Athletes - Tony Mandarich

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	Athletes - Tony Mandarich

Tony Mandarich (born September 23, 1966 in Oakville, Ontario) was a former football player of the NFL. He is most remembered as the first round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers in 1989, second overall behind Troy Aikman.

A decade before the epic failure of Ryan Leaf, Mandarich was largely considered to be the biggest bust of any draft pick in American football history. The Packers drafted him early in the draft, even while future superstars like Barry Sanders and Deion Sanders were still available.

Tony had an older brother, John, who was instrumental in his development as an athlete, including sponsoring his younger brother's transfer to a stateside high school before Tony's senior year. John was a gregarious, sweet-natured giant who made his own reputaion in professional football, in the Canadian League, before his tragically early death from cancer in 1993.

Drafted as an offensive linesman, Mandarich never lived up to the very high expectations set for him, and spent most of his first year on the Packers on special teams. He was also known for having attitude issues, and after three seasons of lackluster performance on a four-year contract, Mandarich was cut by the Packers.

The question of steroid use has been discussed as a possible factor in Mandarich's spectacular failure. This accusation is one that Mandarich has consistently denied. He instead blamed himself, in a 2003 Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article: "I wanted to create as much hype as I could for many different reasons — exposure, negotiation leverage, you name it. And it all worked, except the performance wasn't there when it was time to play football."

Mandarich returned to football for three years between 1996 and 1998 with the Indianapolis Colts. He had a more successful, if not particularly noteworthy, career with the Colts before retiring from football in 1998.

From September 2004 until September 2005, Mandarich served as an NFL analyst for the The Score TV sports network in Canada. He was fired in October 2005 and currently resides in Arizona.

Effects of Mandarich's pick on the Green Bay Packers

The Mandarich pick is still discussed by Green Bay Packer fans today as a major blunder by the team, when it's pointed out by fans that "We could have had Barry Sanders instead". In the short term, this was certainly true; the Packers suffered dismal seasons in 1990 and 1991. In late 1991, however, due to a poor record and other managerial failures, then-head coach Lindy Infante and General Manager Tom Braatz were released. Braatz was replaced by Ron Wolf, who hired Mike Holmgren as head coach and acquired Brett Favre via trade. Those three individuals were major factors in turning the team around and led the Packers to two Super Bowl appearances by 1997 and 1998.

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