NFL Death Pool at the SBR SPORTSBOOK
Another NFL player has passed way before his time. SBR asks, who's next?
They make their living as elite athletes in a game that glorifies speed, agility and brute strength. Professional football players start as little boys in great big pads but grow up to be great big men in padding not so big anymore. After countless hours spent practicing and playing from Pop Warner to the NFL, the average player has taken a merciless beating and the effects manifest long after his playing days over.
And so it was with Junior Seau, a sure-fire first ballot Hall of Famer when he becomes eligible, is the latest in a series of tragic stories of NFL players unable to live with the toll taken from a life spent participating in the brutal ballet we watch each Sunday.
While nobody wishes ill on any player active or retired, the fact that so many players are claimed before their expiration date is now fodder for SBR debate. Whether it be by their own hand or being in the wrong place at the wrong time (Momma always told me nothing good happens after midnight), professional football players have a knack for premature and often violent endings. Let's take a look at the odds on favorites for the next tragic headline.
Art Schlichter -
If you have never heard of Art Schlichter then you just haven't been around the game long enough. Chosen fourth overall by the then Baltimore Colts in the 1982 draft, he was banned from playing pro ball due to a gambling addiction back in the mid 80's and was then arrested throughout the years on a variety of charges that all stemmed from his insatiable thirst for action. He is currently serving a concurrent 10 year sentence for fleecing millions of dollars from unsuspecting investors (had none of them ever heard about this guy?!). Many dangers lurk in prison but none more so than the danger Schlichter may cause to himself.
Ryan Leaf -
When you hear the name Ryan Leaf, think "Schlichter the Younger" and substitute a drug problem for a gambling addiction. Like Schlichter, Leaf was a top five overall pick and failed to live up to the lofty expectations from scouts and coaches alike. He was recently out on bail on burglary and drug charges only to be arrested 4 days later on virtually identical charges. He is looking at a long stretch and he too will face the same dangers in prison as will Schlichter.
Terrell Owens -
The real estate market tanked about the same time as Owens' pass catching skills and that was a double dose of disaster for the former 49'ers star wide receiver. Eighty million dollars later and all he has to show for it are the creditors lining up at his doorstep. At 38 years old Owens is persona non grata in any NFL training camp and now he's got to tell his baby mamas, all four, there's nothing left in the piggy bank.
OJ Simpson -
Over 15 years ago former Bills standout OJ Simpson assembled a dream team of lawyers who buffaloed a jury into acquitting him of the double murder of his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and a young man named Ron Goldman, who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Simpson is now in prison for armed robbery on a separate charge and his future looks bleak. But one would think that if he was going to do himself in, he would have done so on that fateful day back in '94 when he led police on a low speed chase with best friend Al Cowlings in the driver's seat.
Any member of the '94 Chargers -
Former member of the '94 Chargers call it a curse but others might call it bad luck...really bad. Dating back to David Grigg's fatal car crash in 1995 to the apparent suicide of Junior Seau just recently, eight members of this squad have died and all before reaching the age of 45. Super Creepy.
Place your bets.
EXOTIC BETTING - Sep 01 Sep 01 - 12:00 AM NFL PLAYERS DEADPOOL 2012: PLAYER MUST DIE 1 ADAM "PACMAN" JONES +14000 2 TROY AIKMAN +15000 3 BRETT FAVRE +16000 4 CAM NETWON +12000 5 MICHAEL VICK +32000 6 RANDY MOSS +31000 7 TOM BRADY +17000 8 CASE KEENUM +18000 9 JONATHAN JOSEPH +19000 10 ANDREW LUCK +21000 11 ROBERT GRIFFIN III +15000 12 JOSEPH ADAI +14000 13 DONNIE AVERY +13000 14 PEYTON MANNING +12000 15 MIKE HOLMES +28000 16 JEREMY ROSS +27000 17 ELI MANNING +29000 18 CARSON PALMER +26000 19 MICHAEL BUSH +25000 20 REGGIE BUSH +8500 21 JAMES BRYANT +14000 22 DAMIEN BERRY +16000 23 LAGARRETTE BLOUNT +5000 24 JAMAL CHARLES +29000 25 TONY GERHART +15000 26 TONY GONZALEZ +14000 27 KEVIN KOLB +15000 28 CHRISTIAN PONDER +16000 29 DREW BREES +12000 30 MARK SANCHEZ +19000 31 TIM TEBOW +2500 32 KELLEN CLEMENS +18000 33 REX GROSSMAN +25000 34 BEN ROETHLISBERGER +17000 35 PHILIP RIVERS +16000 36 ALEX SMITH +15000 37 TARVARIS JACKSON +19000 38 TONY ROMO +21000 39 AARON RODGERS +22000 40 MATT RYAN +29000 41 ART SCHLICHTER +500 42 RYAN LEAF +500 43 TERRELL OWENS +700 44 OJ SIMPSON +300 45 ANY MEMBER OF THE 1994 CHARGERS SIDE EV