To put it in musical terms, the NFL has its version of the Beatles, Aerosmith, or Snoop Dogg: legendary performers who have withstood the test of time and continue to make hits throughout the course of their careers. But on the flip side, the NFL has their version of Right Said Fred or Vanilla Ice: the guys who put up that one performance everyone is talking about, only to never be heard from ever again, and fade into professional oblivion. They flashed enormous potential for one season and then never came anywhere close to that afterward.
Mostly because they’re easy to forget, we wanted to share a list of some of the great one-hit or one-season wonders in NFL history. After all, you probably need a little help remembering them. As a bonus, after the one-hit wonder section, we’ve included a list of notable NFL players who were late bloomers. Players who didn’t do much early in their careers but went on to become impact players. Spoiler alert, most are Hall of Famers or future Hall of Famers.
Without further delay, here’s our list of the most memorable one-hit wonders in NFL history: