(Photo by: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
The Worst
5. QB Steve Bradley, Chicago Bears: Oct. 18, 1987
6-18, 77 YDS, two TDs, three INT, three SCK
While several players made the most of their opportunity during the 1987 strike, Bradley can be counted as one of the players who didn't.
Although Bradley actually leads the category in touchdown passes, he is also third in interceptions thrown and second in times sacked.
His paltry 33.3 completion percentage, minus-three yards rushing, and his -2.1 adjusted yards per attempt in his one and only game certainly don't help his case either.
Bradley's two touchdown passes actually gave the Bears a 17-3 lead, but then the wheels came off.
His performance against the Saints was so bad that Sean Payton—yes, current New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton—was put in to play for him.
Payton couldn't make up for Bradley's implosion, and the Bears lost their first game of the 1987 season, 19-17.
4. RB Allen Nichols, Pittsburgh Steelers: 1945
10 CAR, five YDS, one FMB
Although it's not known exactly when he played, or how he affected the ballgame, there is no question from a simple look at the numbers that Nichols had a rough go of it in his only NFL game.
Averaging only a half-yard per attempt and coughing up the ball once in that same game begs the statement:
Stick to your day job.
3. Will Cureton, Cleveland Browns: Nov. 9, 1975
10-32, 95 YDS, one TD, one INT
In the midst of an 0-7 start, the '75 Browns were desperately looking for a quarterback to lead their team from the dark hole that was their season.
In Week Eight against the Detroit Lions, the Browns were able to scratch Cureton's name off the list.
Cureton completed just 31 percent of his passes and was sacked twice for a whopping total of 21 yards lost. His rough play set the Browns back in a game they could have won, as the Lions managed only 15 first downs in that game themselves—just two more than Cleveland.
Cureton's lone touchdown pass came in the fourth quarter with the team already down 21-3, and the Browns lost the game 21-10, falling to 0-8.
The poor performance is all Cureton has to remember from his time on the professional level.
2. Ed Baker, Houston Oilers: Dec. 17, 1972
4-10, 47 YDS, zero TD, four INT
As the backup quarterback for the lowly 1972 Houston Oilers, Baker had to be wondering when his time would come to captain the team.
In Week 14, Baker got his wish.
They just weren't the circumstances he was hoping to have.
In one of the biggest beatdowns in NFL history, Baker entered a game against the Cincinnati Bengals in which his Oilers never really had a chance.
Baker's play didn't help things, however.
He completed 40 percent of his passes, with the same number of passes ending up in his receivers' hands as they did in the defense's—four.
When the smoke cleared, Baker would have a 61-17 loss to hold as a memento as his only NFL experience.
1. QB Tom O'Malley, Green Bay Packers: 1950
4-15, 31 YDS, six INT; -9 YDS Rushing
Again, thanks to the lack of box score data from a half-century ago, it is not clear exactly when O'Malley had this horrendous game.
I'm sure he wouldn't have it any other way.
O'Malley was a rookie for the Gene Ronzani-coached Packers team, but the rook didn't do much to impress his coach in his lone game played.
It is safe to assume that the Packers, who went 3-9 in 1950, lost the game that O'Malley was thrust into the lineup. His woeful performance gave him the category lead in turnovers and placed him second on the list in least amount of yards rushed.
The numbers speak for themselves: Anytime you complete more passes to the other team than your own, you have earned your spot in infamous history.
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