Everyone makes mistakes. But when those mistakes are magnified by intense scrutiny of the NFL draft, well, they become much more embarrassing than, say, my typical Friday morning, mustard-stain-on-khakis incident.
Which is why the NFL FanHouse braintrust got together to determine who is the biggest bust for each NFL team. They're not listed in terms of stupidity -- they're all stupid relative to a team's total draft performance. Meaning, of course, some teams "bust" is much different than another organization's; we did it this way to avoid just linking you to DetroitLions.com.
Instead, we're putting it in current draft order, sans trades, and allowing this list to serve as a reminder of each's team's ability to properly execute a fail. The "bust factor" was based primarily on three things: statistical production (or lack thereof), position in the draft and other available options during that year's draft.
After being released by the Jacksonville Jaguars this past week, Fred Taylor is already finding some teams willing to see how much tread is remaining on his tires.
Shalise Manza Young of the Providence Journalreported on Saturday that the Patriots and Bills are likely landing spots for the 33-year-old running back, while Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe says he could be visiting New England as early as this week.
Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.
Even though they lost franchise quarterback Tom Brady to a knee injury in Week 1, the Patriots managed to finish with a rather impressive 11-5 record in 2008. Impressive because they did so with a quarterback (Matt Cassel) that hadn't started a game since he was a senior in high school.
In most years, an 11-5 record is a lock for the NFL's postseason, but the Patriots became the first team since the 1985 Denver Broncos to miss the playoffs with such a mark. They already started the offseason by placing the franchise tag on Cassel, and it remains to be seen if they intend to trade him off to the highest bidder, or keep him around is a rather expensive insurance policy.
The play of Super Bowl XLII was easily the catch made by David Tyree, holding onto the ball for dear life between one hand and his helmet. The Giants would go on to slay the giant and knock off the previously undefeated New England Patriots. Let us pause for a second and think about what would have happened had Eli Manning not even made that throw. He broke away from what appeared to be a sure sack. What if he didn't?
Lost in the middle of the Patriots thrashing of Arizona on Sunday -- where snow angels were all the rage -- was the fact Patriots linebacker Junior Seau had a run-in of sorts with a fan. This encounter led to the veteran linebacker being taken to the ground by an unruly lout, who was probably under the influence of his friends Jim Beam and Jack Daniels.
I admit, during the course of a football game I've probably screamed quite a few things in the direction of players that I wouldn't have the stones to say to their faces, and, let's be honest, we've all been guilty of that at one time or another. Call it heat of the moment.
One thing I've never thought of doing, however, was running onto the field and attempting to tackle an NFL linebacker. This just goes against all laws of common sense. There are two reasons for this: 1) Doing so would result in me spending an evening in jail, not to mention losing the privilege of purchasing tickets, and 2) It would probably end with something like the video shown above.
Through the first six years of his career, Oakland Raiders left tackle Kwame Harris hasn't exactly lived up to the expectations that come with being the No. 26 overall pick in the NFL draft. After being, basically, a bust of a selection for the 49ers, Harris moved across the bay prior to this season and inked a three-year, $16 million deal with the Raiders.
Thus far, the move has been maddening, if not completely frustrating, for the Raiders and their fans. Fortunately (I think) for silver and black faithful, the madness is coming to an end this Sunday, when Harris is going to be taking a seat on the bench in favor of Mario Henderson when the Raiders host New England.
According to Raiders beat writer Jerry McDonald, the reason for the benching is because Harris can't seem to grasp the concept that offensive lineman aren't allowed to move before the snap, and because he's been a turnstile when it comes to protecting JaMarcus Russell's blindside.
With the Patriots linebackers dropping like flies in recent weeks, the news that veteran Tedy Bruschi could be done for the season probably isn't what New England fans want to hear as the team fights through the three-way battle at the top of the AFC East.
According to Karen Guregian of the Boston Herald, Bruschi suffered a knee injury in Sunday's win over Seattle that would likely keep him out of the lineup for three to four weeks. Since, as Guregian writes, the Patriots need every healthy body they can get in the final three games, it's likely they'll just place the 34-year-old Bruschi on injured reserve to free up his roster spot.
What they'll do with that roster spot, however, is unknown. A week ago, the Patriots brought in soon-to-be 40-year-old Junior Seau to replace Pierre Woods, after bringing in Rosevelt Colvin a few days earlier. If those recent moves are any indicators to the inner-workings of the Patriots front office, they'll likely take a look at anyone from Kevin Greene to Andre Tippett.
Bruschi has 75 tackles, no sacks and one pass defense for the Patriots this season.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess. Earlier this week, New England welcomed back an old friend in linebacker Rosevelt Colvin, presumably to help fill the void left by outside linebackers Adalius Thomas and Pierre Woods who have been lost to injury. Thomas, if you'll recall, suffered a broken arm a few weeks ago, while Woods had an early exit from Sunday's game against Pittsburgh.
Still feeling like they're shorthanded at the linebacker position, the Patriots have another old friend (emphasis on old) in Foxborough today, as soon-to-be-40-year old Junior Seau is in the house, possibly to sign a deal to suit back up for New England. Awesome. I guess Jack Lambert or Dick Butkus weren't available?
From Christopher L. Gasper of the Boston Globe:
"I don't think the contract will be an issue," said Demoff. "If Junior is there and nothing is different from what they thought last night, I would suspect they'd do a contract, and he'd be a Patriot tomorrow. I don't think any promises were made to Junior or by Junior to them before he got on the plane."
Earlier in the evening, Mike Reiss reported that Seau was only interested in playing for New England this season to "finish what we didn't finish last year." That's all well and good, but he's going to be 40! If nothing else, the Patriots are at least well on their way to reassembling the oldest linebacker unit ever.
When the Patriots signed John Lynch a few weeks ago, it wouldn't have been crazy to think that the Patriots found themselves a useful role player that could contribute something positive for ten-or-so snaps a game.
After all, it wouldn't have been the first time the Patriots picked up a once-great player off the scrap heap and found something they could use, much as they did with Corey Dillon, Rodney Harrison, and Junior Seau. Only natural to assume they would hit on another one with Lynch.
Turns out, that's not happening. At least not right now. The Patriots today released the former pro-bowler, according to the Patriots blog at the Boston Herald. However, Head Coach Bill Belichick isn't ruling out Lynch returning to the team at a later date.
Here's what Belichick offered on Lynch: "It goes without saying but John is an all-time great safety, one of the league's classiest professionals and his elite play speaks for itself. As has been the case in other situations, I would not rule anything out down the road.
This week we saw Michael Strahan and Jonathan Ogden retire ... two men who will see their way into Canton, OH. One of the greatest offensive tackles and defensive ends in our time should both enter the Hall in 2013.
If'n that weren't the only guys on that list.
Add in a certain guy by the name of Brett Favre (who now owns most of the quarterback records), Larry Allen and Warren Sapp ... not to mention the possibility of Junior Seau ... and and we could have one of the best classes in HoF history.
But what a class that could be? There is a cut-off of five inductees (not counting ones from the Senior Committee) that can go in a single year ... meaning a name or two won't make the cut. Favre, Strahan, Ogden, Sapp and Allen each have won a Super Bowl. They have all kinds of Pro-Bowls on their resumes and several have records to boot ... making them the five favorites to get in (Seau could push Sapp out of that loft).
After being released by the Jacksonville Jaguars this past week, 
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