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Who is the most UNDER RATED athlete in Pittsburgh Sports History?

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Las Panteras

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Ill lead off with Jerry Olsavsky......recruited by Pitt and Carnegie Mellon

ends up an All American Linebacker and only spent ten years in the League with the Steelers.....

So....before we stack up 12 + pages ........ask yourself.....is there anyone that tops Jerry O?
 
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My god, I know this is a Pitt board, so so many are going to be Pitt examples, but there has to be so much more than that. Much, much more. And again, do we define "underrated"? I mean Antonio Brown was a 6th round pick. But can you say he is "underrated"?

I'll give you one. Chris Kunitz. Undrafted, made the NHL as a Free Agent, has won 4 Stanley Cups (one with Anaheim), plugger role player who played himself onto the Pens #1 line for several years, made the Canadian Olympic team a few years back, yet never made an all star game. Chris Kunitz is my choice right now off the top of my head.
 
I was going to say Aaron Smith, but the guy was discussed as being underrated for so long that I think people finally appreciated how terrific he was as a player. Will definitely need to put more thought into this.
 
Mark Melancon was very underrated while he was here. The guy was lights out as a set up guy then even better as a closer. He was rarely given credit for being one of the best relievers in baseball. I couldn't believe how many people thought he was "shaky" or "unreliable" when he rarely blew a lead.
 
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How many non-sports fans locally or even younger sports fans in the area, or for that matter current Pitt students, know the accomplishments of Suzie McConnell-Serio and Roger Kingdom?
 
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The quarterback of the renowned "Steel Curtain" defense of the 70's, safety Mike Wagner.
9361-114Bk.jpg
 
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recruitsreadtheseboards said:
My god, I know this is a Pitt board, so so many are going to be Pitt examples, but there has to be so much more than that. Much, much more. And again, do we define "underrated"? I mean Antonio Brown was a 6th round pick. But can you say he is "underrated"?

I'll give you one. Chris Kunitz. Undrafted, made the NHL as a Free Agent, has won 4 Stanley Cups (one with Anaheim), plugger role player who played himself onto the Pens #1 line for several years, made the Canadian Olympic team a few years back, yet never made an all star game. Chris Kunitz is my choice right now off the top of my head.
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I thought of Kunitz.......an excellent choice.

But my initial pick of Jerry O has nothing to do with Pitt and everything with his football career given where he started and what he accomplished......

I just dont know of a local athlete that did more....with allegedly....less.......
 
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Las Panteras said:
I thought of Kunitz.......an excellent choice.

But my initial pick of Jerry O has nothing to do with Pitt and everything with his football career given where he started and what he accomplished......

I just dont know of a local athlete that did more....with allegedly....less.......
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Jerry O is maybe a good underdog story, but I think he's appropriately rated.
 
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Malkin. Since Malkin started playing he has been at worst the 3rd best forward of his era and no one seems to give him his full due. He may be the best NHL player ever from Russia. Very underrated.

On the Steeler end, people forget how great Carnell Lake was; literally an all-decade player who was able to transition from safety to corner when needed. Better player than others that have gotten a lot more ink and talk from the Steeler era right after him (meaning Bettis and Ward).
 
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TheChair said:
Malkin. Since Malkin started playing he has been at worst the 3rd best forward of his era and no one seems to give him his full due. He may be the best NHL player ever from Russia. Very underrated.

On the Steeler end, people forget how great Carnell Lake was; literally an all-decade player who was able to transition from safety to corner when needed. Better player than others that have gotten a lot more ink and talk from the Steeler era right after him (meaning Bettis and Ward).
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But Malkin was the 2nd overall pick and most people said in almost any other draft he would have been #1 overall. He has won MVP's.....

The only thing here, he is without a doubt, slam dunk one of the NHL's top 100 players (I say top 50) of all time and they left him off the list. That is just because Canadians suck.
 
I think I may have misinterpreted the meaning of the thread. I said James Harrison above as a guy who started out very minimally regarded ...a MAC school free agent and cut multiple times ... to become likely a HOF player.
 
Las Panteras said:
Ill lead off with Jerry Olsavsky......recruited by Pitt and Carnegie Mellon

ends up an All American Linebacker and only spent ten years in the League with the Steelers.....

So....before we stack up 12 + pages ........ask yourself.....is there anyone that tops Jerry O?
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Ricky Jackson #87. Half the people on this board probably won't even know who he is. You could make the argument that he was the best defensive Player at Pitt since 1960.
 
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Burgh15 said:
I was going to say Aaron Smith, but the guy was discussed as being underrated for so long that I think people finally appreciated how terrific he was as a player. Will definitely need to put more thought into this.
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Wasn't he a Terry Smith product?
 
The fact that Malkin has the awards, stats and has exceeded the expectation yet does not quite get the right due is why he is underrated.

Underrated means people underestimate value; just because he has won things does not mean that there is a clear understanding of his value. Underrated is not limited to workman guys; stars can be underrated as well.

Malkin and Sid have been a 1 and 1A combo and Sid has been the 1A a decent amount of the time (not the majority but at least 30-35 percent); Malkin never fully gets recognized for that. I have not read a ton of articles only about Malkin over the past week like with Sid where it talks about his overall ranking in the NHL history (which should be pretty high, higher than guys like Kane and Toews for certain given the overall volume of work).

If you are looking at underrated as achieved way past draft status or lack thereof, I think it is hard to beat Harrison or Antonio Brown at this point. Mike Webster in Round 5 or Stallworth in Round 4 are great too.
 
HOF Coach said:
The quarterback of the renowned "Steel Curtain" defense of the 70's, safety Mike Wagner.
9361-114Bk.jpg
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Ask Mike Renfro. Wagner laid a lick on him in one of the AFC Championship games. On another team he might be in the HOF or very close to it.
 
Pitt5593 said:
Ricky Jackson #87. Half the people on this board probably won't even know who he is. You could make the argument that he was the best defensive Player at Pitt since 1960.
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Ricky Jackson was such a special player who had a motor that never stopped. For example, one time Ricky rushed the punter and got a piece of the football. The next thing you know, there is Ricky downing the short punt downfield! One of my all time favorite Panthers who was overshadowed by the incomparable, Hugh Green. Ricky was to Hugh as Malkin is to Crosby today.
 
HOF Coach said:
Ricky Jackson was such a special player who had a motor that never stopped. For example, one time Ricky rushed the punter and got a piece of the football. The next thing you know, there is Ricky downing the short punt downfield! One of my all time favorite Panthers who was overshadowed by the incomparable, Hugh Green. Ricky was to Hugh as Malkin is to Crosby today.
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He's in the NFL Hall of Fame. How is that "underrated"? Impossible.
 
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Pitt5593 said:
Ricky Jackson #87. Half the people on this board probably won't even know who he is. You could make the argument that he was the best defensive Player at Pitt since 1960.
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I don't know how you could make the argument that he was better than Hugh Green at Pitt. If my memory is accurate, Green was on the all-century team that SI published years ago.
 
Franb said:
I don't know how you could make the argument that he was better than Hugh Green at Pitt. If my memory is accurate, Green was on the all-century team that SI published years ago.
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You made the point I was trying to make.
Franb said:
I don't know how you could make the argument that he was better than Hugh Green at Pitt. If my memory is accurate, Green was on the all-century team that SI published years ago.
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You make the point that I was trying to make. Jackson is in the Hall of Fame. Hugh green is not. Not to take anything away from either of them. Great great players.
 
Ron Francis. 3rd wheel at best on Cup winning teams and seldom talked about.

Probably one of the top 25-50 players ever to play the game and did it without a lot of notoriety.
 
Current athlete: Josh Harrison

All-time: Bill Virdon (although the guys who mentioned Al Oliver and Donn Clendenon did cause me to give this a second thought)
 
I always thought Johnny Ray was a really good ball player on some really bad pirate teams.

Anybody?
 
If its solid players who were key but went under the radar that's a different sort of "underrated". Been many of those over the years. Random Steelers besides those mentioned that come to mind include Randy Grossman, Dirt Winston, Merrill Hoge, Earnest Jackson, Mark Bruener, John L. Williams, Willie Williams (big tackle over Harbaugh's Colts in 90s AFC champ game), Yancey Thigpen.

Pirates not mentioned above include Richie Zisk, Rennie Stennett, Bill Robinson, Phil Garner, Mike Diaz (just kidding!), Jay Bell, Orlando Merced, Neil Walker.

Penguins not mentioned (Larry Murphy a great one) include Mike Bullard, Mark Recchi, John Cullen, Petr Nedved, Martin Straka, Ron Tugnutt (not really, just like saying his name).

And to try to show off my knowledge of the obscure, how about Paul Child or Vitus Geralitis?

Would have to save Pitt players for a whole other post.
 
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Las Panteras said:
Ill lead off with Jerry Olsavsky......recruited by Pitt and Carnegie Mellon

ends up an All American Linebacker and only spent ten years in the League with the Steelers.....

So....before we stack up 12 + pages ........ask yourself.....is there anyone that tops Jerry O?
Click to expand...

Donn Clendenon
 
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