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un·der·rated tr.v, adj. -- To value below worth.
Perhaps no word in the NFL is more ambiguous than: underrated. Players often question when their names are attached to the label (maybe it tarnishes their star status) yet their agents rely upon the word to extract larger sums in contract talks.
Coaches dread the word for fear that their little overlooked secret will be let out of the bag. Fans? They brandish the word as a weapon when jousting with their cronies regarding the game's top players.
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| Brad Johnson is never mentioned among the league's top QBs, but opposing coaches respect him.(Getty Images) |
Who better to clear this up than the league's head coaches, right? Well, um, not really.
SportsLine.com polled 19 of the league's 32 head coaches and posed the following: Who is the most underrated player?
Our panel is a Whose Who of Those In the Know and included the Broncos' Mike Shanahan, Bucs' Jon Gruden, Steelers' Bill Cowher, Falcons' Dan Reeves, Giants' Jim Fassel, Cardinals' Dave McGinnis, Panthers' John Fox, Saints' Jim Haslett, Chiefs' Dick Vermeil, Bears' Dick Jauron, Miami's Dave Wannstedt, Jets' Herm Edwards, Vikings' Mike Tice, Eagles' Andy Reid, Texans' Dom Capers, Bills' Gregg Williams, Titans' Jeff Fisher, Colts' Tony Dungy and Ravens' Brian Billick.
(Most have allowed their names to be attached to their votes, but a couple requested that their choices remain anonymous.)
The answers were predictably unpredictable, especially since several coaches had different definitions of the term "underrated."
For example, some believed the answer should be a player who never made a Pro Bowl. Others answered with a name that has made it to Hawaii but is still overshadowed by bigger names. Others went even further, selecting a player who has star power but still not equal to their actual worth.
The answers also ranged from kicker to quarterback, and surprisingly, just three defensive players were named.
One player emerged, which considering how many players there were for our coaches to randomly choose from (they were not given a list of names or other coaches' votes), getting the three winning votes is quite impressive.
So who is this overlooked gridiron soldier?
Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Brad Johnson.
How could the engineer of a Super Bowl victory be given such a distinction? According to the league's coaches, the Bucs quarterback is grossly overshadowed by the team's plethora of stars.
"He isn't noted as being a great quarterback, but he's a difference-maker in the ballgame," said Reeves. "He does things that you have to do to win as a quarterback. He's willing to throw the ball away and doesn't take the interceptions. Brad Johnson is a hell of a quarterback to me."
Johnson isn't even the most notable Johnson on his team and has often come under fire in the public and press. But our panel notes Johnson is constantly under fire on the field yet doesn't let the game get away from him.
"We played them once with him and once without him and it was a huge difference," said Fox, who voted for him slightly ahead of the Vikings DT Chris Hovan. "He's the difference on their team offensively but he gets lost because of all the other names they have on that squad. He's the first name I thought of when you asked me the question because he really is that valuable."
Of course, his head coach agrees.
"He led the NFC in passing and is a winner," said Gruden. "All he does is win football games, and we certainly would not be where we are without him."
Four other players on our list also received multiple votes, but Johnson was the only player named by more than two coaches. Our four second-place finishers, all with two votes?
- Titans quarterback Steve McNair
- Giants running back Tiki Barber
- Bears safety Mike Brown
- Jets running back Curtis Martin
Brown, in our opinion, is the epitome of an underrated player. He has never made a Pro Bowl and is rarely mentioned among the league's elite safeties. Apparently, he has not gone completely unnoticed.
"He has such great awareness," said McGinnis, one of two voters for Brown. "He knows where to be at all times and he always seems to be around what is happening. You have some players who know where the ball is going, but they don't seem to be there. Mike is always there. There are little nuances you can see on film. He lives on that field with great anticipation. He uses that to cover his responsibility and cover his teammates a lot of times too."
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| Tiki Barber is the key to the Giants offense, admiring opponents say.(Getty Images) |
"He's the whole package," Tice said in explaining his vote for a guy who has never been voted into the Pro Bowl.
"When you play the Giants, that's the guy you look to stop on that offense," said another head coach who said he would have voted for Barber but felt another guy with no visibility more appropriately deserved the title. "For anybody who has played them, they know how dangerous he is because he's a double threat. If you want to stop them you have to stop Barber first."
Martin is just as deserving, although for a different reason than the previous two. His name is rarely used to describe the great all-time runners. In fact, he's made the Pro Bowl just four times, and most recently, he was honored only after others were injured and forced to pull out. He's often beat out for the honor by the new kid on the block.
Four Pro Bowls for a guy who ranks 15th on the all-time rushing list with 10,361 yards? He and Barry Sanders are the only players in history to rush for 1,000 yards in each of his first eight seasons. Want more? Martin has failed to rush for 1,200 yards in just three of eight seasons.
"Considering what he's able to do and how much he means to that team, he doesn't get the credit he deserves," said Buffalo's Williams, who voted for Martin. "He gets overlooked in the Pro Bowl voting it seems every year but he's the whole package."
In addition to his rushing stats, Martin has caught at least 41 passes in every season of his career except as a rookie. Three years ago, he actually hauled in a whopping 70 balls for more than 500 yards. Yet he's rarely mentioned among names like Faulk, Holmes, Williams, Tomlinson, George and Green.
"It isn't even close," said Edwards, who obviously voted for his workhorse. "For his career, what he's done and playing on a New York team, you never hear about the guy. He was voted into one or two Pro Bowls, but every year, he's a 1,200- to 1,500-yard rusher. As hurt as he was this year, it's unbelievable what he was able to do.
"I don't know why. Maybe it's because he never seeks that promotion or publicity. He likes to keep it low profile."
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| Steve McNair is well known, but deserves more credit as the key to the Titans. (Getty Images) |
"He does more for his team than anyone else in the league and does not get enough credit," said Dungy on why he chose to go against the grain. He wasn't alone.
"With Steve McNair (healthy) they are a totally different team," said Capers, McNair's other vote giver.
Other vote-getters included the following:
Wannstedt: Bills DT Pat Williams. "He's dominating. He's my vote because this guy plays like a perennial Pro Bowler. He's a big-time difference-maker."
Billick: Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri. Billick actually discussed the question with Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome, and the pair considers him the Mariano Rivera of the NFL, the game's greatest postseason closer.
Reid: Eagles DT Corey Simon. "He plays 95 percent of the snaps on the other side of the line of scrimmage."
Shanahan: 49ers quarterback Jeff Garcia. The Denver coach felt that despite Garcia having made the Pro Bowl, he is often overlooked when the game's greats are talked about. Shanahan, however, believes Garcia should be up there with workhorses like Rich Gannon.
Jeff Fisher: Texans defensive tackle Seth Payne, who Fisher says narrowly edged out Saints return specialist Michael Lewis ("people don't understand how he can change a game") and Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck.
Haslett: Panthers DT Kris Jenkins. "Same reason why Warren Sapp is so dangerous. When you play them the first thing you have to discuss is how you'll handle him. It's the same thing with Jenkins with the Panthers, and Carolina has a very good line."
Cowher: Bengals running back Corey Dillon. Cowher believes that Dillon deserves even more publicity for his on-field effectiveness.
Vermeil: Saints tight end Ernie Conwell.
Our choices among those not named on our list?
Giants WR Amani Toomer (he was a complete beast down the stretch last season); Falcons DE Patrick Kerney (22.5 sacks last two years but completely overshadowed by Keith Brooking ); Texans DT Gary Walker (despite having been a Pro Bowl player, Walker is a terror on the field yet anonymous to many fans across the country).