Tag: 1997 nfl draft

27 Days, 27 Picks: WR Reidel Anthony

The second first-rounder the Bucs drafted in 1997 had a productive sophomore campaign and contributed on special teams, but didn’t stick around the NFL for long:

In 27 Days, 27 Picks, Bucs Wire will analyze the last 27 Tampa Bay Buccaneers first-round draft picks, one for each day leading up to the 2023 NFL draft. We’ll take a look at the player’s college stats, their pre-draft numbers (either via the NFL Combine or their Pro Day), their NFL stats, some player footage and analysis at the end on whether the pick itself was a good one.

Our next player was the other player drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1997, but he didn’t quite carry the legacy that Warrick Dunn did in Tampa despite playing the same amount of years in red and pewter.

Here is the draft rundown on [autotag]Reidel Anthony[/autotag] below:

Bill Parcells: Jets would’ve drafted Peyton Manning if QB entered NFL draft in 1997

An all-time NFL what-if: Bill Parcels said that he would have drafted Peyton Manning to the Jets in 1997 had the QB declared early.

The Jets have been searching for a franchise quarterback since Joe Namath left New York to finish his career in Los Angeles in 1977. Many have tried and failed to replicate Broadway Joe’s success, with Gang Green cycling through more potential franchise saviors than failed head coaches.

Exactly 20 years after Namath’s departure, the Jets were on the cusp of landing the one before everything fell apart in the franchise’s typical fashion.

New York was months away from landing Peyton Manning with the first pick in the 1997 NFL draft. Manning had solidified himself as one of the best college quarterback prospects of all-time in just three seasons at the University of Tennessee, making some of the SEC’s best defenses look like Pop Warner units on a weekly basis. Manning was as pro-ready of a prospect as the draft had ever seen and the Jets were about to get their hands on him.

Instead of leaving Knoxville to play for Bill Parcells in the Big Apple, Manning decided to remain in school for his senior season. Parcells then traded the No. 1 pick to the Rams for the No. 6 pick and three mid-round selections. He then sent that pick to the Buccaneers in exchange for the No. 8 pick, which was used to select James Farrior, and a fourth-round pick.

“We definitely would have drafted him,” Parcells said on Peyton and Eli Manning’s broadcast of Monday Night Football before joking he would have benched Manning during his interception-happy rookie season.

While Manning spent his senior season at Tennessee dominating, the Jets were stuck with the Neil O’Donnell under center. Manning went No. 1 overall to the Colts the following draft and went on to have a Hall of Fame career, leaving the Jets with the biggest “what if” in franchise history.

“Parcells shook things up for me a little, but when he was hired there, it made this decision a lot tougher, knowing he was there,” Manning said in 1997. “I had no negative thoughts about the Jets whatsoever.”

There is no guarantee Manning would have developed into the star he ultimately became if he played in New York, but the Jets would have liked the chance to find out. If nothing else, Parcells’ comments on Monday night effectively put to bed the rumors that he would have traded back to accumulate draft capital if Manning was available for the taking.

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