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Tuesday, June 05, 2012

Who is the worst Steelers player you've seen?

It's easy to pick out the best players you've seen over the years.

In the 19 seasons I've been covering the team, Rod Woodson, Carnell Lake, Jerome Bettis, Greg Lloyd, Levon Kirkland, Dermontti Dawson and Ben Roethlisberger stand out as some of the best I've seen.

That list could go on and on.

But who are the worst players to suit up for the Steelers. And I'm talking about guys who actually played and (tried to) contribute.

54 comments:

Anonymous said...

Scott Shields

Skinley said...

Most disappointing player or worst I have ever seen?

Paul Ernster may have been he worst.

Skin key said...

Orhers to onsider that actually played....Kent Graham, Hank Poteat, Limas Sweed, Bruce Davis, Alonzo Jackson, Roger Duffy, etc.

alexrkirby said...

Hartwig that center we had was pretty terrible IMHO.

I'm not counting role players or draft busts.

Patrick said...

Chad Scott, Dewayne Washington, and Brent Alexander were all very hard to watch that one year. I think I hated Chad Scott the most because it always seemed like he had the speed and talent to be a decent corner, but when he was bad, he was just so bad.

same thing for anthony smith the year everyone thought he was going to breakout and he imploded.

Tim said...

Hartwig was terrible, but he was a breath of fresh air after Mahan.

Mahan has to be high on the list. Maybe number one...

Darnell Stapleton may not be far behind.

Kent Graham should never have been brought in, let alone given the job.

Bruce Davis was a terrible draft pick that I still can't believe we made, but he never saw the field so I'm not sure he counts if we're looking at guys that saw a lot of the field (otherwise we might as well pick a bunch of guys that never made the cut).

Sweed didn't work out, but he wasn't really bad. He just didn't work out.

I can't believe David Johnson has started 3 years. He's just a camp body to me, but he's a 3 year starter going for more.

When Tommy Maddox was bad, no one was worse.

Anonymous said...

Mahan is the worst ever by far. He made Hartwig look good

alexrkirby said...

You're totally right Mahan was the center I meant! The one so bad he nearly cost us the 08 SB? Was that Mahan instead of Hartwig?

adamg said...

LOL! Too many newbies...

Dick Shiner, Mike Taylor, Booth Lustig, Willie Asbury, Cannonball Butler... I could go on and,yes, I saw each and every one of them play.

Anonymous said...

Delton Hall could tell you the last name of every WR he ever 'covered'. He saw the back of all of their jerseys often.

James said...

"Famous" Amos Zereoué!!! He could have won Dancing with Stars, but he was a horrrrrrible RB

superfan99 said...

Ricardo Colclough. He was a terrible DB and the only punt returner I've ever seen field the ball with his hands above his head.

And remember, he was a second round pick.

Anonymous said...

Oh my, Mike Taylor was bad.

Mahan was brutal at center, and remember we brought him in as a free agent.

but dewayne washington's clueless look on his face over and over again when giving up long completions or TD's is forever burnt onto my hard drive!!

Anonymous said...

Kendall Simmons, brutal to watch a guy on skates at the OG spot.

Henigin said...

Lethon (Lee) Flowers

Jim Miller - I know he's still a Steelers supporter, but he was not good when he was with the Steelers

Henigin said...

oh gosh, how could I forget Mitch Berger???

Also Gardocki during his last year, but I'm not sure if that fits the rules of the game

adamg said...

marc, and Mike Taylor came with such a good pedigree, too. He was the RT and Ron Yary the LT during the OJ Simpson years at USC.

Matt said...

Carey Davis, Least athletic skill player I've seen since '04. Frank Summers, Such a terrible blocker and made me cringe when i saw we drafted a running back to solve our lead blocking issues. If David Johnson is as bad as a lot of you make him out to be then just think if we still had one of these two lead blocking for us.

Dan Kreider for President

John Kang said...

Kent Graham. You have to be bad when people are screaming for Kordell to go back in.

datruth4life said...

Mahan and currently Jonathon Scott. How in the world did they EVER think he was a starting LT in this league? If he receives his projected $2.2M salary this year, someone in the front office need to be fired. Give Max Starks half of that salary and use the other half to help and sign Mike Wallace to a long-term deal.

Anonymous said...

Alvoid Mays in 95, Donnell Woolford in 97, and Limas Sweed! Mays and Woolford was so horrible They had to switch Carnell Lake from Safety to Corner both years. Sweed was a WR who can't catch!

Anonymous said...

Mark Malone - HANDS DOWN!

He was the worst Steelers player that I have ever seen.

Honorable Mention go to:

Dennis Dixon
Lee Mays
Limas Sweed
Cliff Stoudt
Sam Washington

Anonymous said...

Ricardo Colclough, Amos Zeroue, Charred Scott, Burnt Alexander, Fred Gibson, Lee Mays, Will Blackwell. Stefan Logan when he tried to do anything other than return punts..... Mitch berger was a shank machine. Shaun Suishams rapidly making my list after last season.

Tim said...

I thought about Colclough, but don't have that many memories of him so I'd be being a little disingenuous. I do remember him costing us a game against the Bengals though, with some truly pathetic punt return skills. Terrible bust, that's for sure.

Zereoue??????? The worst?? He wasn't even bad! In fact, he was good! He was an excellent change of pace running back who helped us win many games. He also played well when he was called on to start. I can't imagine what's not to love about that guy.

Kendall Simmons is another one. He was terrible in 2008 after his health deteriorated, but when he was young and healthy he was very good.

Alexrkirby,

Hartwig is the one you're thinking of, that almost cost us the '08 Super Bowl with the hold in the end zone. However, most people agree that even with that play, he was much better than Sean Mahan, who only played in 2007 before being cut for Hartwig. Worst FO move ever? We paid that guy a ton of money to come be the worst Steeler of my lifetime.

Anonymous said...

Donnell Woolford would be in the running for me, for certain.

Anonymous said...

Aaron Jones

Anonymous said...

Dwight "hands of" Stone. So much speed and very bad hands.

Anonymous said...

Harvey Clayton, Lee Mays, Rick Woods, Todd Blackledge, Darryl Sims, Mark Behning, Blake Wingle, Harry Newsome, Most players from the 1986 team (Could be the worst in modern history)

pennstump said...

Agreed on Dwight "Hands of" Stone.

Bubby Brister.
Mark Malone.
Lee Mays.
Chad Scott.

Anonymous said...

I'll stick with the Tomlin era and say Sean Mahan.

Honorable mention:

Sweed. Darnell Stapleton's Super Bowl performance.

I actually liked Berger and Kapinos, strengthens the Who Cares Who The Darn Punter Is? argument. Seriously, Berger's double hamstring injury punting performance in 2008 vs. the Giants was both gutsy and hilarious.

Dale Lolley said...

I think Lee Mays was better than Jahine "Clang" Arnold. In fact, I always just called him Jaclang.
Mahan ranks up there in terms of bad starters. Brent Alexander was also pretty bad. Good dude, though.
Chad Scott was a D!^&, which always clouds my view of a guy. He had some decent seasons, though.
Carlos Emmons was the least productive outside linebacker I've seen in this defense in 19 years.

Patrick said...

I'm kind of surprised so many people disliked Lee Mays. He wasn't great but he was a 6th rd pick that contributed some on special teams in addition to being a 4th WR or 5th WR.

But who cares about Lee Mays anyone remember Jay Riemersma!

Anonymous said...

Wasn't Lee Mays the guy who ran the wrong route in Superbowl XXX leading to Larry Brown's int.? If so, learn the playbook!

Anonymous said...

Lee Mays wasn't even on the team when they played XXX. It was Andre Hastings who ran the wrong route. C'mon people, it wasn't THAT long ago. The INT was still O'Donnell's fault. When there's no receiver within 15 yards of the pass, it's on the QB to open his eyes.

I always kind of liked Lee Mays & always thought he had a decent chance to make the team. Seemed like he was in training camp or practice squad for 10 years. Another speedster who couldn't quite cut it (like Willie Reid).

Worst player of recent years (of people who actually started)? Sean Mahan & Mitch Berger come to mind.

Heh heh...Dick Shiner.

Jake said...

Kris Farris?

Easley said...

The player who used to drive my old man crazy was Weegie Thompson.

Can't believe no one has mentioned Jamain Stephens!

Anonymous said...

how about that long snapper from a game a few years ago. i think james harrison was his name.

Steve-O said...

Okay, I'm going to think out of the box and give you one to think about... The absolute worst has got to be... Are you ready?..... Wait for it... James Harrisson... As our long snapper against the Giants in 2008. Great linebacker but long snapper...I think not!

Anonymous said...

Alonzo Jackson and Hughey Richardson ... UGH!

Anonymous said...

Alonzo Jackson never started a game his whole career. Why even list him?

Lee Mays was never above #4 WR on the depth chart. Why even list him.

The correct answer here is Sean Mahan. Steelers signed him to a 5-year deal. He played one year and sucked. Then they traded him back to Tampa for a 7th rd pick. Thank you Tampa for picking up our garbage

carync said...

worst player combined with highest draft choice woudl be Alonzo Jackson. He was putrid. He was SOFF and he looked like he had no football instincts. Terrible player.

Tim said...

Last Anonymous is dead on. I don't get the Lee Mays. 7th round pick, #4 on the depth chart makes him the worst of all time? Jackson was a bust no doubt, and a bad one, but we're talking about field players.

Graham was ugly because he was a QB, but no one was worse than Mahan. All that time and money for someone that terrible? What were they thinking?

Anonymous said...

Mark Malone (or maybe just the fact that Noll stuck with him for so long)
tied with Neil O'donnell in the Super Bowl.

Mrs. Isaac Redman

Anonymous said...

Steely McBeam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Jeff Reed, due to extreme doucheness...

Dale Lolley said...

Well, this thread really brought out some good stuff. Maybe have to come up with some other threads like this.

Patrick said...

I'm surprised no one mentioned Ty Carter. Someone brought him up on thesteelersfans.com. He was brutal, except for that one night game against Denver a few years ago.

KT said...

Lot's of great selections - lots of names I forgot or wanted to forget.

Anyone remember Travis Davis? (Safety brought into "replace" Lake in 1999?)

What about Anthony Brown and Chris Conrad, or alternated at starting RT in 1999.

Those guys were so bad that when the 2000 Steelers were down to their 3rd string RT, Larry Tharpe who'd been out of football the year before, they'd still upgraded the position.

Anonymous said...

I'm a little surprised at the tone of this topic. I think it is easy to sit back and criticize people who put their heart and soul into trying to be a good player. Obviously, some try harder than others and some are more talented than others, but it seems strange to talk about the negatives of your favorite team. Just one man's humble opinion.

Joe Jones said...

Tyrone Carter will always be my least favorite Steeler ever.

Anonymous said...

Kendrell Bell. Even ask the Chiefs.

Anonymous said...

David Woodley

Unknown said...

I didnt like Terry Hanratty, I didnt see a game where he played well.
Jamain Stephens, in 1998, such a Talent, he just sat down, in preseason, and never got up.

Jorge said...

Jamain Stephens
Kris Farris
Paul Wiggins
Scott Shields
Jim Miller
Ricardo Coclough
Alonzo Jackson
Limas Sweed
Ziggy Hood
Troy Edwards
Chad Scott
Dewayne Washington