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The Weird, Wacky and Awesome World of the NFL - General Banter thread
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Article from Sports Illustrated in 2000:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/nfl/2000/nfldraft/news/2000/04/15/janikowski_raiders_ap/ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) -- Looking past attempted bribery charges and possible deportation, the Oakland Raiders took Florida State kicker Sebastian Janikowski with the 17th overall pick in Saturday's draft.
It was the first time a kicker went in the first round since New Orleans selected Russell Erxleben of Texas with the 11th pick in 1979.
Janikowski, at 6-foot-1 and 263 pounds, kicked 50 field goals the past two seasons, and sent many of his kickoffs through the endzone.
The Raiders need a kicker, having lost several close games the past two seasons because of missed field goals. But Janikowski, a native of Poland, faces a bribery charge for allegedly offering a police officer in Tallahassee, Fla., $300 to release his roommate from custody. The roommate had been denied service at a club and was arrested for trespassing when he refused to leave.
Oakland coach Jon Gruden said the Raiders would deal with the legal issues as they come up, but wasn't overly concerned.
"We did a lot of research on this young man," he said. "We feel we have an environment with our veteran players and our coaching staff for this young man to flourish."
Janikowski, meanwhile, said he's ready to prove there's more to him than the headlines.
"I'm going to put that behind me," he said. "I know who I am and I want people to know me more."
Although the Raiders already have kickers Michael Husted and Joe Nedney on their roster, Janikowski impressed the team with his strength and accuracy.
"At the combine, I don't believe he missed a kick," Gruden said. "He put on an orbital display in Indianapolis."
Oakland had 13 missed field goals last season, and all eight the team's losses in 1999 were by a touchdown or less as the team finished 8-8 for the second straight season.
"This is something we desperately needed to improve on," Gruden said. "This guy improves us."
Janikowski, who spent three seasons with the Seminoles, ranks third on the school's career-scoring list with 324 points.
He faces a May 3 hearing on the bribery charge, a third-degree felony. If found guilty, Janikowski could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, and also could face deportation if convicted.
"I'm not worried about thce up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine, and also could face deportation if convicted.
"I'm not worried about that," he said. "I talked to my lawyer and he said everything is going to be OK," he said.
The piece in bold would explain why the were so high on a kicker they felt might be the difference in winning some close games, but imagine a kicker going in the 1st round these days? Crazy.
NFL Draft Scout had him projected in the 2nd-3rd round.
An interesting comment here pre-2000 draft:
http://bengals.enquirer.com/2000/04/14/ben_janikowski_great_leg.html
Of course, the Raiders took Lechler too.0 -
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NBA is the only other American sport I follow. Going back the last 10 years say:
2004 - One star franchise changer went #1 overall, 2 or 3 very good starters = 4 good picks.
2005 - One star (#4 overall), one who was a star for years but has regressed a lot in recent years (#3 overall), two very good starters = 4 good picks.
2006 - No stars, 2 very good starters.
2007 - One star (#2 overall), two very good starters (one who won DPOTY this year) = 3 good picks.
2008 - Two stars, arguably three (#1, #4, #5 overall), one very good starters = 4 good picks.
2009 - From here some players are still developing and will become stars, some arguably are already, but so far 5 very good picks
2010 - As above, but 2 very good picks so far
2011 - As above, but 1 very good pick so far
2012 - As above, but 4 very good picks so far
It's too early to judge 2013.
So overall, you're probably looking at a maximum of 4 good picks from the top 10 in a good season. It's probably easier to draft in the NBA too considering there's only five positions to play and only two rounds of a draft, though I guess it could be argued the other way too in that it's harder to hit on your player given the limited amount of players drafted (60).
Looking at the NFL draft over the same period, I have it at an average of around 5 players that turn out to be good picks in the top 10. Though you'd never see an NBA draft like NFL draft 2011 for example, where around 7 players were excellent picks.
The 2003 NBA draft had a few handy players in the top 10
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