View Full Version : Injury Derailments
The Terrell Davis thread gave me a thread idea, players well on their way (meaning more than a couple great seasons) to making it to Canton before injuries derailed their careers. Besides Davis, the names Sterling Sharpe, Kenny Easley and John Offerdahl come to mind.
Who else? Does anyone think Jamal Anderson would also be on the roster?
Willie
09-11-2006, 01:54 PM
Rich (Tombstone) Jackson
Billy Sims
Neil Lomax
Robert Edwards
Greg Cook
ATLFalcons
09-11-2006, 09:56 PM
William Andrews is the only guy I can think of right now, he was awesome for the Falcons in the 80's, injuries really hurt his career because he had four 1,000 yard seasons.
William Andrews is the only guy I can think of right now, he was awesome for the Falcons in the 80's, injuries really hurt his career because he had four 1,000 yard seasons.
Andrews was great. There were some good non-HOF backs in the early 80's, with guys like Andrews, Sims, Wilbert Montgomery and Joe Cribbs.
The Falcons had a decent backup in Lynn Cain, but Andrews was like Sims in that when he was on, he was on.
football junkie
09-12-2006, 10:53 PM
I think Priest Holmes definitely qualifies, four seasons of 1,000 plus rushing yards and 62 rushing touchdowns scored in just three years. He was a three-time Pro Bowler and will retire with just under 11,000 all-purpose yards and 94 touchdowns. One more good year and he would have solidified his place in Canton. But the injury bug bit him hard.
Herman Moore the four-time Bro Bowlers for the Lions was also likely just on the cusp of going over the top when nagging injuries started to plague him and slow his production. Moore had two seasons with double digit touchdown receptions, three seasons with triple digit receptions, four seasons with way over a 1,000 yards receiving -- toping out at 1,686 yards in 1995. He also had three other seasons when he barely missed out on topping 1,000 yards.
Phil Simms almost certainly wins his second Superbowl as a starting quarterback in 1990 if injury doesn't derail him. In 1983, 1991 & 1992 Simms played only 12 games combined -- seriously lowering his career counting number. Otherwise 40,000 career passing yards and 250 career passing touchdowns were certainly within reach.
If some team were to sport a team today with Phil Simms at QB, Priest Holmes at RB and Herman Moore at WR -- and they were all young and healthy -- they'd dominate the league. In the end I think they all miss out when the Hall of Fame votes are tallied.
Jamal Anderson and his use in 1998 should be a textbook example of exactly how not to use a running back. That year probably doomed the rest of his career. His counting numbers are so low I don't know if he necessarily is in the same ballpark with a lot of the other players mentioned. But for 1998 he was great.
gridiron
09-13-2006, 03:39 PM
Moore seemed to be losing it even before his injury, so I'd take him off the list, the others could have made Canton with full career and a normal decline.
mordeci
09-13-2006, 04:51 PM
Rich (Tombstone) Jackson
Billy Sims
Neil Lomax
Robert Edwards
Greg Cook
Good list. Greg Cook would be #1 on my list.
Not an injury, but I would add Joe Delaney.
Good list. Greg Cook would be #1 on my list.
Not an injury, but I would add Joe Delaney.
Delaney was my favorite player next to Walter Payton. His jersey wasn't available nationally back then, so I was never able to get one while he was still alive. His death still is shocking to me.
football junkie
09-14-2006, 08:42 PM
Don't mean to nitpick but how does Greg Cook qualify as "players well on their way"?
To my knowledge he started only one season. And played in something like 12 games his whole career. His numbers certainly don't point to him being anything special.
What am I missing here?
gridiron
09-16-2006, 04:56 AM
His numbers were good for the time--he was a rookie, remember and those who saw him play agreed he could be one of the great ones.
KHenry14
09-16-2006, 12:59 PM
His numbers were good for the time--he was a rookie, remember and those who saw him play agreed he could be one of the great ones.
In his bio, Bill Walsh talks about Cook. Walsh was a coach on that Bengals team, and he wrote about how hard he'd worked with Sam Wyche to make Sam the starter, but when Cook walked on the field the first time he was already better than Sam.Truly a guy who was really could and probably would have been great. But his career was so short he probably doesn't belong on this list.
DTF955
09-27-2006, 07:16 PM
How far would Bo Jackson have gone? had he kept up his performance for 10-11 years (probably not 7-8 as I imply in my thrad on the history forum, upon further review - that has now been edited) i think he's have had a good shot; 60-65% of the games over that stretch, but if he kept up a 5.0 or more rushing average, wow. Almost made 1000 yards in one year. He might have had to do that 1-2 times, though.
He might not have been the biggest star then, but Joe Namath made it in despite what some feel was not a truly elite career; he'sknown mostly for the Super Bowl III performance and upset. I think Bo would have made it in like Namath, a player who had stellar stats, maybe not quite good enough for Canton on their own, but, man, while playing baseball?! That would be as hard for voters to ignore as Super Bowl III was. Probably harder.
soberdennis
09-30-2006, 11:27 PM
I think Priest Holmes definitely qualifies, four seasons of 1,000 plus rushing yards and 62 rushing touchdowns scored in just three years. He was a three-time Pro Bowler and will retire with just under 11,000 all-purpose yards and 94 touchdowns. One more good year and he would have solidified his place in Canton. But the injury bug bit him hard.
Herman Moore the four-time Bro Bowlers for the Lions was also likely just on the cusp of going over the top when nagging injuries started to plague him and slow his production. Moore had two seasons with double digit touchdown receptions, three seasons with triple digit receptions, four seasons with way over a 1,000 yards receiving -- toping out at 1,686 yards in 1995. He also had three other seasons when he barely missed out on topping 1,000 yards.
Phil Simms almost certainly wins his second Superbowl as a starting quarterback in 1990 if injury doesn't derail him. In 1983, 1991 & 1992 Simms played only 12 games combined -- seriously lowering his career counting number. Otherwise 40,000 career passing yards and 250 career passing touchdowns were certainly within reach.
If some team were to sport a team today with Phil Simms at QB, Priest Holmes at RB and Herman Moore at WR -- and they were all young and healthy -- they'd dominate the league. In the end I think they all miss out when the Hall of Fame votes are tallied.
Jamal Anderson and his use in 1998 should be a textbook example of exactly how not to use a running back. That year probably doomed the rest of his career. His counting numbers are so low I don't know if he necessarily is in the same ballpark with a lot of the other players mentioned. But for 1998 he was great.
I'm not sure Simms won't make it anyway.
soberdennis
09-30-2006, 11:30 PM
How far would Bo Jackson have gone? had he kept up his performance for 10-11 years (probably not 7-8 as I imply in my thrad on the history forum, upon further review - that has now been edited) i think he's have had a good shot; 60-65% of the games over that stretch, but if he kept up a 5.0 or more rushing average, wow. Almost made 1000 yards in one year. He might have had to do that 1-2 times, though.
He might not have been the biggest star then, but Joe Namath made it in despite what some feel was not a truly elite career; he'sknown mostly for the Super Bowl III performance and upset. I think Bo would have made it in like Namath, a player who had stellar stats, maybe not quite good enough for Canton on their own, but, man, while playing baseball?! That would be as hard for voters to ignore as Super Bowl III was. Probably harder.
My favorite Jackson line was when he said he was going to play Pro Football "as a Hobby" I would love to get paid that much for my hobbies.
Namath was the first to throw for 4000 yds in a season and QB'd arguably the most important game in history. Injuries may have derailed him, but I believe he is in.,
DTF955
10-01-2006, 04:44 AM
Namath is in, I was just saying that some consider that he's not as worthy as many becasue of his career stats, and that he's only known for a couple special things. So, even if Bo Jackson were to only play 10-11 games for 11 seasons, he might well make it in because, like Namath, he would have had only very good and not great career stats, but the things he did would be so exceptional he'd get in on those plus his very good career numbers.