OT-Overrated past football players

[njpatsfan]

It's not his fault and he's clearly a hugely likable guy, but Drew Bledsoe is at the very top of overrated athletes who played in New England. He's a big kid with a good arm, but Robert Kraft must be anointed the real Pied Piper for his ability to get local fans to flock in his worship of this player(called him the G.O.A.T.), along with his acceptance and selection of the "flying elvis" from amongst the feces NFL Properties hastily cooked up at James Orthwein's request after murdering our identity.

Overrated ? He was the best quarterback to wear a New England uniform until Brady.

I'm not going to even attempt to address the rest of your tinfoil-hat blather.

 

[VrabelJr]

James Harrison
Bart Scott
Terrell Suggs

 

[Seacoast Fan]

Chad Johnson- Big regular season stats for a few years, not much playoff success.

Brett Favre- He was ridiculously tough but the guy could've had 3 or 4 Super Bowl rings if he didn't make so many back-foot or cross-body throws.

Peyton Manning- Tons of records in the regular season but come playoff time he was just too inconsistent. I think playing in a dome for most of his career with awesome receivers really inflated his stats

Troy Polamalu- Fast, athletic player but I always thought people were way too enamored with his hair and personality.

Agree 100% about Troy Polamalu. For every play he made, there was another play he was totally caught out of position. Sometimes two.

 

[jmt57]

Even though he was a Jet, I'll disagree on Namath. The TD-Interception differential and passer rating is useless because we're comparing different eras. For that time it wasn't bad at all; his first five years his passer rating was no worse than sixth.

As mentioned before his taking on the old guard and then delivering was great for those of us old enough to remember. It was a win for every Pats fan because it was a win for the AFL. and a loss for all those that disparaged the Patriots and their league.

Namath passed for 4000 yards when such a number wasn't even considered attainable, it was so unfathomable. 286 passing yards per game in '67 was a crazy good number.

Unfortunately for him he did not play in a time with today's technology in medicine and advances in surgeries. Take away the time lost to injuries and from '66 to '74 he was third in passing once and was either first or second every other season.



To me Favre and Manning are/were overrated. Very good, yes - but not the immortal players that too many make them out to be.

 

[Joey007]

McNabb
Kurt Warner
Zach Thomas

Zach Thomas? No one even talks about the guy anymore. I wouldn't call him overrated.

 

[Joey007]

To go further on Bettis: The guy was an incredible liability at the end of his career.

Just watched the re run of the 04 AFCCG game last night, Bettis had a fumble on a fourth and one, which btw was a situation he was supposed to be the best at. The games momentum went completely in our favor after that.

But interestingly I had forgotten this: they mentioned in the broadcast that Bettis had a fumble in the divisional round vs. the Jets the week before that nearly cost them the game!

And then guess what happened a year later? Bettis almost blew it again vs. Indy! And would have had Ben not made a shoe string tackle.

He was really just their fat sob story that they felt they needed to play hard for. He was the guy who started the trend of annoying teams that go on a playoff run because they feel like they need to win a ring for some old, washed out player.

 

[1960Pats]

In this thread we're going to name retired players from the past you always felt were overrated and why.

I'll start off

John Elway- i watched his entire prime and I always thought he was overrated. He was a classic case of a guy whose massive college hype overrated his actual playing career.

1.) He was never at any point in his career the best qb in the league, and for the most part it wasn't close. Don't give me that joke MVP I'm 1987. He was always a tier below the truly great Qbs of his time. In the 80's behind marino/Montana and the 90's favre and young. He was closer to guys like him Kelly,Aikman, Moon TBH.

2.) He rarely led the league in any type of significant passing category aside from yards once. He was more of a guy who was a complier than a truly dominant player.

3.) I know the Broncos went to the Super Bowl 3 times in the 80's but that was more of a product of the AFC being terrible than johns greatness. I mean the 1989 AFC might be the worst conference in sports history. He sucked in those games anyway and got blown out

4.) when he finally won the Super Bowl it was on a stacked Broncos team where he was simply along for the ride. Anyone could've handed the ball off to TD who was unstoppable in the playoffs in 97/98.

The Elway thing bothers me because a lot of casual fans put him in their top 5 of all time and he flat out is nowhere close. He's a guy who's in that 15-20 range for Qbs if we're being honest

I'm one of the people that have him overrated. I'm not alone either. He's very highly rated in a lot of places.

I have to adjust my list now.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Brett Favre hands down.

Brett's not the brightest bulb in the bunch, but I do not hold him responsible for the ridiculous worship of him that ESPN wrought.

Just like I can't blame Bledsoe for Kraft's Jupiter-sized ego...could be what fellow NFL owners are, ironically, most irritated by.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

To go further on Bettis: The guy was an incredible liability at the end of his career.

Just watched the re run of the 04 AFCCG game last night, Bettis had a fumble on a fourth and one, which btw was a situation he was supposed to be the best at. The games momentum went completely in our favor after that.

But interestingly I had forgotten this: they mentioned in the broadcast that Bettis had a fumble in the divisional round vs. the Jets the week before that nearly cost them the game!

And then guess what happened a year later? Bettis almost blew it again vs. Indy! And would have had Ben not made a shoe string tackle.

He was really just their fat sob story that they felt they needed to play hard for. He was the guy who started the trend of annoying teams that go on a playoff run because they feel like they need to win a ring for some old, washed out player.

This has, however, turned out to be a highly effective gimmick. Ray Lewis is retiring - and a vastly inferior Ravens team goes all the way. Peyton Manning is wrapping it up - and another clearly inferior Broncos team gets the Patriots to shoot themselves in the foot-again.

 

[Pats1989]

Some people have mentioned Bledsoe as overrated on here. He was responsible for bringing the franchise respectability. Without him and Tuna, there is no Gillette Stadium. Your likely looking at the Connecticut Patriots.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Some people have mentioned Bledsoe as overrated on here. He was responsible for bringing the franchise respectability. Without him and Tuna, there is no Gillette Stadium. Your likely looking at the Connecticut Patriots.

MANY, MANY, MANY! local Patriots fans agree with you (and Bob Kraft) on that whole, entire narrative.

Drew Bledsoe was drafted #1, paid a ton of money, showed up and was handed the starting QB position (granted, there wasn't anybody better on the roster).

So in '94 Kraft doesn't say "Sure James, buy out my lease and move the team" because of Bledsoe? In '98, he doesn't say, "Hartford, here we come!" because of Bledsoe?

If it were literally any other human being other than Christian Peter in that position, CMGI Field doesn't get built?

Orthwein brought Parcells here (after his insulting makeover) and while the team instantly took on a winning atmosphere after a three-year rough patch after Berry's firing, what occurred from '93-'00 was not even as good as what the team accomplished in the 80's, 70's or the 60's. Title contention coincided with inserting Brady as the starter.

The idea that Bledsoe is as good or better than Parilli, Plunkett, Grogan or even Flutie is believed by those many, many, many!...and is patently absurd to those who've spent their lives in football.

Bledsoe could throw-and he's good like Philip Rivers, Kerry Collins or Carson Palmer.

 

[XLIX]