THE MOST UNDERRATED PLAYERS OF ALL TIME - YouTube Super Bowl championships: 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979. While Stafford's game is Hall of Fame worthy, an 0-3 career record in the playoffs on some flawed Lions teams has done little to elevate his name into the conversation of top QBs. Hmmm. in the mid-1960s to early '70s, chances are "Whichever one has Marv Fleming" would have been a correct answer. Let's take a look at the the five most underrated footballers of all time. Many of those catches occurred down the field, with Anderson serving as a de facto possession receiver. Try Dave Krieg. Also, the field was often a block of ice. Once an arbitrary number of players from a historic team get enshrined, the committee moves on in search of underappreciated players from other franchises. The Hall of Fame has turned up its nose on all of them. Kolb set the Super Bowl standard for left tackles in Super Bowl IV, when he smoked undersized Minnesota Vikings end Jim Marshall like a bad cigar. And you're never going to guess who's No. He's not the kind of player a wise organization sheds to cut expenses. Dunn finished his career with 15,655 all-purpose yards, 25th in league history, one of the best players never to be a champion. As a pass blocker, Moton has developed into a steady presence capable of holding his own, and at times even dominating top pass rushers that include Joey Bosa and Cameron Jordan. 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. Hull never lived to see himself make a Hall of Fame semifinalist list, as he died of liver failure at age 50 in 2011. Steve Atwater. He also had some of the clutch gene. The Lions drafted him as a running back. 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. Waller was a sixth-round draft pick at wide receiver by the Ravens in 2015 and struggled to find targets early in his career in spite of his 66 frame. Anderson became a footnote to the Ditka era, but fans who saw him play know he was far more than that. Guards don't make the Hall of Fame unless they win multiple Super Bowls or play forever. Young played for the teams that slowly slid from George Seifert to Steve Mariucci to oblivion. Nothing screams underappreciated like rumors you're about to be traded to make room for a late first-round pick. Marshall reached just two Pro Bowls. They're the working stiffs who bust their butts at so-called lesser positions, on teams that are seldom seen on highlights shows, let alone national television. It is absurd that Jones isnt talked about more with his ability to impact games. Graham has only missed one game since 2012 prior to 2021, and similar to Hughes is a winning culture type of player. No modern coach suppressed passing offenses quite like Fisher, and no team produces offensive stats that look like they come from the early 1930s quite like the Ravens. Who are the top 20 best left-footed football players as of 2023? He played the run with authority (721 career solo tackles). 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. 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. He was one of the first true slot receivers of 21st-century NFL offenses. Theyre the core players who are overshadowed by more well-paid, high-profile teammates and just plain pathetic, shameless self-promoters. That's not something to hold against a player. He led the Bengals to a pair of playoff appearances in 1973 and 1975, Joe Montana's high school senior and Notre Dame sophomore seasons. He should be remembered as more than a throwback to the era when Lawrence Welk references were topical. Maybe Rivers takes his place among the all-time greats. There's a statue outside of Lambeau Field commemorating the Lambeau Leap, perhaps the most recognizable and beloved (except to Packers opponents) end-zone celebration in the NFL. Angel Di Maria. 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? If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, call 1-800-GAMBLER. The most underrated player on all And then there is Kent Hull, the first center to achieve greatness in a no-huddle offense. If John Hadl is remembered for anything these days, it's for one of the most disastrous trades in NFL history. Actually, theres a simple explanation. Bahr converted 84 percent of his field-goal attempts (21 of 25), and 98 percent of his extra-point tries (40 of 41) when it counted most. He was an iron man for a powerhouse franchise that reached four Super Bowls while playing many of their home games in arctic conditions. Ken Griffey Jr.? Roberston is the guy getting head-butted in the sternum and knocked backward by Campbell before the running back's jersey gets torn off. Lets not forget they also dominated with cold-blooded efficiency at the other side of the ball, where Keena Turner was rarely out of position at right outside linebacker. 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. FanDuel NFL 2021: Best lineup for Week 16, Jets HC Robert Saleh tests positive for COVID, could miss Jaguars game, LeVeon Bell fires back on Twitter at fans trolling him for signing with Buccaneers. But three of his best seasons are not listed in the encyclopedias. More than one scout considered Turner to be too light to play linebacker, too slow to play defensive back. Yes, Marshall amassed that sack total by playing foreverhe started270 games (plus 19 playoff starts) from 1961 through 1979. "I dont get it. He played left tackle in 1972 and moved to right tackle in 1974. They didnt do anything that Tobin Rote hadnt done a long time ago. There would not be another exchange of current Pro Bowlers in the NFL until the Broncos and Redskins exchanged Champ Bailey and Clinton Portis in 2004. Pro Football Reference rates him at near a Pro Bowl level well into his 30s. There have been too many players in NFL history to count, so naturally, many of them werent going to get the attention they deserved for their play. McDole was known as "The Dancing Bear" because of his nimble feet, one of the coolest nicknames ever. But don't write him off as some 1960s product of the system. He played in the run-'n'-shoot offense, which means he was on an island against the NFL's best pass-rushers on every snap for a half-decadeno tight end flanking him, no blocking back behind him. One of the greatest defenders of his era reduced to stuntman status in Campbell's action movieall it takes is a moment to make a player underrated forever. Jones is a three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro selection. It was rival 49ers tackle Bryant Young who the Rams were most concerned about before the 1999 season, when they signed Timmerman as a free agent. His 42-yarder in the 1990 NFC championship game rates as one of the greatest clutch kicks in league history. "That was my territory," Edwards recalled in The Palm Beach Post. Bottom line: In the Steelers' 3-4 scheme, defensive ends were akin to smaller, more agile tackles run-stoppers first, pass-rushers second. St. 2023 Minute Media - All Rights Reserved. It takes more than mere greatness to be considered one of the most underrated players in pro football history. So whaddya say, fans? With Warfield hurt nearly all of that season, Ryan helped make a Pro Bowler out of receiver/punter Gary Collins. Bowman makes this list because he has the makings of a player who will be underappreciated historically. "Because when the ball was thrown, I knew I had better ball skills and would go up and get it.". If you guessed both or neither one, youre wrong. Or as astute NBC broadcaster Dick Enberg scored it, "KO for Ken Norton.". The least glamorous position on the field, a so-so team, a franchise moveWisniewski pulled three lemons on the recognition slot machine. The admission probably slams the door of the Hall of Fame on Brown forever. Success came early for Fletcher, recognition late. Make no mistake about it, Eric Bieniemys exodus from Kansas City to Washington is only one move on the chess board Arizona Cardinals: Kelvin Beachum, OT. As good as Ellard was at the time, he almost was never mentioned in debates about the best at his position. Bowman is coming off an Achilles tear in 2016. The converted all-purpose athlete became one of the fathers of modern quarterbacking. In 10 of the 12 seasons in which he started at least half their games, the Seahawks prevailed more times than not. To make our list, a player must contribute to a winning effort while putting up bad stats, misunderstood stats or no stats. Hes the only quarterback with AFL and NFL titles on his resume and he darn near pulled it off in the Canadian Football League as well. That may tick him off. The difference between the great and the all-time great is often a matter of timing and luck. In his most prolific early season, he caught 54 passes for 811 yards and five touchdowns. He led his team to an NFL championship. Bottom line: In his 15th and final season, the 36-year-old Ken Riley had eight interceptions and returned two of them for touchdowns, one of the most incredible performances by an old man ever. According to Pro Football Reference, he was flagged for 14 accepted holding penalties in 187 career games, little more than one per season. Hull was not just a great lineman but a groundbreaking one. 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. One of the most underrated players in AM Football, Brodie Croyle was drafted into the NFL by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2006 after being a college football standout with the University of Alabama. Get this: Ten of those seasons were spent with either the Vince Lombardi Packers or Don Shula Dolphins. Jerry Rice and John Taylor may have been the greatest receiving tandem of that era, but Ellard and Flipper Anderson were the most explosive pair of deep threats. Even without the same speed and athleticism as when he entered the league, David continues to find ways to make impact plays like a seasoned veteran. When Da Bears bean counters refused to pay up two years later, Marshall was the odd man out again. Anderson went on to duel with Walsh and Montana's 49ers in Super Bowl XVI. Robertson's Rams made a habit of reaching the playoffs every year and losing to the Vikings or Cowboys. WebThe 10 most underrated football players of all time are: Gheorghe Hagi, Michael Laudrup, Gaetano Scirea, Hristo Stoichkov, Matthias Sammer, Davor Suker, Gunter Netzer, Brown earned seven Pro Bowl berths and an All-Pro selection. Is Jalen Hurts the Future of the Philadelphia Eagles? Mason also caught 49 postseason passes and was one of the game's best return men for a few years. On a walk-through between center and left guard, naturally. Its a frigging joke that Taylor isnt in the Hall of Fame discussion. Most Underrated American Football Players of All Time 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. The statue portrays jubilant Packers fans in tundra-weather gear appearing to cradle a player who just pounced into the stands. He had to blanket a wide receiver in man coverage with no safety help on every play. Ryan would blitz between five and eight defenders, plus some water boys and maybe a few boo birds from the 700 level of Veterans Stadium. He finally won a Super Bowl ring as a backup for the Buccaneers. And because versatility is his calling card, he'll never produce gaudy sack totals or climb any all-time leaderboards. When the Rams finally earned a Super Bowl berth, Robertson was in Buffalo, playing for another playoff also-ran. In his prime, Wright was often mentioned in the same breath as Hall of Famers Mel Blount and Mike Haynes. Oh, and Norton scored the final touchdown of the game on a 9-yard fumble return. Even pesky third-down backs and gritty fullbacks may seem underrated until you realize how many of them become local heroes. He started for an offensive line that helped Barry Sanders win two of his four rushing titles. Brown is now best known as a television personality. Mason was frequently his team's most valuable offensive player, but he and Steve McNair made their short pitch-and-catch passes look a little too easy. 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. chants for the best players who didnt get their just dues over the years. original sound - ftbl vids 221. Super Bowl victories? Hence, the Campbell video. The best we can offer is a little bit of credit where a lot is due. Jones topped the 100 career sack total in week one of 2021, a five-sack day that tied a Cardinals franchise record and set a personal career-best. Greenlaw is equally effective against the run and pass, a sure tackler, and brings plenty of energy to theNiners' defense. There may be such a thing as too much blitzing, after all. That's a higher sack total than Dwight Freeney or Robert Mathis. McDole's Bills defenses held opponents to fewer than 3.1 yards per carry across three consecutive seasons. "I wasnt the fastest guy, but I didnt mind having the defender at my hip," Ellard said per Yahoo Sports. Ogbah has always been a steady presence rushing the quarterback but broke out in 2020 during his first season with the Dolphins. Bates started every game during his first three seasons since entering the league in 2018, recording three interceptions in each season and averaging over 100 tackles. Quarterback ratings for Washington skyrocket when targeting McLaurin, who has become a nightmare to defend with the ball in his hands after the catch. He must either play for teams so good that they overshadow his accomplishments, or teams so bad that he had to do it all by himself. His 65 interceptions are fifth most in NFL history. And he played in one stinking Pro Bowl game. Not bad for a guy who might as well have played in a straight jacket for 14 seasons. There is one football player who could score from literally anywhere, and his name is 2. Anderson was the first quarterback to successfully orchestrate the beta version of Bill Walsh's West Coast offense for multiple seasons. His .588 win percentage ranks second to Wilson in team history. Mason had seven seasons of at least 70 pass receptions, 1,000 yards and five touchdowns. Ryan was Jim Brown's quarterback and then Leroy Kelly's quarterback. In the nine seasons that Aaron Smith had double-digit starts, their D ranked among the top nine in yards allowed every time, but his consistent play went over the heads of many. Maybe not, seeing as Nalen has not had much success. Here are ten of the most underrated college football players of all time. Overshadowed on a bad team for much of his early career, Bates also came from a draft that featured top safeties Minkah Fitzpatrick and Derwin James. So LeRoy Butler, innovator of the Lambeau Leap, is excluded from his own statue. In an era when 50 percent completion rates and 20-interception seasons were common for Pro Bowl quarterbacks, Anderson's 64.9 percent completion rate and quarterback ratings above 90 look like temporal anomalies. Since 2013, Jones has registered six double-digit sack seasons including a 17 sack season in 2017 that led the NFL, and a career-high of 19 in 2019. He is also infamous for admitting on ESPN Radio that he once purposely let Packers defender Sean Jones sack Scott Mitchell so the struggling quarterback would get knocked out of a game. Efficient? Numbers better than majority of RBs in history. He's rarely mentioned as an all-time great. Franklin-Myers went from fourth-round draft choice of the Rams in 2018, to a final roster cut in 2019. Web20 most underrated football players of all time 1. As the Chargers faded, Rivers kept them in the wild-card picture and became the franchise's only recognizable public figure. The Packers were a team with more history than identity when Butler arrived. He picked off a dozen passes in his career two of them at 38 years of age an absurd number for a 6-foot-4, 265-pound lineman. Sideways. I still don't know that people gave me my due respect for my production. Bates has still developed into a leader in the Bengals secondary and arguably their best player on defense. On this All-Underrated list, he is in very good company. Karl Mecklenburg. most underrated player You know the type. McLaurins numbers through two-plus seasons are very similar to Stefon Diggs, who went through a similar quarterback situation early during his career in Minnesota. Hes also among a select few to be a four-time Super Bowl champion. Full name: Jordi Alba Ramos Date of birth: March 21, 1989 Age: 33 years old (as of 2023) Place of birth: L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Spain Height: 1.70 m Current team: When London Fletcher retired after the 2014 season, Robert Klemko of The MMQBasked him if he was motivated by feeling underappreciated for most of his career. Membership on various All-1960s teams. WebTop 20 Most Underrated NFL Players of All Time 20 Drew Brees. Shenault is dynamic after the catch and plays like a running back with the ball in his hands. Jeff Saturday had to translate Peyton Manning's spur-of-the-moment audibles into protection schemes a split second before the snap. WebThe Top 10 Most Underrated Football Players of All Time 1. Hadl signed with the Chargers instead, and Sid Gilman built him into the trigger man for an offense from which all modern offenses descended. Tom Jackson. Gheorghe Hagi, Romania. After making the Pro Bowl twice early in his career, David has failed to make it since 2015 while still playing at a high level. David entered the league as a terrific coverage linebacker and has continued to grow into an all-around complete linebacker and playmaker. WebDeion Sanders: Deion Sanders is one of the most underrated players of all time. Coaches rave about his work off the field and his dedication to improving his craft. He was overshadowed by more famous teammates throughout his career. But Brown was a unique and underappreciated player for over a decade on a team that nearly revolutionized the way football is played. The Packers believed they were a veteran quarterback away from a playoff run in 1974, so head coach/GM Dan Devine acquired the 34-year-old Rams quarterback by surrendering a ransom of draft picks huge enough to cause even Ryan Pace to do a spit take: two first-rounders, two second-rounders and a third-rounder. WebMost Underrated NFL Players of All Time These men did so much but received so little credit in return. Both of those seasons came, ironically enough, after Allen and Buddy were separated. With his career spread evenly across three teams and zero All-Pro selections (a consequence of playing in the same era as Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher), Fletcher is a Hall of Fame long shot. Regardless of the Cardinals struggles, Dierdorf was a star. As for being so underrated he's overrated, wellthat's extremely underrated, which justifies Anderson's ranking here. Bates finished tied for 6th in 2020 with 15 passes defended. The Most Underrated Spanish Player Of All Time? - YouTube A mauler of a right guard, Timmerman also was agile enough to escort Marshall Faulk on screens and sweeps. Unlike many of Marshall's teammates, however, he wasnt an obnoxious self-promoter, which partly explained his absence from the NFC Pro Bowl roster that season. Allen has much in common with many others on this underrated list. Following a strong start to 2021, McLaurin is slowly beginning to earn the respect his game deserves. Terry McLaurin has played through one of the more unstable quarterback situations in football with Washington since entering the league but continues to emerge as one of the top wideouts in football. Most Underrated Today we look back at the most underrated Quarterbacks in the history of the NFL, and a few of these should be in Canton. Young was a devastating interior pass-rusher who recorded 30 sacks in the three-year span from 1998 through 2000. If McCree doesn't cough up that fourth-quarter pick, the Chargers beat the Patriots, and perhaps Philip Rivers leads a team that went 14-2 in the regular season to the Super Bowl. Robertson was one of the NFL's fastest linebackers in the 1970s. Ten of the most underrated footballers of all time His career was cut short by injuries suffered in the first of those three Pro Bowls. Honourable Mentions Hajime Hosogai, Hertha Berlin DM, Age: 27 Bottom line: Adam Vinatieri was money in the postseason, but Matt Bahr was even better. Ryan made three Pro Bowls, but All-Pro status was blocked by a couple of guys named Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr. That may be unfair to players like Robinson, Jerry Kramer and L.C. Randy Gradishar. Lambeau Field was an icy outpost; the Packers still played a handful of home games in Milwaukee back then. Deion Jones is one interception away from tying the all-time record for pick 6's by a linebacker, and he's done it in a fraction of the games. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1996. Through the 2018 season, Vinatieri checked in at 81 (56 of 69) and 99 (70 of 71), respectively. Teams: Seattle Seahawks, Kansas City Chiefs, Detroit Lions, Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Tennessee Oilers, Pro Bowl appearances: Three (1984, 1988, 1989). His 23 fourth-quarter comebacks (20th overall) are more than Dan Fouts, Jim Kelly, Sonny Jurgensen and Bart Starr, to name a few Hall of Famers at the position. And consider this: The one-time college triple-jumper played with a Pro Bowl quarterback (Jim Everett) in only one season. It's hard for a running back to be underrated. Mike Kenn began his career playing left tackle for a lumbering 1970s power-running offense. Even unspectacular ones manage to rack up a few 1,000-yard seasons and get drafted early in fantasy leagues. 2022 NFL Mock Draft: Jacksonville Jaguars overtake Detroit for No. Naturally, it also guarantees that some of the best players in the country get overshadowed and forgotten in the sport's warp-speed news cycle. No one should expect to make money from the picks and predictions discussed on this website. Know who created those wide-open spaces? But there is no player; fans themselves get to "leap" into the statue for photo ops. Watch more top videos, highlights, and B/R original content, acquired the 34-year-old Rams quarterback by, Ronald C. Modra/Sports Imagery/Getty Images, Pro Football Reference Similar Players tool, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. Some might say it's a stretch to put Allen on this list after four straight Pro Bowl seasons and 95+ catch seasons. Along with Devin White, David was all over the field making plays around the ball and was one of the more valuable players in shutting down the Chiefs offense in the Super Bowl. Super Bowl championships: Two (1996, 1999). 2023 Fantasy Baseball Draft Prep Guide: Rankings, tiers, sleepers Jackson probably helped you win a fantasy title or two, but he would be remembered for so much more if he wasn't always on the wrong team at the wrong time. The only lineman to start all four of those games was a workout warrior and routinely bench-pressed 550 pounds in his prime. "Even now I still get pissed off. 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. He rose to Pro Bowl status playing left tackle for a single-back, Joe Gibbs-style 1980s offense. Entering 2021, Moton had allowed only 10 sacks in over 2,000 pass-blocking snaps. Schlereth started in three Super Bowls with the Redskins and Broncos, all of them victories. Turner was the ultimate plug-and-play guy, one of five 49ers to be part of all eight of their playoff teams in the decade. Yet he still led his team to the playoffs three more times. And Jackson spent a generation as a pre- and postgame show staple, which puts him in a whole different category. His 2,690 all-purpose yards with the Titans in the 2000 season are second in league history. Ground rules: A max of three Pro Bowl invitations. Rivers had neither, but he possessed just about everything else. Sutton hauled in 72 catches for 1,112 yards during his second season in the league before a knee injury cut short his 2020campaign after 1 game. He finished his career by doing something almost impossible: signing with the Patriots as a veteran role player during one of the few years they didn't reach the Super Bowl.
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