most OVERRATED lions

[swervyn mervyn]

inspired by the lions underrated thread, i as a huge lions fan have thought some of our players, over the years have been over hyped. as a fernandez fan it pains me to nominate roy dewalt. great arm but not much football sense or scrambling ability. u get to the pocket u get dewalt,used to really bother me back in the day,or so my memory recalls.

[Sir Purrcival]

Marc Gastinueau

[WestCoastJoe]

Murray Pezim - would-be-saviour owner with big $Bucks, brought the Lions down to his own low class level

Joe Kapp - would-be-saviour General Manager, ruined his reputation gained as a player

Eagle Keys - hyped as Super Coach from success in Regina, did little with the Lions

Don Moorhead - much-hyped QB recruit, very little productivity with the Lions

Randy Duncan - QB, overall top NFL draft pick, did little with the Lions

[cromartie]

Major Harris, anyone?

[notahomer]

:x I got beat. The two names that leapt out at me were Gastineau and Harris, so I got to go sulk and think of someone else

[Big Time]

Major Harris - Uh, try not to slip in the shower and bruise your unmentionables.

Jimmy "the Jet" Cunningham - one good year, followed by a year where he seemed to think it was better to gain yards by running backwards once he caught the ball. I just loved how he would run 50 yards so that he could wind up with a net loss of 5 yards.

Frank Cutolo - Rookie of the year to out of the league faster than you can say "Get a haircut".

Damon Allen - The reasons could go on and on but I'll just leave it at the old inconsistency problem.

Adam Rita - Laziness and apathy. Two things that permeate from Adam Rita through every organization and fan base that he is a part of.

Antonio Warren - Learn to block and do more than run straight up the gut into the open arms of a defender.

Eric Carter - I hated this guy long before he finally got cut. Every single time there was a deep ball given up, Carter was usually the defender. I honestly can't understand how he ever got nominated as a league all star while a Lion.

[West Coast Blue Fan]

Todd Marinovich

Kendrick Jones

[lion24]

Possibly Rodgers....we will see next year I guess. Hopefully not Jarious Jackson if he can back up his play of last year

[Robbie]

I guess just like the term underrated, the term overrated can be very subjective too. I suppose the best example would be a player who for varoius reasons such as winning past awards has very high expectations placed on him, and then fails to live up to those expectations when he joins the team. In some cases, a player performs well in college and thus has instant fame placed on him but when he joins the team, ends up being a big disappointment. That's why I have a lot of respect for rookie of the year winners because they are able to adjust into the professional ranks. In other cases, a player did well for another team in the past but upon joining the Lions, doesn't perform nearly as well.

Therefore, I suppose the term overrated can be used synonymously with disappointment. I guess in some cases, it's unfair to have the same expectations on an aging player to perform as well as he did 10 to 15 years, but I guess that's how society is.

I would be hard pressed to call a Lion as overrated if he wins an award or is selected as an all-star during his time with the team. If he got such honours in the past with other teams, then maybe. But if he continues to win such honours.

Some of you listed Major Harris, who did well in college. But in all fairness, repeating something I said in other threads before, the Lions had a big QB mess in 1990 with Harris, Paopao, Flutie, and Foggie all competing for the starting job and Harris was sort of the odd man out. While Harris didn't extremely shine, neither did Flutie for that matter. Harris didn't get too much playing time, and I know for sure he started some of the six games the Lions won that season, which included the season finale.

Okay, here's my list. In some cases, I'll list some players that you were probably surprised were ever Lions as they spent most of their times with other teams. And in some cases, I'll list more than one player if I feel their circumstances are very similar.

#10. Larry Willis and Emanuel Tolbert
After some fine seasons with Calgary, WR Larry "Slick" Willis was signed in BC in 1990 in hopes of replacing departing all-star David Williams. But Willis didn't do all that well and was released after 12 games.

Slotback Tolbert, received in the Dunigan trade for Toronto, had fine seasons with the Argonauts and Stampeders, but not with the Lions as he was released after seven games.

#9. Lorenzo Rivers
After his fine pre-season play in 1988 with exciting kick returns, he was signed and everyone was hoping he would become a Gizmo Williams for the Lions. Alas, he didn't fulfill that role and was released after 8 games.

#8. Hank Ilesic
A fine long time punter for the Argonauts, but limited to just three games for the Lions in 1998.

#7. Mark Gastineau
Everyone expected the former NFL New York Jets all-star to perform just as well, but injuries limited him to just four games and he was released.

#6. Danny Barrett
After the loss of Doug Flutie, everyone was hoping that Barrett would be an identical replacement at QB after bringing the Stampeders to a 1991 Grey Cup appearance, but alas, he was not.

#5. Bernie Ruoff
In 1988 when Passaglia tried out for the Cleveland Browns amid a contract dispute, Tony Martino was ineffective as a replacement so the Lions brought in Bernie Ruoff who was then third on the CFL's all-time scoring list. Ruoff was no replacement for Lui either.

#4. Robert Mimbs
The three time all-star running back was the east division finalist for Most Outstanding Player in 1991 with Winnipeg, lost to Doug Flutie. He got the west division MOP nomination with Saskatchewan in 1996. But he was no all-star with the Lions from 1992-93.

#3. Doug Landry, James West, and Brett Williams
These three defensive players had good performances with other teams, but not with the Lions.

Doug "Tank" Landry was involved in a key defensive play for the Argonauts in the 1987 Grey Cup when he returned a Dunigan fumble for a touchdown. But the Lions considered him a troublemaker after getting him in the Dunigan trade and released him in 1990 after 13 games.

James "Wild Wild" West was a great linebacker for the Blue Bombers with two all-star selections, but was no longer the same when he joined the Lions in 1993.

Brett "The Toaster" Williams was a standout in Montreal, but had only minimal contributions in his single 1987 season with the Lions.

#2. Gilbert Renfroe
This QB led the Argonauts to a 11-6-1 record and a Grey Cup appearance in 1987, and to a 14-4 season in 1988. But he didn't replicate his fine performance in his three games as Lions QB in 1992.




And now, the most overrated BC Lion.....




#1. Andre Ware
After losing Danny McManus, the Lions entrusted this former Heisman trophy winner to be their new starting QB. Alas, he didn't deliver after the team went 0-4 and the Lions released him after signing Damon Allen.

Despite the fact that Allen was a big improvement over Ware and in my opinion, very underrated, that fact in itself doesn't change the fact that many of you think Allen is overrated as well. If anything, can't you at least appreciate Allen for the fact that he performed better than Ware?

[lion24]

Not that he was overrated in ANY WAY...........but on a personal note it was tough to see Fernandez come back as a shell of his former self in 1994

[Blitz]

Most of the players I've listed were very good players or excellent plyayers but I believe were overrated by the media covering the Leos..

Joe Paopao, Danny Barrett, Jaques Chapdelaine (both categories ) Don Blair, Dave Dickenson, Damon Allen (for a time) Jan Carunci, Eric Carter, Dave Easley, Norm Fieldgate, Rick Goltz, Alfred Jackson, Derek Mac Cready, Mike Trevathan, Paul Lacoste, Rick Klassen, Jamie Taras

Now i'm getting ready to duck and cover!!

[TheLionKing]

Damon Allen

[ziggy]

Damon Allen hands down. Always had the feeling he could snatch defeat from the jaws of victory!

[swervyn mervyn]

although i agree with the damon allen nomination, does anyone think dickenson in many ways was overrated too?so many big games lost to wally's devotion to dave

[midwestlion]

Todd Marinovich

Kendrick Jones

Possibly Rodgers....we will see next year I guess. Hopefully not Jarious Jackson if he can back up his play of last year

Huh. Who even rated them.(ROdgers and Jones) They dont even belong in the category. IMO.

Now I wouild say Javy Glatt.