Thread: NFL's had big-time draft busts, on and off the field

By Patrick Saunders
The Denver Post
POSTED: 04/15/2010 11:51:59 AM MDT
UPDATED: 04/15/2010 11:52:10 AM MDT

For all of the timing, testing, measuring, prodding, film watching and Wonderlicking, the NFL draft sometimes turns into a maddening nightmare for the brains in the war room.

I bring this up because a story came across the wire this morning that Ryan Leaf has been sentenced to 10 years of probation after pleading guilty to eight felony drug charges in Texas.

Leaf is, by almost any measure, the biggest draft bust in NFL history. The Washington State product was drafted by the Chargers in the first round of the 1998 draft. He was the second overall pick, taken right behind Peyton Manning.

Though it seems ridiculous now, many actually believed that Washington State's Leaf would be better than Manning.

Leaf
finished his career with a 4-17 record as a starter with the Chargers (4-14) and Cowboys (0-3). He threw 14 TD passes and 36 interceptions and was sacked 65 times in 25 games in four NFL seasons.
Leaf, of course, is not the only draft disaster. I won't attempt to chronicle them all here. For that, visit ESPN's top 50 draft busts of all-time.

Instead, I present a few of the most troubling, head-scratching selections of all-time. All of these busts have one thing in common: major red-flag character flaws that were either missed, ignored or overlooked by NFL personnel men.

Running back Lawrence Phillips
The sixth overall pick by the Rams in 1996 was sentenced in December to more than 31 years in prison for attacking his girlfriend and driving his car into three teens. He had a history of trouble while attending Nebraska, but the Rams thought they could turn him around. They couldn't.

Quarterback Art Schlichter
The Colts' first-round pick in 1982 was the fourth overall pick of the draft. The Ohio State star played in just 13 games, throwing three touchdown passes and 11 picks. His gambling addiction cost him his career and he's spent time in at least 17 jails.

Defensive end Reggie Rogers
He was the Lions' first-round pick in 1987 and the seventh overall pick. The former Washington Huskie lasted just two years with Detroit, playing one game and recording one sack. In 1988, Rogers was convicted of vehicular homicide after killing three teenagers while driving under the influence. He served 16 months in prison before returning to the NFL briefly with the Bills and Buccaneers in 1991 and 1992.

Quarterback Todd Marinovich
The Southern California QB, raised by his dad to be the perfect athlete, ran into drug problems before his NFL career even got started. Drafted by the Raiders in the first round in 1991 (24th overall pick), he made just eight regular-season starts (3-5) in two seasons with Oakland. He's been arrested numerous times for drug possession and spent time homeless on Southern California beaches.

Running back Maurice Clarett
Coach Mike Shanahan shocked Broncos nation by using the third-round pick in 2005 to select the Ohio State product with the 101st overall pick.

After leading Ohio State to the 2002 national championship, Clarett never played another football game, in college or the pros. After failing to overturn the NFL rule that mandated a player must be out of high school for three years to be eligible for the draft, Clarett sat out two seasons. Shanahan gambled on him, but Clarett was cut before the season began.

Clarett is currently serving time in an Ohio prison after pleading guilty in September 2006 to having a hidden gun in his SUV and holding up two people outside a Columbus bar in a separate case. He was sentenced to 7-1/2 years in prison.

Trivia time

Name the Broncos' first-round draft choice in 1988 who never made it out of training camp with the team. (Answer below)









Diminutive defensive tackle Ted Gregory, who was traded to New Orleans that summer by coach Dan Reeves.

"I remember thinking he was the shortest 6-1 player I'd ever seen," Reeves famously said. Gregory, who arrived at camp with a bum knee, later admitted he used steroids to pump his body up to NFL levels. Here's a link to a story about his rise and fall.