Unveiling NFL Draft Legends: The 20th Pick's Immortal Impact

0:00And that's the end of the first half, as the team said to the locker room, the Spartans lead the Bulldogs by a score. You guys stink. Jeez, Coach, we're only down a couple of points. No, I mean, you guys really smell. You need to hit the showers. And here, I got every one of you new bars of soap from the Sterling soap company. Each bar is artisan crafted using natural ingredients and essential oils. They also have shaved soaps, cologne, beard, balm, and a whole lot more. Now get in there. But Coach, we have another half to play. I don't care. I can't stand to be around you a few minutes later. All right, bring it in tight. You guys are still playing terrible, but you're smelling great out there. Now listen, you're going to need to stock up for the rest of the season. We got a lot of tough games left. So go to sterlingsoap.com after the game. That's STIRL-I-N-G-Sope.com. You got that? Yes, Coach? Great. SterlingSope.com on three. One, two, three. SterlingSope.com. They saved the NFL draft as a gamble.

1:03But at pick number 20, some teams didn't just find players. They found immortals. Did you know that the 20th overall selection has produced three first ballot legends? From the finest player LaBardi ever coached to the man who took its team to the Super Bowl on a broken leg. Today, we're counting down the most legendary voices of Gregorian lore from the 20th spot. That Cleese joins us here in the pig pen as we count down to top 32 spots and NFL history at number 20s on our list today. Welcome to the pig pen as we count down all 32 top pigs at 32 straight days. Hey, Darren, how are you today? I am doing great. We are getting so much closer to the draft here in Westropen, Slovenia, where the National Football League's future stars are going to be coming out. But we're going to talk a little bit about the past stars that have been drafted at slot number 20, you know, remarkable 20 days to it, talking about slot number 20. What do you have to say about the history of this amazing draft selection spot?

2:04So as you know, Darren, we go back to 1980 on my count when I'm doing my top fives and kind of compiling some information. And I would say we have, it's, I've been torn on what to do with the more recent guys, how to slot them in. There's a definite star in the making right now. He hasn't been in the league. He just hasn't been around quite long enough, but that would be Jackson, Smith and Jigba was taken in 2023. Or as you like to call him, Jackson Ninja Smith, if you remember from our Super Bowl. Yeah, that's right. So we'll just call him Ninja Smith. So Ninja Smith was taken in 2023 and he's like on that star track, for sure. There's a few other notables in the last dozen years or so. Another guy that was a Garrett Bulls, he's been a starter for the Broncos on their own line for a number of years now. Brandon Cooks is the guy that we all know. And then we had two offensive linemen that both of them may have been in top five consideration, but they both retired early. And that would have been Kyle Long, who was drafted in 2013 and was having a very

3:07nice career for the Bears. And then Frank Ragnar for the Lions, the center, both of them, he was taken in 2018. So somewhat recent guys that were having good careers and then called it quits kind of early. And then Ragnar tried to come back last year and got injured. I don't know if he's still trying to make a comeback this coming year or not, but that's been reverse. But yeah, I don't know, but he was pretty young. So it's possible. Now there's only been one quarterback taken since 1980. And I'm very happy to report this one because I feel like so far on these lists, we've done a lot of padding on the back of the Pittsburgh Steelers. So let's talk about Kenny Pickett taken with the 20th overall pick. I would say that that is a definite bust category. Yeah, when you're looking at, I see he's a recently talking to some teams adjoining at the time we're recording this, probably signed with one, but it'll be what is six team and seven years or whatever. It's kind of crazy. Yeah. So he's kind of on that bust watch at least.

4:09I mean, certainly was a bust for the team that drafted him. In terms of other busts, I found a whole lot of players that were drafted 20th overall Darren that I would say were average to disappointing, but maybe not a whole lot that I would say were just busts. I got a couple names for you. One that's a really, really terrible case would be in 2016. That's where the Jets took Darren Lee. And if you remember, Darren Lee is now in jail. He is charged with murder of his girlfriend, I believe. So rough, you know, that's a terrible thing. He had a, he didn't play well for them. And that's kind of goes back to the thing. We talk a lot about character when it comes to the draft and these teams that do all their homework. And to me, there are just certain red flags that teams should not overlook. And it looks like the Jets overlooked him with him and pretty, pretty rough, rough case for him right now. Yeah, yeah, that's two bad situations there that you just mentioned. But, but we do have some promise coming up. But I'm sure you have a top five that you're going to be sharing with us.

5:12Yes, we can talk about some notables first, some like honorable mentions, guys that didn't quite make the top five that I'd say were considered. That would be Luther Ellis, who was a long time lion, a very good edge rusher defensive end who was drafted in 95. Hey, with Jeffries, who was actually all pro, all first team, all pro receiver in 1987, had a monster year in that run and shoot offense with Warren Moon and the oilers. His peak was just super short. So, you know, it was a very brief kind of moment that he was on top. Will Wolf, Will Wolfard was drafted by the bills and was on their Super Bowl teams and the offensive line was kind of a stalwart for them. He was drafted in 86 and an OG, one of the original hogs, Mark May was drafted by the Redskins in 1981. None of those guys quite made the list, but yeah, some solid careers there. Yeah, it's, you know, really some good names as you mentioned there, you know, I've failed to mention at the top. We have had three Hall of Famers from this draft slot over the last 90 drafts.

6:17I think you're going to be talking about one of them probably in your top five. The other two are a little bit outside your 1980 window, but very recognizable names, which we'll get to here in just a little bit as a little T. So what should give us your number five spot? Number five, I've got Tom Bahali drafted in 2006. A defensive and he was drafted by the chiefs. I would say never a, you know, dominant player for say, but he did have two second team all pros and he went to, he went to five straight probals. Again, probals at this stage, they're kind of difficult to use as a benchmark. But when he, you know, mid 2000s, it still probably made a little something. He had 89 and a half sacks. Unfortunately, he played his entire career with the chiefs. Unfortunately for him, he just missed the Mahomes era. So he was on those good, but not great chiefs teams. He was also very versatile there and he was listed at multiple positions. They kind of moved him from that edge to more traditional linebacker. So just a really nice career that set him a little over some of those other honorable

7:21mentioned guides for me. All right, well, that's a pretty solid pick though. A great player. So who do you have above him? Yeah, the rest of the list, I think we go a little bit, we're scaling up a little bit. And this is a guy that I have a really strong memory of and I'll let you know. He was drafted way back 1982 was Mike Quick, why receiver for the Eagles? He had a very quiet rookie year and then he had a really big five year run that I really don't think people really remember two first team all pros. And he led the league and receiving yards in 1983. I remember a very specific play in 1985. He had a 99 yard overtime touchdown against the Falcons. Obviously, the longest overtime touchdown in history can't be any longer than that. A list of punter kick return. And also in 1985 there and it's kind of funny. My first ever NFL game was not a Redskins game. I attended a Vikings Eagles game in 1985 at the vet.

8:24Mike Quick scored a touchdown in that game. My dad and I left early. It was 23 to nothing going into the fourth quarter and the Eagles were winning. And the Falcons came all the way back in the fourth quarter. One of the biggest comebacks in NFL history, which we missed. But I did not miss the Mike Quick touchdown. So that's always he's just a guy that I kind of feel like I kind of grew up watching. I think unfortunately, he was a big yards per catch guy. So a big play receiver. I think what really hurt him, Darren was he missed the window for the Eagles, meaning that the early 80s teams, the one that went to the Super Bowl. And then the late 80s teams, the buddy Ryan and in the mid 80s, they weren't very good. And that's when he had his big years. So he was doing a lot of his work for teams that weren't particularly good. No, weren't really in the playoffs. And then his last three years were just completely injury saddled. So he had that five year burst and it was kind of over. And he never really got to play for those better Eagles teams.

9:26He was on a couple of them, but wasn't contributing much. But he's really a lifelong eagle because he's now been in the booth with Merrill Reese as their color commentator on radio for the past 30 over 30 years. So he's been he's been so he's like a lifelong eagle. Yeah, he has one of the most appropriate names for a wide receiver in the NFL next to maybe Max speedy. You know, just that's one of that that Mike Quick, what a cool name. Yeah, right. Well, you have something that portrays a fast, you know, a quick or Max speedy. And those are great names for wide receivers. And they're pretty fast guy. Yeah. And like I said, for me, he just kind of personally, it's like one of the first guys I remember in the NFL as kind of standing out. Moving on to number three, this one surprised me because I saw his name on the list and I was like, all the look into it. And then it surprised me where I wound up actually ranking him. And that was in 2008, the bucks drafted cornerback, a key to lead.

10:31A guy that we probably all remember. And one of the, you know, the number three in number two, Darren, or have a lot of trends, okay? So they're very similar. And when, when, when the team was drafted, get a lot of conduct issues early in his career. Nothing horrible, but he like, he was missing meetings. He was late. The team was suspending him. The league suspended him for like, I think get a battery charge. They missed the game for. And so for his first few years in the league, he was a good player, but was probably leaving a lot on the table. And then in 2012, he was traded to the Patriots. And for the next year and a half, he really got his career like on track. He became a, he went from being a good player to a more than good player. Bill Bellichek will do that to you if you play on his defense. Exactly, exactly. And then he went from a good player to borderline great player when he went to Denver in 2014. That's when he went to four straight pro balls.

11:31He made a couple of all pro teams. He was a starter and a key player for that very good defense in 2015. That won the Super Bowl for the Broncos with Von Miller and some others. He was like the leader of the secondary. And he had a really great run in Denver. He kind of ended quietly with the Rams and then kind of money. If you remember, Fox gave him a chance in the booth and he was kind of controversial. He was kind of interesting. He was very different than a lot of other color, color commentators. And I thought he was really good, like really good. But then he went and got himself in some more trouble again off the field and kind of lost that gig and I'm not really sure what he's up to now. But sort of this kind of like cycle for him, but he got his act together for long enough to really have a very nice career in the NFL and make my list. All right. Well, I think he's very solid. I'm makes us to see who you have ranked above him. Yeah, this was tough because number two, it's the same position drafted in 1992. People have Dale Carter drafted by the chiefs.

12:34First of all, he was the defensive rookie of the year in 92 and also in his rookie year, they played the Cowboys on Thanksgiving and he got ejected for kicking Michael Irman, which really made me happy. And I've always kind of had a warm spot in my heart for Dale Carter ever since a good, made a good decision later on Thanksgiving. He had a couple of second team all pros. He went to four straight pro bowls, but he again, he had several off-field violations in 99. He signed with the Broncos. I had a nice year for them. Then he gets suspended for the entire 2000 season for a substance abuse violation. It was like his fourth or something like that. And then he really never played again. I mean, he kicked around the league for another year or two, but never played again. And then that was it. He was similar to to to leave and you could argue one above the other. And what broke the tie for me was that I thought just at their peak, Carter was probably even even better like a lockdown shutdown corner. Yeah, I don't have any problem with that, especially when you get the defensive rookie of the year award.

13:39And you know, your start off really strong. Maybe he has that little bit of vantage over to leave who a little bit slower start. So yeah, and just the PSA and all the kids out there. Seriously, it's like both of these guys, we have them high, but who knows how high they could have been on the list. Maybe they're both gold jacket guys. If they, you know, made better decisions and taken more advantage of the opportunity, you know, you just never know. Number one, we're going to stay in the AFC West, and we're going to stay in the defensive backfield. And I think you know exactly who I'm going to talk about here. And that is 1989 safety, Steve Atwater, talk about rock solid, man. 10 years of the Broncos won with the Jets, any time pro baller, two time all pro. But I'd say he had 125 tackles there and or more in each of his first five years. So that is like massive production. He also played in 17 playoff games. He won both of those Super Bowls with Denver and 97 and 98. And something that people may forget is that he had a great game in Super Bowl 32 against the Packers.

14:44He had a sack, he had a forced fumble that got them points. He was like everywhere in that game. I remember that. And I also remember there was some controversy. A lot of people thought he should have been the MVP of that game that he really earned it. Like he was one of those guys. You watch that game. You're like, who's that? You know what I mean? We obviously knew he was at this point. But I mean, that guy was dominating the Super Bowl, literally. So he is of course in the Hall of Fame, a massive hitter. I would say he had a lot of aesthetic things about him. I mean, me and my friends as kids, like, I know his nickname was the assassin. And if you're out and every time somebody got hit in football, you might be like, oh, that's like at water. You know, he had the famous Monday night hit on Christian, a coin where he stopped him in his tracks. We've seen that a million times. So, you know, just sort of that old school monster safety, relatively short career. So maybe in the pantheon of safety, he's not quite as high as some of the others. But I mean, an awesome, awesome player and easy number one on this list.

15:49Well, you're really showing some Denver Bronco love here. The last three of all had parts of their career with the Broncos. Yep, and really two of them had the, you know, their best years with the Broncos. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I think that's a really great, you know, top five you have there from the pick number 20. Now, we mentioned earlier that there were a total of three Hall of Famers. Of course, that water was one of the Hall of Famers. The other two were before the 1980s and where you're going back to. And the first one, people may know him more as a coach, but this guy was an awesome player. 1956, the Green Bay Packers took forest Greg, you know, you may remember maybe a coach of the bangles. Maybe that's a little bit before your day. But, you know, Greg was a nine time pro bowler, seven times all pro, three time Super Bowl champion. I believe even some Super of championships before the Super Bowl with Green Bay Packers in the LaBardi era.

16:49Yeah, definitely one of their stalwarts was he and another one is another guy that played in a Super Bowl, lost the Super Bowl, but his Jack Youngblood, 1971, the LA Rams took him. And he was a seven time pro bowler, five time all pro, all 1970s team. So two really big players from yesterday year to round out our Hall of Famers. For sure. Yes, sir. Yeah. Um, so I got a couple little interesting stats here. You know, pick number 20 if you're wondering if your team's picking there. Well, you might be saying, okay, who look position is the most popular. But wide receiver has a slight edge over some other positions 11 times and 90 drafts. So wide receiver has been taking taken in there. And the most frequently drafted school in the spot is the Michigan Wolverine. So some big blue getting drafted at pick number 20. Finally, not USC or Ohio State.

17:51Yeah, that's sure. So another big 10 team, you know, big 10's dominating the draft here. And that sort of takes us to our draft stat of the day. This is a little short and sweet. And I'm glad you mentioned USC because our draft stat mentions USC. USC holds the longest active streak of 24 years of having a player drafted in the first three rounds. So that's kind of a kind of remarkable. You sit there and think about it. You had of, uh, but 96 picks, you know, right to go that 24 straight years every year. Okay. That's pretty good. In the summer season, powerhouse, what's that name them all now? Go name them all, uh, we'll pass on that. I'll edit it in. I'll look for a close. All right. Well, Ed, I think that wraps up our slot number 20 selection. We will be back tomorrow talking about the 19th pick and the history of it. And as we continue our countdown toward the 2026 draft in Pittsburgh.

18:53And thanks said for joining us here and bringing the great history once again. We'll see you tomorrow. That's all the football history we have today. Folks, join us back tomorrow for more of your football history. We invite you to check out our website, pigscinduspatch.com, not only to see the daily football history, but to experience positive football with our many articles on the good people of the game, as well as our own football comic strip, Pete Marks comics, pigscinduspatch.com is also on social media outlets, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and don't forget the pigscinduspatch YouTube channel to get all of your positive football news and history. Special thanks to the talents of Mike and Jim Monroe, as well as Jason Neff for letting us freeze their music during our broadcast. This podcast is part of the sports history network. Your headquarters will get a year at the favorite sport. You can learn more at sportshistoryneffwork.com. The sports history network, where legends live on and the past plays loud.

20:09Welcome to the place where history's proud from great iron glory to the hardwood stars from the racetrack heat to Olympic bars. It's the voices, the stories, the moments you missed, told by fans and pros who live for this hook and themic, the sports history network, where the past comes a live podcast and blogs to keep the flame high from bait to Brady Alley to the dome. If it's history in sports, then this is the home sports history network.com. The headquarters of sports. It's just a year.