With the NFL in a summer break until training camp starts later this month, there isn't that much going on. So that makes it the best opportunity to use the summer break to take a trip down memory lane, and remind all of you about some of the most interesting stories in Atlanta Falcons franchise history.
If you think about Falcons draft busts, linebacker Aundray Bruce is probably the first name to come to mind. The No. 1 pick in the 1988 NFL Draft was being labeled by some as the next Lawrence Taylor, but he never recorded more than six sacks in a season and only started 42 games in his career.
In Bruce's defense, while he didn't live up to the expectations of being the No. 1 overall pick, he still managed to carve out a respectable 11-year NFL career, even if it was mostly as a bench guy. The Auburn product still disappointed, but what if I told you he wasn't the worst pick in Falcons history?
Aundray Bruce is somehow not the biggest bust the Falcons have drafted
Bruce has to be up there, but Atlanta found someone much worse than him a couple seasons later. With the third overall pick in the 1991 NFL Draft, the Falcons selected Nebraska cornerback Bruce Pickens. And this has to be up there for reasons that go well past Pickens' on-field performance.
It quickly became clear that Pickens was in over his head. He was involved in a lawsuit with his own representation and threatened to sue the Dirty Birds. He ultimately didn't sign with the team until October of his rookie season, but once he got on the field, a nightmare situation got even worse.
He made almost no impact in seven games as a rookie and only mustered eight starts across three seasons in Atlanta. And with that only came two interceptions, so it's not like Pickens made himself worth the headache he provided with the way he performed on the field, either, so he didn't last.
The Falcons traded Pickens to the Green Bay Packers midway through 1993, where he last just two games before landing in Kansas City. He then didn't play in 1994 and spent 1995 with the Oakland Raiders, which marked the final season of his career. Four NFL seasons as a top-three pick. Brutal.
The worst part is that Pickens was a juco transfer and was a plenty raw prospect. The Falcons were banking on him to develop next to Deion Sanders, but he couldn't even get out of his own way to get on the field. Threatening to sue is one thing, but can you at least back up all your talk on the field?
For as bad as Aundray Bruce was with the Falcons, at least he had a long career. It quickly became clear that Bruce Pickens was a head case who made no impact on the field, so he didn't even last a half-decade in the NFL. And that's the story of what made him the worst draft pick in team history.
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