I was at the drafting scene, actually "We want Sapp! We want Sapp! We want Sapp!" "With 9th pick, New York Jets selelects..." "We want Sapp! We want Sapp! We want Sapp!" "...Kyle Brady." "... WTF? !@#)()($*##)(!@&*$)&%!)($#()!#@" *Moment of silence.* That was the worst spring ever. Hope the spring of 1995 never comes back.
Sorry guys...but definately Ken Obrien...and you have to agree, if you think passing up Sapp was bad...
I can't argue with that. Kenny had his fine moments but I'm still haunted by memories of him, frozen like a deer in the headlights just before getting sacked into oblivion. Another recurring nightmare is watching him try to run or scramble with all the speed, elusiveness and grace of Herman Munster, with crazy glue on the bottom of his boots.......
Kyle Brady's close, especially in the context of already having Johnny Mitchell. Johnny Lam Jones, bless him, is often thought of as the biggest bust.
Was Thomas criticised as a pick right away? In the UK, our football magazines rated him the No.1 running back prospect at the time. I know Thomas turned out to be a bust and a certain Emmitt Smith did okay after being drafted much later, but at the time the pick was made were there boos?
Mike Haight should get some real attention here. He was almost cut during TC of his rookie year, and I dont believe he ever started a game!
Gotta be Blair Thomas....NOT Ken O'Brien. He was a GOOD player for a few years. Led the leave in passing once too I believe.
The problem I have with this (if I remember correctly) is that Sapp failed a drug test and the Jets and many other teams had legitimate concerns about drug issues. I can't fault anyone for not selecting him at the time because of this issue. For every Sapp there's 10 players who never cut it in the NFL because of drug and legal issues. Do you think Mangini would have selected Sapp at the time? I'm not saying he would have taken Brady, but no way does he touch Sapp with drug concerns hanging over him. So to me, you have to consider Brady himself and not that we passed up on Sapp. Blair Thomas shouldn't be considered either because he was considered a top 10 (or 5?) pick at that time. The spirit of this post is "consensus" at the time. That being said my favorites are Roger Vick and Johnny Lam Jones with an honorable mention to Haight, O'Brien and BT over Reed.
I don't think Marino would have survived as long as he did if he had taken the absolute beating that O'Brien took over the years. O'Brien had some very good years when he was healthy. Moreover, it's not as if O'Brien was awful. The guy made two Pro Bowls. O'Brien is the first player I identified with as a kid. He just kept getting up. It's not as if we took Blackledge. -X-
