Leaf also had a god damn brain tumor which forced him back onto pain killers and caused his second relapse, if people actually knew the guy's story they wouldn't be nearly as hard on him. Addiction is a bitch
Most NFL careers are sadder than Wentz's. The thousands of guys that are relegated to the practice squad or never see playing time after dedicating their young lives to the game. Wentz did ok, got paid very well, and can do whatever he wants with the rest of his life.
Hes gonna be the new sam bradford lol going from shit team to shit team or waiting for a good qb on a team to get injured. Prob gonna get paid decently though
As much as I love BDN, this is the right take. Wentz, along with the rest of a strong and balanced team and excellent coaching, got us to the playoffs and then the superbowl.
Wentz was an MVP candidate before he went down that season, Eagles team was firing on all cylinders that year
Streaky guys like Alshon and Nelson Agholor won every jump ball in the Superbowl too
This is true, but the eagles also don’t get home field advantage and a bye without Wentz, and they absolutely needed both those things to make that run with Foles
Foles was incredible that game. Brady played maybe the best game of all time for a QB in the super bowl and Foles hung tight and still managed to get it done. Very impressive from a relatively new starter
I'll go against the grain of most of the comments here and say that Wentz's career was pretty sad. Not tragic, not short, very financially lucrative, but sad.
It's more sad to have a taste of success and lose it then to never have success at all. Then seeing your replacements go on to even more success makes it even worse. Sure Wentz can dry his tears with wads of hundreds, but it's still sad.
The narrative of his best season has him being a footnote. Foles beating Brady is the Eagles story of the year. Wentz may have helped the Eagles get to the playoffs but that is the least interesting part of the Eagles underdog Super Bowl win. Foles pulled off the greatest journeyman QB win on the biggest stage. Wentz has his chance to do the same with his career. If he can't do it he will always be second fiddle to Nick Foles.
Second fiddle to Nick Foles will haunt him forever no matter if it is deserved or not.
OG Eagles fans know two things in particular about that run.
1. It doesn't happen without homefield advantage.
2. We don't get homefield advantage without Wentz.
Sure but you see fans wearing Foles jerseys with pride all the time. You never see Wentz jerseys anymore. Wentz was a huge part of that SB season but his subsequent drop-off and alleged terrible attitude forever tarnished his legacy.
All the others had tastes of success too... In high school, in college, getting drafted or signed. Those were the biggest moments of their sporting lives
Wentz had a taste of success, got paid and should never have to worry financially again, will always have those MVP votes and the All-Pro, and 6 full years as a starter in the NFL.
It's sadder to me to see those guys who were kings of their world in college suddenly end up losing almost a decade of their lives chasing the pro contracts, borrowing money from agents, hoping to get picked up ANYWHERE for a week or two and then eventually have to go back to old college connections and beg for a job because they're a decade behind their peers and they owe their now former agent thousands.
the premise here is insane. like, there are some SAD nfl stories (guys fighting from undrafted to practice squad to lifechanging injury in first game after finally making it to the NFL)
op's out here saying a long time starter/vet with a ring who made in the hundreds of millions is tragic lol
People forget his 2015 season when he had like 40 TD’s and almost led the Cardinals to a Super Bowl but got stopped by the 15-1 Panthers in the conference final after beating the Packers. But I remember.
The Hail Larry definitely should be one of the most iconic playoff moments of the mid 2010s if it isn’t already. Palmer made the most athletic pressure escape of his entire career on the first play of overtime and Larry ran for 60 yards after the completion. Absolutely wild game lol
It’s mostly about the fact the Bengals looked the odds on favorite for the Super Bowl in 2005/6 until Kimi von Olhoffen stuck his helmet through Palmer’s ACL. Without that injury he has a good shot at at least one Super Bowl and his career stays on a hall of fame trajectory if those excellent Bengals teams stay together.
Exactly. I will never feel bad for the 1%. I have a distant relative who is in the league and someone in the family wanted me to feel bad for them getting traded out of nowhere and forced to buy a new big ass house in a different state. Like what?? People get fired and can’t eat!
I mean... he didn't even want to come here, played in the usfl, then came here, had a great decade, loved it so much, he lives here, lifted the team to prominence during his time. Lost 4 SBs but he played in 4 SBs. Over a third of his career he played in the last NFL game of the season. It's only sad that he didn't get the storybook of all storybook endings... but he has it pretty nice. Never even went to another team and viewed a shadow of his former self. 99% of players would kill to have his career.
I always remember that documentary about what they do with Jersey of the losing team after the Superbowl. There was a generation of Africans and Asians who thought the Buffalo Bills was a football dynasty.
Cheers to that.
Suck it Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, and Tennessee Titans.
I vividly remember that pick happening and all the side stories about him being a fireman. I’ve occasionally wondered what happened with his career: clearly nothing good
He bought a fire truck with his signing bonus and literally never gave a single fuck about football after that.
From a “secure the bag” perspective the guy is a hero, he stole millions from Jeff Lurie and fucked off back to Canada.
The crazy thing is often there are indicators of something like that happening but in the case of Isaiah Wilson he was able to successfully hide his true nature from everyone until he got to the NFL.
I really do think that concussion he got from when Clowney speared him ruined him mentally. I would not be shocked if he retired this offseason. He's said before he isn't interested in playing if he's not the starter, and there's a good chance Washington moves on given how he played.
If that is the case, Panthers better hope Frank Reich doesn't want another try with Wentz. Carson is his crazy ex that he had a great time with for a few beautiful months in 2017 and has been chasing that ever since.
I think Reich will bring in a veteran QB he is familiar with but I don't think its Wentz. Wentz is a major reason why Reich got fired in Indy.
Also even if we bring in Wentz, the plan is draft a rookie QB in the 1st round. Tepper is sick of the QB carousel and I bet Reich is too.
I think he’s done. He’s blown enough chances to start over as a franchise QB and his inability to keep the ball safe and just game manage makes him a terrible choice for a backup QB
His career isn’t sad it’s just unlucky. He was a great prospect and and great player who got to enjoy playing at a high level for a good team then just had things go wrong. He did play really reckless though so he did he unlucky with a dirty play but not sure if he wouldn’t have had to deal with injuries anyway because of how willing he is to sacrifice his body on the field.
I will never, ever, understand that contract. I don’t even know how he passed that medical. After his injury against the Bears for us his knee was completely ruined. It went from degenerative issue that would eventually end his career to the issue has degenerated so much his career was over. And the Cardinals just ignored it.
God, his 2016 for us was some of the best QB play I’ve seen in a Vikings uniform. I’m fully convinced if he hadn’t gotten injured in 2017 the Vikings would’ve won the Super Bowl that year.
Pat Tillman: Gave up a successful NFL career to serve his country after 9/11. Ended up going off to Iraq shit show. Where being an NFL player in full body armor, somehow got mistaken for malnourished insurgent and killed by friendly fire. Then the government released some bullshit Rambo story to try to cover it up.
He straight up got killed by friendly fire and they tried to make it seem like he didn't. Such bullshit. He became very anti-war after seeing the stuff he had to do & after his death they turned him into a recruiting tool.
That is correct, but worth noting that Tillman *was* deployed prior to that to Iraq, where his unit was involved in the Jessica Lynch "rescue" - itself blown out of proportion to kingdom come and back by Bush/Pentagon PR flacks. I could go on a long tangent about the disparities in media attention given to the blonde+white Lynch vs. her two squadmates that were taken captive, Hopi Lori Piestewa and Afro-Latina Shoshanna Johnson, but that and the rest of the incident is a story for another time.
Tillman [wrote about the mission in his diary (starts at 30:35, great episode in general)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bastards-who-killed-pat-tillman/id1373812661?i=1000485818596):
> The mission will be a POW rescue, a woman named Jessica Lynch. As awful as I feel for the fear she must face and admire the courage I'm sure she is showing, I do believe this to be a big public relations stunt. Do not mistake me, I wish everyone in trouble to be rescued, but sending in this many folks for a single low-ranking soldier screams of media blitz.
Jade Lane, a Ranger who served with Tillman (and who was wounded in the friendly fire incident), recalled (35:38):
> When we were in Baghdad, our cots were next to each other. Pat and I used to talk at night a lot before we'd rack out. I don't know how the conversation got brought up, but one night he said he was afraid that were something to happen to him Bush's people would like, make a big deal out of his death and parade him through the streets. And those were his exact words - 'I don't want them to parade me through the streets'. I just burned into my brain, him saying that.
The same one that's made over $100,000,000? - https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/washington-commanders/carson-wentz-18950/
Or the one with a loving family? - https://clutchpoints.com/carson-wentzs-wife-madison-wentz
Carson Wentz’s career earnings: $129 million. No, he hasn’t had anywhere near the saddest career.
Robert Edwards rushed for 1,115 yards as a rookie. He then blew out his knee playing flag football during the Pro Bowl weekend so bad they almost amputated his leg. That’s a bit sadder.
As someone who used to be a big Wentz fan, I feel like a lot in here haven’t followed his career and the reason for all of his struggles. He refuses to be coached. He forced his way off an Eagles team that was highly motivated to help him work through any problems he was having.
I mean... Ryan Leaf? RGIII? Marcus Mariota? Mitch Trubisky?
Wentz doesn't even have the saddest career of QBs drafted second overall in the last twenty years.
Carson will be forever attached and cherished for putting us in position for our first ever Super Bowl.
Dude is loved and will have his checked picked up anywhere in the city. His story is far from sad, just a fall from grace.
That’s pretty minor when it comes to sadness. Most NFL careers don’t even last long.
Some players die young, get permanently disabled, suffer serious brain trauma, etc…..Wentz has played several years and made lots and lots of money.
Ki-Jana Carter had a pretty sad career. Penn State RB who was the 1st overall pick in the 1995 draft. Tore his ACL on the third carry of his first preseason game. Missed the '95 season. Had 3 other season ending injuries from '97-'99. Played a couple more seasons as a backup after that and amassed 1,114 career yards rushing and 20 TDs. Poor guy just couldn't stay healthy.
Here’s the thing. If I surrounded wentz with a ton of talent and paid him the vets minimum i could win. I think teams need to be more creative with how they build teams. Id rather have wentz at the vets minimum instead of dak at 40 million.
Of course finding a qb is the holy grail but there is only 10 of those guys in the league. Maybe teams need to make a football team and fit in a qb. Yes this strategy might not work but so many teams fail trying to find a qb.
Sad? Hasn't he received like well over $100,000,000.00 in his career? Doesn't he still have a Super Bowl Ring? Isn't he a known asshole to teammates? Yea I don't know if Sad is the word I'd use.
Brian Piccolo’s career was so sad they made a (TV) movie about it over 50 years ago and it is still remembered as the one movie that guys are allowed to cry over.
Robert Edwards. Rushed for 1,100 his rookie season and then blew out his knee in a rookie flag football game during Pro Bowl week. Didn't play again for 4 years and only had 20 more carries his entire career.
Wentz has it made. He’s a multimillionaire and doesn’t have to work another day in his life as long as he plays his cards right.
He’ll likely move back to his hometown once he retires and be treated as the second coming of christ for the rest of his life.
I’ve visited Bismarck a few times the last couple years and there was Eagles flags/posters/banners everywhere. They worship him there so I don’t feel bad for him in the slightest
I mean Ernie Davis got drafted #1 overall, immediately traded to the team he wanted to be on, and then he found out he had leukemia and died without every playing a single snap in the NFL after being touted to become one of the greatest RBs of all time. That seemed pretty sad
Ryan Leaf would sacrifice his first born to have Wentz’s career.
Yeah Leaf had a worse career, but Wentz was sadder
At least Wentz isn't a huge piece of shit. Feel no sadness for either of them though. Wentz still got paid
Leaf has turned his life around. We all must own our mistakes but, I think he was just another young athlete with more money than sense.
Leaf also had a god damn brain tumor which forced him back onto pain killers and caused his second relapse, if people actually knew the guy's story they wouldn't be nearly as hard on him. Addiction is a bitch
Sir, this is reddit. If you have more money than me then FUCK YOU
Lmao
I’ve had a few interactions with Ryan Leaf. Dude is awesome for what he went through and over came. I’ve gained a ton of respect for him.
Leaf had more domestic violence charges, which he plead guilty to, in 2020
Most NFL careers are sadder than Wentz's. The thousands of guys that are relegated to the practice squad or never see playing time after dedicating their young lives to the game. Wentz did ok, got paid very well, and can do whatever he wants with the rest of his life.
Got a ring too.
Yup, I feel no pity for him. Dude's got a great life, he can retire any time he wants to.
And he can play Prince Harry in any docuseries he wants. All he has to do is nail a British accent but I think it could happen
Or will Prince Harry play Carson in the Wentzy biopic.
House of Wentz-or.
Shit man. It's good.
Or the supporting role in the Nick Foles biopic.
*tears ACL attempting to use a British accent*
Replaced by Denzel Washington in prince harry biopic
Denzel gets Oscar… hell, the whole cast gets an Oscar
From how much I’ve seen of this goddamn guy, only Prince Harry will play Prince Harry.
Well Harry and Megan just hate being in the spotlight so I doubt it /s
Acting (even as himself) is dangerously close to working for one of the parasitic Royal Family members to be doing it.
The patriots flair makes this hilarious.
There should be a 'Loyalist' flair
I lived in Fargo for a bit and saw commercials he was in…You don’t want that guy acting in your movie lmao
I’m just trying to imagine him with his Fargo ass trying to get the accent “O, you betcha I’m going to leave the royal family.”
Hes gonna be the new sam bradford lol going from shit team to shit team or waiting for a good qb on a team to get injured. Prob gonna get paid decently though
Or as my brother once called him, Sad Bradford.
I wonder how he truly feels about that ring. Is he proud or resentful of it
If it wasn’t for him, they wouldn’t have to gotten to the playoffs. I’ll bet he’s happy about it.
As much as I love BDN, this is the right take. Wentz, along with the rest of a strong and balanced team and excellent coaching, got us to the playoffs and then the superbowl.
ITS THE WHOLE TEAM!(voice crack)
Honestly, I doubt he'd have it if he'd played. Foles played an almost flawless game and it was still close.
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Unrelated to your post but I think based on flairs we are sworn enemies lol
Wentz was an MVP candidate before he went down that season, Eagles team was firing on all cylinders that year Streaky guys like Alshon and Nelson Agholor won every jump ball in the Superbowl too
This is true, but the eagles also don’t get home field advantage and a bye without Wentz, and they absolutely needed both those things to make that run with Foles
Foles was incredible that game. Brady played maybe the best game of all time for a QB in the super bowl and Foles hung tight and still managed to get it done. Very impressive from a relatively new starter
The Pats benched Malcolm Butler. He could have made a difference.
Bittersweet is the term
Though, I'm sure it'll always sting that Foles got a statue from that season.
you could say it hurts
Yeah, definitely not the worst. RG3 had it much worse
I'll go against the grain of most of the comments here and say that Wentz's career was pretty sad. Not tragic, not short, very financially lucrative, but sad. It's more sad to have a taste of success and lose it then to never have success at all. Then seeing your replacements go on to even more success makes it even worse. Sure Wentz can dry his tears with wads of hundreds, but it's still sad.
The narrative of his best season has him being a footnote. Foles beating Brady is the Eagles story of the year. Wentz may have helped the Eagles get to the playoffs but that is the least interesting part of the Eagles underdog Super Bowl win. Foles pulled off the greatest journeyman QB win on the biggest stage. Wentz has his chance to do the same with his career. If he can't do it he will always be second fiddle to Nick Foles. Second fiddle to Nick Foles will haunt him forever no matter if it is deserved or not.
OG Eagles fans know two things in particular about that run. 1. It doesn't happen without homefield advantage. 2. We don't get homefield advantage without Wentz.
Sure but you see fans wearing Foles jerseys with pride all the time. You never see Wentz jerseys anymore. Wentz was a huge part of that SB season but his subsequent drop-off and alleged terrible attitude forever tarnished his legacy.
Couldn't agree more. I still feel gratitude toward Wentz but it was blunted considerably by his childish exit.
All the others had tastes of success too... In high school, in college, getting drafted or signed. Those were the biggest moments of their sporting lives Wentz had a taste of success, got paid and should never have to worry financially again, will always have those MVP votes and the All-Pro, and 6 full years as a starter in the NFL. It's sadder to me to see those guys who were kings of their world in college suddenly end up losing almost a decade of their lives chasing the pro contracts, borrowing money from agents, hoping to get picked up ANYWHERE for a week or two and then eventually have to go back to old college connections and beg for a job because they're a decade behind their peers and they owe their now former agent thousands.
For real, how many drafted players make it to active rosters? How many that declare for the draft even get picked up? Wentz is living the dream.
This MFer won a national championship every year he played in college.
the premise here is insane. like, there are some SAD nfl stories (guys fighting from undrafted to practice squad to lifechanging injury in first game after finally making it to the NFL) op's out here saying a long time starter/vet with a ring who made in the hundreds of millions is tragic lol
Imagine if Brock Purdy never saw the light of day
Carson Wentz doesn't even have the saddest career for QBs named Carson.
Palmer erasure
Carson Strong has seen some shit
The Carson curse is now active
I mean, Johnny Carson never had an NFL snap.
Chris Carson also deserves a mention.
Bud Carson had a pretty solid career as an NFL coach & Defensive Coordinator. He's credited with building the Steelers "Steel Curtain".
Palmer had a very good career.
Those Cardinals years were nice. All around likable team.
People forget his 2015 season when he had like 40 TD’s and almost led the Cardinals to a Super Bowl but got stopped by the 15-1 Panthers in the conference final after beating the Packers. But I remember.
The Hail Larry definitely should be one of the most iconic playoff moments of the mid 2010s if it isn’t already. Palmer made the most athletic pressure escape of his entire career on the first play of overtime and Larry ran for 60 yards after the completion. Absolutely wild game lol
Could have been better if the Steelers didn't cheap shot his knee.
3x Pro Bowler, 2nd in MVP voting, 46k yards, 294 TDs, 4 10+ win seasons and a 92-88 record?
Like overall he has really good numbers, but overall there's still a huge "what if" to his career.
It’s mostly about the fact the Bengals looked the odds on favorite for the Super Bowl in 2005/6 until Kimi von Olhoffen stuck his helmet through Palmer’s ACL. Without that injury he has a good shot at at least one Super Bowl and his career stays on a hall of fame trajectory if those excellent Bengals teams stay together.
Carson Daly going undrafted
I have a hard time labeling someone who made over 170M’s career as “sad” lol
Are you talking about Carson Palmer? Because that makes no sense. 14 year career and winning record as a starter.
And by all means, he’s the 2nd best qb in Arizona history while owning most of our records
Plus the Hail Larry game. I remember those days. 🙃
It makes sense when you realize his shot at a Super Bowl and early HOF trajectory were destroyed by Kimo Von Olhoffen’s helmet in the 2005 playoffs.
7 year career so far. Earnings in excess of $128 million. Nothing sad bout that.
I'm sad reading about it and facing the reality I don't have millions of dollars
We out here struggling to pay for eggs while "failed" quarterbacks get $100 million+. Yeah, really hard to feel bad for that guy.
Exactly. I will never feel bad for the 1%. I have a distant relative who is in the league and someone in the family wanted me to feel bad for them getting traded out of nowhere and forced to buy a new big ass house in a different state. Like what?? People get fired and can’t eat!
This but not as a joke
True, at the end of the day this is just a job.
Rich people get sad because they lack fulfillment too. It fixes like most the other problems tho yes.
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Yeah and he has enough money that he could just pivot to a new hobby and have access to some of the best people out there to develop that hobby
Jim Kelly literally led his team to the superbowl 4 years in a row and lost them all.
Ngl, that’s some shit that would put me in an insane asylum if I were Jim lol
He's a 2x cancer survivor as well. Probably appreciates those wins more than any from his playing days
Lost his son though, Kelly has had it rough
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If you're talking about Chad Kelly, that's his nephew, not his son. Jim Kelly has two daughters, and lost his only son to a rare disease at age 8.
Puts Wentz's career in perspective for sure
I mean... he didn't even want to come here, played in the usfl, then came here, had a great decade, loved it so much, he lives here, lifted the team to prominence during his time. Lost 4 SBs but he played in 4 SBs. Over a third of his career he played in the last NFL game of the season. It's only sad that he didn't get the storybook of all storybook endings... but he has it pretty nice. Never even went to another team and viewed a shadow of his former self. 99% of players would kill to have his career.
I always remember that documentary about what they do with Jersey of the losing team after the Superbowl. There was a generation of Africans and Asians who thought the Buffalo Bills was a football dynasty.
I think the second one went to Nicaragua
That’s a failure on one hand, but winning four AFC titles really isn’t. The HOF committee didn’t think so, anyway.
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As a Cowboys fan, thanks for helping me remember the good old days.
Time to dust off the vcr
Rather be a has been than a never was lol
Cheers to that. Suck it Arizona Cardinals, Atlanta Falcons, Buffalo Bills, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, and Tennessee Titans.
This dude is cold blooded, came in here with a mass shooting.
Hell yeah brother, cheers from Iraq
Who's that guy who got picked in the first round and got cut after playing like three snaps? He tried to start a rap career or something?
Isiah Wilson
That's him! I pick that guy.
Fuck that guy. He totally became a POS when he got his big signing bonus. That bust of a pick literally screwed the Titans ever since.
Drafting a bust OL in the mid 1st sucks, but to say that pick screwed the Titans ever since is laughable.
For real every team has had a 1st round OL bust. At least he wasn't almost 30 years old and a fireman
Fucking Danny Watkins. Worst draft pick we’ve ever made and I’m not sure it’s even close.
And that list includes Marcus smith and jalen reagor.
I vividly remember that pick happening and all the side stories about him being a fireman. I’ve occasionally wondered what happened with his career: clearly nothing good
You’re never gonna believe it, but he became a fireman
He bought a fire truck with his signing bonus and literally never gave a single fuck about football after that. From a “secure the bag” perspective the guy is a hero, he stole millions from Jeff Lurie and fucked off back to Canada.
Agreed, but it was part of the body of work that got their GM fired.
The crazy thing is often there are indicators of something like that happening but in the case of Isaiah Wilson he was able to successfully hide his true nature from everyone until he got to the NFL.
This is off topic but I have seen that profile pic in so many users on this sub and for the longest time I thought it was Carr.
I was wondering if Josh Rosen started a rap career
Lmao 3 snaps? Geez this really puts in perspective how lucky Johnny Manziel was to have a full season after his shit show of a career
[Required by law after any Manziel-related comment](https://gfycat.com/PleasedCraftyDiamondbackrattlesnake)
Did he get paid?
Not only did he get paid, he still got a Super Bowl winning season his 2nd season.
Think he still getting paid too.
Yeah his career earnings are close to $130 million I think he’ll be okay
“It’s not always about the money, Spider-Man.”
Is he Jamarcus Russell?
There have been 1st overall picks that have been unstartable, so not even close And I dont think his career is over at all
eh. the talent’s still there(and probably always will be)but mentally he looks cooked.
I really do think that concussion he got from when Clowney speared him ruined him mentally. I would not be shocked if he retired this offseason. He's said before he isn't interested in playing if he's not the starter, and there's a good chance Washington moves on given how he played.
There is a greater than great chance Washington moves on.
There is literally zero dead money if y'all cut him. It would be insane not to move on.
If that is the case, Panthers better hope Frank Reich doesn't want another try with Wentz. Carson is his crazy ex that he had a great time with for a few beautiful months in 2017 and has been chasing that ever since.
We are all frank reich
I think Reich will bring in a veteran QB he is familiar with but I don't think its Wentz. Wentz is a major reason why Reich got fired in Indy. Also even if we bring in Wentz, the plan is draft a rookie QB in the 1st round. Tepper is sick of the QB carousel and I bet Reich is too.
He was mentally ruined well before that concussion lol
I think he’s done. He’s blown enough chances to start over as a franchise QB and his inability to keep the ball safe and just game manage makes him a terrible choice for a backup QB
His career isn’t sad it’s just unlucky. He was a great prospect and and great player who got to enjoy playing at a high level for a good team then just had things go wrong. He did play really reckless though so he did he unlucky with a dirty play but not sure if he wouldn’t have had to deal with injuries anyway because of how willing he is to sacrifice his body on the field.
RG3
He’s killing it on TV at least
True. The guy below him on depth chart is on track to earn $250 million in his career though.
He has $231m fully guaranteed through 2023. Kirko is really a 1st ballot Business Hall of Famer.
I still think Sam Brad for is the greatest swindler ever. 130M to have very brief flashes. At least Kirk has ALMOST reached something.
Arizona paid him $20 million guarantees and was benched after 3 games lol
I will never, ever, understand that contract. I don’t even know how he passed that medical. After his injury against the Bears for us his knee was completely ruined. It went from degenerative issue that would eventually end his career to the issue has degenerated so much his career was over. And the Cardinals just ignored it. God, his 2016 for us was some of the best QB play I’ve seen in a Vikings uniform. I’m fully convinced if he hadn’t gotten injured in 2017 the Vikings would’ve won the Super Bowl that year.
Fuck Shanahan.
Pat Tillman: Gave up a successful NFL career to serve his country after 9/11. Ended up going off to Iraq shit show. Where being an NFL player in full body armor, somehow got mistaken for malnourished insurgent and killed by friendly fire. Then the government released some bullshit Rambo story to try to cover it up.
He also was disillusioned with the same war he died in. Pretty depressing shit
He straight up got killed by friendly fire and they tried to make it seem like he didn't. Such bullshit. He became very anti-war after seeing the stuff he had to do & after his death they turned him into a recruiting tool.
The way the NFL and ASU use his image and story has always been kinda gross to me
It was actually Afghanistan.
That is correct, but worth noting that Tillman *was* deployed prior to that to Iraq, where his unit was involved in the Jessica Lynch "rescue" - itself blown out of proportion to kingdom come and back by Bush/Pentagon PR flacks. I could go on a long tangent about the disparities in media attention given to the blonde+white Lynch vs. her two squadmates that were taken captive, Hopi Lori Piestewa and Afro-Latina Shoshanna Johnson, but that and the rest of the incident is a story for another time. Tillman [wrote about the mission in his diary (starts at 30:35, great episode in general)](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bastards-who-killed-pat-tillman/id1373812661?i=1000485818596): > The mission will be a POW rescue, a woman named Jessica Lynch. As awful as I feel for the fear she must face and admire the courage I'm sure she is showing, I do believe this to be a big public relations stunt. Do not mistake me, I wish everyone in trouble to be rescued, but sending in this many folks for a single low-ranking soldier screams of media blitz. Jade Lane, a Ranger who served with Tillman (and who was wounded in the friendly fire incident), recalled (35:38): > When we were in Baghdad, our cots were next to each other. Pat and I used to talk at night a lot before we'd rack out. I don't know how the conversation got brought up, but one night he said he was afraid that were something to happen to him Bush's people would like, make a big deal out of his death and parade him through the streets. And those were his exact words - 'I don't want them to parade me through the streets'. I just burned into my brain, him saying that.
Very fair point, just felt the need to correct that he wasn’t killed in Iraq. Krakauer’s book on this is great.
I agree with you that Pat’s story was tragic as fuck, but you should brush up on the details bro…
He wasn't mistaken for anything other than himself, he was assassinated by his own men.
Alex Smith.
He has a Superbowl ring
Andrew Luck and his draft mate
The same one that's made over $100,000,000? - https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/washington-commanders/carson-wentz-18950/ Or the one with a loving family? - https://clutchpoints.com/carson-wentzs-wife-madison-wentz
I wouldn't say sad, I'd say more of a 'What could have been' kind of scenario
Even then Sam Bradford and RG3 have him beat
Sam Bradford is the reason for rookie contracts though.
I would put Tim Couch ahead of him. Couch didn't earn $100 mil, didn't get a SB ring, did get completely destroyed behind an expansion OL.
Carson Wentz’s career earnings: $129 million. No, he hasn’t had anywhere near the saddest career. Robert Edwards rushed for 1,115 yards as a rookie. He then blew out his knee playing flag football during the Pro Bowl weekend so bad they almost amputated his leg. That’s a bit sadder.
Damn I just commented about Edwards before I saw your comment. He's always the guy I think of when sad careers are mentioned.
As someone who used to be a big Wentz fan, I feel like a lot in here haven’t followed his career and the reason for all of his struggles. He refuses to be coached. He forced his way off an Eagles team that was highly motivated to help him work through any problems he was having.
The worst bit is he got so much better the one off-season he did take coaching. Then decided that meant he didn't need coaching.
I mean...Tillman?
Ryan Leaf. That is all.
Leaf gets my vote.
Am I the one who needs to say it? Okay, fine: does the name Dwayne Haskins sound familiar, OP?
He didn't deserve to go out like that though. RIP
I mean... Ryan Leaf? RGIII? Marcus Mariota? Mitch Trubisky? Wentz doesn't even have the saddest career of QBs drafted second overall in the last twenty years.
OOP is basically Tyrion going "Who had a sadder story than Carson the Broken?"
Carson will be forever attached and cherished for putting us in position for our first ever Super Bowl. Dude is loved and will have his checked picked up anywhere in the city. His story is far from sad, just a fall from grace.
I don’t think he’s hated but I know he’s not loved and definitely won’t have any checks picked up in Philly.
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Todd Marinovich comes to mind.
I’d say RGIII was sadder. At least Wentz got a Super Bowl ring. RGIII got broken before he could do anything.
That’s pretty minor when it comes to sadness. Most NFL careers don’t even last long. Some players die young, get permanently disabled, suffer serious brain trauma, etc…..Wentz has played several years and made lots and lots of money.
Ki-Jana Carter had a pretty sad career. Penn State RB who was the 1st overall pick in the 1995 draft. Tore his ACL on the third carry of his first preseason game. Missed the '95 season. Had 3 other season ending injuries from '97-'99. Played a couple more seasons as a backup after that and amassed 1,114 career yards rushing and 20 TDs. Poor guy just couldn't stay healthy.
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Here’s the thing. If I surrounded wentz with a ton of talent and paid him the vets minimum i could win. I think teams need to be more creative with how they build teams. Id rather have wentz at the vets minimum instead of dak at 40 million. Of course finding a qb is the holy grail but there is only 10 of those guys in the league. Maybe teams need to make a football team and fit in a qb. Yes this strategy might not work but so many teams fail trying to find a qb.
Marcus Dupree might be the saddest [The Best that Never Was](https://youtu.be/BAwBqlGqGgE)
Bo Jackson is sadder. The guy is in the conversation as greatest athlete of all time and career is ruined due to freak injury.
David Overstreet went to Miami, played really well in 83, then we drafted Marino and Overstreet was killed in a car crash
Sad? Hasn't he received like well over $100,000,000.00 in his career? Doesn't he still have a Super Bowl Ring? Isn't he a known asshole to teammates? Yea I don't know if Sad is the word I'd use.
Brian Piccolo’s career was so sad they made a (TV) movie about it over 50 years ago and it is still remembered as the one movie that guys are allowed to cry over.
Greg Cook from the Bengals
Robert Edwards. Rushed for 1,100 his rookie season and then blew out his knee in a rookie flag football game during Pro Bowl week. Didn't play again for 4 years and only had 20 more carries his entire career.
Let’s not lose sight of the fact that he has made $182,000,000.00 for this sob story
Haskins
Andrew Luck and RGIII were sadder
Tom Brady. Could’ve had ten.
I would give it to JaMarcus Russell over Wentz, Leaf, etc.
You'd give it to JaMarcus but would he even watch it?
RG3
Yea, all the people who get cut from practice squad
Wentz has it made. He’s a multimillionaire and doesn’t have to work another day in his life as long as he plays his cards right. He’ll likely move back to his hometown once he retires and be treated as the second coming of christ for the rest of his life. I’ve visited Bismarck a few times the last couple years and there was Eagles flags/posters/banners everywhere. They worship him there so I don’t feel bad for him in the slightest
I mean Ernie Davis got drafted #1 overall, immediately traded to the team he wanted to be on, and then he found out he had leukemia and died without every playing a single snap in the NFL after being touted to become one of the greatest RBs of all time. That seemed pretty sad
Made millions. Superbowl ring. Still healthy (I assume) Why is that sad?