Not Passable Trivia Quiz

Answer: Tim Couch

Tim Couch was not a total dud for the Cleveland Browns. The team had taken him number one on the board because of outstanding work at the University of Kentucky and he was touted as being the shining light for the expansion team. He was, however, hampered by injuries for much of his career.

He represented the Cleveland Browns from 1999 to 2002, threw 11,000 passing yards in the NFL and helped the team qualify for the playoffs in 2002. Typical of his career, he would throw 2,842 yards and 18 touchdowns that year but would break his leg in the final game of the regular season.

Answer: David Klingler

Playing for the Houston Cougars between 1988 and 1991, David Klingler re-wrote the record books. Houston had successfully chosen a Run-and-Shoot system of play. However, whilst it made Klingler look like a superstar, it was a system that wasn't suited to the NFL and despite being the sixth pick in the first round of 1992, he was a bust for the Bengals. By 1998 Klingler's career was over with a pitiful 16 touchdowns passes and fewer than 4,000 yards.

Answer: Todd Blackledge

The Kansas City Chiefs would love to have the 1983 draft again. They had the seventh pick in round one of the draft and they used it to choose Todd Blackledge. Still waiting in that draft was Dan Marino and future Hall of Famer, Jim Kelly. However, it was easy to see why they went the way they did. For three years Blackledge had been a starter at Penn State and had guided the Nittany Lions to a 31-5 record.

In the 1982 season he was awarded the Davey O'Brien Award that hailed him as the best collegiate quarterback.

His career with the Chiefs concluded in 1987, after which he went to the Pittsburgh Steelers and added a further two years to his underperforming playing career. He would go on to become better known as a sports broadcaster for ABC, CBS and ESPN.

Answer: Akili Smith

Smith was a dual sports star. Initial interest in him was as a baseball player and he was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the seventh round of the 1993 Major League Baseball draft. However, in his senior season at the University of Oregon he threw thirty touchdown passes in only eleven starts.

The NFL took notice and the Bengals would draft him as pick three in round one. Smith's biggest problem proved to be his application and he could not come to grips with the Bengals' playbook. The end result was that he started only seventeen times in his four seasons with the club in which he completed under 50% of his passes.

Answer: Rick Mirer

After an outstanding college career with Notre Dame where he broke a range of records it was not hard to discern why Mirer would be an early draft pick in 1993. And it seemed like the Seattle Seahawks had nailed it. Mirer was sensational in his rookie year becoming just the third rookie quarterback since 1970 to start in all of his team's games.

In that season he set NFL rookie records for attempts, completions yards and by season's end had finished fifth in the AFC with 274 completions and 2,833 yards. Sadly, that's where it ended and he never managed to scale those heights again.

He became a journeyman quarterback, finding his way to six other clubs over the ensuing years, before finishing his career at the Detroit Lions in 2004.

Answer: Heath Shuler

Over the final two seasons of Heath Shuler's college career he threw for 36 touchdowns and over 4,000 yards. These totals would surpass his career NFL totals and he was benched after just three seasons. In spite of Shuler having a poor NFL career he achieved renown later in life as a member of the United States House of Representatives for the state of North Carolina.

Answer: Andre Ware

Andre Ware was the first African-American quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy when he did so in 1989 after setting 26 NCAA season records. After being drafted by the Lions the team's offense seemed destined for greatness as they also had the prior year's Heisman Trophy winner, Barry Sanders, as the team's running back. Surprisingly in spite of his high draft status, Ware's head coach benched him in favor of a veteran player and Ware was only used sparingly when games were already decided. After Ware's playing career he was a broadcaster with ESPN for college football games.

Answer: Art Schlichter

Art Schlichter was an undefeated quarterback while in high school in Bloomingburg, Ohio and he started all four years in college for Ohio State. He was a dual threat type quarterback being able to both run and pass and he nearly led his team to the National Championship in 1979. Unluckily for Schlichter, he was drafted in 1982, the same year as the NFL strike which allowed him extra free time during which he accumulated over $700,000 in gambling debts.

Answer: Jamarcus Russell

JaMarcus Russell's fantastic junior season at LSU and his incredible arm strength prompted the Oakland Raiders to draft him number one. His relationship with the team was strained from the beginning as he threatened to hold out until he finally signed a massive $61 million contract with $32 million guaranteed. Russell's career was marred by poor decisions on the field and a poor attitude and work ethic.

Answer: Ryan Leaf

Coming out of college in 1998 sports analysts debated whether Ryan Leaf or Peyton Manning were more deserving of the number one overall pick and who would be the better NFL player. Luckily for the Colts they picked Manning who would lead them to a Super Bowl and get elected to the Hall-of-Fame.

The second pick would fall to the Chargers who selected Leaf whose career stats included just 14 touchdowns against 36 interceptions. Leaf had anger management issues during his playing days and after he struggled with drug abuse.