Brian Bosworth - Professional Career

Professional Career

Prior to his entry into the NFL supplemental draft, Bosworth had sent letters to various NFL teams stating that, if they drafted him, he wouldn't report to their training camp and he wouldn't play for them. As a joke, the Tacoma Stars of the Major Indoor Soccer League selected him in the 12th round in their 1987 draft, as their general manager stated, "Because we didn't receive a letter from him that he wouldn't play for us."

Bosworth was drafted by the Seahawks in the 1987 NFL supplemental draft and signed what was both the biggest contract in team history and the biggest rookie contract in NFL history at the time: 10 years for US$11 million. After being drafted by the Seahawks, Bosworth sued the NFL for the right to wear #44 (the number he wore in college), and was forced to wear #55 until he won the case.

Bosworth signed with a Seattle team that had failed to reach the playoffs for two seasons (a 10-6 finish in 1986 was only good enough for 3rd in the old AFC West as they lost out to the Kansas City Chiefs in head to head match-up despite a better scoring record overall). He appeared in 12 games in his rookie season, playing well for the most part, but became known more for his outspoken personality and appearance than his actual play on the field. Before the first game of the season, versus the Denver Broncos, Bosworth trash talked Denver quarterback John Elway. 10,000 Denver fans wore $15 T-shirts reading "BAN THE BOZ", but did not know that Bosworth's company manufactured the shirts.

Before a 1987 Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Raiders, the Seahawks had already beaten their divisional foe once in the season (who were foundering with a 3-7 record) when Bosworth insulted Raiders rookie running back Bo Jackson and promised in a media event before the game that he would contain the running back. Jackson had made his debut only a few weeks before and been impressive in four losses.

However, Bosworth was unable to fulfill his promise, as Jackson ended up rushing for 221 yards and scoring three touchdowns. Later in the game, Bosworth was involved in a one-on-one tackle at the goalline with Jackson and was unable to prevent the running back from getting one of his three scores.

Bosworth was forced to retire after only two games in 1989, having suffered a shoulder injury in the 1988 season (Team Doctor Pierce E. Scranton Jr. stating "Brian was a twenty-five-year-old with the shoulders of a sixty-year-old. He flunked my physical").

Remembered for his lackluster professional football career, Bosworth was named the sixth worst flop on the Biggest Flops of the Last 25 Years list by ESPN in July 2004 and number three on NFL Network's NFL Top 10 Draft Busts. In the case of the latter program, Bosworth was interviewed for the program, one of the only players who made the list interviewed. One of his contemporaries, Matt Millen, defended Bosworth, saying that he remembers an excellent linebacker who simply had injuries catch up to him and that most people remember him in the NFL for the Raiders game on Monday Night Football, which Millen was a member of the Raiders at the time.

Bosworth made an appearance in the booth during the Monday Night Football broadcast on which the Seattle Seahawks hosted the Oakland Raiders on November 6, 2006. During the discussion, he asserted that he had no regrets about his football career, but wished that he and Bo Jackson had longer careers. He also said that he thought he and Jackson would have developed a good rivalry, had they both been able to play longer.