Ryan Leaf
Ki-Jana Carter
Akili Smith
Tony Mandarich
Charles Rogers
Heath Shuler
Blair Thomas
The word "bust" reminds me of the phenomena of a bubble. A bubble bursts (in my community, we grew up saying "busted bubble") when the pressure on the inside of the bubble is not equal to the pressure on the surface area outside of the bubble.
Let the word "pressure" be associated with "productivity." Let it also be represented by "worth" or "value" when connected to the efforts outside of a player.
So when the "productivity" of an NFL player (pressure on the inside or his innate talent and productivity) is not equal to the value or worth attributed to him by the owner of the franchise, that, ladies and gentlemen, is a bust or a bursted bubble!
Sometimes the busts occur because of low productivity. At other times, it is because of an injury-prone player.
In either case, the comparisons of the potential and talent that should be transformed to productivity are faulty.
In engineering, to protect an entity from failure you sometimes have to build a "fail-safe system," or a backup.
In the future, either a new strategy for rewarding potential and productivity or a salary cap need to be established to avoid a waste of time and money in the NFL.
So, just remember that more players than Ryan Leaf need to be compared to JaMarcus Russell. Carter, Smith, Mandarich, Rogers, Shuler, and Thomas are also members of the "Hall of NFL Busts."
Finally, an NFL bust is a failure. It is also a player who can help cause a franchise to go bankrupt. It means that the owners have invested heartily in the player, and the player's productivi...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
