Browns wanting lewis

I would think teams would be very wary of taking on our castoffs. How many have really panned out?

I don't think our trash has often turned into anyone else's treasure:

Santonio Holmes, Bryant McFadden, Antwaan Randle-El, Chris Hope, Kendrell Bell, Plaxico Burress, Marvel Smith, Clark Haggans, Troy Edwards, Joey Porter, Kris Brown, Alan Faneca, Mike Vrabel, Earl Holmes, Yancey Thigpen, Kordell Stewart, Brentson Buckner, Jason Gildon, Chad Brown, Willie Williams, Leon Searcy, Levon Kirkland, Darren Perry, Eric Green, Barry Foster, Carnell Lake, Rod Woodson, Hardy Nickerson, Greg Lloyd, Kevin Greene . . . Heck, you can even add Mike Webster, Franco Harris, and Louis Lipps to that lineup.

That's a lot of guys we wanted to hold on to (except for Kordell, Troy Edwards, and Kris Brown) who were pretty much busts at their next stop. At the least, they certainly didn't perform at a high level at their next stop (with the exception of maybe Chris Hope, Plaxico Burress, Joey Porter, and Mike Vrabel -- but we quickly replaced those guys with Ryan Clark, Santonio Holmes, James Harrison, and Joey Porter).

Our track record certainly shows our front office knows what they're doing and have earned our trust.

Just scanning past drafts, I think our 1987 draft hasn't earned the attention it deserves in our team's history:

1.) Rod Woodson (HOF)
2.) Delton Hall (solid player)
3.) Charles Lockett (crickets)
4.) Thomas Everett (solid player)
5.) Hardy Nickerson (damn good player)
6.) Tim Johnson (solid player)
6.) Greg Lloyd (3x All-Pro)
. . .
10.) Merril Hoge (damn good player)

This draft was really the rebirth of our success. We followed it up with Dirt the next year (back-to-back HOF drafts), Lake, Olsavsky, and Haselrig (what a steal at 12th round!) the year after that, and Eric Green, O'Donnell, Barry Foster, and Strzelczyk (another steal in 11th round) the following year.

We need to get back to that kind of drafting. By all accounts, our drafts have sucked (for depth) in recent years.

 

Good post, DS. You can also add Neil O'Donnel to that list above. He really didn't do squat when he left for more money either.

 

Yeah, I considered Neil O. He actually did fairly well in helping Parcells to improve a sorry Jets team though (and I don't know that anyone other than myself wanted him to stay in Pittsburgh). 1-15 his first year (he only played six games) in NY and 9-7 his second.

When I think about Neil O, I can't help but think we would've beaten Denver at home in the '97 AFCCG and also New England in '02. Purely speculation but I felt that Neil O was VERY effective in our system and I'd place him as probably the third-best quarterback ever to suit up for us (Bobby Layne is the argument here but 1.) Who here saw him play? and 2.) He did most of his notable work in Detroit).

 

Didn't Neil also play with the Titans for a while too or am I just imagining that? I really think Neil gets kind of a bad rap from us. Yes he blew it when it counted the most but he was a solid player for a while though right? I mean I was an early teen when he was here and so I can't really assess him like some of you more seasoned (nice way of saying older) fans can. lol.

 

Yeah. And one miserable season with Cincy too.

Neil didn't "blow it when it counted the most" ALL the time. His late drive in the '96 AFCCG got us to XXX in the first place. I still don't lay blame on him for the final interception in XXX since the receiver ran the wrong rout on a hot read since Dallas was blitzing (one play after Hastings dropped a PERFECT Neil O pass that would have given the drive even more momentum). For me, it was two straight errors by our receivers that screwed up the final drive of XXX. Not Neil O's throw to Larry Brown.

My memory of Neil O: very accurate. You could count on him on 3rd-and-long to deliver to a corps of possession receivers (Thigpen, Hastings, Mills, Charles Johnson, Kordella, Eric Green/Mark Bruener). ZERO mobility combined with happy feet. Solid game manager (very limited turnovers). I liked him as our qb. I'll never forget Mike Ditka on NBC echoing my belief that if O'Donnell left Pittsburgh, "you'll never hear from him again. He's in the perfect system for him in Pittsburgh." True dat.

 

Neil Odonnell is very, very under appreciated around here...

 

Being a Steelers qb is sort of a catch 22. I mean we won Super Bowl 40 and people STILL talk about how bad Ben played! LOL. Actually that AFC championship game you are talking about is my earliest memory of being a Steelers fan. I STILL to this day can't stand Jim Harbaugh because of that game.

 

The thing about O'Donnel is that it seemed that he was trying to leave the entire time he was here. He signed an offer sheet with the Bucs which we matched and then he headed for fame and fortune on Broadway when he had the chance. That pathetic Super Bowl performance that made Larry Brown's investment counselor a happy man will never be forgotten either and that's essentially what makes him public enemy number one around here. He was an effective QB for awhile and had he stuck around here his career may have been much different.