Arrowhead Pride has teamed up with Bud Light (Give 'em a like on Facebook here) to bring you the top ten biggest draft busts in Kansas City Chiefs history. We continue with No. 7...
Many of you probably don't remember much about the Kansas City Chiefs' 1987 first round draft pick RB Paul Palmer. That's mostly a combination of his short career, the general terribleness of the Chiefs in the 1980s and the fact that he was quickly overshadowed by other draft picks made during that time.
The Chiefs selected Palmer with the No. 19 overall pick in 1987. He had led the NCAA in rushing the year before at Temple, despite only being 5'9" and 185 pounds. Palmer was also a strong kick returner that the Chiefs essentially tried to make into more of a full-time running back. It was an experiment that failed.
After the jump, more on Paul Palmer, Christian Okoye and intentional fumbles...
One of the biggest reasons you probably don't remember much about Paul Palmer is because of the Kansas City Chiefs' second round pick in the 1987 NFL draft: Christian Okoye. The Nigerian Nightmare had a slightly more memorable career than Palmer. In fact, he had 133 more carries than Palmer in 1987.
Palmer's rookie season was uneventful. He only was able to get 24 carries. He played a lot more in the 1988 season but was suspended in mid-October for saying he would intentionally fumble the ball in order to make the Chiefs' coaching staff look bad:
Palmer was suspended after making a comment Saturday about "dropping a few balls on the carpet" Sunday in Kansas City's game against Pittsburgh, the Globe said, quoting unnamed sources.The comment was made by Palmer on a Chiefs team bus in Pittsburgh after other players were informed by C.T. Hewgley, the Chiefs' strength and weight coach, that they were being fined for being late to a team meeting earlier in the morning, the Globe said.
Palmer said he was joking. As you might have guessed, the Chiefs didn't believe him and suspended him immediately for four games. He stayed on the team throughout the 1989 off season but was cut on September 5th. He was picked up by the Lions, traded to the Cowboys for a 10th round pick, and eventually wound up in the World League of American Football. That may or may not be different than the World Football League.
Here we have an example of a player who not only wasn't up to the task talent wise but also had a terrible attitude problem. Paul Palmer is the definition of a bust.
More Chiefs' draft busts:
No. 10 - Junior Siavii
No. 9 - Sylvester Morris
No. 8 - Victor Riley
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