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Teams: St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams (2012-21), Carolina Panthers (2022-present), Career highlights: Super Bowl champion (2021), six-time NFL All-Pro (2013-18), four-time Pro Bowl (2013, 2015-17), NFL 2010s All-Decade Team. If the quarterback got rid of the ball before getting crushed, it was up to Allen to make a play. Much of the Saints' offensive success in Evans' prime years is rightfully credited to Brees. And few players in NFL history, if any, can say they've played for the group of coaches Walls learned under Robinson, Tom Landry, Bill Parcells, Jimmy Johnson and Bill Belichick. With the Tennessee Titans owning the No. He finished his career in 2015 with 136 sacks. Not only was Fleming good enough to stick with great teams, but he also was the luckiest son of a gun on the face of the earth. April 5, 2023 9:13 am ET. 
WebHe made 6 consecutive Pro Bowls from 1977-82 yet was only an All-Pro once in 1980. That made Hull one of the first centers to make line adjustments on the fly. Many superstars surfaced at this time but perhaps none bigger than Shaquille ONeal and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers who led them to 3 straight titles at the beginning of the decade. Theres a chance given his size and Bottom line: Never mind guys such as Michael Vick and Lamar Jackson. But don't write him off as some 1960s product of the system. Wouldnt you know it? Bottom line: Few remember Glen Edwards as the fearless strong safety with the Steelers first two Super Bowl teams. WebNFL Network's Willie McGinest, Shaun O'Hara and LaDainian Tomlinson highlight three underrated players in the NFL. Those who like to shout "first-ballot Hall of Famer" about Rivers do not know how the Hall of Fame works. What's keeping Martin on the underrated list is his lack of success with the only team he's ever played for. The Rams acquired him from the Chargers in 1973 in exchange for defensive end Coy Bacon. It's better to be remembered for one of the most painful moments in your career than to not be remembered at all. 
Born: April 10, 1960 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), Career highlights: Two-time Super Bowl champion (2000, 2012). The Over-the-Hill Gang fielded one of the most ferocious pass rushes of its era, notching 53 sacks in 1973. Victory propelled Montana to superstardom, while defeat left the 32-year old Anderson to play out the string as a high-percentage passer for a rapidly disintegrating franchise. UAB CB Starling Thomas V. Texas A&M RB Devon Achane. The Top 10 Most Improved Players of the 2023 NBA Season Headlines. But run defense was king in the era when McDole played, and his 16-year career is littered with big plays: 12 interceptions, 14 fumble recoveries, two touchdowns, three safeties and a pair of sacks in the 1966 AFL Championship Game. He was 41 years old. Both of those seasons came, ironically enough, after Allen and Buddy were separated. Allen led the NFL in sacks again in 2011 and holds the NFL career record with four safeties. WebButler, a Louisiana Tech University product, entered the league as the 30th overall pick of the 2016 NFL draft. 2. If not for Schlereth's many health problems that included 29 surgeries, 15 on his left knee alone, he would have been a perennial Pro Bowl selection. Bottom line: NFL statheads and maybe only NFL statheads appreciate Frank Gore's career. And almost nobody remembers that, when Edwards caught the ball, he knew what to do it. He blitzed (20.5 sacks). The correct answer is Player A (Ken Stabler), and if youre Player B (Brodie), you have to wonder if one Super Bowl should make that much difference. Bottom line: All Ken Norton could do was take down ballcarriers and collect Super Bowl rings. Who knows what the NFL might have looked like then? Brett Favre may be the player most responsible for bringing spectacle and success back to Titletown, but Butler brought back celebration. Frank Ryan, QB, Browns. Super Bowl championships: Two (2005, 2008). With his career spread evenly across three teams and zero All-Pro selections (a consequence of playing in the same era as Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher), Fletcher is a Hall of Fame long shot. That "something" was throwing for more than 29,000 yards and going to four AFL All-Star Games and a Pro Bowl with the Chargers and then leading the Rams to a 12-2 record in 1973. By the time Rivers is retired for five years, the "San Diego Chargers" will be as relevant as the Dayton Triangles, and Hall voters will be too busy rubber-stamping Tom Brady and Drew Brees to get to a guy from a lost city who couldn't win the big one. The Jaguars upset John Elway's Broncos and reached the AFC Championship Game as a second-year expansion team and then went on to three more playoff berths, culminating in a 14-2 season. In the nine seasons that Aaron Smith had double-digit starts, their D ranked among the top nine in yards allowed every time, but his consistent play went over the heads of many. In 2004 he had Actually, make that four careers. His 23 fourth-quarter comebacks (20th overall) are more than Dan Fouts, Jim Kelly, Sonny Jurgensen and Bart Starr, to name a few Hall of Famers at the position. Riley's 65 career interceptions rank among the NFL's all-time greats, and he was a three-time NFL All-Pro. WebIn 161 career NFL games, Cunningham was a highlight machine. He accounted for all his teams points in a 15-13 white-knuckler that wrecked the 49ers three-peat bid and sent the Giants to Super Bowl XXV. Bottom line: Pete Retzlaff was a star running back at South Dakota State but was cut by the Lions in 1953 and didnt make an NFL roster until 1956. Young played for the teams that slowly slid from George Seifert to Steve Mariucci to oblivion. Sideways. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports. Young started his career as the NFC Defensive Rookie of the Year and ended it as a four-time winner of the Len Eshmont Award, the 49ers' team award for character and leadership. Philadelphia 76ers Premier League UFC Television The Real Housewives of Atlanta Ryan needed surgery and was in constant pain for the rest of his career. Sad to say, Morgan was woefully miscast in a run-first offense in a less pass-friendly time. Teams: Arizona Cardinals (2003-09), Baltimore Ravens (2010-12), San Francisco 49ers (2013-15), Detroit Lions (2016), Career highlights: Super Bowl champion (2012), NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year (2003), Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year (2015), three-time Pro Bowl (2003, 2006, 2008). Of all the players on this list, Jackson might actually be the most underrated. 
Not one of the Jim Harbaugh-era guys. Once an arbitrary number of players from a historic team get enshrined, the committee moves on in search of underappreciated players from other franchises. It was the era of great defensive lines with catchy namesthe Rams had the Fearsome Foursome, the Cowboys the Doomsday Defense, the Steelers later added the Steel Curtain, and so forthand Marshall was the Ringo Starr of the Purple People Eaters, the guy who once ran the wrong way for a touchdown and was happy just to be in the band. Quick: Name the 49ers' all-time sack leader. April 5, 2023 9:13 am ET. Watters has never been a serious candidate for the Hall of Fame, which can be blamed almost solely on several incidents where he alienated teammates with his bad attitude. While Randle's 5,996 career receiving yards and 365 career receptions don't necessarily jump off the page, what does is his 65 career receiving touchdowns in just 120 career games, which ranks him among the top touchdown-per-game leaders in NFL history. Born: Aug. 25, 1965 (Birmingham, Alabama), Teams: Buffalo Bills (1987-95), Atlanta Falcons (1996-98), Indianapolis Colts (1999-2000), Career highlights: Two-time AFC Defensive Player of the Year (1988, 1991), five-time Pro Bowl (1988, 1990-93), three-time All-Pro (1988, 1991, 1992), AFC Defensive Team of the Decade (2000s). Mike Kenn began his career playing left tackle for a lumbering 1970s power-running offense. When London Fletcher retired after the 2014 season, Robert Klemko of The MMQBasked him if he was motivated by feeling underappreciated for most of his career. Fleming was a reliable backup tight end/wide receiver who played with four Super Bowl-winners (and one NFL champion) in a dozen seasons. The career active leader in games started by a defensive lineman is Julius Peppers with 227. One of the most feared pass rushers in NFL history, Swilling finished his career with 107.5 sacks but no playoff wins. Super Bowl championships: Four (1981, 1984, 1988, 1989). 3. "When I was there, the thing we were missing was that explosive type of offense, and the new coach brought that in.". An undrafted quarterback out of the late Milton College (Wisconsin), Krieg got them to the postseason four times and the AFC championship game once. For more great NFL players, check out Stadium Talk. Truth is, Norton should have been Super Bowl XXVII Most Valuable Player, not Troy Aikman, who was the obligatory quarterback pick. As the Chargers faded, Rivers kept them in the wild-card picture and became the franchise's only recognizable public figure. WebTop 20 Most Underrated NFL Players of All Time Those who have knowledge of National Football League history are well aware of the more famous individuals who made their NFL career: Cleveland Browns (2005-12), New York Jets (2013), Indianapolis Colts (2014) Bottom Line: Josh Cribbs. Theyre the core players who are overshadowed by more well-paid, high-profile teammates and just plain pathetic, shameless self-promoters. Try Dave Krieg. Maybe Wright wasn't a Blount-level legend, but he deserves better than to be the forgotten man among the Broncos' forgotten men. A mauler of a right guard, Timmerman also was agile enough to escort Marshall Faulk on screens and sweeps. Rivers' outsized personality didn't win him many fans outside of the cities he played in during his 17 seasons in the NFL, but the final tally on his numbers tell a story of one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. Ellard moved on to Washington in 1994 and enjoyed a late-career renaissance, averaging 61 catches and 18.8 yards per reception over a three-year span in his mid-30s. His teams averaged 392.0 yards and 34.0 points in those games. MVP-caliber seasons (1,528 yards, 90 receptions, 16 total touchdowns in 2006) early in his career gave way to annual 1,100-1,200 yard, low-touchdown grinds as the Greatest Show Rams retired one by one and the team fell to 2-14 and 1-15. He's a seven-time NFL All-Pro, won a Super Bowl, was named to the NFL's 2010s All-Decade team and holds NFL records for longest play (109 yards) and most career kickoff returns for touchdowns. 72 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft, we decided to take a look back at the last two decades-plus of the history of selections in that spot. He also had some of the clutch gene. On the final play a year later, he picked off a Roger Staubach pass in the end zone that put the Cowboys to rest. An all-underrated team like this one can get flooded with Zach Thomas, Hardy Nickerson, Tommy Nobis and Tedy Bruschi types if we don't get a little choosy. Career highlights: NFL champion (1964), four-time NFL All-Pro (1963-65, 1969), seven-time Pro Bowl (1963-68). He is as durable and consistent as they come, Bottom line: The Greatest Show On Turf boasted so much star power you couldnt tell the other Rams without a program. acquired the 34-year-old Rams quarterback by, Ronald C. Modra/Sports Imagery/Getty Images, Pro Football Reference Similar Players tool. He just one Pro Bowl but made a big impact on the field for the Rams. Is he the greatest return specialist of all time? These are the most underrated college football players of all time. If Mel Blount, Mike Haynes and teammate Lemar Parrish hadnt been in the same conference, Riley would have made more a few more Pro Bowl trips. Jerry Rice and John Taylor may have been the greatest receiving tandem of that era, but Ellard and Flipper Anderson were the most explosive pair of deep threats. And because versatility is his calling card, he'll never produce gaudy sack totals or climb any all-time leaderboards. Roschon Johnson: The Most Underrated Prospect in the 2023 NFL Draft. Pro Football Reference rates him at near a Pro Bowl level well into his 30s. Passing wasn't really their thing. Start with Adam Timmerman, who won Super Bowl rings with the Packers and Rams three years apart. 
But Wright never posted massive interception totals, and his teams ended up on the receiving end of a pair of Super Bowl beatings. As for being so underrated he's overrated, wellthat's extremely underrated, which justifies Anderson's ranking here. He never had under 50 receptions in a season and had over 800 receiving yards in 11 out of 14 seasons, including seven seasons with over 1,000 receiving yards. One of the most durable players in NFL history, Witten didnt miss a game over his last 11 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys but lands on the underrated list because of his lack of postseason success. A player so underrated that his own team just drafted his likely replacement, Williams The Colts accused Ryan of running up the score in the 27-0 championship rout of 1964. Butler, a Louisiana Tech University product, entered the league as the 30th overall pick of the 2016 NFL draft. Hes second in NFL history for receptions and receiving yards for a tight end and holds NFL records for most receptions in one half and most games with 15-plus receptions. Webmost underrated nfl players 2000s most underrated nfl players 2000s WebThe Top 10 Most Improved Players of the 2023 NBA Season Headlines. He headed to Washington and moved from the weak to strong side. They got the Cardinals (the Cardinals!) He must either play for teams so good that they overshadow his accomplishments, or teams so bad that he had to do it all by himself. That's its own kind of recognition. WebExpect a bigger workload and more scores in 2022. But no highlight clip of that play can be found on the internet. The Pro Football Reference Similar Players tool compares Ryan's five-year peak to that of Joe Theismann. Along with the legendary Johnny Unitas, Rote probably did more to change the quarterback position than anyone in the pre-merger era even if so few know it. Once his career was over, Schafrath's life took another strange twist. The 5-foot-9 running back played 16 seasons and finished his career No. He arrived in Buffalo at the same time Marv Levy was revolutionizing NFL offense with the help of Jim Kelly, Andre Reed and Thurman Thomas. WebBesides the ones I mentioned, Ahman Green, Clinton Portis, Fred Taylor, Tiki Barber, Rudi Johnson, Curtis Martin, Jamal Lewis, Deuce McCallister were all very good players. The USFL may not have been the NFL in terms of quality, but being the Luke Kuechly of a league that featured Herschel Walker, Jim Kelly and Steve Young should count for something. As much as he means to FAU, that is the only player FAU is scheduled to lose. Evans is a long shot to do either, which is a shame. Bottom line: Modern football fans never had the pleasure of seeing Ricky Watters or his distinctive, high-stepping running style in his prime. Ron McDole falls into that final category. 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