Alabama Football: Who is Your Least Favorite Player of All Time?
I recently stumbled upon something very interesting while scoping through my Facebook feed. A friend of mine posted a link to this tumblr site run by Sporting News’ Jesse Spector. He proposes a question to readers: who is your least favorite player on your favorite team, all-time or current.
(Addendum: I encourage all of you to flood Spector’s email account with your least favorite Crimson Tide players)
This got me to thinking; who is my least favorite Alabama football player of all time? A few names ran through my head, but I could single out one rather quickly. I’m sure all of you can as well.
If you look over your own history as a fan of the Tide, I’m sure you can pinpoint at least one Alabama player that you just didn’t like. That’s not to say that you wouldn’t cheer on his accomplishments on the field, but overall the player wasn’t your favorite to don the Crimson and White.
As The Valley Shook pointed out a little over a week ago, some LSU fans aren’t particularly fond of The Honey Badger, or his extremely short memory.
Whether it’s a player’s off-the-field antics that caused your dislike, or their frustrating performances on the field, there’s surely a player that came through the Capstone in some era that you couldn’t bring yourself to like, no matter how hard you tried.
So, before I propose the question to you, I’ll go first.
My least favorite Alabama player is former Crimson Tide quarterback John Parker Wilson. JPW was a three-year starter in Tuscaloosa from 2006-08, replacing Brodie Croyle.
I tried my hardest to cheer for Wilson during his time at Alabama, as I did his brilliant play in Bryant-Denny against Tennessee in 2007, and how well he played in Athens against Georgia in 2008. But most of the time, Wilson’s play frustrated me to my inner core for the three seasons he started under center.
I remember his bad more than I remember his good, unfortunately. I remember his three interceptions in the Swamp against Florida in 2006. I remember his ghastly pick-six in 2007 against Mississippi State in Starkville before the half that completely changed the momentum of the game, as the Crimson Tide stumbled to the finish line of the season. I remember his late game fumble against LSU in 2007 where he tried to extend a play that just wasn’t there, setting up LSU’s game winning touchdown.
John Parker Wilson was a part of the revitalization of Crimson Tide football under Nick Saban as he led Alabama to an undefeated regular season in 2008. While some praise Wilson’s game-managing abilities that season, I simply remember how many games the Tide won in spite of him. He completed just 58 percent of his passes with ten touchdowns and eight interceptions during his senior season piloting the Alabama offense. And yes, he did do well managing some games, but when they needed more out of him, he couldn’t deliver. Like the SEC Championship Game against Florida and the Sugar Bowl against Utah.
His career QB Rating at Alabama was 121.2. To put that in perspective, that would have put him around 85th in the nation when compared to quarterbacks during the 2011 season. His QB rating was ranked 50th in the nation in 2006, 93rd in 2007, and 71st in 2008.
It pains me that John Parker Wilson owns so many Alabama passing records. I really hope AJ McCarron stays healthy and breaks those records in the very near future.
Mercifully, John Parker Wilson graduated and gave way to Greg McElroy as he guided Alabama to the National Championship in 2009. McElroy was far from perfect, but he did come through when Alabama needed him most, specifically in the 2009 SEC Championship Game against the same Florida team that defeated Alabama the season before.
So, that’s the end of my rant. Now I ask you the same question. Over your time as an Alabama fan, who was/is your least favorite Crimson Tide player? Let us know who and why in the comments.
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