I've been building up to this (I know, it's probably not worth it), I'm taking the Michael Holding run up off the boundary rope (anyone who doesn't understand Cricket won't get the reference, but those who do will smile and nod)
Dishonorable mentions... there has to be a few.
James Daniels (or three snaps as he will forever be known in Fins folklore)
It seems a little harsh mentioning Tyreek after suffering a horrible injury, but after his previous Shame of the Year performance, this year was proving to be equally as underwhelming right up to the injury (not to mention the pre-season incidents, and wanting to punch out our head coach). After we cut him. I hope Tyreek gets back to his ultimate goals... lots of online gaming, and realizing unhealthy fantasies with plus size models.
There cannot be a non mention of Jonah Savaiinaea, who was at the rock bottom of most statistical lists for his role as a rookie, specifially OL this year. Despite trading up for this "talent" he was rock bottom for for most, if not all of it. To quote a classic line from the movie Up The Creek:
But that's just a mere entree for the real contenders for the Shame of 2025. Which are all interlinked to their ultimate end together. The unholy trinity of McDaniel, Tua, and Grier.
McDaniel... the least of the three, but that's not saying much. He's earned enough shame nominations from me. He hasn't learned anything. Over the past three years he can't get the plays in quickly enough (and I think he will struggle with the Chargers with that as well). Good luck to him, but I think he's more of a behind the scene design guy than a full pressure come up with something on the fly one... or dealing with alpha males who choose to do their own thing (which are the majority of NFL jocks). When the in-house leaders of this team were let go, he couldn't control the inmates wanting to run the asylum. Oh, and the behind the doors campaign to pay Tua... doesn't look so good right now.
Tua... well you got paid, you got fat before the Pro Bowl and looked like rubbish, took Ozempic, got hit in the head a few times and thought it was OK... until it wasn't. I want to have sympathy for Tua and yet I don't. He's unfit. He sucked.
Right from the moment he worked on his body postseason. The very top professional AFL players here in Australia earn about 1/20th of what Tua does, and the rest a whole lot less. During their last summer preseason breaks (over Xmas here in Australia), they look like this, close enough to zero skin folds and six packs. They actually give a shit about how they show up first day of training, and their condition during the postseason break.
Meanwhile, last offseaon Tua was working on a very different body shape:
Really? I'm twice your age, not a professional athlete, not getting paid a fraction of what you're getting, and that is my body.
If Tua could make the throws he could in 2023, some of us could look past that... but no, if not for being benched (and Geno Smith), he would possibly be statistically the worst in the league in 2025.
But in the immortal words of Highlander... there can be only one.
Chris Grier has to be it. This is the year we truly get how badly he has fucked us over a number of years, leading up to this realization. Our cap is a toxic mess. Our list is gutted. Our next GM and coach barely has a chance to survive this.
After Tua's cut is added, this has to be close to a record of dead money any team has carried into a season. Almost all of those first, second and third round picks during the rebuild have now been written off or gone elsewhere. What a waste of an opportunity. This team is going to take years to be relevant again... and probably long after Ross is dead after bankrolling this disaster.
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