Lack of football character exposes even the best players. Greg Gabriel
When NFL teams begin the cutdown process in late August, every year we see players that were drafted high and had big expectations get cut and thus are labeled “busts.” First, let’s define what a “bust” is.
In my mind, a “bust" is a player who does not perform to expectations in relation to where he was drafted. A player drafted in the fourth round or later can’t ever be labeled a bust, but former first- and second-round draftees who don’t perform at a high level certainly can be put in that category.
Why doesn’t the player perform at a high level? There are a number of reasons. An injury or injuries can take away from his natural physical traits, causing him to perform at a lower level. I don’t ever consider a player in this situation a bust.
Why? Because injuries are an expected part of the game. It’s unfortunate, but it happens. And the team has to deal with it. While management may be disappointed, so is the player. It’s not like he wants his level of play to decrease.
Now in saying this, if a team drafts a player high and the player had a history of injuries in college and that history follows him into the NFL, then it’s the club’s fault and the decision makers should be held accountable.
ICONDid JaMarcus Russell ever care about playing football?
But that is really not the main reason a highly regarded player “busts.” He busts because he lacks “football character.”
Football character is not the same as personal character. If you’re grading character properly, they have to be separated.
Personal character is basically how a person lives his life. Is he a good person and citizen? Is he a good father, husband and teammate?
Football character is a player’s passion for the game, his work ethic, his desire to be a great player, his intelligence as it relates to his position, his ability to take to coaching.
If you look through the years at a number of players who failed, you will see that in many cases they didn’t love football and the game just wasn’t that important to them. Football is a very tough game and if you don’t love to play it, you won’t be very good. There are many players who will get by for a couple of years on their pure talent, but in the end their lack of passion and football character will do them in. You can’t play for the money — the game is too hard and competitive to do that. Coaches will see right through that and the player will be cut or traded.
A player with strong football character and marginal personal character has a chance to succeed at the NFL level because his football character will help him overcome his personal issues. On the other hand, if a player has weak football and personal character, he has no chance. The same can be said for the opposite. A kid with strong personal character and low football character won’t survive, either. He won’t have the drive or mental toughness to compete with those who do.
We drafted a player in Chicago a few years ago who was as good a person as you could find. He had a strong college career, was a good student and had a high level of talent. His problem was he didn’t love the game or the grind that went with being successful. And so he failed. Other teams gave him an opportunity but it was met with the same result. Talent will always give you opportunity, but if the player lacks passion then it’s just wasted talent.
The bottom line is that if you have a team where all or most of the players have strong football character, then you have a chance to win a lot of games.
How do we find out this information? If you have a strong scouting staff, they will get the pertinent information. A scout who does a great job networking at each of his schools has the contacts to find out just about everything. In saying that, it’s not easy. You have to find the right people who will give you honest answers and then he has to dig — and dig some more. Having good scouts makes all the difference in the world when making draft day decisions.
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I haven't had enough personal interactions with players to disagree with the philosophy but the one player who I have met socially and talked to on a few occasions told me that he doesn't really like football all that much but it pays really well so he does it. He's been a starting WR on a solid NFL team for about 3-4 years.
@Journeyman
Yeah, Bowen's talked about that too, how there were some guys in the locker room who really didn't care whether their team made the playoffs or not. In fact, if anything, they'd have preferred not to, since the pay wasn't that great and they were just tired of the season and wanted it to be over.
"Babbit" playing in the NFL... you wouldn't think it, but...
Although, y'know, I suppose... I was just thinking about a time when I broke my nose playing football in college, and it was no big deal, because I was in college. But I'm 34 now, and, if I was still making my living by pushing myself physically above-and-beyond everyday... I can see how it might get old.
If football character was a permanent thing it would be easy to find those kids - talk to their coaches. I have to think that "football character" issues can arise when a guy who loves the game realizes things are on an entirely new level in the NFL.
Maybe he was so gifted in college compared to others that the game came easily to him. That's not necessarily true in the pros. Maybe the meetings, the learning, the practices were easy for him.
There are a lot of variables so it is still risky business to draft high. The NFL seems to demand an increase in a player's football character.
Football character should have a picture of Dick Butkus next to it in the dictionary.
Here what NFL films says:
"A force of unmanageable proportions, he was Moby Dick in a goldfish bowl. His career as the middle linebacker for the Chicago Bears stands as the most sustained work of devastation ever committed on a football field by anyone, anywhere, anytime. In 1969, the Bears won one game and Butkus was voted the Defensive Player of the Year. He stood for something just as important as victory -- he gave everything he had on every play. No one ever played harder or better than Dick Butkus."
My back hurts just thinking about running into other people at full speed.
Vernon Gholston lacks football character = bust
Well said Greg. Plenty of players succeed without "loving football" but are determined to give any job there all, even if they are not 100% passionate about the occupation. Many "play the games for free" but "get paid to practice" and fear of failure in any aspect of life motivates them.
Does this mean Ted Thompson will finally be held accountable for drafting Justin Harrell who is surely a major bust given his history of injuries in college?
I have a hard time pinning the "bust" label on the players. The players don't determine their draft order, the teams' GMs do. Take AJ Hawk, the fifth pick in the draft a few years back. Hawk has been a steady contributor and starter for the Packers for several years. Steady, not great. Before last season, the intertubes were abuzz with chatter that Hawk was a bust. Hawk didn't pick himself fifth that year. If you didn't know his draft position, you'd say he's had a decent career.
I think the term "bust" is more applicable to free agents who've had several quality seasons, cash the big payday free agent contract, then rest on their laurels, ala Joe Johnson leaving the Saints and soaking the Packers for $36 million. He didn't earn a dime of that.
True that some guys with great promise don't make it because of injury (anyone remember Robert Edwards and that stupid sand football game at the pro bowl that cost him his career?), but mostly bust is about lack of effort. JaFailure is the prime example of not trying, but why should he have when he was guaranteed over $30 Mil for just signing his name? What needs to happen is more incentive based remuneration and less guaranteed money for players who have never stepped onto an NFL field.
@Michael1970,
Vernon Gholston + Playing in the wrong position = Bust
He's not a 3-4 OLB, he's too small for a 3-4 DE, but he's the perfect fit for a 4-3 DE. He'll be able to revive his career once the Jets cut him.
I think this article gets it exactly backwards. He blames the player totally for perceived failure. They had poor "football character", whatever that is. Just draft guys like Peyton Manning. Problem is, they don't come around all that often. Most players are works in progress and have strengths and flaws. My experiences in sports tell me the answer lies far more often in the quality of coaching they received than how much they loved the Oklahoma drill. . Did Bill Walsh have a lot of busts? How about Belichick? The other aspect of avoiding busts is properly utilizing a player. Take Jason Campbell, current Raiders Qb and former Redskins QB. I'd say he was a bust as a Redskin, but the poor guy played for a different coordinator every year and was forced into systems that were totally wrong for his skill set.
I'm going with Michael Haynes for the specific player Greg was describing in the article.
Greg, I know you won't confirm it here but you have my email address that was submitted with the comment.
The Bears drafted a lineman to a top slot, he got hurt pratty badly. That man is a starter for Dallas now, due to his football character. That's an example worth review because the fact injuries happen didn't limit his ambitions.
Packer Fan
Who has not held Thompson accountable for Harrell. Thus far the guy has been a bust. He is still around because he has potential and talent...and is relatively cheap at this point. He will have his chance this year, but I don't think any Packer fans out there are really counting on it.
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Jul 23, 2010
03:45 PM
I have to respectfully disagree with parts of this post. I'm not a football player, but I read the excellent book "A Few Seconds of Panic" by Stefan Fatsis, and that gives a lot of players' statements that they don't really like the game--and some of them were fourth, seventh, tenth-year players. I believe Ian Gold, a successful Broncos linebacker, was one who talked about not loving the game--but he played well for a long time.