February 21, 2012

Greg's Top Ten Legendary Replacements

1. Mo Lewis Drops the Hammer on Drew Bledsoe: People tend to forget that Drew Bledsoe was once the savior of aonce decrepit franchise in the New England Patriots. Before taking Bledsoe #1 overall in the 1993 NFL Draft the Patriots had suffered through a 1-15 and 2-14 season over a stretch of three seasons. Just after Bledsoe arrived on the scene the Patriots were on the rise, with Bledsoe leading the Patriots to a Super Bowl in 1996 after throwing a then-career best 27 touchdown passes. In essence, Bledsoe was on his way to becoming a legend until this moment in history changed the course of NFL history forever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQOaT7TRirY

Think about what you just saw and the implications it had for the history of the NFL. If this play never happens it's entirely possible Tom Brady is selling insurance somewhere in California right now. Maybe Peyton Manning has 3 Super Bowl rings. Who knows. The hit Mo Lewis laid on Bledsoe in that video knocked the quarterback out for what was supposed to only be a few games. Instead, some backup quarterback taken in the 6th round of the 2000 NFL Draft comes in and never relinquished the job back to Bledsoe - leading the Patriots to 5 Super Bowl appearances and 3 Lombardi Trophies on the way. Bledsoe never found his way back to anything close to greatness, languishing in Buffalo and Dallas only to watch his understudy build a Hall of Fame career.

2. Steve Young Replaces Joe Montana: I know many of you will say that this should be #1 on the list but I think it deserves to be knocked down a peg. Why, you ask? Because Montana won four Super Bowls to Young's one. Young was a stud quarterback, but Montana simply has more to show for his career accomplishments. Frankly, I'm amazed at how many people in this town still bitch about how Montana was so great without recognizing Young's own greatness. While I think Super Bowl rings are extremely important, we tend to overvalue a quarterback's greatness based solely on the number of titles he's been a part of. After all, nobody would ever say Trent Dilfer or Brad Johnson, both Super Bowl winning quarterbacks, were greater than Dan Marino or Warren Moon, both of whom never won a Super Bowl ring. What Young had to endure during the post-Montana era was brutal and yet he handled it with tremendous grace. Hey Niner fans, here’s a little tidbit for ya, Steve Young threw six touchdown passes in his Super Bowl win over the San Diego Chargers, which is the same number of touchdown passes Montana threw in his first three Super Bowls combined.

3. Leroy Kelly Takes Over For Jim Brown: No matter how great a running back might seem to be, they all bow down to Jim Brown who many claim is the single greatest professional football player of all-time. Everyone from Barry Sanders to Walter Payton to Marshall Faulk has praised Brown for being one of the toughest and most elusive runners in NFL history. He was the perfect blend of power and speed. When he decided to leave the NFL for Hollywood, the Browns handed the reigns over to halfback Leroy Kelly, who went on to amass nearly 10,000 yards from scrimmage and earn a Hall of Fame bust in Canton.

4. John Madden's Exit Opens the Door for Tom Flores: The very name Madden is synonymous with everything football. The Hall of Fame coach starred in everything from light beer commercials to football announcing gigs to having his own brand of video game that is still the benchmark for all football video games. Having to fill his shoes would be a difficult job at best. Tom Flores quietly took over for Madden in 1979 and just two years later won his first of two Super Bowl titles as head coach of the Silver and Black. While Madden might get all of the glory for being the face of pro football, Flores had the distinct honor of being the first person in NFL history to win Super Bowls as both a player and a coach.

5. Aaron Rodgers Replaces Brett Favre: I question whether this is too high on my list since Rodgers is still playing and has only had a few years of experience under his belt but considering what he has already accomplished in such a short period of time, I have a hard time placing him any lower. I also get the feeling that he’s far from finished with his winning ways. Before Brett Favre “retired” from the Green Bay Packers I always wondered how the hell they were going to find someone capable of supplanting #4. Rodgers was practically an afterthought in the 2005 NFL Draft who had to sit in the green room of Radio City Music Hall after his name was repeatedly passed over by nearly 30 teams before finally getting taken by the Packers. When Favre finally did leave Titletown he left the organization under less than amicable terms and allegedly was frigid towards Rodgers, who now had massive shoes to fill. Rodgers not only filled his shoes, he’s practically made Favre an afterthought by winning a Super Bowl title in just his third year as a starter. Furthermore, he’s passing with far greater accuracy than Favre ever did and looks all the part of a future Hall of Famer.

6. Tom Landry is Fired From the Dallas Cowboys: Some will argue that this should be higher on the list given what Landry's replacement Jimmy Johnson did when he arrived in Dallas. Truth is, although Landry was a twice-over world champion head coach with the Cowboys, Dallas was completely in shambles when he was fired. Dallas had suffered three straight losing seasons including a 3-13 record in his final campaign before being unceremoniously shown the door. Enter former Miami Hurricane coach Jimmy Johnson who would barter star running back Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for a bevy of future draft picks that would end up transforming the Cowboys from laughing stock to dynasty. Johnson won two Super Bowl titles with Dallas and set the team up for a third title in four years when Barry Switzer took over for Johnson one year after resigning from the Cowboys.

7. The Edge Arrives in Indy: People often overlook how incredible Marshall Faulk was when he played in Indianapolis - usually associating him with the Rams and their "Greatest Show on Turf" era. Truth is, Faulk was an absolute beast for the Colts, especially during the 1998 season - his last in Indy. It was Peyton Manning's rookie season when Faulk amassed 2,227 combined yards from scrimmage - at the time the sixth highest total in NFL history. With Faulk due to cash in on his career best season, the Colts had a tough decision to make - either dish out a boatload of money or seek less expensive talent elsewhere. I won't lie, I was furious when the Colts jettisoned Faulk. What I didn't realize was how the Colts would rebound by partaking in one of the most shocking moments in NFL Draft history a few months later by drafting Miami Hurricane rusher Edgerrin James over far more heavily touted Texas Longhorns star Ricky Williams. Williams was listed much higher on virtually everyone's draft board having just broken the NCAA Division I record for career rushing yards. The Colts passed on Williams and grabbed James who would go on to break virtually every Colts rushing record during his career with Indianapolis.

8. Bill Cowher Replaces Chuck Noll: I wonder what Cowher must have thought after taking over for Noll in 1992. Noll had won four Super Bowls as the Steelers head coach, still an NFL record for Super Bowl wins by a head coach. It's a near impossible task to replace someone so legendary but Cowher did a pretty damn good job. He ranks a little low on this list because he only won one Super Bowl and it took over a decade to do it, but there's no denying that the team was in tremendously good hands when The Chin was in charge of the Steelers. They were a constant threat to win the AFC crown and many will argue that Cowher helped plant the seeds that helped the Steelers blossom in the post-Cowher era when Mike Tomlin took over in 2006.

9. Sonny Jurgensen replaces Norm Van Brocklin: Before Young took over for Montana there was this situation in Philly where future Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen sat on the Philly bench for four seasons behind another future Hall of Famer in Norm Van Brocklin. Van Brocklin won an NFL title with the Eagles in 1960 and pulled a John Elway by retiring as an NFL champion opening the door for Jurgensen to get his chance at greatness. Though Jurgensen never won a title with the Eagles, he would lead the league in passing yards and touchdowns a year after getting the starting gig. The Eagles foolishly traded Jurgensen a few years later to the Washington Redskins when ownership had concerns about Jurgensen's off-field antics. Jurgensen's career would only continue to blossom in Washington until his own retirement following the 1974 season.

10. MJD Takes Over For Fred Taylor: Fred Taylor racked up over 13,000 yards from scrimmage for the Jaguars and held virtually every team rushing record before his eventual replacement Maurice Jones Drew arrived on the scene in 2006. Since then it's been Jones-Drew who has re-written the Jaguars' record books. In half the time it took Taylor to rack up his 13,000 yards, Jones-Drew is already closing in on 10,000 career yards from scrimmage and is just two TDs shy of Taylor's team milestone of 74 total touchdowns. It's only a matter of time before Jones-Drew smashes every record in Jacksonville Jaguars history.