It seems almost impossible with all the teams that currently make the playoffs each season for a star to never have appeared in a playoff game. However, it wasn’t always that way in the NFL and for years the elite teams made the postseason and everyone else went home. How about 16 players who have never played in the postseason?
16. Mario Williams
Mario Williams (pictured No. 90) was the first overall pick by the Houston Texans in 2006. He played 11 seasons in the NFL, six with Houston, four with Buffalo and a final one with Miami. At no point in his career, which saw him play in 158 games, was he on a team that made the postseason.
15. Ryan Fitzpatrick
Ryan Fitzpatrick’s playoff drought is not about to end in 2019 as he is on the one-win Miami Dolphins. Fitzpatrick has famously played for eight teams since leaving Harvard. He has not gotten a sniff of the post season. In the 2015 regular season, as a Jet, he needed a win at Buffalo to get to the postseason. Fitzpatrick threw three picks in the fourth quarter of a 22-17 loss. Gang Green finished 10-6 but out of the playoffs.
14. Gerald McCoy
Gerald McCoy has a shot at breaking his run of no playoff games this season. He left the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for whom he played for nine seasons, starting all 123 games he played in, for Carolina. The Panthers sit at 5-3 entering the weekend and firmly in second place in the NFC South. If the Panthers can match their first-half record in the back end, McCoy stands a chance to make his first playoff game.
13. Brandon Marshall
It almost feels impossible that WR Brandon Marshall never played in a playoff game, given all the headlines and stories that followed him throughout his career. Marshall played for six teams and in 179 games but never made the postseason. He was cut by the Seahawks at the end of October 2018, and they went on to make the postseason. Ouch.
12. Sam Bradford
The Rams made Sam Bradford the No. 1 overall pick in 2010. He lasted five years in St. Louis and never went to the postseason. From there, it was Philly, Minnesota and Arizona and the results were the same. Injury-prone and unable to lead his team to a postseason game.
11. Joe Thomas
Joe Thomas was an Iron Man in Cleveland, playing and starting in 167 games until being injured in 2017. Thomas stood by his Browns through thin and thinner times. A rare person and player who never looked to find greener grass with a team that could fatten his wallet with postseason green.
10. Josh McCown
Josh McCown actually may be like Gerald McCoy and find his way into the playoffs in 2019. McCown retired and then came back to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles, who are a playoff contender. Prior to this, McCown has been with seven other teams and none of the them went to the playoffs.
9. James Laurinaitis
First he was famous for being the son of one of pro wrestling’s Road Warriors. Then, James Laurinaitis showed he could play football at Ohio State and in the NFL for seven seasons with the St. Louis Rams. Laurinaitis finished his career with the Saints, who waived him in November of 2016. They finished 7-9 that year so Laurinaitis did not have to deal with the irony of being cut from a playoff team.
8. Larry Wilson
Larry Wilson was an eight-time All-Pro free safety for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a seventh-round draft pick out of Utah and became the master of the safety blitz. Wilson was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978 and the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1994. He did not, however, play in a playoff game. The Cardinals finished higher than third in their division just twice during Wilson’s career. He is pictured right with fellow HOF DB, Roger Wehrli.
7. Darren McFadden
Darren McFadden was a top draft pick of the Raiders out of Arkansas. He spent seven seasons with the Silver and Black and then three with Dallas, never making the playoffs. McFadden accounted for more than 7,500 yards of total offense.
6. Floyd Little
Floyd Little played college ball at Syracuse before heading to Denver, where he played his entire career from 1967-75. Despite Little rushing for more than 6,300 yards the Broncos never made the playoffs during his HOF NFL run.
5. Danny Abramowicz
Danny Abramowicz was a 17th-round pick in 1967 out of Xavier (OH). He played with the Saints until he was dealt to the Niners in 1973. Abramowicz had 369 career receptions for 5,686 yards but he never caught a break by playing on a team that made the playoffs.
4. Gale Sayers
Gale Sayers is fourth because he was the fourth overall pick in 1965 by the Chicago Bears, who also had the third pick and took Illinois LB Dick Butkus. Both players went on to HOF careers and never made it to the postseason. “The Kansas Comet’s” career was cut short by knee injuries. He was a legend when he was in the league and is considered one of the best RBs in NFL history.
3. Dick Butkus
Dick Butkus is one of the most legendary and fierce players in NFL history. Chicago took him third overall in 1965 and followed with Gale Sayers at four. Great drafting, but it did not result in a playoff appearance. Butkus spent his entire nine-year career with the Bears. Famous for hard-hitting and terrorizing offenses, it also should be noted the HOF LB had 22 picks.
2. Tommy Nobis
The Atlanta Falcons made Tommy Nobis their first pick in franchise history out of Texas. The LB became a legend in Atlanta but was part of an expansion franchise that did not make the postseason in his 11-year career.
1. Archie Manning
Archie Manning came from Ole Miss to the Saints, where he exprienced growing pains as the franchise did in the ’70s. He also appeared with the Oilers and Vikings and did not gain the postseason. His sons, Peyton and Eli, have had considerably better postseason look in their careers.
