31. Tony Eason (1983, Pick #15)
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Another team that infamously passed on Dan Marino in the famed 1983 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots instead took quarterback Tony Eason from the University of Illinois. They took Eason despite the fact that head coach Raymond Berry knew that Eason was too frail to hold up against the brutality of playing quarterback in the NFL (especially in the 1980’s).
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He’s the only quarterback in NFL history to start in a Super Bowl (when the Patriots lost to the Chicago Bears in 1986) and not complete a pass in the game. Eason might’ve led the Patriots to a Super Bowl in his third year, but as we all know, Marino rewrote the record books in his second year, leading the Miami Dolphins to a Super Bowl the year before.
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