Matt Cassel
This brings us to Matt Cassel, a player who by the end of his career had drawn the unfettered wrath of the Chiefs’ fan base. When Cassel was knocked out in 2012, you could even hear some fans cheering his injury.
Reflecting back on this, I don’t think it was just because of his play. I think it was in part that the fan base had endured such poor play at the position for so long and it finally came to a head with Cassel. No one should cheer anyone’s injury at any time, but it did reflect long-held frustrations about the position.
Either way, outside of 2010, Cassel’s four seasons with the team were inconsistent at their best and below average at their worst. In total, he started in 47 games and played in 48 total. He averaged 199 yards passing per game and threw 59 touchdowns and 44 interceptions in total.
What’s pretty incredible to reflect on is, that despite how poorly fans remember Cassel and rightfully so, he was arguably the best of the quarterbacks Bowe played with in the first six years of his career. Let that sink in for a moment.
Even so, he still averaged nearly 1,000 yards receiving and seven touchdowns per season. These numbers aren’t All Pro, but they’re pretty impressive given the caliber of quarterback play.
What’s more incredible, is that his situation would get much worse before it got better.