7 most interesting busts in NFL draft history

The NFL Draft is a wasteland of broken dreams and unfulfilled potential. For every Peyton Manning, there's a Ryan Leaf; for every Calvin Johnson, there's all the other Detroit Lions wide receivers.

Here are seven of the most interesting draft busts in NFL history:

The Could've-Beens

Mike Phipps - Cleveland Browns (No. 3, 1970)

In 1970, the Browns were desperately looking for a quarterback. To make it happen, they traded Hall of Fame wide receiver Paul Warfield to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for the third-overall pick, which they used to select Mike Phipps.

The talented quarterback out of Purdue had a solid start, coming off the bench in Week 3 as a rookie and leading the team to a 15-7 comeback win over the rival Pittsburgh Steelers. Phipps would make a habit of leading sporadic late-game comebacks during his time in Cleveland, but a shoulder separation in 1976 was a key factor in Phipps never realizing his potential.

Phipps would finish his career with a touchdown to interception ratio of 55:108.

Ki-Jana Carter - Cincinnati Bengals (No. 1, 1995)

The only No. 1 overall pick to get a nickname from "Shaft", Carter was never able to reach his huge potential because of an unbelievable string of injuries.

After tearing a knee ligament in the third carry of his first preseason game in 1995, Carter scored 15 touchdowns over the next two seasons, flashing the kind of game-changing potential the Bengals were expecting.

From there, Carter went on a historical run of traumatic ailments, suffering season-ending injuries in three straight years. In 1997? Torn rotator cuff. In 1998? Broken left wrist. In 1999? Dislocated right kneecap.

Carter caught on with the Washington Redskins in 2001 but by then age and injury had taken their toll and he retired with the New Orleans Saints in 2004.

The Criminals

Russell Erxleben - New Orleans Saints (No. 11, 1979)

At the University of Texas at Austin, Erxleben kicked a 67-yard field goal, paving the way to becoming the highest-drafted kicker in NFL history. However, he booted just four field goals in his NFL career and managed to hang around for only four NFL seasons.

Maybe he was spending his practice time coming up with new and improved ways to bilk innocent people out of their hard-earned money. Since retiring, Erxleben has been sentenced to a total of 14.5 years in prison for various Ponzi schemes. This guy's not even a good criminal.

Art Schlichter - Indianapolis Colts (No. 4, 1982)

Looking to draft a riverboat gambler, in the sense of an actual guy who gambles a lot, while living on a potentially stolen house boat? Then Schlichter would be at the top of the list.

Schlichter has spent most of his post-football career tied up in one fraud scheme after another. All, he says, to feed the beast of his incurable gambling habit.

By his own account, Schlichter has committed over 20 felonies and gambled away all the money he made in the NFL and Arena league, passing more bad checks than Frank Abagnale Jr. along the way.

The Substance Abusers

JaMarcus Russell - Oakland Raiders (No. 1, 2007)

The big-armed quarterback out of LSU will always be remembered for bringing Purple Drank into the American consciousness. Russell was a strong supporter of soda, jolly ranchers candy and mixing codeine with alcohol.

After showing some promise in his second season, Russell would mix a cocktail of another kind - combining 11 parts interception to three parts touchdown in 2009. The drink never caught on, which marked the end of the line for Russell with the Raiders.

It came to light after his three-year NFL career that Russell tested positive for codeine immediately following the Raiders selecting him first overall.

Charles Rogers - Detroit Lions (No. 2, 2003)

Also known as Patient Zero in regards to the Lions wide receiver draft pick epidemic of the 2000's, Rogers got off to a fast start, catching 22 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns over the first five games of his career, but a broken clavicle sidetracked him and he never recovered.

Since then, Rogers has had a hard time staying sober, dealing with Vicodin and alcohol addictions, and admitting in a 2009 ESPN interview he smokes marijuana every day.

Ryan Leaf - San Diego Chargers (No. 2, 1998)

The seemingly endless run of bad Ryan Leaf decisions began on draft night, when he took the owners jet to Las Vegas and partied all night. Peyton Manning, who Leaf is inextricably linked, probably studied his playbook by candlelight. Leaf yawned his way through his introduction interview the next day.

Leaf started nine games his rookie season, throwing two touchdowns against 15 interceptions but flashed some promise. In 1999, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury 20 minutes into the team's first training camp workout. That was the beginning of the end for Leaf in San Diego as he would play only one more season with the team, getting released before the 2001 season.

He has since had multiple arrests for drug possession, burglary and - in a bizarre 2009 incident - broke into a West Texas A&M football player's house in an attempt to steal the hydrocodone the player had been prescribed for injury. Leaf was the team's quarterbacks coach at the time.