Like the late, great Rodney Dangerfield, there are guys out there busting a gut to be their best in the NFL who just never get any respect. We are talking about good, solid football players whose team mates know their value. But in the eyes of the public, “they don’t get no respect.”
Some of these guys really deserve a good pat on the back. By in large they are excellent players… just vastly under appreciated. They don’t attend the gala openings or get their pictures in the paper every other week. They are the guys who are out there in the mud and the cold and the snow fighting it out in the trenches of pro football week after week.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the more stand out cases of unappreciated. There are surely others, but here we go.
Jacksonville has a running back named Maurice Jones-Drew. You might not think of a player in the NFL named Maurice could be very tough but think again. Jones-Drew is one of the toughest guys in the NFL.
Andre Johnson is a wide receiver for the Houston Texans who is truly devastating
at his position. While Johnson has not put up the numbers that he seems capable of, it must be noted that he is almost constantly double and even triple-teamed when he goes down field.
The Washington Redskins have a veteran line backer named London Fletcher who came into the NFL in 1998. Fletcher is remarkable for his durability in that, since 1998, he has never missed a game….not one. He has 240 consecutive games without a miss. In the day to day brutality of the NFL, that’s endurance.
Matt Forte is another guy who doesn’t get the respect he deserves. Forte is one of the strongest running backs in the league but he has struggled in the Bears backfield with Jay Cutler at the helm.
Darren Sproles and Lance Moore both play for the New Orleans Saints and are both vastly underrated players. Sproles is one on the shortest players in the NFL but he plays large out on the field on Sunday afternoon. Lance Moore is another player who is always there making plays but seldom gets noticed.
Wes Welker did anything and everything to help the Patriots win for the past several years and suddenly found himself headed out the Denver to play for the Broncos. Peyton was surely delighted!
