NFL stardom is fleeting, even for some of the world's best players. A sport based on contact forces its talent to burn bright while it can. Aging, injuries and off-field issues can strike down a player at his peak.
Sometimes, those players are the most interesting.
Let's look into the Pro Bowlers and All-Pros who scraped the face of immortality only to come crashing back to earth after making a name for themselves. Franchises penciled these players in as answers, only to wind up asking the same question a few years, or even months, later. And, in many cases, they're the guys who derailed your otherwise infallible fantasy football roster.
It's the offseason, which is a wonderful time to remember some guys. Let's take a look at The Outliers -- the players who rose to prominence for one or two seasons, then crashed back to earth. And let's start at the position that is gonna show up here so often it may as well have its own theme song; tailback.
The Denver Broncos had won back-to-back Super Bowls before drafting Gary. They were also making the swap from a future Hall of Fame quarterback (John Elway) to second-year passer Brian Griese. What followed was mostly underwhelming.