| Rain Man |
01-02-2017 02:11 PM |
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fairplay
(Post 12655999)
|
Yeah, that'll get you suspended. It sounds like the whole team lost discipline.
Palmer came and went so fast in Kansas City that he never made much of an impression on me. He was obviously a disappointment as a first round pick, but to some extent I think he was never noticed because the second round pick was Christian Okoye.
He actually was fairly productive, though, when you consider that his path to starting was blocked by the Nigerian Nightmare. He returned two kickoffs for touchdowns as a rookie, and in his second year he had more than 1,000 yards from scrimmage, 611 receiving and 452 rushing (albeit with a horrendous 3.4 average). He was then cut before his third season, which was Marty's first. I'm guessing Marty didn't like small running backs and particularly didn't like small running backs who threaten to throw games.
Edit: Holy cow. He fumbled 7 times on 187 touches from scrimmage in that 1,000 yard season, and he fumbled 12 times on 344 touches from scrimmage in his career. It sounds like threatening to fumble was a bit redundant. No wonder Marty cut him.
Here's an interesting article about Paul from a couple of years ago. http://www.whipradiotu.com/inside-th...f-paul-palmer/. I think it's a beginner journalist so some parts are confusing, but it's got some good background. Reading between the lines, it sounded like he was a little slow to mature, which links in with the threat to fumble.
A few other interesting tidbits from the article if you don't want to wade through it:
- He was recruited to Temple by their head coach Bruce Arians. Wow. Bruce Arians has been around for a while, I guess.
- He was a Heisman finalist, but his records at Temple were nullified when it was revealed that he accepted money from agents. He said it wasn't much money (enough to buy cheesesteaks and subway rides), and that the only person who knew was a teammate who blackmailed him for more cheesesteaks. However, he also acknowledged that he sent cash to his great-grandmother at this time to help support her.
- Apparently he was raised by his great-grandmother, and she died on the same day he was drafted, which derailed him for a bit. .
- Knowing that his great-grandmother was sick, he went to her house on draft day. But she didn't get ESPN, so he couldn't watch the draft and instead just waited around for the phone to ring. (Remember: pre-internet).
- A football reporter was sent to his house on draft day to hang out with him. The reporter was James Brown, the guy who now runs one of the pre-game shows. (I never remember which guys are on which shows.)
I always like reading about these past guys. They fade into history and become just names, but they always have very interesting stories when you dig a little. |
