Next in Line: NFL Stars Who Had To Wait Their Turn

Today the NFL draft takes place. This is viewed as the first major event in the 2009 NFL season. Perhaps one of the other events that is going to be huge this year is the passing of the guard, or should I say the passing of the quarterback, in Green Bay. Brett Favre has apparently retired (For now) and it looks as if Aaron Rodgers is going to be the new man under center for the Packers. Rodgers has shown, through minute glimpses, that he just may be ready to emerge as an NFL star. But what other stars had to wait in line to get their big break? A few come to mind and I am going to take a closer look at the five that come to my mind right away.

3- Larry Johnson: Praying for a chance to take over for the Priest.

In 2002 and 2003 Priest Holmes established himself as one of the elite running backs in the NFL. In each of those two years he ran in more than 20 touchdowns, including a remarkable 27 touchdowns on the ground. His 1,420 yards was his fourth 1,000 yard season, and his lowest total rushing yardage in the past three years. Another running back was drafted by the Chiefs in 2003. Penn State RB Larry Johnson was selected. Johnson had a stellar career for the Nittany Lions, but it was apparent he was #2 from the get go in K.C. In 2003 Johnson only played in a handful of games and scored just one touchdown. Then in 2004 Johnson got a bit more playing time and was able to punch in 9 touchdowns as he began to split a little more time with Holmes. Then, in 2005, Priest Holmes suffered a spinal injury that left him unable to play anymore that season after taking a hit from Shawn Merriman. Johnson stepped in… and stepped up! He posted back to back 1,700 yard seasons for the Chiefs and scored 37 rushing touchdowns combined in those two years. Johnson quickly became one of the highest ranked running backs in the NFL.

2- Killer B’s

Drew Bledsoe and Tom Brady took very different routes to becoming the #1 and #2 QB’s in the New England Patriots organization. Bledsoe was the #1 pick overall in the 1993 NFL Draft. Bledsoe developed into one of the top QB’s in the entire NFL. He was a four time Pro Bowl Selection (3X with New England) and was names as an All-Pro twice in his career. Bledsoe is the all-time leading passer in New England history with over 29,000 yards as a Patriot. All of this success landed Bledsoe a record contract worth over 100 million dollars over a ten year period. Unfortunately Bledsoe would not be able to stick around long enough to fulfill the contract. In just the second game of the season after signing this deal Bledsoe went down with an injury and 2^nd year man Tom Brady was thrust into action. Brady was not a #1 pick like Bledsoe. Hell, he wasn’t even a 1^st round pick. In fact he was selected 199^th overall in the 6^th round of the NFL Draft. Brady at the time was making less than 5% of what Bledsoe was under contract for. This did not have any direct correlation with how he would perform however. Brady played so well throughout the remainder of the 2001 season that he earned the starting spot over Bledsoe who would be traded to the Bills (and be selected to a 4^th Pro-Bowl.) Brady and the Patriots finished up the season with an 11-5 record, good enough for a first round bye. In the second round Brady led the Pats past the Raiders in a game that went down in history as an instant classic. The Patriots now were in the Super Bowl and were tabbed 14 point underdogs to St. Louis. Brady kept the Pats in the game and in the waning moments led them on a game winning drive to win the Super Bowl. Brady was the Super Bowl MVP. Like Bledsoe, Brady has been named to four Pro Bowls, has earned 2 All-Pro selections, has won 3 Super Bowls, 1 MVP award, and led the Patriots to an 18-1 season in 2007 where their only loss came in the Playoffs.

1- Montana couldn’t stay YOUNG forever.

Joe Montana is to Quarterback as Nolan Ryan is to Pitcher. The man is a legend. He was your typical all-American boy who got things done year in and year out. Montana led the San Francisco 49ers to 4 Super Bowl Championships in his first 11 years in the league. It seemed as long as Montana was at the helm, nothing bad could ever happen! The 49ers had already won two Super Bowls by 1987 when they decided to make a trade with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a quarterback who could serve as a back up to “Joe Cool.” The backup they got was Steve Young who had played in the USFL for a short while before playing 2 seasons with Tampa Bay. Two seasons after Young arrived in San Francisco, Montana led them to a third Super Bowl title, and then a fourth the following year. It seemed as if nothing could stop the 49ers who posted a 14-2 record in 1990 while being led by Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year Joe Montana, and marched straight into the NFC Championship game against the New York Giants. In that game Joe Montana was injured. This injury kept Montana out of the game for the entire 1991 season and most of the 1992 season as well. This opened the door for Steve Young. In Young’s first year starting for the 49ers he posted a 10-6 record which is usually a very good mark. Unfortunately on this year it wasn’t quite enough to reach the play-offs. The following year Young stepped it up even more as he was named League MVP. The Niners posted a 14-2 record and stormed into the play-offs before being knocked off by the Cowboys. A year later after posting a 10-6 mark in the regular season the 49ers again failed to get by their pesky rivals from Dallas. Then in 1994 Young notched his name in the record books with a season for the ages. Young led the NFL in TD’s for the 3^rd straight season and set the NFL record for highest QB rating ever. This was enough to gain a second MVP award in three years. More importantly, Young led the 49ers to a 13-3 regular season mark and this year no one, including Dallas, was going to stop them in the post Season. The 49ers won a 5^th super bowl in their franchise’s history. Young was the Super Bowl MVP after throwing a record six TD’s.