Under the radar when Devery Henderson signed with the Redskins the other day was that they also signed former Saint Donte Stallworth in tandem with him. That got me thinking, how on EARTH is this guy still in the league?? It seriously makes no sense at all. And actually, I want to know how he survived that hit pictured to the left.
Stallworth was born just two months after me, so he’s still relatively young at 32. Still, when the league’s average for a player is a three year career, and Stallworth’s career has been one of consistent underachievement, it’s hard to understand how he’s still hanging around when no one seems to want to keep him. Stallworth has 42 receptions in the last four years and he played for a different team in each of those four seasons. So clearly no one is enamored in keeping him around. That said, he’s had two stints with the Patriots (2007 and 2012) and now two stints with the Redskins (2011 and 2013). He hasn’t played for the same team two years in a row since 2005, his last year with the Saints.
The Saints drafted him in the 1st round out of Tennessee as a receiver with blazing speed and a world of potential. He had splashes of potential with his best year coming in the Katrina season (70 receptions for 945 yards and 7 touchdowns). Then, Sean Payton came to town and Stallworth quickly drew his ire by sleeping in, showing up to practice late, and generally lacking maturity. Stallworth was quickly shipped off to Philadelphia before the season opener in 2006 thanks in part to the emergence of rookie Marques Colston. Since then, Stallworth has never eclipsed 46 receptions in a season. In fact, since he’s left the Saints he’s averaged 21 receptions per season. So if you think he underperformed based on his draft status in black and gold, it’s been much worse since then. In fact, the most notable thing Stallworth has done during his NFL career is kill a man while allegedly driving under the influence.
So we have two data points of very questionable character, based on Sean Payton’s distate for his work ethic and his mistake (putting it mildly) that winded up getting him put in jail and suspended by Roger Goodell. There’s also the fact that in his last eight years in the NFL, he’ll be playing in a different city from the previous season for the eighth consecutive time. I assume he’s lost a step at 32 (if Devery has lost one at 31) and his statistics since 2008 are non existant.
How is this guy still hanging around? No chance he makes their 53 man roster, right? What am I missing here?
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