Other Crap

SI's Cousineau-free take on the top draft busts of the modern era.

• This "bad choice" selection used a different criterion from the one below. It is based on the players' performance, not on whether the team wasted a pick. Cousineau wasn't really a bust as a player, just a wasted selection. He was drafted first overall by the Bills, but told them to shove it and played in the CFL, where he proceeded to be the Grey Cup defensive MVP in his rookie season, and the Canadian press selection as runner-up in the "outstanding defensive player" balloting in 1980
• By the way, the Bills traded a running back to the 'Niners to get that #1 Cousineau pick and four other draft picks. Some obscure guy named Orenthal Simpson, who apparently retired to a quiet, private life away from the glare of celebrity.
• Incidentally, the Cousineau pick didn't turn to be that big a bust for the Bills in the long run. When Cousineau left Canada to return to the NFL, the Bills still owned the right to sign him, and they traded that right to Cleveland for two draft picks, including a first rounder that they used to pick Jim Kelly.
• Mr. Cousineau himself went on have to a respectable career with the Browns.