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Top 50 Great College Football Players That Didn't Pan Out

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BamaFossil

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His top ten isn't very good IMO. So Ernie Davis is #3 on the list of great players that didn't pan out. He died of leukemia right after college. That doesn't meet my criteria of what it means to "not pan out".

Archie Griffin in the #1 spot is an obvious cheapshot at OSU. Granted Griffin didn't have a stellar all-pro career. However, he played a number of years in the pros and did a credible job. No way he's the poster child for great college players that didn't pan out in the pros.

The author was stretching for off-season fodder. I obliged him by reading it... :frown:
 
CajunCrimson

CajunCrimson

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Is it me, or is there a tremendous number of Nebraska players? And quite a few FSU players too...... I knew there would be quite a few Big 10 Players -- as well, so I guess Nebraska joined the right conference
 
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4Q Basket Case

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BamaFossil said:
His top ten isn't very good IMO. So Ernie Davis is #3 on the list of great players that didn't pan out. He died of leukemia right after college. That doesn't meet my criteria of what it means to "not pan out".

Archie Griffin in the #1 spot is an obvious cheapshot at OSU. Granted Griffin didn't have a stellar all-pro career. However, he played a number of years in the pros and did a credible job. No way he's the poster child for great college players that didn't pan out in the pros.

The author was stretching for off-season fodder. I obliged him by reading it... :frown:
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Unfortunately for me, you're not alone. Missing Ryan Leaf and including Ernie Davis and Archie Griffin is just abominable.

I'll never get that 20 minutes back. Time to move on.
 
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BAMA1979

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I can see not having him on this list because IMO he was not a great college football player. He was a player who had one very good season. His stats are definitely not great considering he was playing against PAC 10 defenses. He started 24 college games and the first 12 of those were average at best. His career completion percentage at Washington State was just 53.8% and in his best season he was below 56%. McElroy's career completion percentage was 66.3% and it was 70.9% last season. Lots of fairly average quarterbacks have had a season where everything fell into place and they threw for a lot of yards (see Texas Tech, Hawaii, etc.). I usually don't put a lot of stock in stats, but he didn't have any leadership qualities either. I'm sure some people will say that winning the PAC 10 and going to the Rose Bowl at Washington State is amazing, but that team had 13 players on it who would go on to play in the NFL and Washington State made it back to the Rose Bowl a few years later without him. His high draft selection makes his college career seem a lot greater than it actually was.

Ryan Leaf College & Pro Football Statistics - Totalfootballstats.com
 
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BamaFanTraeInGeorgia

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I agree that Ernie Davis should not be on this list. It was not as if he decided to get sick so he would not have to play!

Ryan Leaf should have taken Davis' spot. Not having Leaf on the list is like putting Jerry Rice No. 1 on this list...it just does not make sense!
 
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GMacFan

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Where is our good friend Geno Torreta? Guess we dispelled all doubt prior to the NFL draft.
 
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rhunter

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Tons of FSU, ND, and Nebraska players- as well as three AU legends. Sorry to see Eric Curry on there BUT a 10 year career in the pros is not "not panning out"- Agreed that the author was stretching it a bit. To me, huge difference between guys who got injured (or DIED!!) andf guys who just sucked at the pro level. Should have made TWO lists!!
 
GreatDanish

GreatDanish

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Maybe I'm missing something. The article is not about players that didn't "pan out" as much as the greatest college players that had lesser pro careers.
It is not a bust list for guys like Leaf and Jamarcus Russell. It's a list of Heisman winners, Outland winners, that just didn't play much in the NFL. That's what the introduction says...
Heisman Trophy winners. All-Americans. Hall of Famers. Collectively, they were some of the greatest players in college football history. During their careers, they led their teams to titles, and had nicknames like "Mr. Inside," "Rocket" and the "Boz." They were the real big men on campus.

But once the marching bands and pep rallies stopped, they barely made a ripple in pro football. Because of injuries, military commitments and other career decisions, many of the sport's legends never made an impact in the NFL.
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I won't disagree with what the author should have done. This is what he wanted to do. Fine. That's what he did. I don't think it's that bad of a list. Kind of interesting to read up on some older Heisman winners that didn't play in the pros...
 
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BAMA1979

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GreatDanish said:
Maybe I'm missing something. The article is not about players that didn't "pan out" as much as the greatest college players that had lesser pro careers.
It is not a bust list for guys like Leaf and Jamarcus Russell. It's a list of Heisman winners, Outland winners, that just didn't play much in the NFL. That's what the introduction says...I won't disagree with what the author should have done. This is what he wanted to do. Fine. That's what he did. I don't think it's that bad of a list. Kind of interesting to read up on some older Heisman winners that didn't play in the pros...
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I interpreted it the same way you did...great college players who had lesser pro careers...not high draft picks who didn't do anything in the NFL. The reason I think Ryan Leaf was correctly excluded from the list is that he was not a great college football player-he was a high draft pick who did nothing in the NFL which is not what I interpreted the list to be. IMO those would be two separate lists, but there would be players who belong on both lists (i.e. Tony Mandarich, Bosworth, etc.).
 
colbysullivan

colbysullivan

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LOTS of notre dame players on that list, nebraska too. ernie davis has no business being on this list. he would have been a star in the NFL. it's a shame he died so young. ryan leaf isn't mentioned because he was only good for 1 year
 
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BAMA1979

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colbysullivan said:
LOTS of notre dame players on that list, nebraska too. ernie davis has no business being on this list. he would have been a star in the NFL. it's a shame he died so young. ryan leaf isn't mentioned because he was only good for 1 year
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The title of this thread is misleading and is not what the list is about. In the introduction, the writers who created the list state that it's about great college players who "never made an impact in the NFL". To say that Ernie Davis "didn't pan out" in pro football would be incorrect, but I think it's definitely fair to say that Ernie Davis did not make an impact in the NFL.

You are dead on about Ryan Leaf. He was a good starting quarterback for one season and an average one in his other season as a starter.
 
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