Top 11 current NFL careers that history won't be overly kind to

by DMtShooter, Five Tool Tool

Following in the proud footsteps of Shawn Alexander, Travis Henry and Michael Vick, what current stars are going to be dismissed out of hand once they are out of the league? Well, I'm betting you won't be telling your grandkids what it was like to watch...

11. Jeremy Shockey. Earned his ring in the press box, couldn't stay healthy, and Giant Fan isn't exactly sitting shiva for him. So overrated he was underrated, but will be known more for clubhouse lawyer antics than anything else.

10. Chad Johnson. The numbers are actually really good -- nearly 8,500 yards and 50 touchdowns as I write this -- and he's been extremely durable. But Ocho Dinko won't be remembered for anything but the antics, and since his teams are nearly 100% playoff-free, he'll have no response to the legion charges of Team Cancer.

Honestly, the best thing that could happen to him is a season-ending injury, a release from Stalag Bengal, and a stirring comeback for some destination team. If he plays out his career in Porkopolis, he'll be Andre Reed... only, well, less clutch.

9. Edge James. The career numbers are going to be very good, but he's going to be seen as someone who wasn't able to show up in big games, and it's telling that the Colts only broke through and got their Super Bowl when he was exiled to Arizona. A shame, because he probably deserves better.

8. Adrian Peterson. A harsh thing to say about Purple Jesus, but I can't shake the feeling that he's Eddie George II, and no one's talking about Eddie George I, really. Let's just say that I don't think much of his chances at long-term health, or from his organization giving him a good passing attack to keep the hits down.

7. Willis McGahee. Let's see, he's already hated in one town (Buffalo), and well on his way to losing the gig in Charm City. I bet he gets there with speed -- more than he shows on the field, really. Besides, Laron McClain is going to be the most-loved back in that town soon, if he isn't already.

6. Lawrence Maroney. Can't stay healthy, infuriated any number of fantasy owners, doesn't have a ring (and doesn't look like he'll get one this year either), and kind of a head case. When you remember this era of Patriots football, your mind's eye will have Kevin Faulk or Corey Dillon in it.

5. Carson Palmer. Boy, that playoff year was a long time ago, wasn't it? Palmer's never been the same since, and the Bengals have lost their way, especially in regards to how to construct an offensive line, or that infamous skill players aren't always, well, good skill players. Unless you are able to father quarterbacks that have much better careers than yours, being a star quarterback for a terrible franchise isn't exactly a legacy position...

4. Derek Anderson. Can you say flash in the pan? Browns Fan sure can, and they are more than ready to turn the page on a guy that probably won't have the starting gig in November, or ever again. In retrospect, everyone should have seen this coming, given that he couldn't take the job in training camp in 2007 from, um, Charlie Frye. Yeesh.

3. Roy Williams. The only defensive player on this list gets here simply from the honor of having horse collar tackles named after him, but as the Cowboys transition away from an erratic slow quasi linebacker at safety to a guy that stinks a lot less, they'll little note, nor long remember him. One more piece of proof that the Pro Bowl isn't the only criteria you should use to rate a player.

2. Randy Moss. No rings. Going on three towns that he quit on. An overwhelming sense of underachievement, despite huge numbers. Utter disappearance when the games mattered most. Lots of off-field nonsense early in a career usually means, well, off-field nonsense later in the career, too.

I'm not saying he's not going to the Hall, or that he wasn't great. I am saying that you won't see people wearing his jersey five years after he retires.

1. Terrell Owens. Let's see, numerous quarterbacks thrown under the bus -- check. Multiple cities who wanted to love him and just got burned, bingo. Teary post-game interviews that strained any level of credibility and multiple media members getting sucked into his periodic Nice Guy moments, only to feel used later? Oh, mais oui.

The 150+ touchdowns means he's going to the Hall of Fame no matter what, really... but will any team let him wear their jersey when he's inducted, and will the crowd be there to do anything but boo? Man, that'd be awesome...