The most overrated player in NFL history | Page 18

darockzillahitman · 2018-04-16T21:52:08-07:00

I feel kind of bad saying this, because he seems like a really nice guy, but the most overrated player in NFL history, bar none, is: Franco Harris. I don't know how many people here have ever really watched old Steelers games (why would you?), but I binge watched them on Youtube several months ago. Let me just say this: Franco Harris is not a Top 500 running back in NFL history. Not in terms of performance on the field, he wasn't. I am not even kidding: Derek Loville was a better running back than Franco Harris. You think I'm being hyperbolic? I'm not. Let me put it this way: Every single person on this forum could tackle Franco Harris when he played. Every single able-bodied person on planet earth could tackle Franco Harris. That is not an exaggeration. You see, here's how a Franco Harris carry went: Bradshaw hands it off to Franco Harris. He hits the designed hole. The very first guy to touch him was the guy who tackled him. As soon as he was so much as clipped by a nickel or dime back, he went down. He got what was there and nothing more. Newspapers at the time referred to it as, "unlike Jim Brown, he goes out of bounds." No, he wasn't going out of bounds. He was just going down to the very first guy who got him every single time. The late Dave Duerson once described hitting Harris as, "he was soft. Like a sponge." Now maybe you're going to try to object, because, "but but but but, he gained a lot of rushing yards! And rings! He got 4 rings! He must have done something well to keep starting, like...vision! Yeah, vision!" Yeah, no. Hitting a designed hole is not "vision." Vision is hitting a cutback lane. It's seeing the big picture and making moves accordingly. Harris was a big robot. See designed hole, go to designed hole...touched, robot shut down. Harris was the worst running back on the Steelers every year he played for them. The best running back the Steelers had in the 70s was Sidney Thornton. He actually had some decent power. Rocky Bleier was also basically a hack, but even he was better than Harris, and occasionally would fight for some extra yardage/break a tackle. Was there anything Harris did well besides do what the coaches asked of him as far as hitting the designed hole? Well, for a guy his size, he had decent straight line speed. But I'm talking about for a guy his size...in the 1970s. That's why he was drafted - he was a 230 pound guy who ran in the 4.6-4.7 range. He wasn't the feature back at Penn State...Lydell Mitchell was. "But if he's so bad, how could he gain so many yards? Are you saying the Steelers' offensive line was the GOAT line?" Here's something you might not be aware of - and if you're ever trash talking with some Steelers fans who suck off their 70s teams, be sure to bring it up: The Steelers' offensive linemen were all juicing. They were roid freaks. It was an open secret that was exposed by Steve Courson years later. Their offensive linemen dominated the off-season NFL weight lifting competitions. Mike Webster was the "strongest man in the NFL." So in terms of effectiveness, they were certainly way up there. Why wouldn't they be? They had a huge physical edge. It's funny...if you were to poll the average fan and ask them who was overrated from the 70s Steelers, they would say Terry Bradshaw...but he has been called overrated so much that he's actually now underrated. Bradshaw was basically the equal to Elway: Mobility, strong arm, could make all the throws...played in some bad offensive systems that made his numbers look worse. My thoughts on some of their others: Lambert: Lives up to the hype for the most part. Funny enough, fans were saying he was overrated and Ham was underrated. I don't see it. Ham after 1974 or so didn't do much for me. Lambert was everywhere. Their scheme had he and Ham getting deep pass drops, and he was on basically everything sideline-to-sideline or straight ahead. Never seemed to miss a tackle. Greene: Great interior pass rusher, especially in his peak years. Not exceptional vs. the run at the point. Not as "mean" as they say, unless they mean he'll punch Broncos' offensive linemen in the gut and not get ejected. Then yeah, he was mean in that way. Greenwood: Good pass rusher. Ham: More impressive in 1974 and prior. More of a role player later on. Pass to the flat and he'd be on it, fast. Huge roles in coverage in their scheme. Blount: He's lucky he played in the era he did. Not a great actual cover guy. Squatted on routes against primitive passing attacks and collected the INTs. Good run support player, though. Donnie Shell: Don't get the hype. Stallworth: Surprised me with his RAC ability. Could break tackles after the catch. Good on the leaping grab as well. Primitive routes. Swann: Tremendous leaping ability. Pretty special hands, considering nobody wore gloves then. Slow as molasses. I doubt he could crack 4.75. Yeah, he caught deep balls like basically every other receiver of that era, but he did it because the corners of the time were almost entirely 6'0"+ plodders. Teams of that era used almost exclusively bigger corners because of the different rules (the "Mel Blount rule" was instituted in 1977), thinking the bigger corners could maul the receivers they faced. Ugly, primitive routes. Also good after the catch. Watching he and Stallworth, you realize how much we overrate our own receivers' RAC ability. RAC was expected of a WR before pussies like Marvin Harrison and Torry Holt decided the catch was the end of the story because they didn't want to injure their vaginas. I think 1974 was their best defense, which was Lambert's rookie year. I don't think he ever played better than that, despite not getting the Pro Bowl/all pro honors that year (he did win DROY though).

The most overrated player in NFL history

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Jun 26, 2018 at 1:55 PM

#256

Morgy
Hey bud, what’s your problem?
Posts: 30,359

Originally posted by susweel:

Originally posted by ChazBoner:

Originally posted by DASeiler49:
Brett Favre. Sure there's some hate there, but the guy just did some STUPID stuff.

like this?

U think jimmy can make that throw ?

right into the BD's hands

Jun 26, 2018 at 2:36 PM

#257

FredFlintstone
Veteran
Posts: 46,735

Originally posted by Morgan49:
Originally posted by susweel:
Originally posted by ChazBoner:
Originally posted by DASeiler49:
Brett Favre. Sure there's some hate there, but the guy just did some STUPID stuff.

like this?

U think jimmy can make that throw ?

right into the BD's hands

I f**king HATED mark roman #26 dude was garbage and a main reason Favre completed that miracle

Jun 26, 2018 at 4:50 PM

#258

Big_Daddy
Veteran
Posts: 1,807

Any patriots defender in the early 2000's.

Took a bunch of slow white guys and street free agent cb's.... studies other teams and bam, Super Bowl.

Jun 27, 2018 at 3:32 PM

#259

ThomasNT
Member
Posts: 3

Originally posted by TruNinerFan:
Woodson?? Just curious, why do you think that?

Woodson was lousy in man coverage.

Jun 28, 2018 at 4:23 AM

#260

jcs
Veteran
Posts: 39,833

Originally posted by ThomasNT:

Originally posted by TruNinerFan:
Woodson?? Just curious, why do you think that?

Woodson was lousy in man coverage.

5th all time in interceptions. Woodson was an all-pro 8 times...not sure what you're seeing.

Jun 28, 2018 at 7:17 AM

#261

LasVegasWally
Veteran
Posts: 24,819

Elvis Grback

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The most overrated player in NFL history