Tommy Maddox – Pittsburgh Steelers (2005)
After his sojourn in the defunct version of the XFL, Tommy Maddox went from going 7-3-1 in 2002 as the starting quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, to 6-10 the next year. Despite the lackluster record, when Maddox was lost early on in the 2004 season, Pittsburgh fans thought the season was all but over, as the team would be forced to start a strapping young rookie named Ben Roethlisberger.
Needless to say, things worked out. In 2005, Maddox ended up backing up Roethlisberger when the Steelers won the Super Bowl in the latter’s second year as a starter. After losing the job to “Big Ben,” Maddox threw three touchdowns and six interceptions over the remainder of his career.
Aaron Moorehead – Indianapolis Colts (2006)
People used to joke that Peyton Manning could insert his mailman as a wide receiver in one the Indianapolis Colts’ offenses that he led in the 2000’s, and turn said mailman into a 500-yard receiver. Such a hypothetical experiment wasn’t far off from the Aaron Moorhead experience.
In five NFL seasons, the former fourth-round pick in the 2003 NFL Draft played as a reserve receiver for the Colts, though he never finished with more than eight catches in any season — again, despite catching balls from Peyton Manning. Moorehead never had more than 101 yards receiving in any single season he played in Indianapolis, and during his five-year career, he found the end zone a grand total of one time.