career highlights: NFL champion (1964), four-time NFL All-Pro (1963-65, 1969), seven-time Pro Bowl (1963-68). to a Super Bowl in 2009. Web31 Likes, 5 Comments - NFL Draft Report (@the_nfldraftreport) on Instagram: "Next up in the prospect rankings, the WR position. The Colts accused Ryan of running up the score in the 27-0 championship rout of 1964. While Boldin wasn't always a star, he was stunningly consistent. The trade went how you might expect a lopsided midseason deal for an aging quarterback to go. Tom Jackson. Bottom line: All Ken Norton could do was take down ballcarriers and collect Super Bowl rings. He's also among the top 100 in games started (83rd), interception return yardage (89th) and interception return touchdowns (31st). Bottom line: Jason Kelce has been one of the dominant offensive linemen in the NFL over the last decade, making four NFL All-Pro teams and helping lead the Philadelphia Eagles to a Super Bowl upset of the New England Patriots. 
25 of 25. The players voted Chubb the 40th-best player overall and a top-five edge defender in the NFL. On Oct. 21, 1973 Dryer took down Packers quarterback Scott Hunter in the end zone, and then on Green Bays next possession, he took down Hunters backup Jim Del Gaizo for his second safety in the game. Called "ox strong and cat-quick" by Jets teammate Marvin Powell, Klecko made money on the side in high school playing under an assumed name on a semi-pro football team and was also a two-time NCAA heavyweight boxing champion. Eric Allen's job in Buddy Ryan's 46 defense was simple. Forrest is a leader for FAU. "Stanley Steamer" could run every route and was hell on wheels with the ball in his hands. Because he is one of the NFL's best defensive players, for one thing. Butler, a Louisiana Tech University product, entered the league as the 30th overall pick of the 2016 NFL draft. Hes second in NFL history for receptions and receiving yards for a tight end and holds NFL records for most receptions in one half and most games with 15-plus receptions. Lambeau Field was an icy outpost; the Packers still played a handful of home games in Milwaukee back then. Theyre the core players who are overshadowed by more well-paid, high-profile teammates and just plain pathetic, shameless self-promoters. It takes bad timing and bad luck. Put Ellard in another era or even the AFC with an accomplished quarterback, and his legacy as The Best Wideout Not Named Jerry Rice would be that much greater. Top remaining free agent defensive tackle easily named fit for the Detroit Lions. Ron McDole falls into that final category. 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. After they confirm it on Google. Only kicker in NFL history to hit Robinson was one of those players. "Even now I still get pissed off. Let's face it: An entire All-Underrated Team can be assembled using only Broncos defenders. Bowman is coming off an Achilles tear in 2016. Young started his career as the NFC Defensive Rookie of the Year and ended it as a four-time winner of the Len Eshmont Award, the 49ers' team award for character and leadership. That's nearly 83 percent of his field goals during the previous decade. Levy's career is much more expansive than that. Lets hear some "un-der-ra-ted!" If you guessed both or neither one, youre wrong. He's a seven-time NFL All-Pro, seven-time Pro Bowler and was named to the NFL's 2010s All-Decade Team. 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. Jackson finished his career with 11,438 rushing yards (18th all-time) and 15,121 total scrimmage yards (21st all-time). Check out the top 12 below and be on the lookout for players 13 through 24 later this week. 1. And no Hall of Famers allowed. But this list is all about giving overlooked players their due respect. There are no official sack statistics before 1982, but the Minnesota Vikings credit Jim Marshall with 127 career sacks. Oh, and sub-packages were pretty rare in the 1960s and 1970s, so Marshall didn't leave the field much. The 6-foot-4, 325-pounder has played seven seasons with the His career was cut short by injuries suffered in the first of those three Pro Bowls. Then again, the fourth-round draft pick had no choice. In Super Bowl IX, Edwards killed a drive and darn near Vikings intended receiver John Gilliam on a hellacious hit near the goal line. The Jaguars, meanwhile, slowly descended to their current status as the NFL's punching bag. 
He was an iron man for a powerhouse franchise that reached four Super Bowls while playing many of their home games in arctic conditions. He lacked the straight-line speed to be a game-breaker. Young played for some great 49ers teams, including a Super Bowl-winning squad as a rookie in 1994. No matter what the two-time All-Pro accomplished, he could never be Jerry Rice, who cast a long, tall shadow in the same conference. He was a Pro Bowl regular, two-time All-Pro and Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1971. But few cornerbacks spent more of their careers in the crosshairs than Allen. "Because when the ball was thrown, I knew I had better ball skills and would go up and get it.". Karl Mecklenburg. 1. Those accomplishments may soon finally land Kenn in the Hall of Fame. Fleming was a reliable backup tight end/wide receiver who played with four Super Bowl-winners (and one NFL champion) in a dozen seasons. Sad to say, Morgan was woefully miscast in a run-first offense in a less pass-friendly time. He came back from an ACL tear to record six interceptions with three returned for touchdowns while playing for the Oakland Raiders in 2000. If the quarterback got rid of the ball before getting crushed, it was up to Allen to make a play. 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. Two 10-interception seasons, with 57 career interceptions. Neal Anderson replaced Walter Payton. Try Dave Krieg. Know who created those wide-open spaces? And none of them produce the numbers he generated in less hospitable systems. And then there is plain old forgotten. Bottom line: Modern football fans never had the pleasure of seeing Ricky Watters or his distinctive, high-stepping running style in his prime. sports The 10 Most Underrated College Football Players of All Time. Mason had seven seasons of at least 70 pass receptions, 1,000 yards and five touchdowns. As the Chargers faded, Rivers kept them in the wild-card picture and became the franchise's only recognizable public figure. Louis Cardinals (1959-66), San Francisco 49ers (1967-68), Dallas Cowboys (1968), Career highlights: Two-time NFL All-Pro (1960, 1962), four-time Pro Bowl (1960-62, 1965). If Morgan had played in a pass-happy offense with a Pro Bowl quarterback and hands-off rules, you would find him in Canton right now. But Brown was a unique and underappreciated player for over a decade on a team that nearly revolutionized the way football is played. And almost nobody remembers that, when Edwards caught the ball, he knew what to do it. WebFind many great new & used options and get the best deals for The Paolantonio Report: The Most Overrated & Underrated In NFL History Hardcover at the best online prices at eBay! Bottom line: Ken Riley was a quarterback and Rhodes Scholar candidate at Florida A&M before carving out a 15-season career as a defensive back for the Cincinnati Bengals. 3 on the NFL's career rushing list but had only one All-Pro season and never ran for more than 1,500 yards in a single season. Barry Sanders. Super Bowl championships: Two (1996, 1999). 
Frank Ryan led the NFL in passing touchdowns twice. Teams: Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Houston Texans. Chubb is coming off a good season all things considered. He's not the kind of player a wise organization sheds to cut expenses. 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. Teams: Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos, Super Bowl championships: Three (1991, 1997, 1998). Seven times, he surpassed 1,000 yards on pass receptions, most of them on slants and corner routes. He rose to Pro Bowl status playing left tackle for a single-back, Joe Gibbs-style 1980s offense. Died: May 23, 2017 (age 81, Harrisonburg, Virginia), Teams: Chicago/St. The Jaguars upset John Elway's Broncos and reached the AFC Championship Game as a second-year expansion team and then went on to three more playoff berths, culminating in a 14-2 season. 
Robertson was one of the NFL's fastest linebackers in the 1970s. On this All-Underrated list, he is in very good company. Born: April 10, 1960 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Career highlights: Two-time Super Bowl champion (2000, 2012). Died: June 7, 2020 (age 72, Bartow, Florida), Career highlights: Three-time NFL All-Pro (1975, 1976, 1983), Cincinnati Bengals Ring of Honor. 72 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, we decided to take a look back at the last two decades-plus of the history of selections in that spot. After the incredible run, they lose just one player: Michael Forrest. Oh, and Norton scored the final touchdown of the game on a 9-yard fumble return. He started for the Rams in their Super Bowl seasons at the beginning of his career and then earned Pro Bowl berths for Washington from 2009 through 2012 when he was in his mid-30s. Mills was a USFL All-Star in all three seasons of the league's existence, and he led the Philadelphia and Baltimore Stars' Doghouse Defense (coached by Jim Mora) to a pair of league titles. 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. Sadly, Mecklenburg's post-football life has been defined by his battle with brain injuries sustained playing football, and he's part of several concussion-related lawsuits against the NFL. 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. There's underrated, underappreciated and overlooked. These are the most underrated college football players of all time. Michael Redd 6. C'mon, who doesn't love Darren Sproles and Mike Tolbert? In all, he was a two-time AFC Defensive Player of the Year and played in five Super Bowls, losing every time to set an NFL record. But none accomplished more than Ryan while receiving less acclaim. The statue portrays jubilant Packers fans in tundra-weather gear appearing to cradle a player who just pounced into the stands. Young played for the teams that slowly slid from George Seifert to Steve Mariucci to oblivion. New England Patriots wide receiver Stanley Morgan, right, battles for What Mason did have was a keen attention to detail and fanatical drive to succeed. Maybe that victory gives them the psychological edge they need to beat the undefeated Patriots in their 2008 playoff rematch. But three of his best seasons are not listed in the encyclopedias. Reidel Anthony, Florida. You know the type. WebNFL Network's Willie McGinest, Shaun O'Hara and LaDainian Tomlinson highlight three underrated players in the NFL. Maybe Rivers takes his place among the all-time greats. Sometimes it's because they played next to even bigger stars and sometimes it's because they played on terrible teams. 72 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, we decided to take a look back at the last two decades-plus of the Super Bowl championships: Two (2005, 2008). But he still finished his career with 133.5 sacks. He had 44 career sacks and as many as eight in a season on two occasions. 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. One of the top seven rated signees for CU in the 2000s, Lynn Katoa was all-everything coming out of Cottonwood High School in Utah in 2008. Kenn is one of the NFL's all-time great players and leaders, and his impact ranges far beyond his playing career. 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. Butler is all but guaranteed to get lost in the shuffle. The Packers were a team with more history than identity when Butler arrived. He reached the playoffs as a rookie backup in 2004 and a 32-year-old backup in 2015, but zero times in the decade in between. Once an arbitrary number of players from a historic team get enshrined, the committee moves on in search of underappreciated players from other franchises. Without Kenn, there might not be free agency in the NFL, to say nothing of limitations on practice conditions and other initiatives that make pro football less dangerous than it was decades ago. Addiction soon began consuming Smith's career, and then his life. Bottom line: Pete Retzlaff was a star running back at South Dakota State but was cut by the Lions in 1953 and didnt make an NFL roster until 1956. That may be unfair to players like Robinson, Jerry Kramer and L.C. Thats what Krieg did best win football games. Hull was not just a great lineman but a groundbreaking one. The correct answer is Player A (Ken Stabler), and if youre Player B (Brodie), you have to wonder if one Super Bowl should make that much difference. 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. Ryan needed surgery and was in constant pain for the rest of his career. He accounted for all his teams points in a 15-13 white-knuckler that wrecked the 49ers three-peat bid and sent the Giants to Super Bowl XXV. Bottom line: Terrell Davis rushed for 2,008 yards in his momentous 1998 season, but look at the game films and you wont see him fake out many defenders or break many tackles. 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. Finally, in case you have a question about the prices on these: if you bet $125 on the Bills to go over 10.5 wins (i.e. Buffalo Bills Over 10.5 (-125) / Under 10.5 (+105) The Bills entered 2022 as the clear Super Bowl favorite. Ryan made three Pro Bowls, but All-Pro status was blocked by a couple of guys named Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr. 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. He was an Owl for the last five seasons. Bottom line: Warrick Dunn overcame the murder of his mother, bouts with depression and 5-foot-9 size to have a successful 12-year NFL career. To understand why he is not in the Hall of Fame, you must familiarize yourself with both the era he played in and the vagaries of Hall voting. Throw in the fact that Blair was maybe the greatest special teams player in NFL history Fifteen years ago, similar receivers were gimmicky undersized role players. While Randle's 5,996 career receiving yards and 365 career receptions don't necessarily jump off the page, what does is his 65 career receiving touchdowns in just 120 career games, which ranks him among the top touchdown-per-game leaders in NFL history. McDole's Bills defenses held opponents to fewer than 3.1 yards per carry across three consecutive seasons. Brown spent almost the entirety of his career toiling away in anonymity but was the key blocker for legendary running back Barry Sanders on the Detroit Lions on teams that made the playoffs in 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1995 a stretch of success almost unfathomable to any modern Lions fan. Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, Super Bowl championships: Two (1979, 1990). Born: Nov. 22, 1965 (San Diego, California), Teams: Philadelphia Eagles (1988-94), New Orleans Saints (1995-97), Oakland Raiders (1998-2001), Career highlights: Three-time NFL All-Pro (1989, 1991, 1993), six-time Pro Bowl (1989, 1991-95), PFWA All-Rookie Team (1988), Eagles 75th Anniversary Team. In 1980, following a series of financial setbacks, Tyrer murdered his 40-year-old wife, Martha, then killed himself at the family's home in Kansas City, Missouri. Born: Nov. 20, 1980 (Indianapolis, Indiana), Career highlights: Seven-time NFL All-Pro (2014-19, 2021), seven-time Pro Bowl (2014-19, 2021), PFWA All-Rookie Team (2014), NFL 2010s All-Decade Team. It's usually written by the winners and lets the rest of the participants kind of fall by the wayside. Taylor rushed for 1,000-plus yards in seven seasons. NFL Draft: 2000 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4; NFL Career: Cincinnati Bengals (2000-2004), Seattle Seahawks (2005) Not bad for a guy who might as well have played in a straight jacket for 14 seasons. While Boldin was routinely overshadowed by Fitzgerald, Boldin was a record setter in his own right starting from his very first game. At 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, he didnt wow anyone physically. Where did Davis score the game-winner late in Super Bowl XXXII? Born: (2007, 2009, 2012), NFL Special Teams Player of the Year (2009), NFL 2000s All-Decade Team . 6 on the NFL career passing list. ARIZONA CARDINALS: TE Maxx Williams. O'Neal returned from the injury better than ever and started to rack up sacks at a dizzying rate playing on the same defense as Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau. WebOne of the most durable players in NFL history, Witten didnt miss a game over his last 11 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys but lands on the underrated list because of his lack of For the greatest underrated NFL players of all time, we're seeking a sort of "correction" for their careers. The Lions drafted him as a running back. That's its own kind of recognition. The Bills were among the first teams to frequently operate without a huddle. If not for Schlereth's many health problems that included 29 surgeries, 15 on his left knee alone, he would have been a perennial Pro Bowl selection. You mean future Hall of Fame tackle Orlando Pace didnt block four guys all by himself? Robertson is so poorly remembered that it was hard to find a decent photo of him in our archives. 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. 1. Gore did not get his proper due during his career but was named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team and should be a shoo-in when he's eligible to join the Hall of Fame in 2026. Born: Sept. 1, 1960 (Seattle, Washington), Career highlights: Six-time Pro Bowl (1985-87, 1989, 1991, 1993), four-time All-Pro (1985-87, 1989). One look at the logjam forming outside the entrance to Canton tells you Wisniewski isn't moving up the ladder anytime soon. He went on to star at Temple before becoming part of "The New York Sack Exchange" on the New York Jets with Mark Gastineau in the 1980s, when Klecko was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1981. Bottom line: There will be an interesting debate when Cordarrelle Patterson's career finally comes to a close. Butler has never even been a Hall of Fame semifinalist, and it's not going to happen for him soon. If the soft-spoken scatback had been in the right place at the right time, he would have filled his one nagging void a Super Bowl title and the exposure that accompanied it. Once his career was over, Schafrath's life took another strange twist. History is a funny thing. Born: April 7, 1969 (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), Teams: San Francisco 49ers (1991-94), Philadelphia Eagles (1995-97), Seattle Seahawks (1998-2001), Career highlights: Super Bowl champion (1994), five-time Pro Bowl (1992-96), Seattle Seahawks 35th Anniversary Team. Perhaps Hull would be in the Hall of Fame if the Bills had won even one Super Bowl. The franchise now has an estimated value of $3.4 billion, and Bisciotti's net worth has grown to $2.7 billion. 5. With the NFL draft fast approaching, were looking at every player selected with the tenth pick since 2000. He finally won a Super Bowl ring as a backup for the Buccaneers. In two Super Bowl trips, Bahr didnt miss a kick three field goals, six PATs. Steven Jackson arrived in St. Louis just as the Greatest Show on Turf was deteriorating into the Most Miserable Slog in the Midwest. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports. WebGreen lead one of the most dynamic offenses of the early 2000s. He played the entire 2007 AFC championship game with a torn ACL. But he didn't play for the legendary 49ers teams. Hes on the short list of running back leaders in yards per rush (4.6, 17th), touches (2,824, 25th) and yards from scrimmage (14,079, 35th) in NFL history. So Anderson cranked out a few 1,000-yard seasons and played in some Pro Bowls, and that was that. Anderson became a footnote to the Ditka era, but fans who saw him play know he was far more than that. Kelce's brother, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, is one of the all-time greats at his position and a Hall of Fame lock. 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25 of 25. The players voted Chubb the 40th-best player overall and a top-five edge defender in the NFL. On Oct. 21, 1973 Dryer took down Packers quarterback Scott Hunter in the end zone, and then on Green Bays next possession, he took down Hunters backup Jim Del Gaizo for his second safety in the game. Called "ox strong and cat-quick" by Jets teammate Marvin Powell, Klecko made money on the side in high school playing under an assumed name on a semi-pro football team and was also a two-time NCAA heavyweight boxing champion. Eric Allen's job in Buddy Ryan's 46 defense was simple. Forrest is a leader for FAU. "Stanley Steamer" could run every route and was hell on wheels with the ball in his hands. Because he is one of the NFL's best defensive players, for one thing. Butler, a Louisiana Tech University product, entered the league as the 30th overall pick of the 2016 NFL draft. Hes second in NFL history for receptions and receiving yards for a tight end and holds NFL records for most receptions in one half and most games with 15-plus receptions. Lambeau Field was an icy outpost; the Packers still played a handful of home games in Milwaukee back then. Theyre the core players who are overshadowed by more well-paid, high-profile teammates and just plain pathetic, shameless self-promoters. It takes bad timing and bad luck. Put Ellard in another era or even the AFC with an accomplished quarterback, and his legacy as The Best Wideout Not Named Jerry Rice would be that much greater. Top remaining free agent defensive tackle easily named fit for the Detroit Lions. Ron McDole falls into that final category. 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. After they confirm it on Google. Only kicker in NFL history to hit Robinson was one of those players. "Even now I still get pissed off. Let's face it: An entire All-Underrated Team can be assembled using only Broncos defenders. Bowman is coming off an Achilles tear in 2016. Young started his career as the NFC Defensive Rookie of the Year and ended it as a four-time winner of the Len Eshmont Award, the 49ers' team award for character and leadership. That's nearly 83 percent of his field goals during the previous decade. Levy's career is much more expansive than that. Lets hear some "un-der-ra-ted!" If you guessed both or neither one, youre wrong. He's a seven-time NFL All-Pro, seven-time Pro Bowler and was named to the NFL's 2010s All-Decade Team. 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. Jackson finished his career with 11,438 rushing yards (18th all-time) and 15,121 total scrimmage yards (21st all-time). Check out the top 12 below and be on the lookout for players 13 through 24 later this week. 1. And no Hall of Famers allowed. But this list is all about giving overlooked players their due respect. There are no official sack statistics before 1982, but the Minnesota Vikings credit Jim Marshall with 127 career sacks. Oh, and sub-packages were pretty rare in the 1960s and 1970s, so Marshall didn't leave the field much. The 6-foot-4, 325-pounder has played seven seasons with the His career was cut short by injuries suffered in the first of those three Pro Bowls. Then again, the fourth-round draft pick had no choice. In Super Bowl IX, Edwards killed a drive and darn near Vikings intended receiver John Gilliam on a hellacious hit near the goal line. The Jaguars, meanwhile, slowly descended to their current status as the NFL's punching bag. He was an iron man for a powerhouse franchise that reached four Super Bowls while playing many of their home games in arctic conditions. He lacked the straight-line speed to be a game-breaker. Young played for some great 49ers teams, including a Super Bowl-winning squad as a rookie in 1994. No matter what the two-time All-Pro accomplished, he could never be Jerry Rice, who cast a long, tall shadow in the same conference. He was a Pro Bowl regular, two-time All-Pro and Defensive Rookie of the Year in 1971. But few cornerbacks spent more of their careers in the crosshairs than Allen. "Because when the ball was thrown, I knew I had better ball skills and would go up and get it.". Karl Mecklenburg. 1. Those accomplishments may soon finally land Kenn in the Hall of Fame. Fleming was a reliable backup tight end/wide receiver who played with four Super Bowl-winners (and one NFL champion) in a dozen seasons. Sad to say, Morgan was woefully miscast in a run-first offense in a less pass-friendly time. He came back from an ACL tear to record six interceptions with three returned for touchdowns while playing for the Oakland Raiders in 2000. If the quarterback got rid of the ball before getting crushed, it was up to Allen to make a play. 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. Two 10-interception seasons, with 57 career interceptions. Neal Anderson replaced Walter Payton. Try Dave Krieg. Know who created those wide-open spaces? And none of them produce the numbers he generated in less hospitable systems. And then there is plain old forgotten. Bottom line: Modern football fans never had the pleasure of seeing Ricky Watters or his distinctive, high-stepping running style in his prime. sports The 10 Most Underrated College Football Players of All Time. Mason had seven seasons of at least 70 pass receptions, 1,000 yards and five touchdowns. As the Chargers faded, Rivers kept them in the wild-card picture and became the franchise's only recognizable public figure. Louis Cardinals (1959-66), San Francisco 49ers (1967-68), Dallas Cowboys (1968), Career highlights: Two-time NFL All-Pro (1960, 1962), four-time Pro Bowl (1960-62, 1965). If Morgan had played in a pass-happy offense with a Pro Bowl quarterback and hands-off rules, you would find him in Canton right now. But Brown was a unique and underappreciated player for over a decade on a team that nearly revolutionized the way football is played. And almost nobody remembers that, when Edwards caught the ball, he knew what to do it. WebFind many great new & used options and get the best deals for The Paolantonio Report: The Most Overrated & Underrated In NFL History Hardcover at the best online prices at eBay! Bottom line: Ken Riley was a quarterback and Rhodes Scholar candidate at Florida A&M before carving out a 15-season career as a defensive back for the Cincinnati Bengals. 3 on the NFL's career rushing list but had only one All-Pro season and never ran for more than 1,500 yards in a single season. Barry Sanders. Super Bowl championships: Two (1996, 1999). Frank Ryan led the NFL in passing touchdowns twice. Teams: Tennessee Titans, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Houston Texans. Chubb is coming off a good season all things considered. He's not the kind of player a wise organization sheds to cut expenses. 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. Teams: Washington Redskins, Denver Broncos, Super Bowl championships: Three (1991, 1997, 1998). Seven times, he surpassed 1,000 yards on pass receptions, most of them on slants and corner routes. He rose to Pro Bowl status playing left tackle for a single-back, Joe Gibbs-style 1980s offense. Died: May 23, 2017 (age 81, Harrisonburg, Virginia), Teams: Chicago/St. The Jaguars upset John Elway's Broncos and reached the AFC Championship Game as a second-year expansion team and then went on to three more playoff berths, culminating in a 14-2 season. Robertson was one of the NFL's fastest linebackers in the 1970s. On this All-Underrated list, he is in very good company. Born: April 10, 1960 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Career highlights: Two-time Super Bowl champion (2000, 2012). Died: June 7, 2020 (age 72, Bartow, Florida), Career highlights: Three-time NFL All-Pro (1975, 1976, 1983), Cincinnati Bengals Ring of Honor. 72 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, we decided to take a look back at the last two decades-plus of the history of selections in that spot. After the incredible run, they lose just one player: Michael Forrest. Oh, and Norton scored the final touchdown of the game on a 9-yard fumble return. He started for the Rams in their Super Bowl seasons at the beginning of his career and then earned Pro Bowl berths for Washington from 2009 through 2012 when he was in his mid-30s. Mills was a USFL All-Star in all three seasons of the league's existence, and he led the Philadelphia and Baltimore Stars' Doghouse Defense (coached by Jim Mora) to a pair of league titles. 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. Sadly, Mecklenburg's post-football life has been defined by his battle with brain injuries sustained playing football, and he's part of several concussion-related lawsuits against the NFL. 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. There's underrated, underappreciated and overlooked. These are the most underrated college football players of all time. Michael Redd 6. C'mon, who doesn't love Darren Sproles and Mike Tolbert? In all, he was a two-time AFC Defensive Player of the Year and played in five Super Bowls, losing every time to set an NFL record. But none accomplished more than Ryan while receiving less acclaim. The statue portrays jubilant Packers fans in tundra-weather gear appearing to cradle a player who just pounced into the stands. Young played for the teams that slowly slid from George Seifert to Steve Mariucci to oblivion. New England Patriots wide receiver Stanley Morgan, right, battles for What Mason did have was a keen attention to detail and fanatical drive to succeed. Maybe that victory gives them the psychological edge they need to beat the undefeated Patriots in their 2008 playoff rematch. But three of his best seasons are not listed in the encyclopedias. Reidel Anthony, Florida. You know the type. WebNFL Network's Willie McGinest, Shaun O'Hara and LaDainian Tomlinson highlight three underrated players in the NFL. Maybe Rivers takes his place among the all-time greats. Sometimes it's because they played next to even bigger stars and sometimes it's because they played on terrible teams. 72 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, we decided to take a look back at the last two decades-plus of the Super Bowl championships: Two (2005, 2008). But he still finished his career with 133.5 sacks. He had 44 career sacks and as many as eight in a season on two occasions. 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. One of the top seven rated signees for CU in the 2000s, Lynn Katoa was all-everything coming out of Cottonwood High School in Utah in 2008. Kenn is one of the NFL's all-time great players and leaders, and his impact ranges far beyond his playing career. 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. Butler is all but guaranteed to get lost in the shuffle. The Packers were a team with more history than identity when Butler arrived. He reached the playoffs as a rookie backup in 2004 and a 32-year-old backup in 2015, but zero times in the decade in between. Once an arbitrary number of players from a historic team get enshrined, the committee moves on in search of underappreciated players from other franchises. Without Kenn, there might not be free agency in the NFL, to say nothing of limitations on practice conditions and other initiatives that make pro football less dangerous than it was decades ago. Addiction soon began consuming Smith's career, and then his life. Bottom line: Pete Retzlaff was a star running back at South Dakota State but was cut by the Lions in 1953 and didnt make an NFL roster until 1956. That may be unfair to players like Robinson, Jerry Kramer and L.C. Thats what Krieg did best win football games. Hull was not just a great lineman but a groundbreaking one. The correct answer is Player A (Ken Stabler), and if youre Player B (Brodie), you have to wonder if one Super Bowl should make that much difference. 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. Ryan needed surgery and was in constant pain for the rest of his career. He accounted for all his teams points in a 15-13 white-knuckler that wrecked the 49ers three-peat bid and sent the Giants to Super Bowl XXV. Bottom line: Terrell Davis rushed for 2,008 yards in his momentous 1998 season, but look at the game films and you wont see him fake out many defenders or break many tackles. 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. Finally, in case you have a question about the prices on these: if you bet $125 on the Bills to go over 10.5 wins (i.e. Buffalo Bills Over 10.5 (-125) / Under 10.5 (+105) The Bills entered 2022 as the clear Super Bowl favorite. Ryan made three Pro Bowls, but All-Pro status was blocked by a couple of guys named Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr. 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. He was an Owl for the last five seasons. Bottom line: Warrick Dunn overcame the murder of his mother, bouts with depression and 5-foot-9 size to have a successful 12-year NFL career. To understand why he is not in the Hall of Fame, you must familiarize yourself with both the era he played in and the vagaries of Hall voting. Throw in the fact that Blair was maybe the greatest special teams player in NFL history Fifteen years ago, similar receivers were gimmicky undersized role players. While Randle's 5,996 career receiving yards and 365 career receptions don't necessarily jump off the page, what does is his 65 career receiving touchdowns in just 120 career games, which ranks him among the top touchdown-per-game leaders in NFL history. McDole's Bills defenses held opponents to fewer than 3.1 yards per carry across three consecutive seasons. Brown spent almost the entirety of his career toiling away in anonymity but was the key blocker for legendary running back Barry Sanders on the Detroit Lions on teams that made the playoffs in 1991, 1993, 1994 and 1995 a stretch of success almost unfathomable to any modern Lions fan. Teams: Pittsburgh Steelers, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, Super Bowl championships: Two (1979, 1990). Born: Nov. 22, 1965 (San Diego, California), Teams: Philadelphia Eagles (1988-94), New Orleans Saints (1995-97), Oakland Raiders (1998-2001), Career highlights: Three-time NFL All-Pro (1989, 1991, 1993), six-time Pro Bowl (1989, 1991-95), PFWA All-Rookie Team (1988), Eagles 75th Anniversary Team. In 1980, following a series of financial setbacks, Tyrer murdered his 40-year-old wife, Martha, then killed himself at the family's home in Kansas City, Missouri. Born: Nov. 20, 1980 (Indianapolis, Indiana), Career highlights: Seven-time NFL All-Pro (2014-19, 2021), seven-time Pro Bowl (2014-19, 2021), PFWA All-Rookie Team (2014), NFL 2010s All-Decade Team. It's usually written by the winners and lets the rest of the participants kind of fall by the wayside. Taylor rushed for 1,000-plus yards in seven seasons. NFL Draft: 2000 / Round: 1 / Pick: 4; NFL Career: Cincinnati Bengals (2000-2004), Seattle Seahawks (2005) Not bad for a guy who might as well have played in a straight jacket for 14 seasons. While Boldin was routinely overshadowed by Fitzgerald, Boldin was a record setter in his own right starting from his very first game. At 5-foot-10, 190 pounds, he didnt wow anyone physically. Where did Davis score the game-winner late in Super Bowl XXXII? Born: (2007, 2009, 2012), NFL Special Teams Player of the Year (2009), NFL 2000s All-Decade Team . 6 on the NFL career passing list. ARIZONA CARDINALS: TE Maxx Williams. O'Neal returned from the injury better than ever and started to rack up sacks at a dizzying rate playing on the same defense as Hall of Fame linebacker Junior Seau. WebOne of the most durable players in NFL history, Witten didnt miss a game over his last 11 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys but lands on the underrated list because of his lack of For the greatest underrated NFL players of all time, we're seeking a sort of "correction" for their careers. The Lions drafted him as a running back. That's its own kind of recognition. The Bills were among the first teams to frequently operate without a huddle. If not for Schlereth's many health problems that included 29 surgeries, 15 on his left knee alone, he would have been a perennial Pro Bowl selection. You mean future Hall of Fame tackle Orlando Pace didnt block four guys all by himself? Robertson is so poorly remembered that it was hard to find a decent photo of him in our archives. 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. 1. Gore did not get his proper due during his career but was named to the NFL 2010s All-Decade Team and should be a shoo-in when he's eligible to join the Hall of Fame in 2026. Born: Sept. 1, 1960 (Seattle, Washington), Career highlights: Six-time Pro Bowl (1985-87, 1989, 1991, 1993), four-time All-Pro (1985-87, 1989). One look at the logjam forming outside the entrance to Canton tells you Wisniewski isn't moving up the ladder anytime soon. He went on to star at Temple before becoming part of "The New York Sack Exchange" on the New York Jets with Mark Gastineau in the 1980s, when Klecko was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 1981. Bottom line: There will be an interesting debate when Cordarrelle Patterson's career finally comes to a close. Butler has never even been a Hall of Fame semifinalist, and it's not going to happen for him soon. If the soft-spoken scatback had been in the right place at the right time, he would have filled his one nagging void a Super Bowl title and the exposure that accompanied it. Once his career was over, Schafrath's life took another strange twist. History is a funny thing. Born: April 7, 1969 (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania), Teams: San Francisco 49ers (1991-94), Philadelphia Eagles (1995-97), Seattle Seahawks (1998-2001), Career highlights: Super Bowl champion (1994), five-time Pro Bowl (1992-96), Seattle Seahawks 35th Anniversary Team. Perhaps Hull would be in the Hall of Fame if the Bills had won even one Super Bowl. The franchise now has an estimated value of $3.4 billion, and Bisciotti's net worth has grown to $2.7 billion. 5. With the NFL draft fast approaching, were looking at every player selected with the tenth pick since 2000. He finally won a Super Bowl ring as a backup for the Buccaneers. In two Super Bowl trips, Bahr didnt miss a kick three field goals, six PATs. Steven Jackson arrived in St. Louis just as the Greatest Show on Turf was deteriorating into the Most Miserable Slog in the Midwest. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports. WebGreen lead one of the most dynamic offenses of the early 2000s. He played the entire 2007 AFC championship game with a torn ACL. But he didn't play for the legendary 49ers teams. Hes on the short list of running back leaders in yards per rush (4.6, 17th), touches (2,824, 25th) and yards from scrimmage (14,079, 35th) in NFL history. So Anderson cranked out a few 1,000-yard seasons and played in some Pro Bowls, and that was that. Anderson became a footnote to the Ditka era, but fans who saw him play know he was far more than that. 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