25 Most Underrated Players

[rhickok1109]

#1 on the list is a good choice IMO. He isn't much remembered despite considerable success with the team he spent the most time with.

I think putting Ryan #1 is a bit much, and the write-up is very misleading. They guy Ryan replaced (Milt Plum) put up better numbers in 1960 & 1961 than Ryan did in subsequent years. The article tries to portray Ryan as the bad-luck 3rd best QB of his generation by saying his All-Pro status was blocked by Unitas and Starr, but I don't know if Ryan was ever really better than guys like Sonny Jurgensen, YA Tittle, Fran Tarkenton, even John Brodie and Roman Gabriel. I guess if the thought is that Ryan is underrated because he was a middle-of-the-pack QB who happened to win a title and is now forgotten, then I would agree. But to say that Ryan made Gary Collins a pro bowl WR and compare Ryan to Joe Theismann winning the NFL MVP in 1983 is overselling Ryan's accomplishments, IMO.

I think Plum's number are very misleading. He was a guy who pretty consistently choked in big situations. It's a very small sample, but he had a 27.4 rating in two playoff games and I don't think he would ever have won a playoff game, no matter he was playing for.

[SixtiesFan]

#1 on the list is a good choice IMO. He isn't much remembered despite considerable success with the team he spent the most time with.

I think putting Ryan #1 is a bit much, and the write-up is very misleading. They guy Ryan replaced (Milt Plum) put up better numbers in 1960 & 1961 than Ryan did in subsequent years. The article tries to portray Ryan as the bad-luck 3rd best QB of his generation by saying his All-Pro status was blocked by Unitas and Starr, but I don't know if Ryan was ever really better than guys like Sonny Jurgensen, YA Tittle, Fran Tarkenton, even John Brodie and Roman Gabriel. I guess if the thought is that Ryan is underrated because he was a middle-of-the-pack QB who happened to win a title and is now forgotten, then I would agree. But to say that Ryan made Gary Collins a pro bowl WR and compare Ryan to Joe Theismann winning the NFL MVP in 1983 is overselling Ryan's accomplishments, IMO.

I think Plum's number are very misleading. He was a guy who pretty consistently choked in big situations. It's a very small sample, but he had a 27.4 rating in two playoff games and I don't think he would ever have won a playoff game, no matter he was playing for.

Have you read Paul Brown's 1979 autobiography? Brown goes into some detail about Milt Plum's deficiencies. By contrast PB has high praise for Frank Ryan.

[BD Sullivan]

Have you read Paul Brown's 1979 autobiography? Brown goes into some detail about Milt Plum's deficiencies. By contrast PB has high praise for Frank Ryan.

Brown also had a tendency to hold grudges for eternity (see Modell and Mac Speedie): he traded Plum soon after the QB publicly criticized him in 1962 and a few months later, acquired Ryan from the Rams.

[JeffreyMiller]

Have you read Paul Brown's 1979 autobiography? Brown goes into some detail about Milt Plum's deficiencies. By contrast PB has high praise for Frank Ryan.

Brown also had a tendency to hold grudges for eternity (see Modell and Mac Speedie): he traded Plum soon after the QB publicly criticized him in 1962 and a few months later, acquired Ryan from the Rams.

I think his relationship with Modell surpassed grudge stage ..

[BD Sullivan]

Have you read Paul Brown's 1979 autobiography? Brown goes into some detail about Milt Plum's deficiencies. By contrast PB has high praise for Frank Ryan.

Brown also had a tendency to hold grudges for eternity (see Modell and Mac Speedie): he traded Plum soon after the QB publicly criticized him in 1962 and a few months later, acquired Ryan from the Rams.

I think his relationship with Modell surpassed grudge stage ..

I always thought it was hilarious that in Super Bowl XIV, just months after Brown's autobiography came out, the person handing out game tickets somehow managed to put Brown and Modell in the same row.

[SixtiesFan]

Have you read Paul Brown's 1979 autobiography? Brown goes into some detail about Milt Plum's deficiencies. By contrast PB has high praise for Frank Ryan.

Brown also had a tendency to hold grudges for eternity (see Modell and Mac Speedie): he traded Plum soon after the QB publicly criticized him in 1962 and a few months later, acquired Ryan from the Rams.

Oh, I'm well aware Paul Brown held grudges. PB also had to be always right, never wrong. In Jim Brown's 1964 book, JB said PB wouldn't let him run wide and "had me banging inside all day," referring to a 1962 game. So in HIS book PB told how JB was thrown for a loss late in the 1962 season finale putting him at 996 yards instead of a 1000. PB said JB lost yardage on the play by going wide.

Paul Brown had to get back at Jim Brown for criticizing him.