By now, you've undoubtedly heard that Keyshawn Johnson has retired from football. Strangely, every account of said retirement seems to include some gushing praise about how he was one of the best receivers in football. This would all be well and good... if it were even remotely accurate.
When we were in England last fall, the wife and I went out to breakfast
at this little place near the house. We asked the waitress what she
would recommend and she immediately replied with "The Traditional
Breakfast. It's the best in all of Warwick!"
Either she was
lying, or the word "best" means something totally different. (Kind of
like how "bad" meant "good" in the 80s.) The meal was--honest to
goodness, no hyperbole--the worst we had during our entire honeymoon.
In fact, as I write this, I can picture the eggs attempting to sail
away on a river of grease and pork-and-bean sauce. Eww.
I was reminded of this meal today when I heard that Keyshawn Johnson chose to retire
rather than succumb to the wiles of Jeff Fisher's mustache. Johnson
always held himself out as one of the best receivers in all of
football, but there was little evidence to support him.
Consider: Key had one season with more than 90 catches. He had 10 catches of over 40 yards in his
entire career.
He had one season where he reached double digits in TDs. He did have
552 catches for a first down, however. This makes sense; Keyshawn was
nothing more than a possession receiver with a gift for self-promotion.
Consider further:
Rod Smith,
who came into the league the year before Keyshawn and is a similar
receiver in terms of size/speed/strength, has two seasons of 90+
catches, two seasons of double-digit TDs, 21 catches of 40+ yards, and
570 grabs for a first down. He also bests Johnson in 1000 yard seasons,
putting up eight to Johnson's four. Even if you grant that Smith might
have played in a better system,1 it is hard to argue that he was not a better WR over the last decade than Keyshawn. (Another similar receiver, Hines Ward
has three 90+ catch seasons, three double-digit TD seasons, 15 catches
over 40 yards and 407 first downs. He also caught a 5 balls for 123
yards and a TD in the Super Bowl and was Super Bowl MVP, as opposed to
just having 6 catches for 60 yards and no TDs.)
Which is not to
say that Keyshawn was not at what he did; in fact, as possession
receivers go, he was one of the best for a number of years. However,
methinks that the Jets were not drafting a possession receiver with the
first overall pick in 1996.2 Keyshawn knew this and tried to
promote himself as more than he was in order to--I suppose--avoid being
looked at as a less-than-stellar draft choice.
Somehow, he managed to convince a number of the mainstream media of this alleged greatness.
Keyshawn
Johnson retired Wednesday, ending an NFL career in which the outspoken
receiver was once one of the game's biggest threats.
Oh,
yeah? Point me to one season where you would rather have had Johnson
than Rod Smith (to say nothing of the true great receivers like Terrell Owens, Marvin Harrison, Randy Moss, Torry Holt, etc.) Heck, since 2002, show me a time when he was the biggest threat on his team. Go ahead... I'll wait.
Give up?
It
can't be done. Keyshawn knows this, too. As I listened to him today on
the Afternoon Blitz on Sirius, he made sure to mention--ad
nauseum--that he wasn't about "numbers."3 Instead, he could
hang his hat on what he'd done--like being a Pro Bowler, winning a
Super Bowl, etc. That is apparently his new approach; he will talk
about all the "team" accomplishments he earned while trying to deride
guys whose numbers are better. That will make for some real "tell it
like it is" journalism, I'm sure.
How does this relate to the Texans? Well, while it never got legs like the Titans' pursuit did, there was some conversation
about whether Houston should sign the egotist. Thankfully, common sense
prevailed. (Did you ever think the Texans would be a more sensible
organization than the Titans? Me neither.)
Anyway, that's the
story with Keyshawn. If he was half as good as he thinks he was, he'd
be ten times better than he really was. That's, like, algebra or something.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to go watch the greatest movie in the history of cinema.
UPDATE:
Today, a friend and I were discussing Keyshawn as he relates to his
contemporaries and we came up with at least 16 WRs who were better
(some arguably, most clearly) than Keyshawn. The only rule was that
their career had to overlap Keyshawn's by at least a couple seasons.
So, along with the relevant guys listed throughout this post, you have Herman Moore, Chad Johnson, Larry Fitzgerald, Andre Johnson, Henry Ellard, Tim Brown, Steve
Smith, and Sterling Sharpe
(we bent the rules slightly for him). Even if you disagree with one or
two, it's hard to make a case that Keyshawn was even one of the top 10 WRs
of his own generation.
1 I say "might have" because, aside from two years as the go-to receiver in
John Elway's offense (in which he was at best option B1 behind Terrell Davis), Smith played with such luminaries as Brian
Greise, Chris Miller, Bubby Brister, Gus Frerotte, Jarious Jackson,
Steve Beuerlein, Danny Kanell, Jake Plummer, Bradlee VanPelt, and Jay Cutler.
Johnson played with Glenn
Foley, Frank Reich, Neil O'Donnell, Vinny Testaverde, Ray Lucas, Rick
Mirer, Shaun King, Brad Johnson, Rob Johnson, Drew Bledsoe, Jake
Delhomme, and Chris Weinke.
That is, at worst, a wash. You might even give a slight edge to
Johnson, seeing as how he has five QBs with Super Bowl experience in
his list.
2 Then again, it
is the Jets.
3 Which, if true, makes one wonder how he ever got the name MEshawn.
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