My Latest & (not so) Greatest PC Idea

[sanjosefuji]

First Tim Couch... now Akili Smith? Yep... 1999 was the year of the quarterback in the NFL draft. An amazing five QB's (#1 Couch, #2 McNabb, #3 Smith, #11 Culpepper, and #12 McNown) were taken within the first twelve picks. You're probably thinking that 1999 was a terrible draft year, but in fact out of those first twelve picks, eight have played in at least one Pro Bowl. Unfortunately, three of the four that haven't are QB's. I assume you've figured out the three, but just in case you haven't: it's my original sports card bust (Mr. Couch), my newest sports card bust (Mr. Smith), and possibly a future sports card bust pc addition, Cade McNown. Actually, McNown doesn't fit into my PC criteria since he's not a top 5 draft pick.

Well, back to Mr. Smith. Did you know that Akili Smith actually played baseball in the Pittsburgh Pirates farm system for three seasons? He eventually quit and focused on football. Akili was a junior college transfer student who football stud his senior year at the University of Oregon. As a Duck, he quacked his way to 3,763 passing yards, a 58% completion rate, and 32 touchdown throws in 1998. Although most considered Couch the top pick, there were some (ex. NY Times) who felt Akili could be the top QB. In the end, both are considered busts in my book. Akili started a total of 17 games in his four year career in the NFL. He threw 5 touchdowns, 13 interceptions, and was sacked 59 times. He threw for a total of 2,212 yards and has a career passer rating of 52.8.

It crazy to think that the Saints offered the Bengals nine draft picks for that #3 pick, but the Bengals passed on the offer. Unfortunately for the Saints, the Redskins didn't. However, that's another story.

Mr. Smith went on to play in the CFL, but only lasted one season. Recently, he was hired by UC Berkeley as an administrative assistant on their coaching staff.

Akili's Minor League Baseball Stats

[UGAdawg]

poor poor kandi and couch. i remember couch being the next big thing and where is he now?

I just read that he actually does the football radio broadcasting for the Kentucky wildcat football games along with other things at UK

[lambeauleap87]

Don't forget Tony Mandarich!

[reggie_miller_fan]

i seen tim couch at a high school football game...either no one knew who he was or they were like me and didnt care

[sanjosefuji]

Awesome suggestions... I'd love to get my hands on one of his autographs... for my Packer's PC & for my sports bust PC.

Don't forget Tony Mandarich!

[sanjosefuji]

originally posted on my blog: The Chronicles of Fuji

Sports Card Bust #6: Mike Williams



Some of you might be asking yourselves, what exactly is a sports card bust? This is something I had to determine before I started dropping money on this different type of PC. So far I've come up with two criteria.

The first thing I decided was that it had to be someone who was drafted with one of the top 5 picks in the first round. This would settle any debate on whether or not people had high expectations for the player, because anyone chosen that early is expected to perform. Plus, it would save me money in the long run, since there are a lot of #6 thru 20 something picks floating around out there. Multiply that by 4 since I'm focusing on the 4 major sports (baseball, football, basketball, and hockey) and there's lot of opportunities for busts to pop up each year. I'm not trying to chase down every athlete who has a sub par career, just the top 5 from each draft.

The next criteria for my collection would be purchase price. I cannot and will not allow myself to spend more than $10 on any sports card bust, and that includes shipping.

With that being said, after starting this project less than 30 days ago, I'm already breaking one of my rules. Allow me to introduce the most popular name in football history (actually, I'm not sure if this is true... but there have been 8 different players with this name to put on an NFL uniform): Mr. Mike Williams. I'm not talking about the offensive lineman from Texas, nor am I talking about the wide receiver out of Northeastern. Nope, the one I'm talking about is Mike Williams, the wide receiver out of USC.

Mr. Mike Williams from the University of Southern California is a wide receiver who was recently signed by the Seattle Seahawks. He was originally drafted with the 10th pick in the 2005 draft by the Detroit Lions. There he played two seasons, starting a total of 6 games. He caught 37 passes, two of which were touchdowns, but unfortunately had difficulty holding onto the ball. He was traded to Oakland before his third season, but was released after dropping a ball that would have given the Raiders a 1st down in red zone.

So, did you catch me breaking my own rule? Well, if you pointed out that Mr. Williams is not a top 5 draft pick, then you've earned yourself a big pat on the back. I decided to break my own rule for two reasons. First, Mr. Williams is legitimately a sports card bust. I remember people chasing his cards back in 2005, now they're sitting in common bins. The second reason is this card was generously donated to me by a member of Sports Card Forum (username: danielsweeney). There was no way I could pass up this opportunity of a lifetime.

So thank you danielsweeney for pointing out Mr. Mike Williams and for generously adding to my sports card bust PC. And thank you to everyone who's been commenting on my SCF thread and/or my blog. Your ideas are awesome and I'm in the process of tracking down more cards for this PC.

By the way, if you have any additional criteria you think I should consider... please leave some feedback.

Have a great week!

[fgkickingmule]

There must be a lot of collectors with Ben McDonald cards that they regret buying.

[nebboy]

For baseball try a cant miss Ive won every awards - Alex Gordon RC AU, I think there about a buck!

[sanjosefuji]

fgkickingmule - I was one of those guys with lots of McDonald rookies. I know he didn't pan out the way some of us wanted (never lived up to the expectations)... The guy had a 9 year career and 78 career wins. Nowhere near HOF standards, but it's hard to peg him as a bust.

nebboy - I'm going to keep my eye on Mr. Gordon. If he doesn't turn things around in the near future, I'll be picking up an auto of this bust.

[lambeauleap87]

Awesome suggestions... I'd love to get my hands on one of his autographs... for my Packer's PC & for my sports bust PC.

I believe he will send you a free autograph should you request one through e-mail (his address is in the TTMM I believe). I also managed to recently pick up a 1989 Score RC of his for the whopping price of a nickel.

Also, don't forget Kwame Brown (basketball) and Alexandre Daigle (hockey). Joey Harrington and David Carr may also be possibilities, as they had nightmare-ish careers for being picked #1 overall.