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Ted Gregory

Theodore Anthony Gregory (born February 11, 1965) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for one season with the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Syracuse Orangemen, earning consensus All-American honors in 1987. Gregory was selected in the first round of the 1988 NFL draft by the Denver Broncos.^[1] He listed his height as 6'1".^[2] However, a shocked Dan Reeves, who is also listed as 6'1"^[3] commented, "I'm taller than he is!" upon meeting Gregory after the draft. By Reeves's estimate, Gregory was closer to 5'9".^[4]

Gregory had injured his knee in his last collegiate game, and the knee gave out during training camp. Following scathing criticism from the press for wasting a pick on damaged goods, the Broncos traded him to the Saints for Shawn Knight before the season.^[5] He is now regarded as one of the biggest draft busts in Broncos' history.^[6] After the Gregory incident the Broncos began meeting with potential draft picks prior to the draft, a practice they had not previously engaged in.^{[citation needed]}

Gregory blew out his knee in this third game with the Saints, and never played in the NFL again. After a series of failed business ventures drained his life savings, he took a job as a construction worker, only to have that end due to a ruptured disc in his back that temporarily rendered him a paraplegic.^[5] Gregory placed 8th in Deadspin's "The 100 Worst NFL Players of All Time".^[7]

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