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This Day in History Ditka trades eight picks to draft Ricky Williams in 99

this is a discussion within the Saints Community Forum; Originally Posted by Barry from MS We might as well have done this exact same thing in 2014. Brandin Cooks. That's it. Then you have the rest of the clowns from that draft that are better off forgotten. But let's ...

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Old 04-19-2018, 11:14 AM   #11
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Re: This Day in History Ditka trades eight picks to draft Ricky Williams in 99

Originally Posted by Barry from MS View Post
We might as well have done this exact same thing in 2014.

Brandin Cooks. That's it. Then you have the rest of the clowns from that draft that are better off forgotten. But let's open them wounds:

2nd Rd - Stanley Jean Baptiste: worthless. 5 NFL games since 2014. BTW, this isn't injury related, either, which makes it just sad.
3rd Rd - None
4th Rd - Khairi Fortt: worthless. 3 total games. 1 tackle. Same situation as SJB. He just sucks.
5th Rd - Vinnie Sunseri & Ronald Powell: As 5th Rd picks, we could have done worse, but neither of these guys have played in the NFL anywhere other than preseason games & practice squads.
6th Rd - Tavon Rooks: ?
Then Director of Player Personnel Ryan Pace says hello .

Just an awful draft, awful.
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Old 04-19-2018, 01:01 PM   #12
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Re: This Day in History Ditka trades eight picks to draft Ricky Williams in 99

Originally Posted by billyt81 View Post
We can knock it all we want but I bet most of us at least a part of us was pumped. That year was the only time I ever attended a Saints practice and there were literally thousands of WhoDats there. Ditka was convinced that Ricky Williams was Walter Peyton. Ricky was awesome at hitting the hole and gettin u 5-10 yds but he lacked balance and cutting ability so he almost never popped long runs. He always left you with that, "ooh he almost broke it" feeling. Deuce would go 5, 7, 5, 60 because he had some wiggle or he'd truck you without slowing down. Deuce also had hands. Pack a bowl for me Ricky.
I'll admit to being a little pumped at the time. Partially because I thought Ricky Williams was going to be as good as advertised, partially because I thought they would just screw those picks up anyway.

If you are looking for a silver lining though, the way this turned out did force Tom Benson to blow it up and start over. No telling how long the Ditka era would have gone on.
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Old 04-19-2018, 02:20 PM   #13
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Re: This Day in History Ditka trades eight picks to draft Ricky Williams in 99

I think Ditka has gotten a bad rap. Billy Kuharich was the GM and had the final say on the deal. He could have said no to Ditka or made a better deal with the Redskins or traded with the team who drafted after them. If Ditka had a Jim Finks or Mickey Loomis calibur GM, he would have built N.O. into a championship team.
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Old 04-19-2018, 03:37 PM   #14
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Re: This Day in History Ditka trades eight picks to draft Ricky Williams in 99

That wasn't even the Saints worst draft. Just four years later they gave up two precious first round picks for Johnathan Sullivan.
What is they say about those who don't learn from their past?
At least Williams gave them something in return for their investment. Ironically, it was the Williams trade to Miami that allowed the Saints to give up those draft picks for the wasted Sullivan pick.

Also ironic, it was those type of questionable football choices the Saints made throughout their history that attracted me to them as a child. The kids in the neighborhood of the Taku subdivision in Fairbanks, Alaska would pick their favorite NFL team based off of recent success. The closest NFL team to us was over 2000 miles away in another state so we felt no loyalty for that team. (The local stations would always play the Seahawks on tv so all of us grew to despise that team).
One of my brothers chose the Dolphins because they had a guy on the team that was referred to as "The Hulk" in Larry Csonka.
Another bother chose the Steelers because of the Stallworth and Swann duo that caught passes from Terry Bradshaw.
We'd play football on Kuskokwim Street no matter what the weather. Kids wearing Cowboys and 49ers hats would show up ready to play.
I was, and still am, a big fan of the Rocky movies. Underdog/little guy stuff. I remember watching a show on tv called Football Follies and a lot of the follies had a team with a cool symbol on their helmet called the Saints. I looked at my brothers and pointed to the tv and said, "That's my team!"

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Old 04-19-2018, 04:18 PM   #15
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Re: This Day in History Ditka trades eight picks to draft Ricky Williams in 99

Set us back 4 years.
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Old 04-19-2018, 06:00 PM   #16
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Re: This Day in History Ditka trades eight picks to draft Ricky Williams in 99

Originally Posted by Barry from MS View Post
We might as well have done this exact same thing in 2014.

Brandin Cooks. That's it. Then you have the rest of the clowns from that draft that are better off forgotten. But let's open them wounds:

2nd Rd - Stanley Jean Baptiste: worthless. 5 NFL games since 2014. BTW, this isn't injury related, either, which makes it just sad.
3rd Rd - None
4th Rd - Khairi Fortt: worthless. 3 total games. 1 tackle. Same situation as SJB. He just sucks.
5th Rd - Vinnie Sunseri & Ronald Powell: As 5th Rd picks, we could have done worse, but neither of these guys have played in the NFL anywhere other than preseason games & practice squads.
6th Rd - Tavon Rooks: ?

Our coaching staff is a billion times better now than in 2014, but these guys did nothing outside this organization either. We picked 5 guys after the 1st Round who have contributed a bit more than zero since 2014 anywhere within the NFL.

After the 1st Round in 2014, it would have been equally productive if some random drunk dude off of Bourbon Street made the next picks. I wouldn't be near as bitter. Folks got PAID to evaluate & determine SJB, Fart, Sunseri, Powell & Rooks were NFL-quality talent. I want that job.

Those suckers are gone now. We have good talent evaluators and scouts who know how to spot talent.......and we've got Jeff Ireland.
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Old 04-19-2018, 07:07 PM   #17
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Re: This Day in History Ditka trades eight picks to draft Ricky Williams in 99

The 99 draft was just an awful year overall for the draft. None of the picks we gave up did squat anyway. 1st round was ok but rest of it was a barren desert for talent. Crazy move but not sure it set us back years. We could not land a decent QB or any other decent FA's. Nobody wanted to play here.
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Old 04-19-2018, 09:58 PM   #18
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Re: This Day in History Ditka trades eight picks to draft Ricky Williams in 99

Originally Posted by saintsfan1976 View Post
Took years to recover.
Not to mention the countless hours of Psychotherapy it took to get Iron Mike out of our heads.
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Old 04-19-2018, 11:47 PM   #19
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Re: This Day in History Ditka trades eight picks to draft Ricky Williams in 99

Originally Posted by ScottF View Post
Terrible.
But the Erlexben pick wasn't much better

Originally Posted by iceshack149 View Post
That wasn't even the Saints worst draft. Just four years later they gave up two precious first round picks for Johnathan Sullivan.
What is they say about those who don't learn from their past?
At least Williams gave them something in return for their investment. Ironically, it was the Williams trade to Miami that allowed the Saints to give up those draft picks for the wasted Sullivan pick.

Also ironic, it was those type of questionable football choices the Saints made throughout their history that attracted me to them as a child. The kids in the neighborhood of the Taku subdivision in Fairbanks, Alaska would pick their favorite NFL team based off of recent success. The closest NFL team to us was over 2000 miles away in another state so we felt no loyalty for that team. (The local stations would always play the Seahawks on tv so all of us grew to despise that team).
One of my brothers chose the Dolphins because they had a guy on the team that was referred to as "The Hulk" in Larry Csonka.
Another bother chose the Steelers because of the Stallworth and Swann duo that caught passes from Terry Bradshaw.
We'd play football on Kuskokwim Street no matter what the weather. Kids wearing Cowboys and 49ers hats would show up ready to play.
I was, and still am, a big fan of the Rocky movies. Underdog/little guy stuff. I remember watching a show on tv called Football Follies and a lot of the follies had a team with a cool symbol on their helmet called the Saints. I looked at my brothers and pointed to the tv and said, "That's my team!"

Originally Posted by Barry from MS View Post
We might as well have done this exact same thing in 2014.

Brandin Cooks. That's it. Then you have the rest of the clowns from that draft that are better off forgotten. But let's open them wounds:

2nd Rd - Stanley Jean Baptiste: worthless. 5 NFL games since 2014. BTW, this isn't injury related, either, which makes it just sad.
3rd Rd - None
4th Rd - Khairi Fortt: worthless. 3 total games. 1 tackle. Same situation as SJB. He just sucks.
5th Rd - Vinnie Sunseri & Ronald Powell: As 5th Rd picks, we could have done worse, but neither of these guys have played in the NFL anywhere other than preseason games & practice squads.
6th Rd - Tavon Rooks: ?

Our coaching staff is a billion times better now than in 2014, but these guys did nothing outside this organization either. We picked 5 guys after the 1st Round who have contributed a bit more than zero since 2014 anywhere within the NFL.

After the 1st Round in 2014, it would have been equally productive if some random drunk dude off of Bourbon Street made the next picks. I wouldn't be near as bitter. Folks got PAID to evaluate & determine SJB, Fart, Sunseri, Powell & Rooks were NFL-quality talent. I want that job.



















WAIT FOR THIS ONE...






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Last edited by foreverfan; 04-19-2018 at 11:58 PM..
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Old 04-20-2018, 11:00 AM   #20
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Re: This Day in History Ditka trades eight picks to draft Ricky Williams in 99

If Ricky would've become the player everyone thought he would be then we would be talking a totally different story but Ditka screw the pooch on this one and it's probably the worst trade in history!
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