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    "content": "<div>\n<figure><p>\n</p><p><img src=\"https://i.kinja-img.com/image/upload/c_fit,q_60,w_645/1866wrenv177fjpg.jpg\"> </p> \n \n</figure> <p><em>The NFL Network recently compiled a list of the </em><a href=\"http://top100.nfl.com/\"><em>100 best players in NFL history</em></a> <em>, as selected by a blue-ribbon panel. This is not that list. Part 1 is below. Part 2 </em><em>. Share your own list at #theworstever.</em></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://deadspin.com/the-bottom-100-the-worst-players-in-nfl-history-part-5690560\"><img src=\"data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\"> </a> </p>\n<p>Blair Thomas was a bust. A larger-than-large bust.</p>\n<p>Selected by the Jets as the No. 2 overall pick in the 1990 NFL draft, the Penn State All-American was supposed to become one of the great running backs in league history. He was, Joe Paterno said, \"the best player I've ever coached\" - a brutalizing combination of otherworldly speed and bulldozer power.</p>\n<p>After six years, however, Thomas was an NFL ghost - a forgotten man whose 2,236 career rushing yards represented one of the biggest disappointments in league history. Thomas was never great. Never exceptional. He was, frankly, average. A solid, unremarkable, run-of-the-mill NFL player who, had he not been selected so high, would have gone down as a solid, unremarkable, run-of-the-mill NFL player.</p>\n<p>Which is why he doesn't belong here.</p>\n<p>Earlier this month, the NFL Network completed its 100 greatest players series - an impressive list that started with Joe Namath at No. 100 and <a href=\"https://deadspin.com/jerry-rice-is-obviously-not-the-best-football-player-of-5682620\">ended with Jerry Rice at No. 1</a>. Inspired by that effort, I have compiled my own rankings - the 100 worst players in NFL history.</p>\n<p><a href=\"https://deadspin.com/jerry-rice-is-obviously-not-the-best-football-player-of-5682620\"><img src=\"data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\"> </a> </p>\n<p>The base criteria is simple: You had to have been a very bad NFL player. That alone, however, is too easy. The league is filled with subpar performers who last a game or two, then vanish for eternity. (Where have you gone, Onzy Elam?) Here, not only do the candidates have to be bad; they have to be bad and of consequence. A high draft pick who flopped miserably (Ryan Leaf, No. 6). A starting cornerback who was regularly abused by opposing quarterbacks (Curtis DeLoatch, No. 53). A backup signal caller who was asked to save his team but could barely complete a forward pass (Babe Laufenberg, No. 3). A field-goal kicker who, literally, couldn't kick a field goal (Bob Timberlake, No. 2).</p>\n<p>Some of the players might surprise you. Larry Brown, the accidental MVP of Super Bowl XXX, parlayed his shining moment into a large free-agent deal with the Raiders - who were shocked to learn he was terrible at all aspects of the sport. Erik McMillan, a two-time Pro Bowl safety with the Jets, intercepted passes only when he wasn't getting burned by opposing receivers.</p>\n<p>There have been a million lists of the NFL's biggest disappointments, and this is not one of them. Not all of these men were disappointing. They were, however, all bad. Very bad.</p>\n<p>Here, for the first time, are the 100 worst players in NFL history.</p>\n<p>Well, <em>my</em> 100 worst players in NFL history.</p>\n<h2>* * *</h2>\n<p><strong>80. John Lee; kicker; Cardinals; 1986:</strong> First player of Korean descent to be drafted into the NFL was also first player of Korean descent to be dumped by the NFL. Cardinals used a second-round pick on UCLA's All-American kicker, signed him to a four-year, $900,000 deal, then watched as he made only eight of 13 field goals. \"His leg just wasn't strong enough,\" Rams coach Gene Stallings . \"You're going to miss field goals, I understand that. But my gosh, his <em>leg</em>.\"<br> <br> <br> </p>\n<p><strong>74. Tim Couch; quarterback; Browns; 1999-2003:</strong> See: Smith, Akili.<br> <br> <br> <strong>73. Jim Gallery; kicker; Cardinals, Bengals, Vikings; 1987, 1989-90:</strong> When kickers are drafted, as Gallery was by Tampa Bay in 1984, there's the general expectation that the guy's pretty good. Gallery, however, was anything but. Of his 25 career attempts, 11 went through the uprights. With the Bengals in 1989, he made two of six. In other words, he probably loses a kicking contest with <a href=\"http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5777379\">Ndamukong Suh</a>.<br> <br> <br> </p>\n<p><strong>61. Drew Henson; quarterback; Cowboys, Vikings, Lions; 2004-08:</strong> Henson's defenders would note that he appeared in only nine games. Henson's detractors would note that he was given 8,000 chances to unseat mediocre quarterbacks and never came close. On Thanksgiving Day 2004, Henson started his first game for Dallas, going 4-12 with 31 passing yards before exiting. The anti-Bo Jackson - dreadful in both professional football and baseball (hit .234 in <a href=\"http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=henson001dre\">three seasons of triple-A ball</a>, then managed one hit in nine at-bats with the Yankees).<br> <br> <br> </p>\n<p><strong>60. Scott Fitzkee; wide receiver; Eagles, Chargers; 1979-82:</strong> When coaches want their pass catchers to understand the power of burst, they show videos of Jerry Rice. When coaches want their pass catchers to understand what happens when you <em>don't</em> have burst, they show Fitzkee. Four NFL seasons, 17 catches.<br> <br> <br> </p>\n<p><strong>51. Kenyatta Walker; offensive tackle; Buccaneers; 2001-06:</strong> Once, while facing Julius Peppers, had three false starts called on the same down.<br> <br> <br> <em>Part 2 </em><em>.</em></p>\n<p><a href=\"https://deadspin.com/the-bottom-100-the-worst-players-in-nfl-history-part-5690560\"><img src=\"data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\"> </a> </p>\n<p><em>Jeff Pearlman is a columnist for SI.com and the author of</em> <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Rocket-That-Fell-Earth-Immortality/dp/0061724750?asc_campaign=kinjadeadspinlink-20&asc_refurl=https://deadspin.com/the-bottom-100-the-worst-players-in-nfl-history-part-5690535&asc_source=&tag=kinjadeadspinlink-20\">The Rocket That Fell to Earth: Roger Clemens and the Rage for Baseball Immortality</a> <em>and</em> <a href=\"http://www.amazon.com/Boys-Will-Be-Cowboys-Dynasty/dp/0061256811?asc_campaign=kinjadeadspinlink-20&asc_refurl=https://deadspin.com/the-bottom-100-the-worst-players-in-nfl-history-part-5690535&asc_source=&tag=kinjadeadspinlink-20\">Boys Will Be Boys: The Glory Days and Party Nights of the Dallas Cowboys Dynasty</a> <em>. He can be reached at </em><em>. Read his blog at </em><em>.</em></p>\n</div>", 
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