Changes of Scenery: Turning a Bust into a Star

[Rain Man]

The Baldwin/Jenkins thread makes me wonder this.

What are some examples of guys who were busts for the team that drafted them, and then blossomed when they went to a new team?

I'm sure that some exist, but right now I'm having some trouble coming up with a good example. In particular, let's concentrate on high draft picks, but if you have others who languished and then became stars, throw them out there.

Favre flourished with his second team, but I'm not sure he was a bust with his first team. He just didn't play for them.

Priest Holmes flourished with his second team, but he was undrafted and had a 1,000 yard season with his first team.

Randy Moss flourished with New England after busting for Oakland, but he did pretty well with Minnesota before that.

Who ya got? Throw some names up here.

[Quesadilla Joe]

Broderick Bunkley was considered a bust before he came to Denver and then had a good season for us. He went to NO the next year and started sucking again though.

[Stewie]

Len Dawson

[Quesadilla Joe]

Rich Gannon is another guy.

[jd1020]

Does Cris Carter count?

[SanDiego49er]

I don't think it will happen for these 2.

[Easy 6]

Heres one for Chiefs fans... Priest Holmes.

I was heartsick when we picked him up from Baltimore... "WHAT? MAN **** THIS GUY"

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Cassel>Manning

Rich Gannon is another guy.

Gannon was a 4th round pick by the Vikings. That doesn't really count as a high round bust according to Rain man's premise.

[Saccopoo]

Easy, and I'll keep it in-house:

Despite his status as a first round draft pick, Dawson was unable to make an impact with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Following his rookie campaign, his status in the Steel City became even more tenuous when the Steelers acquired future Hall of Famer Bobby Layne. Failing to dislodge the colorful signal caller, Dawson was then traded to the Cleveland Browns on December 31, 1959.

After encountering similar problems in battling Browns' quarterback Milt Plum, Dawson was released, having completed only 21 passes for 204 yards and two touchdowns in his five seasons of NFL play. However, he soon found his calling when he signed with the American Football League's Dallas Texans on June 30, 1962. The move reunited him with Stram, who was beginning his third year as the Texans' head coach.

In that first season, 1962, Dawson led the league in touchdowns and yards per attempt, and was The Sporting News' selection as the AFL MVP, and was selected by his peers as a Sporting News 1966 AFL All-League player. He also led them that year to the first of three league titles in a thrilling double-overtime victory over the two-time defending champion Houston Oilers. Dawson ran a ball-control offense in the 20-17 win, and tossed a 28-yard touchdown pass to halfback Abner Haynes. Then the team moved to Kansas City and were renamed The Chiefs in 1963.

[ToxSocks]

Originally Posted by scott free

Heres one for Chiefs fans... Priest Holmes.

I was heartsick when we picked him up from Baltimore... "WHAT? MAN **** THIS GUY"

Doesn't count. He was an UDRFA and he was coming off a 1K season before being replaced with Jammal Lewis.

[Squatch]

Keenan McCardell and Jimmy Smith

Brian Waters

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by jd1020

Does Cris Carter count?

I think he was actually pretty good for Philly, wasn't he? He just kept bringing his dealer into the huddle and drawing 12-man penalties.

[ToxSocks]

There aren't many.

The whole "change of scenery" thing is bullshit IMO.

Players can either play or they can't. Most of the time when they go to another team they end up being the same exact player or worse.

[DMAC]

Joe Horn wasn't a high draft pick was he?

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by Saccopoo

Easy, and I'll keep it in-house:

Well, slap me down. I had no idea that Dawson was a first-round pick. I thought he was a late-round guy.