You've been a Cardinals fan for a long time if you remember this guy

[Ed Burmila]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpa7V7VnLrU

1986 2nd round pick John Lee (K, UCLA), possibly the greatest Cardinals draft bust of the St. Louis Cardinals era. When he signed he was the highest-paid rookie K in NFL history (pre-free agency, that means he made like $100,000/yr).

My dad and I attended one of his first preseason games, which was in Chicago. We were both very excited to see this new kicking machine in action. His opening kickoff made it to about the 20. It looked like he was kicking a marshmallow. I was only seven years old and even then I was like, "Dad what is wrong with that guy."

I think he lasted five or six games. Deadspin named him one of the worst 100 NFL players of all time, with a lovely Gene Stallings quote: ""You're going to miss field goals, I understand that. But my gosh, his leg."

http://deadspin.com/5690535/the-bottom-100-the-worst-players-in-nfl-history-part-1

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

Please don't bring that up... The glory days of Ice Cream Bill.

 

[Buckybird]

Remember him very well. Question is was he worse than Steve Little? I don't think so, plus the ex Hog was a 1st rounder. 10 missed XP's in his short career? Wow

 

[football karma]

Of the bottom 50 at the link, 8 of them played at one time for the Cards.

Random distribution would suggest 2, maybe 3.

Oh the franchise I follow.

 

[NJCardFan]

The problem with Lee was that he put up numbers in college because they used to kick from a tee like this:

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So his numbers were somewhat inflated in the same way a college baseball player's numbers are inflated thanks to aluminum bats. As for Little, he was so bad that he was replaced by Neil O'Donahue. Talk about bad Cardinal kickers.

 

[Cardsfanstl]

I was overseas in the Air Force during this time so I missed the John Lee experiment but read all about it. Was around for Steve Little. Tragic what happened to him after the Cardinals released him.

 

[Brak]

Ha ha, I wasn't even a Cards fan then (a long ways from living in Arizona) but I remember Lee well. The tee was indeed a huge factor back then, at least for some - losing it when going to the NFL was no trivial matter.

On a barely-semi-related note, my old man was a ball boy at Stanford in the '20s. Learned how to punt from Cardinals Ring of Honor great Ernie Nevers. Ernie was left-footed, and my old man was too - because that's how Ernie taught him. Probably could have kicked the pants off John Lee.

 

[Ed Burmila]

Lee was replaced by Eric Schubert, who went 3-for-11 on FG in his tenure on the Cards.

3 for 11.

 

[football karma]

Lee was replaced by Eric Schubert, who went 3-for-11 on FG in his tenure on the Cards.

3 for 11.

In the early days, Jim Bakken aside, the Card kicker history was horrific.

John Lee and steve Little--both high draft picks that didn't do squat ( for different reasons). Neil O'Donahugh -- missed three fgs inside 40 yds in a Monday night time with the Giants.

 

[TruColor]

In the early days, Jim Bakken aside, the Card kicker history was horrific.

John Lee and steve Little--both high draft picks that didn't do squat ( for different reasons). Neil O'Donahugh -- missed three fgs inside 40 yds in a Monday night time with the Giants.

That Giants MNF game was the 20-20 tie, right?

Still possibly the worst NFL game I've ever seen.

Jim Bakken is still one of my favorite Cards of all time. Great athlete for a kicker too...was the emergency QB, played DB at Wisconsin, and was the point guard for the Cardinals' off-season basketball team as well.

 

[phillycard]

This post made me think of Tom Tupa for some reason. Agh!, we were horrible back then.

 

[PJ1]

Unfortunately I remember him well.

 

[NJCardFan]

That Giants MNF game was the 20-20 tie, right?

Still possibly the worst NFL game I've ever seen.

Jim Bakken is still one of my favorite Cards of all time. Great athlete for a kicker too...was the emergency QB, played DB at Wisconsin, and was the point guard for the Cardinals' off-season basketball team as well.

I got that beat, the 6-3 loss to the Jets aside. And this one bad loss I saw live. Cards @ Eagles. 12/7/86 Cards 10 Eagles 10. The most exciting plays were Stump Mitchell on a 44 yard run and Lomax Hitting Green on a 48 yard bomb. The rest of the game was a complete stinker especially in OT with the aforementioned Schubert and the Eagles McFadden not being able to hit chip shot FG's.

As for Cardinal kicking woes, between Bakken and Rackers, we had a real cast of characters but those mid 80's years were the worst. It was so bad I remember watching a Card game on TV where the announcers were saying that the Cards were practicing running extra points in instead of kicking them.

 

[Seandonic]

I remember him well too. He was awful but you can't blame him so much as the guys who wasted a 2nd round pick on him. Shame on those old Cardinals decision makers. They were pathetic!

As bad as he was, he is still not in the top five of bad draft picks by those St. Louis Cards. You're right though Ed...he was a horrible pick! Knew it then and really know it now.

 

[BigRedArk]

Remember him very well. Question is was he worse than Steve Little? I don't think so, plus the ex Hog was a 1st rounder. 10 missed XP's in his short career? Wow

Disagree. Lee was worse than Steve Little. That isn't saying a whole lot though. Considering the fact that they were both drafted so high in their respective years.

The rationale for drafting Little was good in that they saved a roster space with him being both the punter and placekicker. They just drafted him too high. Maybe if they would have waited and drafted him later that pressure of being a P/K in the 1st round might have made a difference? Who knows?

I agree that missing 10 extra points by Little was dismal!

However in 1979 he completed 2 of 3 passes for 31 yards (one for 16 yards). I vaguely recall something about him being a QB in HS. I remember that game against the Oilers (at Houston) in '79 when he completed that 16 yrd. pass on 4th down that kept the drive going. It was a clutch play. The Cards went on to beat Houston that game 24-17. The Oilers ended up 11-5 that year so they were no pushover.

That alone exceeds anything John Lee ever did!

 

[football karma]

I got that beat, the 6-3 loss to the Jets aside. And this one bad loss I saw live. Cards @ Eagles. 12/7/86 Cards 10 Eagles 10. The most exciting plays were Stump Mitchell on a 44 yard run and Lomax Hitting Green on a 48 yard bomb. The rest of the game was a complete stinker especially in OT with the aforementioned Schubert and the Eagles McFadden not being able to hit chip shot FG's.
.

I think the 2002 9-6 win over the Quincy Carter led Cowboys might have been the worst.

carter threw 4 ints, yet the Cards only could manage two 1st half fgs. The game only went into OT because the Cowboys missed a XP after a gift 90 yd TD pass in the second half.

Both teams missed makable FGs in the final 30 secs of the game. Ugly, ugly game.

That put the team at 4-2 and playing for first place. They went 1-9 the rest of the way.

 

[Paso Fino]

I don't remember Lee but I do remember Charlie Trippi who at 91 will get a special ring at halftime of the Georgia game. I will never forget watching Trippi at Comiskey Park along with the rest of the Dream Backfield - Pat Harder, Elmer Angsman and Paul Christman.

 

[NJCardFan]

I think the 2002 9-6 win over the Quincy Carter led Cowboys might have been the worst.

carter threw 4 ints, yet the Cards only could manage two 1st half fgs. The game only went into OT because the Cowboys missed a XP after a gift 90 yd TD pass in the second half.

Both teams missed makable FGs in the final 30 secs of the game. Ugly, ugly game.

That put the team at 4-2 and playing for first place. They went 1-9 the rest of the way.

That wasn't the year we went into KC and got smoked 49-0 with Elvis Grbac ran for like 80 yards was it? Or am I getting my games mixed up?

Edit: Nope, different games. I just looked it up. We did indeed get smoked 49-0 @ KC in 2002 but the long run by a less than agile QB was in 1995 and it was Steve Bono who scampered 78 yards for a TD.

 

[Jetstream Green]

I remember him and a lot a things about the Cardinals for which I go see a therapist lol

 

[Cardinal Bob]

That Giants MNF game was the 20-20 tie, right?

Still possibly the worst NFL game I've ever seen.

a bad game for sure...but Cards-Jets from 2 yrs ago (12/2/12) was far worse. It wasn't which team could score, it was which team could even get a 1st down! And from our (Cards) perspective, could Ryan Lindley simply complete a pass....just one!

Brutal.