Alright stop, collaborate & listen as we all know Vanilla Ice was a one hit wonder in the music world. We know the white rapper made all his cash flow from his mastery of Ice, Ice Baby. Many musicians have rapped or played the fiddle to that one hit under their belts and never left the shadow of that hit. Forever known as the guy or girl who sang that one song. In sports we have seen many one season wonders. Sometimes a one year wonder at the quarterback position could save your season. Make every Sunday worthwhile to watch your team play for that year. Kind of a surprising type of season. Like hitting the bonus at the slots. Some cities like Cleveland and Chicago that always have died by the quarterback would sometimes have the one guy that gave their fan base hope for at least that season. They were one season and pretty much done and never found that magic again that they had in their biggest year behind center. They may have signed their soul away to the Devil. The hoopla of that one season messed with their mind set and they could not repeat it. I thought I’d start with my least favorite one season wonder at QB and work my way to the best Ice Ice baby of them of all of the one hit wonders. All these guys listed, I do not dislike. They probably screwed your pick em pool every week costing you money. How many people would love to have the one great season in any sport professionally? You can’t knock these guys. You wonder how they lost their mojo so quickly.

1989

#6. DON MAJKOWSKI (AKA THE MAGIC MAN)

Don Majkowski played ten seasons in the NFL. He will always be remembered playing for the Packers where he got the nickname Magic Man for his epic comebacks in 1989. The Magic Man went 10-6 behind center for the Packers that season as he completed 58.9%. He tallied a career high with 4,318 passing yards while throwing 27 touchdown passes along with 20 interceptions. In ten seasons his starting record behind center was 26-30-1. In the other 9 seasons, the Magic Man went 16-24-1. His only playoff game was in 1995 for the Lions – a game he did not start. The Magic Man poster was probably in every cheese-head’s kid’s bedroom throughout the dairy state. The Packers in the 1980’s were nothing special so the Magic Man did make that season special for Packers fans. Who cares because we know in the 1990’s they find their guy, Brett Farve.

2007

#5. DEREK ANDERSON

I mentioned Cleveland in the beginning of this article because of the great season Derek Anderson had in 2007. Anderson took the starting job away from Charlie Frye, another Browns dud behind center. Anderson went 10-5 after he took over the starting duties for the Browns in his second season in the NFL. Anderson played 13 seasons in the NFL and as a starter his record was 20-29. He won half of his games in one season. He passed for 3,787 yards while only completing 56.6 % of his passes. He threw 29 touchdown passes in 2007. Which is almost half of his entire career of 60 that he threw. Anderson got the big deal & then in 2008 his record was 3-6 for the Browns behind center. He only had two winning seasons as a quarterback as he was 2-0 for the Panthers in 2014. The Browns have not had too many winning seasons. Anderson probably gave the Cleveland fan base some nice memories. Anderson did not start any post-season games.

2013

#4. JOSH MCCOWN

The debate on the bar stools in 2013 during the Bears season was who should finish the season as the starting quarterback. Smoking Jay Cutler or Josh McCown? I was a fan of McCown who was a journeyman quarterback who seemed to find his best performance with the Bears. Cutler was hurt and McCown started 5 games for the Bears and had a record of 3-2 filling in for I don’t give a crap smoking Jay. McCown was a leader out there on the field as we never saw that with Cutler. McCown had 13 touchdowns that season with only one interception. He was completing 66.5% of his throws. The Bears went back to Cutler and the team did not make the post-season. McCown made things interesting. In 16 seasons McCown has played, 2013 was McCown’s only winning seasons as a starter in the NFL. His record as a starter lifetime was 23-53. McCown had 98 career touchdown passes to 82 interceptions while completing 60.2% of his passes.

2014

#3. KYLE ORTON

Old neck beard Kyle Orton actually had more than one winning season over his ten year career. Orton had a 42-40 record as a starter in the NFL in ten seasons in the NFL. Orton won with the Bears early in his career as he was eventually traded to the Broncos, sending Jay Cutler to Chicago. Orton actually had a winning season in Denver. Orton would lose his job to the great Tim Tebow who also could be on this list. For Orton it was the last season he played in the NFL and that was with the Bills. After spending time with the Chiefs and Cowboys, Orton became a starter in Buffalo in 2014. Orton started 12 games, went 7-5, and had the Bills on the verge of making the playoffs. At the time, the Bills were in a drought when it came to post-season. They were the worst out of the 4 major sports at the time and the long drought dated back to the 2000 season of missing the post-season. Orton made it interesting as the Bills had one of the best defenses in the NFL that year. Orton completed 64.2% of his passes. He launched 18 touchdowns compared to 10 interceptions. The Bills had a ten year stretch of bad quarterback play. Orton was a scrapper. He gave it his best, however he did not pull it off. It was another season without a post-season, but it was fun to watch every Sunday. You can say Orton is not a one season wonder, but he was a one season wonder for the Bills in 2014.

2002

#2.TOMMY MADDOX

Tommy Maddox’s NFL career started slowly with the Broncos, Rams, and the Giants during the 1990’s. Maddox had to redefine his football career in the first ever XFL where he took the LA Xtreme to the championship and helped them win it all in 2001. Maddox found his way back to the NFL after the 2001 season in the XFL. Maddox would get new life with the Steelers. In 2002, Maddox took over the starting job for the Steelers and had a impressive season as he was 7-3-1 as the starter and Pittsburgh made it to the post-season. He threw 20 touchdown passes as he tallied up 2,836 passing yards for the season. He completed 62.1% of his passes. In post-season in the first round, he led the Steelers to a victory over the Browns which resulted in a 36-33 win. Then in the second round, the Titans beat the Steelers 34-31. Maddox engineered 31 points of offense in that loss. Maddox in 2003 would have a losing season. Then he would only last two more seasons after that in a back role. Tommy’s record as a starter during regular season in the NFL as QB was 15-20-1 life time as he won about half of those game during one season. In 2003, he almost had the Steelers in the AFC Championship.

2001

#1. JIM MILLER

Jim Miller played six seasons in the NFL. He played 4 with the Bears and two with the Steelers, where he started his NFL career. Miller arrived in Chicago in 1999 in the same car he had driven since high school. I don’t think Miller has left Chicago. I would imagine the car is gone. Miller has stayed in Chicago, has been a television commentator for the Bears, and does all kinds of radio and television shows every year covering the Bears. Miller was no Richard Simmons or Rocky Balboa-looking specimen as the NFL were convinced he failed a drug test. His comments were, “Just look at me a pasty white dough boy.” Miller in 2001 had his only winning season and that was the year he played the most as QB1 in the NFL. He was 11-2 as a starter. He only completed 57.7% of his passes. He only threw 13 touchdown passes compared to 10 interceptions. However he won 11 regular season games as QB1. Miller led the Bear to the playoffs that year, however they were one and done in Jim’s only post-season start. Miller is like your regular Joe Six Pack guy bringing his lunch pail to work type of dude. He gave you everything he had on the field leaving nothing when the game was over. Miller actually had a winning record when he hung up the spikes as a starter. He went 15-12 all-time. He threw 36 touchdown passes compared to 31 interceptions. His career numbers are okay. Nothing to write home to mom about. You have to understand the long list of just bad quarterbacks the Bears paraded in downtown Chicago every season. Take away that 11 win season where he was a one season wonder. He went 4-10 in the other 5 seasons he played in the NFL.