Bench Player to Star Player?

[Kramerica Industries]

1) Just because the rest of the team is getting old does not catapult Purcell to star status. I watch almost every Lightning game (which means I've had a lot of empty weeknights since baseball season ended ). The guy is quite inconsistent. He's perfectly suited as being the fourth most capable offensive player on the team. He would be ill-suited beyond that.

2) The Lightning began play in October 1992. Vinny was drafted in 1998. Though it is hard to believe that he's 32 years old, and played 13 seasons.

3) He would be an excellent candidate for that thread, if not for 2004, because there have only been two other seasons where he was even on a team that played past the first round of the playoffs.

I have something else in mind as well that's been spurred by this thread, but I don't like to just throw potentially slanderous allegations around, so I'll just keep it under wraps for now.

[illwauk]

Would Aaron Rodgers qualify? Sure, he was drafted to be St. Brett's successor, but he did sit on the bench for 3 years.

[tBBP]

He wouldn't really fit the premise here, since he wasn't plucked from another team to be its star player.

[pmoehrin]

Good call on Petrovic...but the thing about Warner and Brady is that they were already on the team(s), and neither was intended to be the face of the franchise—they just got their chances due injuries to their incumbents and it just happened.

The one difference between the two is Brady probably would have been an NFL starter even if Bledsoe hadn't gone down.

The Patriots were very high on him coming out of training camp and they were actively looking for reasons to use him games. I think if Bledose had been healthy the whole season, Brady probably would have been traded in offseason for a third round draft pick to a team like Baltimore, Cleveland, Chicago or Carolina where he would have competed for a starting job and would have probably won it. Granted though the Patriots would have dumped Bledsoe if they knew Brady was going to be as good as he's become. I don't think anyone would have predicated he would become arguably the greatest QB in NFL history.

Point is people could see Tom Brady as a future NFL starter even before Bledsoe went down. I don't think anybody saw Kurt Warner as an NFL starter before Trent Green went down. He probably even get a chance to start if Trent Green doesn't go down, just for the simple fact that nobody is bringing in a 30 year old undrafted QB who's never been a starter at any level higher then NFL Europe to be anything more then a scout team quarterback.

[Rockstar Matt]

Michael Turner of the Falcons used to be the back-up to LT in San Diego.

[Kramerica Industries]

Michael Turner is still an entirely different argument from the likes of Kurt Warner, however, since Michael Turner was showing excellent promise when he played. There's a reason he was so highly sought after when he hit free agency.

But it's unfair to use Kurt Warner as a benchmark here, since his story is truly one of those rare ones that comes around once every generation or so. I guess all I'm saying is Michael Turner wouldn't be on this list if he had been on a few other teams back in the mid-'00s.

[Billy B]

Michael Turner of the Falcons used to be the back-up to LT in San Diego.

He technically was a bench player, but people knew he had the talent to be a top running back. He was just stuck behind a Hall of Famer in San Diego.

And I wouldn't consider Aaron Rodgers in this category either. He was a 1st Round Draft pick that was going to be someone's franchise QB. He also had to just wait because he had a Hall of Famer in front of him.

[Brendan]

Alex Burrows went from undrafted ECHL player to top line 30 goal scorer with the Canucks.

[pmoehrin]

Could throw Dave Stewart in.

Floundering journeyman fourth starter until getting to Oakland where he won 20 games four straight years.

Also Johnny Unitas. 9th round draft pick that got cut from the Steelers and was playing in a semi-pro league when the Colts signed him and it was not with the intention that he would become their starter.

[Breakwood]

Jose Bautista

[HedleyLamarr]

Brett Favre started out on as second string on the Falcons. Then became a starter when the main QB got hurt. Then he was traded because the Falcons said he wasn't fit enough......

The Falcons traded Favre because he was a habitual drunk and party animal.

He got traded to Green Bay because Salt Lake City doesn't have an NFL team.

[Funky Bunky]

Jose Bautista

I still find it fishy that he went from 13 home runs to 54 home runs in one year....

[BBTV]

The Phillies traded Larry Bowa and a throw in to the Cubs for Ivan DeJesus. The throw in? Ryne Sandberg.

[Dogeshak]

Adrian Peterson was on the bench his first year on the Viki... err on the Soon... err High School Team? Probably was on the bench in one shape or form.

[CS85]

Michael Jordan was one of the worst players on the Birmingham Barons but went on to have a successful basketball career.

[csura999]

Does Miles Austin of the Dallas Cowboys qualify for this thread?

[tBBP]

I can see some of y'all are missing the point of the thread (I can also clearly tell some folks just plain don't bother to read, either)....the point is, benchwarmers who other teams sign awayto intentionally make them an integral part of their team (read: full-time starter).

I realize reading comprehension and critical thinking isn't exactly at a premium around here, but dang, man—some folks just make me wonder sometimes.

[BBTV]

Wasn't Bruce Bowen a bench player for a few teams before getting a lot of minutes with the spurs? I don't think he played a lot for the Sixers.

[Kramerica Industries]

I kinda guess Luis Scola was that in some ways?

Except I don't think Scola was ever a part of the Spurs active roster, but joined the Rockets immediately after he was traded there.

[CS85]

I can see some of y'all are missing the point of the thread (I can also clearly tell some folks just plain don't bother to read, either)....the point is, benchwarmers who other teams sign awayto intentionally make them an integral part of their team (read: full-time starter).

I realize reading comprehension and critical thinking isn't exactly at a premium around here, but dang, man—some folks just make me wonder sometimes.

Does it help if I admit my post was just me being facetious?