25 Years of Crappy 1st Round Draft Picks-1989

Almost to the 1990's, what an amazing feeling. Today we look at a man drafted between three Hall of Famers and one future one and a Jr. who wouldn't score 60 points in his short NBA career.

1989
NFL

Photo courtesy of ClevelandLeader.com and Sports Illustrated

#2 - Green Bay Packers - Tony Mandarich - Tackle -Michigan State
Mandarich was deemed a can't miss prospect. He had crazy measurables and looked like a mountain made of muscle. Unfortunately he wasn't all that good; he held out and played mostly special teams his first year. Affectionately known as The Incredible Bulk, Mandarich would be out of Green Bay in 1991 and not return to the league until 1996 when he would be solid if unspectacular with the Indianapolis Colts. Mandarich would later admit to steroid use (editors note: shock, shock); he initially blaming great work ethic for poor performance. Now I don't like blaming top picks for not being superstars and as long as they put together a couple solid seasons usually they aren't picked as the worst pick but Mandarich is different because of how bad Green Bay screwed up this pick. Taken before Mandarich was Hall of Famer Troy Aikman, taken after were Hall of Famers Barry Sanders and Derrick Thomas followed by future Hall of Famer Deion Sanders. So if you are keeping count, out of the top 5 picks there were 4 Hall of Famers and one guy that was dubbed "the best offensive line prospect of all-time" but only last a couple seasons before being sent packing. The Packers had an 80% chance of getting this pick right but failed miserably. For this, and all "The Bulk" stands for, he is our crappiest NFL first round pick of 1989. Congratulations!

NBA

Photo courtesy of hoopedia.nba.com

#23 - Atlanta Hawks - Roy Marble Jr. - SG/SF -Iowa
The NBA Draft is a different beast than the NFL Draft. Most of the time in the NFL Draft when you pick First Round you expect the pick to be a solid started, this isn't always the case with the NBA Draft. The probability is just higher in the NFL, you are picking for 22 unique starting positions; in the NBA there is 5 starting spots.  So leniency is required when looking at later first round picks. They don't need to be spectacular but to avoid worst distinction need to be a contributor. This next man wasn't. Roy Marble Jr. would play 2 seasons 89-90 and then came back for a 5 game stint with the Denver Nuggets in 93-94. Marble averages 2.1 points during his rookie year and then below 1.0 in his second go around. Career Totals: 29 games, 55 points, 32 rebounds, 12 assists, 7 steals, 3 blocks and 17 turnovers. Substance abuse cut short Marble's original run, wanna know what he is up to now? The Bleacher Report has a good article up about what the former Hawkeye has been up to.

             *SPOILER ALERT*

Photo courtesy of easterniowanewsnow.com

We will be back tomorrow with the start of a new era of picks: the 1990's.