Miami football: 5 great players who didn’t live up to the NFL hype

In the heyday of Miami football, it felt as if the Hurricanes were producing one star quarterback after another — even if they weren’t necessarily having the greatest careers in the NFL. Steve Walsh felt that first hand as the signal-caller spent his freshman season backing up Canes legend Vinny Testaverde in the 1986 season. The following year, however, he was named the starter.

Walsh wasn’t exactly looking like he was playing in the air raid but he succeeded undeniably in his first campaign at the helm of the Miami offense. He threw for 2,249 yards with 19 touchdowns to just seven interceptions on the season. Perhaps most importantly, he led the Hurricanes to a perfect season that saw them capture their second National Championship in program history.

Returning the following year, Walsh and The U were unable to capture another title. A narrow one-point loss against Notre Dame, the eventual national champions that season, took care of those hopes. However, Walsh took a big step forward as he threw for 3,115 yards with 29 scores and 12 picks, which was good enough for him to finish fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting. He elected to leave school in April 1989, putting him in the mix for the NFL supplemental draft.

Despite having taken Troy Aikman at No. 1 overall that year, the Dallas Cowboys used their first-round pick in the supplemental draft on Walsh. And while Walsh went on to spend 11 years in the league, he never came close to realizing the same success he had in college where he lost just one game over two seasons. He finished his career having played in 80 games but having thrown for just 7,875 yards with 50 interceptions and only 40 touchdowns.