Most Overrated Players in Sports

[JS19]

Was just watching PTI and they mentioned the top 3, not sure who's or what list, were Jeter, Beltran, ARod. Who would you guys say are the most overrated in any sport?

As of right now I can't really pinpoint any, however the first one who comes to mind for me is Barry Zito for baseball, although I don't know if I would put him in the category of overrated, just that he struggles from time to time.

[Toddzilla]

Any Chicago Cubs pitcher

[Franklinnoble]

Current players, or historical?

[bosshogg23]

Originally Posted by Toddzilla

Any Chicago Cubs pitcher

Good call, Kerry Wood definitely has to be on the list.

[Swaggs]

There are a lot of different ways to classify overrated. Are they overpaid? Do they have a high name recognition without being very productive? Do they fade when the going gets tough? Did they get old/injury-prone and no longer live up to their prior expectations?

I can see Jeter and Beltran on the list, but the only way I see A-Rod on the list is if someone has some ungodly expectations for him or think that $25M a year is ridiculous (which it is, but so are all entertainment salaries). I think almost anyone would say that A-Rod is one of the top 5 offensive players in the game, which I think he is without question, so I'm not sure how you could overrate him in that regard.

I think one name I would put on the list for certain is Alfonso Soriano. He seems to have high name-value, but is not really anything exceptional.

[Deattribution]

Boxing - Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson - Both fought in the weakest heavyweight division possibly ever, yet Lewis gets called one of the best ever by some... not such a problem for Tyson, but he was obviously overrated.

Basketball - Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant (though Kobe's showing major improvement this year)

Baseball - Anyone on the Yankees.

Football - Brett Favre - great QB but treated like he's untouchable even though his SB win was a decade ago. I know he has longivity thing going on, and he's been great for Green Bay but a guy like Brady (and I am not a Pats fan btw) doesn't get half the due this guy gets and he's won 3.

[Crapshoot]

Historically speaking, Nolan Ryan may be the most overrated player of all time. The guy had the highest % of HOF ballots, yet he isn't one of top 25 pitchers of all time.

[Deattribution]

Oh and if you really want to go back, Joe Namath would probably top the list.

[Logan]

The poll was of (I believe) 407 anonymous major leaguers. Jeter got 9% of the vote, and was therefore the highest vote-getter. So 91% of the league doesn't think he's overrated. Which makes the poll completely pointless.

And yes, I took all of that analysis straight from PTI.

[Ramzavail]

I don't understand the Jeter argument, pure winner, pure leader, future Hall of Famer, intangibles through the roof, I don't get it, and I'm a Met fan.

[bbor]

Sid Finch

[Mustang]

Michelle Wie

[Huckleberry]

Originally Posted by Ramzavail

I don't understand the Jeter argument, pure winner, pure leader, future Hall of Famer, intangibles through the roof, I don't get it, and I'm a Met fan.

That could be one of the best posts ever. Deliciously ironic.

Here's the thing: all that pablum you just posted is exactly why Jeter is overrated.

[AgustusM]

Terrell Owens - has destroyed two franchises - no matter how good he plays on the field, his other nonsense makes him a player I would NEVER want on my team

[Franklinnoble]

Historically:

* Emmitt Smith: Ran behind a mammoth offensive line on a decade's worth of great teams, and just managed not to have his career cut short by injury. Tough player, and made the most of what he had, but he was not nearly as talented as the likes of Jim Brown, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders, etc.

* Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa: Steriods.

* Steve Young: Actually only had one year where he was any good in the playoffs. The rest of his career, he was a terrible clutch QB, and basically coasted on the fumes of the Walsh-Montana dynasty.

* Phil Jackson: Only wants to coach when he's got the best talent in the NBA at his disposal. I'd like to see him take the Atlanta Hawks and make a winner out of them.

* Deion Sanders: Blazing speed for a few years and the ability to take free agency to the best teams in the early-to-mid 90's (Dallas, SF) made him look better than he really was. Couldn't make a tackle to save his life. Wasn't so much a shut-down-CB as he was a CB who took advantage of weak QB's in the divisions he played in at the time.

[TroyF]

Originally Posted by Deattribution

Boxing - Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson - Both fought in the weakest heavyweight division possibly ever, yet Lewis gets called one of the best ever by some... not such a problem for Tyson, but he was obviously overrated.

Basketball - Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant (though Kobe's showing major improvement this year)

Baseball - Anyone on the Yankees.

Football - Brett Favre - great QB but treated like he's untouchable even though his SB win was a decade ago. I know he has longivity thing going on, and he's been great for Green Bay but a guy like Brady (and I am not a Pats fan btw) doesn't get half the due this guy gets and he's won 3.

As the resident melo supporter on the board, I think it's pretty tough to put him in there. If anything, he's still underrated IMHO. While people speak of the teams Kobe and James have, rarely do people mention how horrific the Nuggets are around Anthony. The guy is double and tripled every night and played at an incredibly high level for much of the season. He's also the leader of a team that went to the playoffs three straight years. (yes, they lost 4-1 each time, but they went over a decade without a single playoff appearence before that)

I think Kobe is ridiculously harsh, even before this season.

And to top it off, I can't stand the Yankees, but I find it tough to believe guys like Mariano Rivera, Alex Rodriguez, or even Derek Jeter are overrated. Jeter is now approaching 2,000 hits at the age of 31. He's played in 23 post season series and hit .307. Playing in NY has granted him a ton of hype others don't get, but he's putting in one hell of a career. It's likely the guy will end up with close to 3,000 hits and score 1,500+ times in his career.

[Vince]

Originally Posted by AgustusM

Terrell Owens - has destroyed two franchises - no matter how good he plays on the field, his other nonsense makes him a player I would NEVER want on my team

You might almost make the case that Owens is underrated, if only for the exact reasons Jeter is overrated. Owens produces like crazy, yet because of his off-the-field issues, everyone hates him. That doesn't make him any worse a PLAYER, however.

[DaddyTorgo]

so 2/3 of those are yankees?

HMMMMMMM

[DaddyTorgo]

dola

but seriously, 3/3 of them play in NYC. The NYC media is obviously guilty of overhyping these guys to the moon and that's why.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry

That could be one of the best posts ever. Deliciously ironic.

Here's the thing: all that pablum you just posted is exactly why Jeter is overrated.

If that's overrated, I'll take his .315 career average, good enough defense, and how he makes all the big plays when he needs to, and stick him on my Mets team with any of his similarly overrated friends (EDIT: except A-Rod. I hate that pansy).

[MikeVick7]

Wow...20 posts and no mention of me yet? I've had entire threads devoted to me. C'mon...get with it!

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...vick+overrated
http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...vick+overrated

[bosshogg23]

ESPN Page 2 All Time Overrated List

Not the list that started the thread but many of these names have already come up here.

[Katon]

I think that Huckleberry's point is that while he is a future HoF member, and he's earned his way there, the phrases 'pure leader', 'pure winner', and 'intangibles through the roof' are about 90% meaningless in the context of actually winning baseball games. So while he is a future Hall of Famer, and over the course of his career he'd've been an upgrade at short for just about any team that didn't have A-Rod (oops), a lot of the stuff that gets written about him is just completely ridiculous.

But even if he is overrated, it's still hard to call someone that good one of the three most overrated players in sports.

[JS19]

Originally Posted by MikeVick7

Wow...20 posts and no mention of me yet? I've had entire threads devoted to me. C'mon...get with it!

http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...vick+overrated
http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/...vick+overrated

Wow. I even started the discussion and completely forgot about Vick. He has been my most overrated player for a few years now.

Thanks for pointing that out Logan, I didn't watch the whole thing, only caught the Jeter was #1 part. Although I don't consider Jeter overrated one bit, and I too am a Met fan, I think the people that do don't understand all that he brings to the Yankees. They look at his numbers, and although he puts up very good ones, he doesn't fit the mold of a superstar, hitting 50 HRs, 140 RBI, etc.

[DeToxRox]

Michael Vick; obviously.

David Carr; Maybe a reach but he always gets the benefit of the doubt. Good players still make plays on bad teams, name plays he's made?

Steve McNair

Rasheed Wallace (And I'm a Piston fan but he's overrated)

Ben Roethlisberger (if people can call Brady overrated, then Big Ben is 10x more overrated then Brady)

A lot of them are QB's, as it proves the theory too much credit for winning, too much blame for losing (minus Carrs case)

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by Franklinnoble

Historically:

* Steve Young: Actually only had one year where he was any good in the playoffs. The rest of his career, he was a terrible clutch QB, and basically coasted on the fumes of the Walsh-Montana dynasty.

You actually believe this?

Fuck, this has to be one long ass year of "being good"

1996
In an injury-shortened season young had the NFL's highest completion percentage (67.7) as well as QB rating (97.2)

1995
Missed five games due to injury to his left shoulder ... Still managed to throw for over 3,000 yards, the fourth consecutive year he accomplished that feat ... Posted his seventh straight season with a quarterback rating of over 92.

1994
NFL Player of the Year ... Set a league record with his 112.8 quarterback rating ... Fourth straight year he has led the league in QB rating, extending his own NFL record ... MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, where he set a game-record with six touchdown passes ... Completed over 70 percent of his passes to set a single season team record.

1993
Led NFL with 29 touchdowns and a 101.5 QB rating ... Became first 49er quarterback to pass over 4,000 yards ... Threw 183 consecutive passes without an interception, also setting a team record.

1992
NFL MVP ... Led NFL in touchdown passes (25), QB rating (107.0) and completion percentage (66.7) ... Became first player in NFL history to lead league with a QB rating over 100 two consecutive years.

1991
Missed five games with a injury to his medial collateral ligament in his left knee ... Still lead league in QB rating with 101.8 ... Threw longest touchdown pass of his career, a 97-yard strike to John Taylor.

Career Highlights


517 Pass Attempts in 1998

322 Pass Completions in 1998

4170 Passing Yards in 1998

36 TD Passes in 1998

76 Rushing Attempts in 1992

537 Rushing Yards in 1992

7 TD Rushes in 1994

24 Completions for 325 Yards and 6 TDs in 1994 Super Bowl against San Diego

33,124 Career Passing Yards

232 Career TD Passes

4239 Career Rushing Yards

43 Career Rushing TDs

2nd in Passing Yards in 1992, 1993, and 1998

1st in TD Passes in 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1998

[jamesUMD]

Michael Vick
Lavar Arrington
Champ Bailey

[Deattribution]

Originally Posted by TroyF

As the resident melo supporter on the board, I think it's pretty tough to put him in there. If anything, he's still underrated IMHO. While people speak of the teams Kobe and James have, rarely do people mention how horrific the Nuggets are around Anthony. The guy is double and tripled every night and played at an incredibly high level for much of the season. He's also the leader of a team that went to the playoffs three straight years. (yes, they lost 4-1 each time, but they went over a decade without a single playoff appearence before that)

I think Kobe is ridiculously harsh, even before this season.

And to top it off, I can't stand the Yankees, but I find it tough to believe guys like Mariano Rivera, Alex Rodriguez, or even Derek Jeter are overrated. Jeter is now approaching 2,000 hits at the age of 31. He's played in 23 post season series and hit .307. Playing in NY has granted him a ton of hype others don't get, but he's putting in one hell of a career. It's likely the guy will end up with close to 3,000 hits and score 1,500+ times in his career.

Never said they were bad players, just overrated. For years the Yankees have been touted as the evil unbeatable money empire, and they have lost for what? 6 years now?

As for Anthony and Kobe, Obviously Kobe is the better player - and he is a great player but he's finally just starting to learn to play more of a team game and it is paying off. Melo seems to have a bit of maturing to do himself, he and Lebron were suppose to be toe to toe at this point, and James is several years ahead of him.

[Ramzavail]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry

That could be one of the best posts ever. Deliciously ironic.

Here's the thing: all that pablum you just posted is exactly why Jeter is overrated.

I don't understand what I said that was overrated, all of it was true.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by JS19

Thanks for pointing that out Logan, I didn't watch the whole thing, only caught the Jeter was #1 part. Although I don't consider Jeter overrated one bit, and I too am a Met fan, I think the people that do don't understand all that he brings to the Yankees. They look at his numbers, and although he puts up very good ones, he doesn't fit the mold of a superstar, hitting 50 HRs, 140 RBI, etc.

I think the best compliment a player can ever receive is when a fan of one of their rivals says "he can play on my team anyday." I haaaate the Yankees...but I have the greatest respect for Jeter and the game he brings everyday.

My only problem with him is that he gets way too much credit for that play last season when he caught the ball in foul territory and ended up running into the crowd. David Wright's similar play was so much better .

[MacroGuru]

Honestly, Franklin's Steve Young comment has me stunned still....let me drink some....I will be back to post more.....

[Ramzavail]

Originally Posted by Katon

I think that Huckleberry's point is that while he is a future HoF member, and he's earned his way there, the phrases 'pure leader', 'pure winner', and 'intangibles through the roof' are about 90% meaningless in the context of actually winning baseball games. So while he is a future Hall of Famer, and over the course of his career he'd've been an upgrade at short for just about any team that didn't have A-Rod (oops), a lot of the stuff that gets written about him is just completely ridiculous.

But even if he is overrated, it's still hard to call someone that good one of the three most overrated players in sports.

Without Jeter and Rivera, the Yankees don't have their dynasty.

I don't see how they are meaningless, how many games did the Yankees win in the 90s? Jeter was their best on the field player.

[Deattribution]

Also I think there can be a bit of confusion over 'overrated' and over-hyped. Some players can still be really great but over-hyped.

[Franklinnoble]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

You actually believe this?

Fuck, this has to be one long ass year of "being good"

1996
In an injury-shortened season young had the NFL's highest completion percentage (67.7) as well as QB rating (97.2)

1995
Missed five games due to injury to his left shoulder ... Still managed to throw for over 3,000 yards, the fourth consecutive year he accomplished that feat ... Posted his seventh straight season with a quarterback rating of over 92.

1994
NFL Player of the Year ... Set a league record with his 112.8 quarterback rating ... Fourth straight year he has led the league in QB rating, extending his own NFL record ... MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, where he set a game-record with six touchdown passes ... Completed over 70 percent of his passes to set a single season team record.

1993
Led NFL with 29 touchdowns and a 101.5 QB rating ... Became first 49er quarterback to pass over 4,000 yards ... Threw 183 consecutive passes without an interception, also setting a team record.

1992
NFL MVP ... Led NFL in touchdown passes (25), QB rating (107.0) and completion percentage (66.7) ... Became first player in NFL history to lead league with a QB rating over 100 two consecutive years.

1991
Missed five games with a injury to his medial collateral ligament in his left knee ... Still lead league in QB rating with 101.8 ... Threw longest touchdown pass of his career, a 97-yard strike to John Taylor.

Career Highlights


517 Pass Attempts in 1998

322 Pass Completions in 1998

4170 Passing Yards in 1998

36 TD Passes in 1998

76 Rushing Attempts in 1992

537 Rushing Yards in 1992

7 TD Rushes in 1994

24 Completions for 325 Yards and 6 TDs in 1994 Super Bowl against San Diego

33,124 Career Passing Yards

232 Career TD Passes

4239 Career Rushing Yards

43 Career Rushing TDs

2nd in Passing Yards in 1992, 1993, and 1998

1st in TD Passes in 1992, 1993, 1994, and 1998

Yeah, pretty much... '94 was the one year he turned in a good postseason. Otherwise, he got a high QB rating thanks to the system he was in and the talent that was around him. But he was crap in the playoffs every other season.

[Ramzavail]

Originally Posted by Logan

I think the best compliment a player can ever receive is when a fan of one of their rivals says "he can play on my team anyday." I haaaate the Yankees...but I have the greatest respect for Jeter and the game he brings everyday.

My only problem with him is that he gets way too much credit for that play last season when he caught the ball in foul territory and ended up running into the crowd. David Wright's similar play was so much better .

Wright's was more skillful, Jeter's was gritty and had determination and it was in 2004. I played shortstop in college and now in my elder years with local softball, that is the greatest play I've seen in a long time by an infielder and its not b/c of its skill, its b/c of his disregard of injury and his balls and his desire to do what it took to beat the Red Sox that night.

[Deattribution]

Originally Posted by Ramzavail

Wright's was more skillful, Jeter's was gritty and had determination and it was in 2004. I played shortstop in college and now in my elder years with local softball, that is the greatest play I've seen in a long time by an infielder and its not b/c of its skill, its b/c of his disregard of injury and his balls and his desire to do what it took to beat the Red Sox that night.

Ugh - it was nowhere near the greatest anything. If Jeter looked like a foot instead of a pretty boy, the media wouldn't have gave a wang about it.

edit to fix the the wasn't into was since typos are hard to comprehend

[Ramzavail]

Originally Posted by Deattribution

Ugh - it wasn't nowhere near the greatest anything. If Jeter looked like a foot instead of a pretty boy, the media wouldn't have gave a wang about it.

what? is this a jbmagic post?

[Raiders Army]

Dean Houston hands down.

[Deattribution]

Originally Posted by Ramzavail

what? is this a jbmagic post?

It is quite possibly on your part if you have difficulty understanding english.

[TheOhioStateUniversity]

Franklinnoble, the whole they had talent around them so that takes away from their individual accomplishments is BS....I disagree with every player you claim is overrated except for the steroid guys.

[Franklinnoble]

Whatever. I can think of a dozen running backs I'd rather have on my team than Emmitt Smith, easy. Ditto for QB's and Steve Young.

[mckerney]

Oh yes, Ted Ginn definitely deserves mention.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Ramzavail

Wright's was more skillful, Jeter's was gritty and had determination and it was in 2004. I played shortstop in college and now in my elder years with local softball, that is the greatest play I've seen in a long time by an infielder and its not b/c of its skill, its b/c of his disregard of injury and his balls and his desire to do what it took to beat the Red Sox that night.

I'm not talking about Wright's ridiculous bare-handed catch, which is what I think you're talking about. I was referencing Wright's diving catch into the stands at a full sprint. Jeter caught the ball in foul territory, and his momentum took him into the stands. Wright was in a dead sprint and dove into the crowd to make the catch.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by Logan

So 91% of the league doesn't think he's overrated.

Or 91% of the league doesn't think he's the most overrated.

[Katon]

Originally Posted by Ramzavail

Without Jeter and Rivera, the Yankees don't have their dynasty.

I don't see how they are meaningless, how many games did the Yankees win in the 90s? Jeter was their best on the field player.

Let me rephrase. Being a pure leader and a pure winner with brilliant intangibles is a lot of noise and very little substance. Being a shortstop who hits 20 home runs a year with a .400ish OBP is extremely useful. One of the major reasons those Yankees won so many games was that they got a scary amount of offence out of normally defensive positions like SS, C, and CF (and actually, depending on the year, I might take Bernie over Jeter for best everyday player). Jeter absolutely deserves credit for that. It's just that in addition to his actual play he also gets credit for a lot of stuff which is completely irrelevant.

[JS19]

I think some guidelines need to be set to be considered overrated. As it was already pointed out, there is a huge difference between getting too much hype and being overrated. Also, how much is being a clutch performer play in this discussion? I think A-Rod will go down as one of the greatest players off all time, but til now he hasn't been very clutch. Does this make him overrated since he puts up the numbers, just can't pull through, as of now, when it counts? Another would be the talent surronding the player. I will use Leinart as an example. He had the greatest talent all around him at USC, so some could argue thats why he did what he did, but none the less, he put up amazing numbers and won championships. IMHO, you can't claim a player who falls in that catgory as overrated bc although he they may have a plethora of talent around them, they still did what they had to do.

On another note, my best friend (yankee fan) and I still argue to this day about which play was better, Jeter or Wright.

[Groundhog]

I don't think it's very fair to call Carmello over-rated. The boy is ice-cold in the clutch. Much like Lebron James, he just needs a better team around him.

[MikeVick7]

Originally Posted by JS19

Wow. I even started the discussion and completely forgot about Vick. He has been my most overrated player for a few years now.

Thanks for pointing that out Logan, I didn't watch the whole thing, only caught the Jeter was #1 part. Although I don't consider Jeter overrated one bit, and I too am a Met fan, I think the people that do don't understand all that he brings to the Yankees. They look at his numbers, and although he puts up very good ones, he doesn't fit the mold of a superstar, hitting 50 HRs, 140 RBI, etc.

The order has been restored.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Deattribution

Also I think there can be a bit of confusion over 'overrated' and over-hyped. Some players can still be really great but over-hyped.

There's technically a difference, but I think its a meaningless distinction in the context of a conversation like this one. Media hype is based, it some extent, on player talent. That's all anyone in this thread can base their opinion on - the ratio of how good they think a player is, to how much we hear about that player in the media, and then compare that ratio to other players. If that's the definition of "over-hyped" rather than "over-rated", what's "over-rated" exactly? When scouts think a player is better than he is?

And Jeter's way overrated, using that analysis. I'm so sick of hearing about that one play falling into the stands. It was basically a mistake - if he had more physical self-control, he wouldn't have ended up in the stands. And I'm sure he's a "pure winner" and all that crap - but hustling, etc, will get reflected in his batting average, OPS, etc., I've never heard anyone actually articulate how Jeter is more valuable than his stats would indicate, without using meaningless buzz words.

[st.cronin]

Steve Nash