Sep 30th 2011, 16:06:36
heh, I was more thinking in baseball, but I'll actually disagree. Reggie Bush WAS overrated, but now most people see him for what he is: A decent to above average running back, but certainly no one that's going to be able to carry a team like Peterson or LT could (and others, obviously).
And Iverson had his issues, but I wouldn't say he was as overrated as Hafner either. Iverson during his prime could deliver a team to the playoffs by himself, and once made the Finals with a team that featured Theo Ratliff, Eric Snow and Aaron McKie as major players. I know he doesn't have any titles, but neither did Karl Malone or to stretch into football again, Dan Marino. Titles do a lot to validate a player's career, but they're not the end-all, be-all that some people claim they are.
It seems like Hafner's thought to be this great hitter, but the guy, more often than not, isn't even on the field for 100 games. He's also only had two 30-HR seasons, and the most recent was 2006. Leaving out his first season in Texas, he's averaged 20-21 HR a season since. That's pretty awful for a guy who's supposed to be your big DH power hitter. Obviously the dude has power, but again, I'm just amazed someone who doesn't even play the field can't get out there for 140 games or more AND that a team was silly enough to play $13M a year for such production. I can only imagine he signed his current contract right after that 2006 season.