How many times have us sports fans ended up getting excited for our favorite team’s top draft pick or prospect and we can’t wait for them to break into the pro’s and become the next perennial All-Star? How many times have we found ourselves disappointed because that prospect or draft pick never panned out or did something stupid that railroaded what might have been a promising career? I know in my case it happens all the time, but I try to see the humor in it, and wonder what ever happened to these never-was’. This pondering got me to compile a list of 10 players to see what the hell they are doing these days.
Brien Taylor – The Yankees drafted Taylor first overall in 1991 MLB First-Year Player Draft. His high school numbers were unheard of, striking out 213 in 88 innings, making him a prize client for bottom feeder agent extraordinaire, Scott Boras. Boras advised Taylor’s family to hold out for big money and it worked as the Yankees signed him for a then record $1.55 million.Taylor’s top prospect status drew him comparisons to Dwight Gooden causing Yankee fans to drool at the thought of him in pinstripes. That was until he went to defend his brother’s honor.
After his brother got into a fist fight and came home beat up, Taylor went to the gentleman’s trailer to confront him. Taylor got into it with said gentleman’s friend and threw a punch, which missed, and he landed on his shoulder. The result was a dislocated shoulder and torn labrum.
Taylor’s level headed thinking ruined a blossoming career because he was never the same pitcher. He never pitched a game in the major leagues (he still is the only player since the First Year Player Draft to be drafted first overall and never make the major leagues), and was out of baseball by 2000.
WHERE IS HE NOW? After baseball Taylor got a gig with UPS and had some run in’s with the law. He was charged with child abuse in 2006, and skipped out on his court date. He also had some issues with paying child support for his five kids. He currently works with his dad as a brick layer and lives with his parents in North Carolina.
Lawrence Phillips – When Phillips was a running back for the University of Nebraska many experts considered him the best running back in college football. In his senior season he was a Heisman favorite until he was arrested for punching his pregnant girlfriend in the stomach, causing a suspension from the team.This behavior hurt him in the draft but the St. Louis Rams still took a gamble on him by taking him sixth overall pick in the 1996 NFL Draft. They were so high on Phillips they traded then starting running back Jerome Bettis to the Steelers, handing Phillips the starting job.
What a mistake.
Phillips’ attitude got in the way in St. Louis and was cut after refusing to attend a team meeting. Bettis on the other hand spent ten years in Pittsburgh carving out a perennial Pro-Bowl career.
Phillips then went to Miami where his attitude didn’t change and never produced on the field. He finally wound up in NFL Europe.
In Europe Phillips set offensive records with the Barcelona Dragons so the smell of comeback was in the air. The San Francisco 49ers liked what they smelled and took a gamble on him. It wasn’t the safest bet. Phillips was less then spectacular and he reverted to his ways with the Rams. The 49ers released him during the season, ending his NFL comeback and career.
WHERE IS HE NOW? Upon leaving the NFL Phillips spent a year in the Arena Football League before spending a couple years in the Canadian Football League. He had success in the CFL but was cut for arguing with his coach.
That’s when Phillips chose to again become a psychopathic dirtbag. In 2005 Phillips was charged with assault with a deadly weapon after he ran down three teenagers during a dispute over a pick-up football game. Shortly after that he was charged with beating and choking his girlfriend to the point where she lost consciousness. When all is said and done he was sentenced to 31 years in prison on eight felony charges.
He is currently in California State Prison, Los Angles, in protective custody after being stabbed by a Mexican gang leader.
Shawn Abner – When the Mets scouted Abner as a high school sophomore, he was labeled “can’t miss”, so they drafted him with the first overall pick in the 1984 draft. Abner put up okay numbers in the Mets minor league system before being traded to Padres in a trade that brought the Mets Kevin Mitchell and Kevin McReynolds.Abner spent six years on and off in the Major Leagues with the Padres, Angels, and White Sox. Abner’s career ended when he injured his knee playing in the Royals organization. He finished his career with a .227 batting average with 11 home runs and 77 RBIs.
WHERE IS HE NOW? Abner’s post athletic career isn’t as glamorous as Taylor or Phillips. He’s currently married with two kids. He resides in Mechanicsburg, PA where he works at a beer distributor.
Al Cowlings – Cowlings was a standout defensive end for USC in the late 60’s which prompted the Buffalo Bills to draft him with the fifth overall pick in the 1970 draft. Cowlings played with the Bills for three seasons where he had 17 tackles and four fumble recoveries. Widely considered one of the top first round busts in the history of the Bills, he was released in after the 1972 season. Cowlings spent the next six seasons with the Oilers, Rams, Seahawks, and 49ers. He finished his career with 32 tackles in 101 games. None of his games were starts.WHERE IS HE NOW? Cowlings is known more for his post NFL career than his lack of play on the field. “AC” as called by his friends owned a white bronco and was the driver for OJ Simpson during his low speed chase. OJ’s friend since childhood, AC invoked his fifth amendment during the OJ trial and was eventually charged with felony aiding a fugitive.
Since the glove didn’t fit and OJ was acquitted, Cowlings went on to date porn stars and sell handbags. He was also portrayed by Tim Meadows in a Saturday Night Live skit (I’m AC dammit!). In 2004 he filed for bankruptcy and is currently living somewhere in Los Angeles.
Alexandre Daigle – In the early 90’s Daigle was a can’t miss prospect for Victoriaville of the QMJHL (sounds made up). He was considered to be the biggest hockey prospect since Wayne Gretzky in the late 70’s and all teams wanted to get their hands on him. To put in perspective how big of a prospect he was the Quebec Nordiques offered the Ottawa Senators (who held the first overall pick) Owen Nolan, Peter Forsberg, Ron Hextall and draft picks, for the chance to draft Daigle. Well the Senators (who were accused of intentionally losing games the year before to ensure they could draft Daigle), passed on this trade and made Daigle the first overall pick in the 1993 draft.
Bad decision.
While Nolan had a consistent career, Forsberg began what is likely a Hall of Fame career, and Hextall continued to be one of the league’s top goalies, and guys like Chris Pronger and Paul Kariya, who were drafted after him became superstars, Daigle was a scrub. In his best season with Ottawa he tallied 54 points, and was more interested in partying and getting laid then living up to the hype he had in the QMJHL (sounds made up).
Once the Senators realized that Daigle was stealing for him, they dealt him to the Flyers, who later traded him to the Oilers, who then traded him to the Lightning. Daigle retired in 2000 at the age of 25. He finished with 241 points in 459 games (in 1986 Gretzky had 215 points in 80 games, so much for not living up to potential).
WHERE IS HE NOW? Well the biggest draft NHL bust in history (according to the Ottawa Sun), wanted to be a celebrity so after his retirement he moved to Los Angeles, where he said he never wanted to play hockey, but used his talent to vault a career in entertainment.
After starting an entertainment company that failed, Daigle must have needed money because returned to the NHL with the Penguins and Wild. After the 2006 season the Wild waived Daigle and his NHL career permanently came to an end.
In 2006 Daigle signed with Davos in the Swiss League. He currently is still in Switzerland playing for SCL Tigers.
Chris Washburn – Here’s the classic case of a talented athlete who’s flat out lazy. Washburn was one of the most gifted high school products; a big man with pure speed, great hands, could bang the boards, and had a jump shot. After being recruited by most Division I schools, Washburn chose NC State.
While at NC State, Washburn had no interest in an education as he never attended classes (after he was drafted it came out NC State altered his grades to maintain his player eligibility), and eventually fell into trouble with the law. He got caught stealing a stereo and was sentenced to 46 hours in jail and five years probation. During the trial it came up his SAT scores were less than 500 (by his own admission: "The coaches over there told me, ‘You already signed, you’re already in school, you just have to take the test just to get into college. When they told me it didn’t matter what score I was getting, I went in for about 22 minutes. I just marked down answers.”).
Washburn was drafted third overall in the 1986 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors. Like the second overall pick, Len Bias (who wasn’t as lucky as Washburn, since Bias died of a cocaine overdose two days after the draft), Washburn had a cocaine addiction. This caused him to refuse to attend practice and show up at games a few minutes before tip off regardless of the fines (Don Nelson refers to Washburn as “Lazy. Bad attitude. With his skill level, you projected that if he did everything right, he could get better. He didn’t do anything right.”).
Three months into his rookie season Washburn checked into rehab. After he finished rehab, nothing changed for Washburn as he went back to blow and didn’t care about basketball. He finished his rookie season averaging 3.8 points per game. Midway through his sophomore season the Warriors could no longer deal with Washburn’s laziness and drug addiction, and dealt him to the Atlanta Hawks. Nothing changed for Washburn in Atlanta and in 1989 he was suspended for life by the NBA for failing his third drug test. Over two seasons, Washburn played a total of 74 games averaging 3.1 points and 2.4 rebounds.
WHERE IS HE NOW? After his banishment from basketball, Washburn moved to Houston to continue partying. Coke and hookers were a way of life until Washburn found himself homeless living on the streets (at least he was homeless in a warm climate), eating out of dumpsters and smoking crack. He served two years in prison for drug offenses until he eventually got off the rock in 2000.
Washburn has been drug free since then and still resides in Houston. He works for a mortgage company and frequently speaks at rehabs.
Ryan Leaf – In 1997 Leaf was a Heisman finalist as a quarterback with Washington State. He eventually finished third in voting behind Charles Woodson and Peyton Manning, but was held in high regard by all NFL teams, and was predicted to be a top three draft pick.
The Indianapolis Colts had the first pick in the draft and needed a quarterback. The talk among to sports world was would the Colts take Manning or Leaf. The Chargers, who held the third overall pick also needed a quarterback so they traded up with the Cardinals, who held the second overall pick, giving them two first round picks, a second round pick, and Pro Bowl receiver, Eric Metcalf, guaranteeing them either Manning or Leaf. When the Colts drafted Manning the Chargers didn’t hesitate to take Leaf second overall.
The Chargers didn’t get what they bargained for with this pick.
Leaf was never able to take his talents to the next level. He opened his rookie year as the Chargers starter and it only took three games for him to perhaps have the worst performance by a quarterback. Against the Chiefs he went 1 for 15 for four yards and three fumbles. His poor play continued and by Week 10 he was benched in favor of Craig Whelihan. He finished his rookie year with two touchdowns, fifteen interceptions, 1,239 yards, and a pathetic quarterback rating of 39.
Aside from Leaf being a total sh*tstain on the field he was also a sh*tstain off the field. Here are some highlights of Leaf’s tenure with the Chargers:
- He screamed at a reporter and had to be physically restrained by linebacker Junior Seau.
- He blamed the media and teammates for his horrific on-field performances.
- Heckled a fan during practice and had to be physically removed by a couple coaches.
- Was suspended and fined for getting into a shouting match with general manager Bobby Bethard.
- Faked a hand injury so he can skip practice to play golf.
Eventually the Chargers were fed up with him being an abortion on the field and a baby off the field and released Baby Huey. He had a couple brief stops with the Buccaneers and Cowboys, which led nowhere. Leaf was invited to the Seahawks training camp in 2002, but ended up retiring instead. This retirement was so minuscule, that it wasn’t even covered.
WHERE IS HE NOW? Leaf went back to the Washington State and in 2005 earned his bachelors degree in Media Relations (Media relations? The irony!) He also said he went back to college because that’s where he had the best time of his life. He’s an eternal frat boy douchbag. Shortly after leaving the frat house for a second time, he was hired as quarterback coach for Western Texas A&M (is that even a Division II school?), but was fired in 2008 after trying to score painkillers off a player. From there he moved to Vancouver where he owned a business development firm.
Leaf is currently a writer (which offends me), and is penning three autobiographies. I can’t wait to pick them up. It sounds like they’ll be monosyllabic page turners…
Ozzie Canseco – No one likes to be the brother of a superstar, especially when it’s not your older brother but your twin brother. Canseco’s twin brother Jose was a steroid-fueled, power hitting machine. Unfortunately for Ozzie he wasn’t.Ozzie was never really a top prospect, so maybe me calling him is a bust is a stretch, but when you have identical DNA to Jose Canseco, there has to be some expectation (especially when you’re on the same steroid regiment).
After spending eight years in the minor leagues with the Yankees and Athletics, he finally broke into the major leagues 1990. He only appeared in nine games for the Athletics but his .105 batting average and 50% strike out ratio definitely made an impression on Oakland’s brass. That didn’t stop Ozzie from trying to live the dream. The Athletics eventually released him and he moved on to St. Louis. He spent two seasons in St. Louis where he batted .239. He signed on with the Brewers in 1994 but batted a Mendoza-like .236 in Triple A before leaving the majors for good.
WHERE IS HE NOW? After not getting any bites from any MLB team, Ozzie joined the Duluth-Superior Dukes of the Northern League. From there he joined the Independent League Newark Bears where he set the Independent League record with 48 home runs in one season (2000).
Ozzie has had his share of legal problems as well. In 2001 he was arrested with his brother Jose for getting into a bar fight with some Miami tourists. In 2003 he was sentenced to four months in jail for possession of steroids. Most recently he was picked up for DUI in January.
Aside from run-in’s with the law, Ozzie enjoys impersonating his brother on television shows, autograph sessions, and celebrity boxing matches.
Currently Ozzie is the player/coach for the independent Yuma Scorpions. Considering Jose is the manager, I’m thinking this gig wasn’t earned on merit.
Brian Bosworth – Bosworth was one hell of a football player. In fact he is listed on the 100 Greatest College Football Players of All-Time. A two-time Butkis Award Winner (award for college’s best linebacker), and a two-time All-American, Bosworth was a monster on the field, and he knew it. Anytime he saw a microphone, he had something to say and it didn’t matter who it was about. His balls were so big, prior to the 1987 NFL Supplemental Draft he sent letters to certain teams not to draft him because he wouldn’t sign with them (sure, not the first time a player has done that, but normally it’s one team, not ones you pick and choose). Regardless he was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks and signed then the highest rookie contract in NFL history.“The Boz”, as he nicknamed himself, was a distraction before he took the NFL field (and I’m not talking about his mohawk styled mullet), by suing the NFL for not allowing him to wear number 44, the number he wore in college (the NFL has certain numbers for certain positions, and 44 isn’t designated for linebackers). He also drew comparisons to Lawrence Taylor, and again before his first game he ran his mouth like he was Taylor. During the week prior to Sunday’s game he would call opposing players out (most notably Bo Jackson), like he was in the WWE.
Unfortunately, one of the World’s Biggest Douchebags (second only to Richard Greco), spent more time running his mouth than on the football field.
In “The Boz’s” second season (1988), he hurt his shoulder and was forced to retire after two games in 1989. He finished his career with four sacks and three fumble recoveries in 24 games.
WHERE IS HE NOW? After football “The Boz” decided to go into acting, starring in the worst movie ever featuring an athlete, “Stone Cold”. The movie was such an abomination it made Shaq’s “Kazaam” look like an Academy Award winning film. He continued to be a hack in straight to video releases until becoming a color commentator in the ridiculous XFL in 2001. He was arrested in 2009 for DUI.
Currently “The Boz” is making appearances on any television shows, movies, or any sports events that will have him. Oh, that and still being a world class douchebag.
Brett Lindros – Here’s a little story of a younger brother that couldn’t hold a candle to his older, better brother (like Mark Lieter, Jeremy Giambi, Frank Stallone, and Don Swayze to name a few).
The Islanders drafted Lindros ninth overall in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. This actually surprised me considering his junior hockey stats weren’t very impressive. It is a little less surprising because it’s the Islanders, and they are notorious for making terrible personnel decisions and seeing the name Lindros probably sold them (they should have asked the Lightning how Brent Gretzky worked out).
Lindros suffered a number of concussions in junior hockey, but that didn’t sway the Islanders. Then he suffered a concussion in his rookie season limiting him to 33 games (in which he registered four points). In his second season he suffered two concussions in eight days, and he never played hockey again due to post-concussion syndrome. In 51 career games, Brett finished with seven points.
WHERE IS HE NOW? Not much is known about Lindros after he retired until 2001 (hell, with all his head injuries, he probably didn’t even know where he was), but in 2001 he was seriously injured in a snowmobile accident. You guessed it, he was drunk.
After doing some research I was kind of surprised what he’s doing with his life currently. You’d think after all these concussions (and the snow mobile accident surely didn’t help), he’d be a turnip. Not true. He’s a hedge fund manager in Toronto.
Are there any former bust out there you’re wondering what they are doing? Hit me up at shatmeself@yahoo.com and I’ll be your gumshoe.
No comments:
Post a Comment