Happy Father's Day weekend everybody; a great time to look back at all your father has done for you. And, in honor of this weekend, we have a few special things planned, but to get things kicked off, we will take a look at six offspring who never lived up to the lofty expectations of their NFL fathers.
And why, you may ask, am I starting with a negative look? Well, I have a lot of experience in this department. My own father was a World War II veteran. And I just did a comparison of NFL players to the Justice League. So trust me, I know what it's like to disappoint my dad.
Honorable mention: Cooper Manning. But Cooper is the personification of how you should act if your two siblings are more famous and successful than you. In other words, you should pay attention to how he behaves, Khloe Kardashian.
Kellen Winslow II. After a tough two years, he's really starting to turn it around. He's only 27 and playing with Josh Freeman, so he has a chance to be put on the most successful sons list.
Anthony Dorsett. The younger Dorsett had a pretty good career. He would be the pride and joy of nearly any family. Except of course, if your dad was a Hall of Famer and had the longest run from scrimmage in NFL history.
And without further ado …
6. Bobby Carpenter
Bobby Carpenter is the son of former Oilers, Giants and Rams running back Rob Carpenter and was a first-round pick of the Cowboys in 2006. Carpenter not only had the pressure of being the son of an NFL player and a first-round pick, the team also let him wear Randy White's No. 54. Needless to say, he never lived up.
5. Ryan Nece
Standards are high when you are the son of arguably the best defensive back in NFL history. The first disappointment was Nece choosing to go to his old man's rival, UCLA, and even though he had a nice college career, Nece went undrafted. Despite injuries, Nece had a good career as a special teams player. Again, nothing to be ashamed of, unless your dad was Ronnie Lott.
4. Chris Simms
Simms has endured a somewhat disappointing career arc since being selected as USA Today's national offensive player of the year. He committed to Tennessee, but went to Texas. He's bounced around a number of spots in the NFL and then ended up on the police blotter. He would rank higher on this list, but I don't want his dad Phil Simms to challenge me to a fight.
3. Grant Hill
Grant Hill has had many successes on the hardwood, winning national championships at Duke and enjoying a long NBA career. But at the end of the day, you have to figure that his dad, Calvin Hill, still teases him for taking the easy way out and pursuing a career in basketball instead of going into football.
2. David Shula
Give Shula credit for disappointing his father in a number of realms as an NFL quarterback and head coach. Shula was last seen in the NFL as coach of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1996, but has been working as an executive with Shula Steakhouses. Hopefully that works out because the next job his dad can get him is at Hooters.
1. Todd Marinovich
Marv Marinovich did not have much of an NFL career, but he was determined to make sure that his son would. Marv put a football in his son's crib, started working his son's hamstrings in his first months, and refused to let his kid eat Big Macs or birthday cake. Yeah, it is hard to believe that this didn't work out.
