Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Kwame Harris, the offensive tackle from 2003-2008 for San Francisco and Oakland should be in this list. A first rounder from Stanford, in 2005 he allowed 9 sacks and committed 15 penalties, tops in the NFL by any offensive lineman that season. He then lost his starting position and even was cut by the Florida Tuskers of the UFL. In 2013 he broke his ex-boyfriend's jaw while they were eating at a Chinese restaurant, arguing that Harris' boyfriend poured soy sauce in the rice they were eating. Harris was convicted of domestic abuse, spent 5 days in jail and got 3 years probation, and had to come out as gay.

Dan Devine.

Not for the Hadl trade.

Not for refusing to acknowledge that it was a neighbor that shot the Devine family dog - a farmer with livestock who had repeatedly asked Devine to keep his dogs from running lose and away from his animals - rather than feeding the myth that it was an outraged Packer fan.

Not for taking one of the premiere guards in the league - Gale Gillingham - and moving him to the defensive side of the ball for the '72 season (a returning All-Pro, Gilly played at guard during the six-game preseason in '72 and Devine switched him to the defensive line for the regular season opener against the Raiders; Gilly injured his knee in week two and was lost for the season).

Even not for his final act as Packer head coach. Or rather, his final act as Packer head coach and the act the immediately followed.

After the final game of the '74 season in Atlanta, Devine called Packer president Dom Olejniczak and urgently pressed Olejniczak about his status for the 1975 season, the final year of a five-year contract. Olejniczak met with Devine upon his return to Green Bay to sign the papers to buy out the final year of the contract. According to Packer Board member John Torinus, Devine signed the papers, left and literally returned to the room "only a minute later" to announce that he had already taken the head coaching job at Notre Dame.

It is because of the accumulation his actions as coach in Green Bay, these and more.

Former Packer WR Barry Smith said, "... history will show that Dan Devine tore that team up, and he tore up that franchise. Let's face it, that's what he did."

JWL wrote:

sheajets wrote:

Rupert Patrick wrote:Leon Lett

I would disagree. He had two forgivable, goofy moments. One in a Super Bowl that was long since decided, another cost them a game...but the Cowboys repeated as Champions that year anyway. Other than that, he had a solid career.

He also had a long suspension for drug use.

That was why I nominated Lett. Two major miscues in big games, along with the drug issues. He may have been a decent player, but all anybody will remember about him in 50 years are the two mental mistakes, one on Thanksgiving and the other in the Super Bowl.

Citizen wrote:Going by expectations/draft status vs. on-field performances, you might have to start with #1 overall picks: Russell, Tim Couch, Ki-Jana Carter, Walt Patulski, Terry Baker, Bobby Garrett, etc.

What the heck did Walt Patulski do off the field?

Jeremy Crowhurst wrote: Lawrence Phillips at RB.

I will never forgive Steve Mariucci for putting this loser in to protect Steve Young's blindside.
It was a total whiff of a block by Phillips that ended Young's career with his final concussion.

So, aside from being a loser on and off the field he cost the Niners the final years of a Hall of Fame QB's career.

It's hard to hurt your team more than that...

Lots of possibilities at WR. Rae Carruth likely gets the first spot, first-round pick who didn't do too much on the field before having his ex-girlfriend murdered. Then there is the substance abuse all-stars, Josh Gordon, Justin Blackmon, and Charles Rogers - though Blackmon never actually stunk on the field, he just drank away his career.

JeffreyMiller wrote:

Citizen wrote:Going by expectations/draft status vs. on-field performances, you might have to start with #1 overall picks: Russell, Tim Couch, Ki-Jana Carter, Walt Patulski, Terry Baker, Bobby Garrett, etc.

What the heck did Walt Patulski do off the field?

Perhaps - perhaps - if the guy stinks up the joint badly enough on the field, then an off-the-field transgression might not be necessary. Take Trent Richardson, for example. Two different teams gave up a first-round pick for him. He might well be a "never before have so many given up so much for so little" guy. And it's all because he just didn't give a shit.

Jeremy Crowhurst wrote: Perhaps - perhaps - if the guy stinks up the joint badly enough on the field, then an off-the-field transgression might not be necessary.

I think this would be a safer field of discussion.
Some of the off the field stuff involves value judgments that might not be shared by all.

Don Rogers dying of a cocaine overdose--eight days after Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose.

BD Sullivan wrote:Don Rogers dying of a cocaine overdose--eight days after Len Bias died of a cocaine overdose.

See?
Its this kind of judgmental bias that is exactly of what I spoke.

I mean no discourtesy to Mr Sullivan or anyone else here but until you've walked a mile in those shoes you might want to be a little more generous with your judgments and proclamations.

I see drug abusers as people with a problem who need understanding and assistance.
They (or we) are ill and don't deserve to be in a "Hall of Shame" because of that illness.

That's the kind of thinking that creates leper colonies and, from personal experience, unfair judgments are what caused a decent percentage of these problems in the first place.

I won't rant anymore but I think it would be great if we could stick to issues that don't involve as much personal opinion.