The hard-luck Cincinnati Bengals have yet to win a Super Bowl, but it was Boomer Esiason who brought them closer than anyone else had when they lost to the San Francisco 49ers on a last-minute drive in Super Bowl XXIII.  Fortunately for Esiason, his career did not need a Super Bowl Ring to be considered great.

Replacing the productive Ken Anderson, the powerful southpaw became one of the premier Quarterbacks in the league.  During his time in Cincinnati, Esiason was a consistent producer and he turned the Bengals into a high powered attack.  Mastering the play-action pass, Boomer used his strength and speed and was always producing high yardage games.

Generally, non Quarterbacks don’t have spectacular seasons in their 30’s, but Henry Ellard did.  In fact, he really didn’t become a star in the National Football League until he turned 27.

Generally, if you are selected to eight Pro Bowls in a decade, regardless of your position, it stands to reason that you won’t be forgotten.  Somehow, Cornerback Lemar Parrish managed to slip through the cracks of football consciousness as his legacy just doesn’t seem as big as it should be.

You can’t be selected to eight Pro Bowls in eleven years without being consistent.  Parrish was certainly that, but while he was a top Cornerback, he was also a top Punt Returner for the first half of his career.  Once he stopped returning punts, Parrish would actually have some of his best years at Cornerback as he landed his only First Team All-Pro selection at the age of 32.  Parrish matched any attacking Wide Receiver man-to-man, and that skill can be argued as to why longtime Bengals teammate, Ken Riley entered the Pro Football Hall of Fame years later.

As freakishly consistent as Lemar Parrish was, he was never considered the best at his position.  This is certainly one of those cases, where a year of dominance would have done wonders for his Hall of Fame cause, though he has all the good for Canton as is.

When you think of great San Francisco quarterbacks, you automatically think of Joe Montana and Steve Young. Before them, there was a very good one named John Brodie who put up great numbers without the supporting cast that Montana and Young had.

John Brodie was one of the game's early gunslingers, and most of the time he had to be. The 49ers of the 1960s were not a great team, and Brodie was often the main reason his team was competitive. By the time the 1970s rolled around, Brodie had a better team around him, and though he was finally playoff-bound, the Niners could not get past the Cowboys for three years in a row. Still, Brodie won the 1970 MVP and was given more respect around the league.

Because he had to take a lot of chances, John Brodie’s interception rate was fairly high, and he finished his career with more picks than touchdown passes. This could be why he has never been a semi-finalist for the Hall, and with the San Francisco 49ers reaching great heights in the 1980s, virtually every Niners star before them has been forgotten. John Brodie deserves better than that.