Who would have been considered one of the "Great Ones" if not for....

[TruBlueCowboy]

What players do you think would have been considered one of the best ever at thier position if not for injuries, legal problems, drug problems, a tragic early death, stints in other leagues, or other obstacles?

For the Cowboys, I'd have to go with Hollywood Henderson. There isn't a single former player who won't tell you about how he had some of the most freakish athletic talent they ever saw. If he had stayed off the drugs and partying, he might have gone down as one of the best linebackers to ever play the game.

For the rest of the NFL, I'd have to say Bo Jackson. If he hadn't played baseball and then killed that hip, he would have easily passed 10,000 yards and from there, who knows?

 

[gbrittain]

What players do you think would have been considered one of the best ever at thier position if not for injuries, legal problems, drug problems, a tragic early death, stints in other leagues, or other obstacles?

For the Cowboys, I'd have to go with Hollywood Henderson. There isn't a single former player who won't tell you that he didn't have some of the most freakish athletic talent they ever saw. If he had stayed off the drugs and partying, he might have gone down as one of the best linebackers to ever play the game.

For the rest of the NFL, I'd have to say Bo Jackson. If he hadn't played baseball and then killed that hip, he would have easily passed 10,000 yards and from there, who knows?

Dallas' Eric Williams is an obvious one.

 

[Dalmations202]

Earl Campbell and Terrell Davis

Two of the best backs ever, who ended it too soon because of injury.

 

[Yeagermeister]

Dallas' Eric Williams is an obvious one.

Exactly who I was going to say

 

[TruBlueCowboy]

Dallas' Eric Williams is an obvious one.

Big E would probably be the last Cowboy you could say that about. If Roy Williams or DeMarcus Ware goes down for their career anytime soon, I'd add them to the list.

 

[gbrittain]

Exactly who I was going to say

Great minds think alike.

What about Kevin Smith. Not sure if the word great applies here, but I would say at a minimum very very good and possibly great.

 

[TruBlueCowboy]

Earl Campbell and Terrell Davis

Two of the best backs ever, who ended it too soon because of injury.

Earl Campbell had a short career, but I think he played enough for anyone who saw him play to consider him one of the best ever. Not sure Terrell Davis played long enough though. Davis didn't have that incredible power that Campbell had so he probably didn't play enough to get himself into the Hall of Fame.

 

[TruBlueCowboy]

Great minds think alike.

What about Kevin Smith. Not sure if the word great applies here, but I would say at a minimum very very good and possibly great.

That would go with my great duos that either never were, or didn't last long enough.

Deion and Kevin. *sigh*

Woody and Roy. *sigh*

 

[InmanRoshi]

Duane Thomas

Not only did he flush his career down the drain, but Landry said the Cowboys would have beaten the Steelers in those Superbowls if Duane Thomas could have gotten his life on track.

 

[kilz]

Bo Jackson

 

[Yakuza Rich]

Ki-Jana Carter, if not for the injuries.

That Penn State was deadly explosive and the main players on offense were Carter, Kerry Collins and Kyle Brady. Brady proved to be a good blocker, but not much of an offensive threat in the NFL and Collins proved to have a great arm, but pretty much a mediocre QB. It was Carter who was so good that made that team far better on offense than it actually was.

A healthy Tommy Frazier playing in today's era where teams are unafraid to move QB's to WR would've been a great one.

There was also a linebacker out of Syracuse named Dan Conley who would've been one of the all time college greats and a great NFL player if he didn't go through a billion knee surgeries. He was really just like AJ Hawk when he first came to Syracuse.

Rich...........

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Duane Thomas

Not too often we agree but on this one we do.

 

[Jarv]

Heck, could also say Troy...He retired early or he still might be playing...he already made HOF so he probably doesn't belong on this list..Career stats would have been a lot higher tho.

 

[sbuscha]

Bo Jackson

Bo is a very good friend of mine. He is an outstanding man. It is unfortunate what happened to him and his football career, that said he never liked playing football. Baseball was his passion. Now it is his business...

 

[JJB500]

I agree with you on Hollywood Henderson, an awesome talent what other linebacker was a kick returner? Joe Namath would have been something special with healthy knees, I still get chills watching tapes of him throwing a pass!

 

[TruBlueCowboy]

Bo is a very good friend of mine. He is an outstanding man. It is unfortunate what happened to him and his football career, that said he never liked playing football. Baseball was his passion. Now it is his business...

What does he do now in baseball? I had no idea he was still involved.

 

[joseephuss]

Herschel Walker.

His brief stint in the USFL set him back. He then went to teams that just didn't know how to utilize him or couldn't fully utilize his talents.

Dallas came close to getting the most out of him, but since Dorsett was still on the team he had to split time. Then there was the lock out in his second season. He still put up very good numbers. Seeing him play at Georgia I never would have thought he would be a good receiver, but Tom Landry found out that he was a very good receiver. I still don't understand why the Vikings and Eagles didn't just feed him the ball out of the I-formation 20 times a game and throw some passes at him. Heck, he was still a good running back in his second stint as a Cowboy. Dallas just chose to have Sherman Williams as the second string guy. Walker was better than Williams and better suited for the offense. And for some reason, Chan Gailey didn't even want to give Walker a chance when he came on as coach.

All in all, I think he could have ended up very high career numbers if he could have started in the NFL from the beginning and stuck with one or two teams. He already has respectable numbers. He is 26th all time in yards from scrimmage and is maybe top 5 in all purpose yards when you count return yardage. How high would those numbers be if he stayed in one place and was the featured player?

 

[onetrickpony]

Duane Thomas

Not only did he flush his career down the drain, but Landry said the Cowboys would have beaten the Steelers in those Superbowls if Duane Thomas could have gotten his life on track.

Thomas was my choice, too. Great talent with a Hambrick mentality.:bang2:

 

[bobtheflob]

Here's a not as obvious one: Kurt Warner. I know he had great players around him, but that offense never really clicked as well when he wasn't playing. He was in the Arena League I think, then had that thumb injury, but for a few years there he was dominant.

 

[sbuscha]

What does he do now in baseball? I had no idea he was still involved.

He does some recruiting for the Royals. He is also contracted with the govt supplying food to the troops. He has a minority contract and is doing very well...