Cleveland Busts From the Past

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

The Cleveland Cavaliers recently traded for Shaquille O'Neal. Eyes of Cavs' fans everywhere lit up at the prospects of having two legitimate superstars wearing a Cleveland jersey at the same time.

Granted, Shaq's resume is drowning in titles, MVPs and countless other awards and accomplishments, but his best years are behind him.

This trade is clearly a good one for both parties. The Cavs get O'Neal's services without being locked into a long-term contract and they give up very little in terms of meaningful contributions from the players they lost, Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic. The Suns get out from under O'Neal's contract and position themselves in a much better place financially.

I would like to take this opportunity to walk down memory lane and review the many players who have had very successful professional careers, but when they found themselves in Cleveland, they did not live up to their incoming expectations.

1. Chris Speilman Local product from Massillon, Ohio and Ohio State Buckeye legend Chris Speilman had a stellar career in Detroit making the Pro Bowl four times as a linebacker. At OSU he won the Lombardi Award and was an All-American twice. He recently was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. He was drafted by the Lions and in addition to his four Pro Bowl selections, he led the team in tackles all eight years.

He returned back to Ohio to play with the Cleveland Browns in 1999 during their first year back after the heart breaking move to Baltimore four years earlier. It was supposed to be storybook as the prodical son returned home. Having already suffered a neck injury that required him to miss a entire season, he experienced a scare in a preseason game when, again, he hurt his neck. This ultimately led him to his retirement before he took a single regular season snap for the Browns.



2. LeCharles Bentley Stop me if this sounds familiar. Bentley was also a hometown boy attending perennial football powerhouse St. Ignatius high school in Cleveland. He went on to Ohio State University as well and successfully led the Buckeyes offensive line. He was a four-year letterman, two time All Big Ten and an All American in 2001. He was drafted by the New Orleans Saints and made the Pro Bowl twice.

Like Speilman, he was injured in the preseason. A staph infection only made things worse and he never played a down with the Cleveland Browns. Yet another hometown product's return cut tragically short.



3. Chuck Finley Tagged "The Yankee Killer," Finley killed nothing but his reputation as headlines of his wife beating him with a shoe surfaced. After a long and solid run with the Angels, he was added to the Cleveland Indians' starting rotation in 2000 as a much needed lefty and was thought to help get the Tribe past the dreaded Yankees. His stint—two and a half seasons with the Tribe—was very mediocre. He managed 16 wins in the 2000 season with 11 losses and had an ERA over four. The next season and a half were even less inspiring. In the end, he didn't kill the Yankees and didn't do much at all. Period.

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