Vontaze Burfict: Timeline of ASU LB's Road from 1st-Round Lock to Undrafted Bum

We've seen this situation before, but never quite like this.

Once a highly touted prospect out of Arizona State, Vontaze Burfict suffered a rapid fall from grace in the months leading up to going undrafted in the 2012 NFL draft.

What follows is a timeline of Burfict's road from a projected first-round pick to becoming an undrafted bum.

Sophomore Season at ASU

• Named first-team Preseason All-American by The Sporting News.
• October 6, 2010: Benched by ASU head coach Dennis Erickson due to an unusually high amount of personal foul penalties.
• Finished with a team-leading 90 tackles and was selected by The Sporting News to their All-American team. He also won the Pac-10 Defensive MVP award.

Junior Season

• Expected to establish himself as the leader of the ASU defense after cornerback Omar Bolden suffered a season-ending injury.
• Reportedly punched a smaller teammate in the locker room.
• Recorded just 68 tackles. Despite leading the team, this was thought of as a huge regression for Burfict.
• Declares for NFL draft on January 3, 2012.

Pre-draft

• His interviews with teams and the media were characterized as "disastrous."
• Runs a 5.09 40-yard dash. The slowest of any linebacker who attended the 2012 Scouting Combine.
• Manages just 16 reps at 225 pounds at his pro day bench-press showing.
• His 30-inch vertical leap was the third-worst among all linebackers.
• Blames ASU coaches for his inconsistent 2011 season.
• Bruce Feldman of CBS Sports makes this comment: "I’m not sure any player here sparked a worse reaction than Vontaze Burfict. I wouldn’t touch him.”
• Another scout says this: “The guy is completely out of control. There’s no way you could trust him. I can’t believe they [ASU coaching staff] didn’t cut him loose."
• Fails pre-draft drug test.

Draft Day

• Goes undrafted behind the likes of Aaron Brown and Nathan Stupar (who?).
• Now that Burfict has gone undrafted in the 2012 NFL draft, the only thing left to do is hope that we don't hear him in the news for something worse.