Everyone debates and argues at length over who the greatest stars are in each sport. Is the greatest ever tennis player Nadal or Federer? Is the greatest soccer player of all time Ronaldo or Messi? Is the greatest Formula One driver Schumacher or Hamilton? In my opinion, the answer to all three is pretty clear as Federer, Ronaldo and Schumacher are all far greater athletes – yet that won’t stop the debate from continuing. If you are getting tired of these debates that will never reach a conclusion then stay reading because today we want to shift focus. Instead of looking at the best players of all time, let’s look at the worst. Today we examine who the worst players in NFL history are. Apologies to any of the athletes that are reading, we are sure you are great but the stats just didn’t show it.
Rick Norton
The role of the quarterback is an important one. The responsibility of winning lies firmly on your shoulders and if the results aren’t working out it won’t take long until the finger gets pointed at you. Rick Norton was the quarterback for the Miami Dolphins for three seasons and never recorded a single victory. His record stands at 1-10 for the entirety of the NFL and is nothing to boast about. Worse than that, once he left the team they signed a new QB and went on to win two Super Bowls in a row. Ouch.
Bucky Dilts
The specialist position of punter is one that is not looked at favorably by the sporting world. Your job is basically to sit there for the entire game and occasionally come off the bench to kick a dead ball. To have this job – you must be very good at kicking. Bucky Dilts had this job and wasn’t very good at kicking.
His best year was his rookie year when he had an average of 39.2 years per punt but his stats only got worse from there. He has since retired and gone into an office job instead. His punts were described as dying quails by commentators and reflect how abysmal they were.
Kit Lathrop
A common question in NFL fandom is who is the worst player to own a Super Bowl ring. In our opinion that award goes to Kit Lathrop of the Denver Broncos. He played as a defensive linesman for a number of teams but his performances were always sub-par and there is little that we can credit with him as a contribution towards that winning season.
Jimmy Clausen
Jimmy Clausen was signed by the Carolina Panthers in 2010 with a lot of hype around his arrival. Prior to joining the NFL, he had been a star and his team had never lost a game that he started. It appeared he was on the path to greatness and that he would lead the Panthers on a run of success. It didn’t happen. Clausen spent five years in total in the NFL playing with the Panthers, the Bears, and the Ravens and his career never took off. In his fifth week in the NFL he was benched after only completing 47% of passes and creating only one touchdown. Dismal figures that Clausen would never recover from.
These are four of the worst NFL players of all time but please let us know if you think any of these performed well and should be removed or if you know any that performed worse. We debated including names like Akili Smith, Chad Cascadden, Chad Hutchinson, and Spergon Wynn. Let us know who the worst player is in your opinion and why.
