Too easily forgotten

Was talking football with my buddy yesterday. We got on the subject of players that had promising careers that started great and for whatever reason didn't pan out for whatever reason. One name that popped in my head that I hadnt thought about in a long time was kendrell Bell. Man I really thought we hit the jackpot with him. Damn injury bug bit him though.

Anyone got one that stands out to them from a while back? I know shazier's will always hurt but is fairly recent.

Side note my buddy is a raiders fan and is lamenting Bo Jackson still to this day. I almost feel sorry for him but never let on because it's the raiders.

 

How far is a while back specifically?!

A Decade?! A Generation?! Thirty years?!


No seriously. I would love to continue this discussion!

 

The GOAT of this question has to be Ryan Shazier. How many more rings would the Steelers have if Shazier kept playing?

 

Playoffs that year would have certainly been different. It also directly affected the draft for a couple years. To some extent it still affects the team to this day

 

Martavis Bryant. Kid was phenomenal, just couldn't figure life out (Chris Henry for Cincy is a VERY similar situation, though his end was far more tragic).
Le'Veon Bell. Could've been a HOF caliber player with 3-ish more big years in Pitt. Bad advice submarined his career.
AB's end of his career. He is probably still a HOF caliber player, but he's lost his mind. CTE is no joke.
Ryan Shazier. Horrific injury. Special player. Miss him to this day

 

Do the Steelers take Pickett if Haskin isn’t killed?

 

My bad on this. I guess Pickett was drafted after Haskins Death.


Your question should be: If Haskins had not been killed that year, would Mason have even made the team in 2022? The Steelers signed Mith to a 3 year contract, drafted Kenny in the 1st round and placed an RFA Tender on Haskins to keep him around for another year. Something tells me they had no plans to keep Mason around in 2022.

 

Haskins died 4-9-22

Pickett was drafted 4-28-22

Calendars are your friend.

 

They still would have drafted Pickett, in my opinion.
(And unless Haskins had a dramatic resurgence in training camp, I think MR still becomes the 3rd QB, with Haskins either cut or on the PS.)

The Steelers were trying a variety of options, without overcommitting to a single strategy or spending too many resources on one person.
If any of them panned out as a clear winner, then the team is set.
I don't think they would take drafting a new player off the table.
- Veteran backup, who hasn't flashed franchise ability but also hadn't plateaued yet (Rudolph)
- Former 1st round pick who had a Pro-Bowl season under his belt, although it wasn't favorable to return to that level (Trubisky)
- Failed former 1st round pick with loads of athletic talent, but uncertain if a new environment would harness that talent (Haskins)
- New player drafted late in the 1st round (Pickett)

The only thing they didn't try (which maybe they should this year for a 3rd QB) is get an Arena or CFL QB, in the hopes that a few years of experience in that league made a great improvement over what that player was like coming out of college.

 

You're right, he did.........but we are talking about when he died, not when he signed a contract.

 

I've told this story on here before. A girl I worked with has a son-in-law who is huge Steeler fan. He suffered a terrible injury in a boating accident similar to Shazier. Not sure how it happened but Shazier and him would Facetime and Ryan would give him encouragement. It is a terrible terrible injury and a total nightmare for my friends family. Ryan really uplifted his mood with the calls.

Sad to say it all ended recently when Ryan had set up a date and time to talk but had to cancel since his wife caught him fiddling around with other ladies. Not sure how that is going for Ryan but he has suspending his support for the time being.

 

Eric Greene

 

Gabriel Rivera, our next Joe Greene!

 

This is probably the biggest what might have been in Steelers history.

 

In 1961, 1st Rd (5th overall) pick, All-American Bob Ferguson out of Ohio State. He finished 2nd for the Heisman behind Ernie Davis of Syracuse in '61 (another very sad story). Ferguson's calling card was "he never lost a yard in rushing all 4 years", in other words, a can't miss in the NFL. But.......he was horrible and managed only 209 yards rushing over 2 years with Steelers and then the Vikings.This was so typical for the Steelers before the Dynasty.

 

I don't know....K. Bell was better quicker than Shazier was by quite a lot, but once He had that sports hernia....He wasn't the same.

 

Señor Sack was a freakish athlete and would have been the next anchor on the defensive line. Sad that a stupid decision cost him his career and a better quality of life. He’ll also be remembered as the guy we picked instead of Dan Marino.

 

All very good

 

I guess going back at least a decade and longer. Would like to hear from the older heads about ones maybe I've never heard of.

Losing shazier is still rather fresh and upsetting for me personally. I'm sure he's on most people's minds on a subject like this.

 

Yeah I seriously miss the old AB as well. Dude was spectacular for a stretch and amazed me week in and week out with his playmaking ability.

 

For instance barry foster was another I just could not get over at the time. Kinda came out of nowhere and almost took the rushing title one year. Then just kinda faded. Can't even remember why off the top of my head.

 

That's a good question.

 

Damn!!! That's what I'm talking about. Forgot all about him. Huge tight end with good hands, decent blocking and moves.

 

Never heard of him but will definitely be looking into him.

 

Bell came shortly after Kirkland right? I remember being bummed when that big mamma jamma left. But when bell arrived I was truly impressed with his speed, power and even covered pretty good if I remember right.