Who would you nominate for the Hall of Shame?

[Rupert Patrick]

Gabriel Rivera.

The Steelers pass on Dan Marino in an attempt to rebuild the team on defense. Guy starts playing well a few weeks into his rookie season then decides to drive drunk and get himself paralyzed.

If they had drafted Marino, Dan Marino would have likely won a couple Super Bowls in Pittsburgh and would have been elected Mayor.

[bachslunch]

Christian Peter.
Hart Lee Dykes.

[BD Sullivan]

The Steelers pass on Dan Marino in an attempt to rebuild the team on defense. Guy starts playing well a few weeks into his rookie season then decides to drive drunk and get himself paralyzed.

Regarding Marino, the unfounded drug allegations that were sparked by his mediocre senior year were the main reason he slid down to Miami.

[Gary Najman]

Dexter Manley, because (amongst other things), how is it possible to spend 4 years at a major college and not know how to read and write?

Another one is Jeff Komlo. In 1979 he was the first rookie quarterback that was not drafted in the first round to start their team's opening game, due to injuries to starter Gary Danielson, then he started the rest of the year. He had a very bad rookie season (the Lions were the worst team in the NFL that year) and Komlo hanged in the NFL until 1983, with stops at Atlanta and Tampa Bay. He then was on America's Most Wanted due to cocaine and assualt charges, and for many years he was a fugitive. He spent his last years in Greece, working in a hair-transplant clinic, and in 2009 Komlo died in Athens in a car accident.

[Rupert Patrick]

Dexter Manley, because (amongst other things), how is it possible to spend 4 years at a major college and not know how to read and write?

I remember he said when he was in the NFL he used to buy the Wall Street Journal and carry it around with him so people thought he was a well-read guy.

[sheajets]

Dexter Manley, because (amongst other things), how is it possible to spend 4 years at a major college and not know how to read and write?

I remember he said when he was in the NFL he used to buy the Wall Street Journal and carry it around with him so people thought he was a well-read guy.

When Deion Sanders was interviewing with the Giants before the 1989 NFL Draft, the Giants scouts basically dropped a thick test book on the desk and wanted him to take some sort of aptitude exam. Sanders asked the Giants what pick they had.

18

"Nah, I'll be gone by then."

And he just up and left.

[bachslunch]

Johnny Manziel
Bruce Miller
Dimitrius Underwood
Vince Young
Jeremiah Parker

[sluggermatt15]

Santonio Holmes. Trouble off the field with staying out of trouble led to his demise. After Holmes left Pittsburgh, his career went down the drain.

[SixtiesFan]

The tough thing when it comes to failure on and off the field is that most such players have short careers if they don't wash out immediately. Guys like Warren Wells, Greg Hardy, Pacman Jones, and Alton Smith (and as you mentioned, Aaron Hernandez) definitely qualify under off-field failure, but played well.

Another who comes to mind who might fit both categories is Joe Don Looney. Did not play well and was reportedly a terrible headache for the coaching staffs who dealt with him.

Not much to go on on-field, but Rae Carruth might also qualify.

I recall Fran Tarkenton mentioned Joe Don Looney in his book on the 1970 Giants as one of the team's bad 60's first round draft choices. He said "Joe Don Looney blew out Oklahoma with all the credentials to be another Jimmy Brown." But Looney couldn't "adapt" to the NFL.

Years ago on a internet forum, I saw a anecdote about Looney. This man met Joe Don Looney in the early 1980's without knowing at first, who he was. Looney and this man's brother were working on a car. Looney struck him as a "doofus."

[John Grasso]

A quick Google search using the phrase "aptly named" and "Joe Don Looney"
turned up more than a dozen different entries.