Ronnie Fields - Never made it to the pros and it wasn't his fault. Anyone from Chicago remember this guy? 94, I believe, this guy was on the Farragut High basketball team with Garnett as a teammate. Imagine a high school basketball team where Kevin Garnett wasn't the best player. Dude was unstoppable, hyped to be the next big thing. I was a freshman in high school and playing basketball in Chicago religiously at the time so this guy was my hero. Then during his senior year he got into a car accident and wrecked himself for good. No pros for him while his not as good teammate Garnett went on to become one of the best players in the NBA. Sad and seriously disappointing at the same time.
DJ Ferrari
Yep. It was just painful to watch him flounder in the non-NBA leagues. He had that Halo gear on for forever and a day.
Ronnie Fields was the Jesus Shuttlesworth of Chicago. I'll never forget his senior year at the Priviso West Christmas Tournament he straight up jumped over some dude...like here are my nuts in your face type dunk. Definitly one the most ridonkulous pokes I have ever seen in my life.
Sad, sad story he had crazy, crazy hops but from what I can remember he wasn't that fundamentally sound of a player. Just pure raw atheleticism.
The football thread (nice one, Phill) made me think about the topic of sports player "busts". You know, those guys that came out of school or the amateurs highly touted, only to be a dud in the pros. Who are your top 10 guys? Here is my list (in no particular order):
1. Charles White. -How do you win the 1979 Heisman trophy, only to be a butt pro running back?
5. Art Schlichter. -Dude was a Heisman hopeful in the early 80's, but a total dud as an NFL quarterback. But, he was one of Ohio State's finest ever in the pocket.
6. Rahsaan Salaam. -Cat was naaaastay at U of Colorado as a halfback (1994 Heisman Trophy winner), but stunk like dog shit as a Bear and Dolphin (if I remember correctly). I thought dude was gonna make serious noise as a NFL runner, but it NEVER happened.
Most Heisman winners are never good pros, ie: Jason White, Eric Crouch, Chris Weinke, Ron Dayne, Danny Wuerffel, and Gino Torretta.
I remember when Rashaan Salaam publicly stated that he suffered from a weed addiction.
Does anyone remember Randolph Childress? He was at Wake Forest but he just faded into obscurity (Does anyone even remember what team drafted him). Who knows about Lou Roe? He was a local product (Atlantic City) and was also in college (UMass).
I don't think anyone thought either of those guys was going to make it as a pro though so I wouldn't call them disappointing. Childress for example played 2 guard in the ACC, but when he got drafted, because of his height, they wanted him to play PG. Didn't work. Think he only played for 2 years or so in the NBA. Now he plays in Europe. France is the last place I see him playing in 2004 in a quick google search.
Comments
Yep. It was just painful to watch him flounder in the non-NBA leagues. He had that Halo gear on for forever and a day.
Ronnie Fields was the Jesus Shuttlesworth of Chicago. I'll never forget his senior year at the Priviso West Christmas Tournament he straight up jumped over some dude...like here are my nuts in your face type dunk. Definitly one the most ridonkulous pokes I have ever seen in my life.
Sad, sad story he had crazy, crazy hops but from what I can remember he wasn't that fundamentally sound of a player. Just pure raw atheleticism.
Most Heisman winners are never good pros, ie: Jason White, Eric Crouch, Chris Weinke, Ron Dayne, Danny Wuerffel, and Gino Torretta.
I remember when Rashaan Salaam publicly stated that he suffered from a weed addiction.
J. Williams got in a car accident though. I don't think you could call that a "disappointing" career.
I don't think anyone thought either of those guys was going to make it as a pro though so I wouldn't call them disappointing. Childress for example played 2 guard in the ACC, but when he got drafted, because of his height, they wanted him to play PG. Didn't work. Think he only played for 2 years or so in the NBA. Now he plays in Europe. France is the last place I see him playing in 2004 in a quick google search.
Which has hopefully ended after 11 years of PAIN!