Thirty years ago this month, the Green Bay Packers made the worst draft decision in franchise history.
Rich Campbell out of California was taken by the Packers in the first round with the No. 6 overall pick and was considered the teams quarterback of the future.
It was bad enough Campbell proved he wasnt an NFL-caliber quarterback during the four fruitless years in which he mostly languished on the end of the Packers bench. Campbell appeared in seven career games and finished with abysmal numbers: three touchdown passes, nine interceptions, a 45.6 completion percentage and 38.8 passer rating.
The worst part was the Packers could have selected future Hall of Fame defensive back Ronnie Lott, who was taken two picks later by the San Francisco 49ers.
With Lott patrolling the secondary and making plays, the Packers would have been a consistent playoff qualifier in the early 1980s rather than a perennial 8-8 team.
Its ironic that the greatest draft choice in Packers history, Bart Starr, made the decision to select Campbell. Starr, who transformed himself from an unsung 17th-round draft pick to a Hall of Fame quarterback, couldnt work the same magic with Campbell.
The decision was even more baffling because the Packers didnt need a quarterback. Lynn Dickey was in the prime of his career and produced five solid seasons after Campbell was drafted. What the Packers sorely needed was help on defense.
Starr later admitted he was concerned with a flaw in Campbells throwing motion before the draft, and there were some strong voices in the Packers draft room lobbying for Lott. In the end, Starr made the wrong choice, and it eventually cost him his job as head coach.
The Campbell selection highlights both the allure and curse of the draft. There are no guarantees, even at the top of the first round, and every decision has the potential to either elevate or haunt a team for years to come.
Campbell ranks No. 1 on the list of all-time Packers draft busts, but there are other strong candidates to fill out the top five:
2. Tony Mandarich
In April 1989 he was hailed as The Incredible Bulk on the cover of Sports Illustrated with the subhead: The Best Offensive Line Prospect Ever. Three years later the same magazine put him on the cover again with this proclamation: The NFLs Incredible Bust.
Without steroids to prop him up in the NFL, Mandarich was a shell of his former college self and the Packers suffered the consequences. In picking Mandarich No. 2 overall as an offensive tackle, the Packers passed up the chance to select Barry Sanders, who was drafted No. 3 and became one of the best running backs in NFL history.
Imagine teaming Sanders with Brett Favre in the 1990s. There would have been no stopping the Packers offense, and Favre might have been the owner of more than one Super Bowl championship ring.
Instead, the Packers got stuck with a stiff who lasted just three dreadful seasons in Green Bay. At least Favre can be thankful Mandarich never had the chance to block for him.
3. Jerry Tagge
This one is especially painful because Tagge, a local boy, couldnt make good in the NFL. Tagge was a football star at Green Bay West and the University of Nebraska. But Dan Devine, the Packers general manager and coach at the time, was desperate for a quarterback and reached for Tagge with the No. 11 overall pick in 1972.
In three forgettable seasons, Tagge appeared in 18 games and threw just three touchdown passes and 17 interceptions. His career passer rating (44.2) and completion percentage (48.4) were only slightly better than Campbells.
In Tagges defense, any quarterback likely was destined for failure playing for Devine, who himself was a colossal bust as an NFL coach and general manager. In his unsuccessful search for a quarterback, Devine managed to squander three first-round picks, four second-rounders and two third-rounders to acquire the likes of John Hadl, Jim Del Gaizo, Tagge and an aging Zeke Bratkowski.
4. Jamal Reynolds
The Packers were expecting big things from Reynolds, the No. 10 overall pick in 2001 who was supposed to become an explosive pass rusher. What they got instead was an undersized, underachieving defensive end that made no impact in three listless seasons.
Reynolds never started a game for the Packers. He looked small during his first minicamp appearance in Green Bay during the spring of 2001 and proceeded to play that way.
It was General Manager Ron Wolfs final draft before his retirement, and Reynolds made it a forgettable farewell. There has been speculation Wolf bowed to coach Mike Shermans wishes to select Reynolds.
One mistake usually leads to another, and Reynolds failure with the Packers compelled Sherman, as general manager, to sign unrestricted free agent defensive end Joe Johnson in 2002. As it turned out, Johnson was as big a bust as Reynolds.
5. Randy Duncan
Its been 52 years since the Packers owned the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, which followed their 1-10-1 record in 1958. Their selection of quarterback Randy Duncan proved to be a complete washout when the Big Ten MVP out of Iowa and consensus all-American opted to play for the British Columbia Lions in the Canadian Football League.
Duncan later was quoted as saying: That was Green Bay before Vince Lombardi, and Canada offered a lot more dough.
Lombardi was hired two months after Duncan was drafted, so the Iowa quarterback had the chance to be part of a legendary NFL dynasty.
However, its doubtful Duncan could have won the starting quarterback job with the Packers, who already had the unproven Starr and the veteran Lamar McHan splitting time. Duncan played two years in Canada and returned to the NFL to play one season with the Dallas Texans, where he started just two games and completed 37 percent of his passes before retiring.
The Packers lost another first-round pick to the CFL in 1980, when No. 4 overall selection Bruce Clark, a defensive tackle, chose to play for the Toronto Argonauts. But at least the Packers received a first-round draft choice from New Orleans as compensation (No. 11 overall) when Clark returned to the NFL two years later.
"Mike Vandermause" wrote: