There was a time when Joey Browner was considered the best Cornerback in the National Football League, and this wasn’t just an opinion in Minnesota...it was thought throughout the country.

A star at USC, the Minnesota Vikings brought him in as a 1^st Round Pick (17^th Overall) in 1983, and by 1985 he was a Pro Bowl Selection, an accolade that the Safety would achieve in five more consecutive years.  A four-time selection to the All-Madden Team, Browner was a vicious and efficient tackler, so much so that you felt bad for anyone who escaped the Vikings' defensive line.  He would record 37 Interceptions over his career.

Browner was also named a Second Team 1980 All-Decade Team and was also a three-time First Team All-Pro.

A complete beast at the University of Alabama, Cornelius Bennett was drafted second overall in 1987 by the Indianapolis Colts and, as part of a mega-trade, would become a Buffalo Bill.   With the Bills, he would help them win four straight AFC Championships and was a five-time Pro Bowl Selection.   One of those seasons saw Bennett named a First Team All-Pro, and UPI named him Defensive Player of the Year twice.   Securing well over 1,100 Tackles over his career, the Bills may never have won a Super Bowl during Bennett's time there, but without the defensive stalwart, they never would have had four cracks at it.   Considering his versatility as a Linebacker, he should have received at least a look from the powers that be.

There are a lot of improbable runs to getting a Super Bowl Ring, but you might be hard-pressed to find a more unlikely one than Cornell Green.

Green was a star at Utah State, but it was in basketball.  He never even played college football, and the Chicago Zephyrs of the NBA drafted him.  The Dallas Cowboys would, however, express interest after hearing great things about his overall athletic ability from the Aggies Head Coach, and he was offered a spot in training camp.  Green thought it was just a chance to earn $1,000 for participating, but he not only made the team; he also started cornerback in his third game and went on to the All-Rookie Team.

Green was a natural football player.  In 1965, he went to what would be his first of five Pro Bowls, and a First Team All-Pro selection came his way on three occasions.  A member of the Cowboys’ first Super Bowl win (Super Bowl VI), Green would ball hawk on 34 times, including a pair of seven-pick campaigns.  While he doesn’t receive Hall of Fame consideration in most circles, would an induction conclude one of the more improbable careers gridiron ever?

It would have to be!

Jack Kemp was a late-round (17^th) pick in 1957 by the Detroit Lions, but he never played a down for them and would find back-up work with the Pittsburgh Steelers that year.  Kemp would later be on the taxi squad for both the San Francisco 49ers and New York Giants but would not see any action, though this would change with the formation of the American Football League.