I'm sure that every big time program has a guy or two who go a muck.
Some schools even kind of have a reputation as being criminal U. Miami, Fl, UNLV and University of Cincinnati come to mind.
But has any school had more rejects at the same position then MSU ?
It isn't even like these are no talent or marginal talent guys who got by in High School because they could play and then flamed out at the next level.
These are all-american wide receivers.. all drafted in the first round of the NFL draft.. all played in the NFL.
And all ended up a disgrace..
Andre "Bad Moon" Rison; to my recollection.. never really got into a lot of trouble at MSU. But he bounced around the NFL and was always known as a bit of a problem child. Maybe Andre was just driven crazy by his crazy (ex) wife Lisa (Left Eye) Lopes.. who made a name for herself first the the trio TLC.. and then in burning down Rison's multi-million dollar mansion. Andre got himself thrown in jail for failing to make child support payments to the mother of his children.. to the tune of $127,000 in arears.
Charles Rogers; this guy litterally smoked away his career. He attended Michigan State, where he broke many receiving records. The winner of the 2002 Biletnikoff Award, Rogers still holds the school records for most TDs in a career with 27, breaking the record held by former Spartans WR (and later MLB All-Star) Kirk Gibson and the school record for most receiving yards in a single game with 270. He also was caught smoking pot repeatedly (covered up by MSU) and was a well known pot-head on campus. He ended up testing positive before the NFL combine.. got drafted the Lions and basically pissed and smoked his NFL career away.
Plaxico Burress; what an enigma. When he's good, he's really good. And when he's bad, well.. he's really bad. Starting at a junior college because he couldn't get into a Division 1 school.. Plax turned things around at MSU and became one of MSU's all-time greats. Again.. like Rison above.. he didn't get into too much trouble while at MSU.. but once into the NFL, the troubles began. After being drafted eighth overall in the 2000 NFL Draft, Burress went on to play five years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, amassing 261 receptions for 4,164 yards, 22 touchdowns, and only six fumbles over the span of 71 games. He first broke the 1,000-yard mark in his second season, gaining 1,008 yards on 66 receptions. Burress's best season with the Steelers came in 2002, when he set his career highs for receptions (78) and yards (1,325), to go along with seven touchdowns. Also in 2002, Burress played in his first career playoff game, accumulating six receptions for 100 yards and a touchdown. In three subsequent playoff games with the Steelers, Burress totaled only seven receptions, 123 yards, and one touchdown. He also managed to get himself suspended from the team for failing to attend practices. He left as a free agent known mostly as a great player with a fragile body.
We didn't find out about how fragile his mind was till he got to New York.
On March 17 2005, he signed a six-year, $25 million contract with the New York Giants. In his first season playing for New York, Burress caught 76 passes for 1,214 yards, helping the team earn an 11-5 record. In the 2006 season, Burress managed a career high in touchdowns with 10 but fell short of the 1,000-yard mark, appearing in only 15 games and struggling with a groin injury for much of the year. In 2007, Burress was the Giants' top receiver with 70 receptions for 1,025 yards, despite not practicing all season because of his ailing ankle. In 2008, things really fell apart.
On September 24, 2008, the team announced that Burress would be suspended for the game on October 5 for a violation of team rules.[8] He did not show up for work on a Monday and could not be reached by phone for two days. This is not the first time that Burress has been temporarily suspended by an NFL team—in May 2004, he was suspended by the Pittsburgh Steelers for failing to show up for a Monday team practice. On October 24 he was was issued three fines totaling $45,000 for the following reasons:1. $20,000 for post game comments regarding officiating — specifically, inappropriate comments on officiating. 2. $20,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct — specifically, verbal abuse of the head linesman. 3. $5,000 for throwing the ball in the stands. Add to that ESPN reporting on November 29, 2008 that Burress had suffered an "accidental gunshot wound" as a result of an incident at a nightclub the night before. No other information was immediately available, but the injury was said to not be life-threatening. It was later revealed by FOXSPORTS.com that he shot himself in the leg by accident.
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