Top Could've-Beens Ever
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by user Shoeless Joe
To explain a bit, this is a list of those players who had an incredible amount of potential, but either injuries to their bodies or a defective brain left them falling far short of what they could’ve been. We have omitted players who got their shot but sucked (The Boz, Ryan Leaf, Canseco, etc.), and focus only on those who just never quite we as good as they could’ve been. After collaboration between Rooster and Shoeless Joe, here is our list.
#1: BO JACKSON
If you’ve ever seen a Bo Jackson highlight film, you’ll agree completely. I don’t think a better athlete has ever lived, personally, and without that hip injury, he’d probably have been the best athlete in two sports at the same time. He made other players look like chumps. Plus, he was UNSTOPPABLE in Tecmo Super Bowl. Number one, hands down. Bottom line: Bo Jackson was a FREAK. Unfortunately he looks like he has done nothing but eat at Billy Sims Bar-B-Que since he retired (see further down the list for explanation).
#2: GRANT HILL
Hill was part of the ’91-’92 Duke teams that won back-to-back national titles and was part of two of the most famous plays in college basketball history; he threw the in-bounds pass to Christian Laettner to beat Kentucky, and he caught and threw down one of the most insane alley-oops you will ever see. Hill was drafted 3 rd overall by the Detroit Pistons in 1994 and was a dominant player for about 6 years until the injuries started. It began with an ankle injury prior to the 2000 playoffs and after being called “soft” by the Detroit fans he decided to play and it just made the injury worse. Hill was plagued by the ankle injury to the point where he had to have surgery, after which he nearly died of a staph infection. After the ankle and the staph, it was the groin and a hernia which led to a knee and a tendon. At least he's got that Duke degree to fall back on.
#3: KEN GRIFFEY, JR.
Without injuries, we’d be rooting for Griffey to break Aaron’s record. And it would’ve happened years ago. During the 1990’s, Griffey Jr. was the best player in baseball, and was on pace to be the best player in baseball history. I mean, think about it, the guy has played like 50% of the games in his career, and he still has a .297 career batting average, 575 homers, and over 1600 RBI’s. Unreal what he could’ve done. I still haven’t forgiven Junior for robbing Lou Collins’ home run at the end of “Little Big League", though. Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure the injuries started right after that. Coincidence? Someone go find Luke Edwards...
#4: DWIGHT GOODEN
Gooden was drafted 5 th overall in '82 by the New York Mets and made his first start with the Mets in 1984 at the tender age of 19. Gooden was hitting 98 MPH with his fastball and had a curve that would just buckle batters. Gooden was voted Rookie of the Year after leading the league in strikeouts (276), is the youngest player ever to be voted to the All-Star Game, and is the youngest ever to win the Cy Young Award. Then came the drug problems and injuries that derailed Gooden. He tested positive for cocaine several times, battled alcohol abuse and had a nagging shoulder injury that was blamed on an enormous workload at such a young age. After being suspended for the 1995 season for a positive drug test while on probation, his wife found him in the bedroom with a gun to his head. Gooden retired in 2001 when he was cut from the Yankees, but he took a front office job with the team and facilitated the signing of his nephew Gary Sheffield, maybe his worst move to date.
#5: BILLY SIMS
After 2 injury plagued seasons, Sims busted out during his junior year at Oklahoma, leading the Sooners to two consecutive Orange Bowl victories and winning the Heisman. Sims was taken first overall in the 1980 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions, where he played until 1984. Midway through the ’84 season, Sims suffered a career-ending knee injury which also cost him the Hall of Fame. Sims ended his career averaging 119.6 yards/ game (rushing and receiving combined) which puts him in the company of only 3 other players: LT, Jim Brown and Edgerrin James. Note to any other athletes whose careers were cut short -- You can always move back home and make a living by doing what Sims did: put your name on a bar-b-que place. Except Maurice Clarett. Unless there's a bar-b-que place in Toledo Correctional Institution.
