Even now, almost three years since he brought cornerback Terrell Buckley to Green Bay, Packers general manager Ron Wolf still isn't sure why it turned out so wrong.
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Buckley will go down in Packers' annals as an unmitigated bust.
Although he doesn't quite rate with flops of recent vintage such as tackle Tony Mandarich or quarterback Rich Campbell, his disastrous selection can be equated easily to running back Brent Fullwood.
Mandarich was the second pick in 1989, Fullwood the fourth pick in 1987, Buckley the fifth pick in '92 and Campbell the sixth pick in '81.
'I feel bad because he didn't perform the way we thought he could perform,' Wolf said. 'I feel bad about that.
'But sometimes you pick players that don't play at all. That's worse. He can at least play.'
On Monday, the Packers traded Buckley to Miami for 'past considerations.' In other words, the possibility that Dolphins coach Don Shula might one day return the favor to the Packers was worth a trade for nothing rather than placing Buckley on waivers.
At midweek, Buckley spoke of a fresh start in Miami, a Sun Belt team that he perceived as better suited for his individualistic approach to the game.
He goes to the Dolphins as a $720,000 nickel back, a far cry from the expected all-star cover man who was paid about $5.5 million from the Packers in three seasons.
'The greatness that I thought he held, I don't forecast that,' Wolf said. 'I don't think he'll ever reach that plateau. But there are several players that play that position in the league that are not as good as he is.'
Still just 23, Buckley has quickness and some man-to-man cover ability. He intercepted 12 passes in 50 games, including the post-season.
But what Buckley had going for him, according to those within the organization, was more than offset by deficiencies in size, competitiveness, hands, tackling, practice habits, discipline and responsiveness to big-game situations.
'We have always stressed size and speed here,' Wolf said. 'That was one case where we went against the norm. You can bet your bottom dollar we won't do that again.'
Buckley was to have been 'an offensive defensive player,' in the immortal draft-day words of Wolf and Packers coach Mike Holmgren. In a cruel twist, Wolf said Buckley became that, 'but for the other team.'
For months before that draft, Wolf worked alone breaking down every game that Buckley ever played at Florida State. What Wolf saw was a somewhat erratic performer with a gift so rare -- the capacity for creating excitement on interceptions and returns -- that everything Al Davis had preached to him about cornerbacks eventually was overlooked.
The five greatest cornerbacks in Raiders history -- Willie Brown, Kent McCloughan, Lester Hayes, Skip Thomas and Mike Haynes -- all stood at least 6 feet tall and weighed no less than 190 pounds.
Buckley, 5-9 and 174, played even smaller than he was.
'What we were stressing with him was the uniqueness of the player at that position,' Wolf said. 'That was our whole basis, his ability to turn an interception or a return into points.'
Besides his 21 interceptions for the Seminoles, Buckley had returned three punts for touchdowns. And, on just the second time he fielded a punt in Green Bay, he burst 58 yards for a touchdown to ignite a comeback victory over Cincinnati.
'You stop to think about that first game he played,' Wolf said. 'So many positive things, so many things to look forward to.
'Then you sit and try to examine as to what happened, why did all this occur. And the only thing you can think of is maybe there was too much pressure placed on him by all of us connected with the Packer operation here. Maybe that's what happened.
'Ask me the reason for his not succeeding like I certainly thought he would, I can't give you an answer.'
Two factors hastened Buckley's demise and were out of his control: The trend toward taller wide receivers, and the emphasis by officials last season on preventing defensive backs from chucking receivers more than 5 yards downfield.
'The game changed while he played in it,' Wolf said. 'You can't do anything to counteract your lack of size. But really, with the gifts that he possesses, he shouldn't have that much of a problem.'
Wolf denied that the Packers attempted to trade Buckley at any time before 1995. In fact, he said the decision to dump Buckley wasn't made by him and Holmgren until after the playoff victory over Detroit on Dec. 31.
'We made a commitment to ourselves,' Wolf said. 'If we got to a situation where we selected someone high that couldn't play, rather than prolong the agony for both of us, let's bite the bullet and move on.'
His important return dimension didn't materialize, either. Buckley fumbled one of every five punts that he touched before begging off the return unit late in '93.
Of course, the selection of Buckley was made even more controversial across the state because another cornerback, Wisconsin's Troy Vincent, was taken two slots later by the Dolphins. Vincent overcame major knee surgery in late '93 to regain his place among the league's top young cornerbacks in '94.
'I'll accept the fact that Vincent is a better player than Terrell,' Wolf said. 'But I haven't thought a lot about the difference between the two.'
The reason for that, according to a club source, is that Wolf's regret is having passed up tackle Bob Whitfield, not Vincent, with the selection. Whitfield emerged as a premier player last season for the Atlanta Falcons, who followed Miami's choice of Vincent with the seventh choice by taking Whitfield with the eighth choice.
Wolf wouldn't confirm that part of the story, but he did reveal that the Packers would have taken wide receiver Desmond Howard rather than Buckley if both players had been available. Washington traded a first-round draft choice to Cincinnati for the right to move up and choose Howard with the fourth pick.
'That would have been worse,' Wolf said. '(Howard) couldn't play at all.'
Howard, Buckley and quarterback David Klingler, taken with the sixth pick by the Bengals, all have been failures. Other busts in the '92 first round were fullback Tommy Vardell (9); guard Eugene Chung (13); tight end Derek Brown (14); safety Dana Hall (18); running back Tony Smith (19); running back Vaughn Dunbar (21); and quarterback Tommy Maddox (25).
Three of the 28 first-round picks -- defensive tackle Sean Gilbert (3), defensive tackle Chester McGlockton (16) and cornerback Dale Carter (20) -- have made the Pro Bowl. Gilbert's play, however, dropped off so precipitously last year that the jury remains out on his high selection.
Joining Vincent, Whitfield, McGlockton and Carter as solid picks were tackle Leon Searcy (11), defensive end Marco Coleman (12), cornerback Kevin Smith (17), defensive lineman Chris Mims (23), defensive tackle Robert Porcher (26), tackle John Fina (27) and safety Darryl Williams (28).
Rated as adequate picks would be linebacker Quentin Coryatt (2), tackle Ray Roberts (10), tight end Johnny Mitchell (15), defensive end Alonzo Spellman (22) and linebacker Robert Jones (24).
Top pick Steve Emtman's career in Indianapolis has been ruined by injuries.
'That's the unfortunate aspect of the game,' Wolf said. 'For every time you're right you're wrong 10 times. Those in the game that bat more than .200 are the guys that deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.'
Even now, almost three years since he brought cornerback Terrell Buckley to Green Bay, Packers general manager Ron Wolf still isn't sure why it turned out so wrong.
Buckley will go down in Packers' annals as an unmitigated bust.
Although he doesn't quite rate with flops of recent vintage such as tackle Tony Mandarich or quarterback Rich Campbell, his disastrous selection can be equated easily to running back Brent Fullwood.
Mandarich was the second pick in 1989, Fullwood the fourth pick in 1987, Buckley the fifth pick in '92 and Campbell the sixth pick in '81.
'I feel bad because he didn't perform the way we thought he could perform,' Wolf said. 'I feel bad about that.
'But sometimes you pick players that don't play at all. That's worse. He can at least play.'
On Monday, the Packers traded Buckley to Miami for 'past considerations.' In other words, the possibility that Dolphins coach Don Shula might one day return the favor to the Packers was worth a trade for nothing rather than placing Buckley on waivers.
At midweek, Buckley spoke of a fresh start in Miami, a Sun Belt team that he perceived as better suited for his individualistic approach to the game.
He goes to the Dolphins as a $720,000 nickel back, a far cry from the expected all-star cover man who was paid about $5.5 million from the Packers in three seasons.
'The greatness that I thought he held, I don't forecast that,' Wolf said. 'I don't think he'll ever reach that plateau. But there are several players that play that position in the league that are not as good as he is.'
Still just 23, Buckley has quickness and some man-to-man cover ability. He intercepted 12 passes in 50 games, including the post-season.
But what Buckley had going for him, according to those within the organization, was more than offset by deficiencies in size, competitiveness, hands, tackling, practice habits, discipline and responsiveness to big-game situations.
'We have always stressed size and speed here,' Wolf said. 'That was one case where we went against the norm. You can bet your bottom dollar we won't do that again.'
Buckley was to have been 'an offensive defensive player,' in the immortal draft-day words of Wolf and Packers coach Mike Holmgren. In a cruel twist, Wolf said Buckley became that, 'but for the other team.'
For months before that draft, Wolf worked alone breaking down every game that Buckley ever played at Florida State. What Wolf saw was a somewhat erratic performer with a gift so rare -- the capacity for creating excitement on interceptions and returns -- that everything Al Davis had preached to him about cornerbacks eventually was overlooked.
The five greatest cornerbacks in Raiders history -- Willie Brown, Kent McCloughan, Lester Hayes, Skip Thomas and Mike Haynes -- all stood at least 6 feet tall and weighed no less than 190 pounds.
Buckley, 5-9 and 174, played even smaller than he was.
'What we were stressing with him was the uniqueness of the player at that position,' Wolf said. 'That was our whole basis, his ability to turn an interception or a return into points.'
Besides his 21 interceptions for the Seminoles, Buckley had returned three punts for touchdowns. And, on just the second time he fielded a punt in Green Bay, he burst 58 yards for a touchdown to ignite a comeback victory over Cincinnati.
'You stop to think about that first game he played,' Wolf said. 'So many positive things, so many things to look forward to.
Game 93: April 8 2016 The Initials Game On
'Then you sit and try to examine as to what happened, why did all this occur. And the only thing you can think of is maybe there was too much pressure placed on him by all of us connected with the Packer operation here. Maybe that's what happened.
'Ask me the reason for his not succeeding like I certainly thought he would, I can't give you an answer.'
Two factors hastened Buckley's demise and were out of his control: The trend toward taller wide receivers, and the emphasis by officials last season on preventing defensive backs from chucking receivers more than 5 yards downfield.
'The game changed while he played in it,' Wolf said. 'You can't do anything to counteract your lack of size. But really, with the gifts that he possesses, he shouldn't have that much of a problem.'
Wolf denied that the Packers attempted to trade Buckley at any time before 1995. In fact, he said the decision to dump Buckley wasn't made by him and Holmgren until after the playoff victory over Detroit on Dec. 31.
'We made a commitment to ourselves,' Wolf said. 'If we got to a situation where we selected someone high that couldn't play, rather than prolong the agony for both of us, let's bite the bullet and move on.'
His important return dimension didn't materialize, either. Buckley fumbled one of every five punts that he touched before begging off the return unit late in '93.
Of course, the selection of Buckley was made even more controversial across the state because another cornerback, Wisconsin's Troy Vincent, was taken two slots later by the Dolphins. Vincent overcame major knee surgery in late '93 to regain his place among the league's top young cornerbacks in '94.
'I'll accept the fact that Vincent is a better player than Terrell,' Wolf said. 'But I haven't thought a lot about the difference between the two.'
The reason for that, according to a club source, is that Wolf's regret is having passed up tackle Bob Whitfield, not Vincent, with the selection. Whitfield emerged as a premier player last season for the Atlanta Falcons, who followed Miami's choice of Vincent with the seventh choice by taking Whitfield with the eighth choice.
Game 93: April 8 2016 The Initials Games
Wolf wouldn't confirm that part of the story, but he did reveal that the Packers would have taken wide receiver Desmond Howard rather than Buckley if both players had been available. Washington traded a first-round draft choice to Cincinnati for the right to move up and choose Howard with the fourth pick.
'That would have been worse,' Wolf said. '(Howard) couldn't play at all.'
Howard, Buckley and quarterback David Klingler, taken with the sixth pick by the Bengals, all have been failures. Other busts in the '92 first round were fullback Tommy Vardell (9); guard Eugene Chung (13); tight end Derek Brown (14); safety Dana Hall (18); running back Tony Smith (19); running back Vaughn Dunbar (21); and quarterback Tommy Maddox (25).
Three of the 28 first-round picks -- defensive tackle Sean Gilbert (3), defensive tackle Chester McGlockton (16) and cornerback Dale Carter (20) -- have made the Pro Bowl. Gilbert's play, however, dropped off so precipitously last year that the jury remains out on his high selection.
Joining Vincent, Whitfield, McGlockton and Carter as solid picks were tackle Leon Searcy (11), defensive end Marco Coleman (12), cornerback Kevin Smith (17), defensive lineman Chris Mims (23), defensive tackle Robert Porcher (26), tackle John Fina (27) and safety Darryl Williams (28).
Rated as adequate picks would be linebacker Quentin Coryatt (2), tackle Ray Roberts (10), tight end Johnny Mitchell (15), defensive end Alonzo Spellman (22) and linebacker Robert Jones (24).
Top pick Steve Emtman's career in Indianapolis has been ruined by injuries.
'That's the unfortunate aspect of the game,' Wolf said. 'For every time you're right you're wrong 10 times. Those in the game that bat more than .200 are the guys that deserve to be in the Hall of Fame.'